How concern should we be about our feeder rats diet?

Rat breeders are so scarce here. I asked about the diet of his rats, he told me dog food. Is that ok? Will our BP's be safe from that?

That's "how concerned" :) sorry :)

Many rat breeders use dog food. it should be just fine as long as its a name brand and not some odd ball stuff.

Great :) Thanks! Should be safe then :)

Yea I use dog food for mine. I use Ol'e Roy dog food.

No need to worry about artificial coloring?

no artificial coloring doesn't really affect rats as far as i know...and the only down fall with using dog food is it can affect their hair...I have seen them loose just about all of their hair from being on a dog food diet. But yes it is still safe to feed your snakes. :)

They only way I would be concerned about what the rats/mice were eating is if they were being fed rat poison or were living in the wild. Dog food is fine for rats, although it doesn't always have everything mice/rats need to live long healthy lives, but that doesn't effect your snake. They also don't need to eat name brand or off brand, it really doesn't matter as long as they can live off of it. Cheap dog food has more grain, expensive dog food has more protein, so theoretically the cheap stuff is closer to the kind of food they should be eating.

I am glad I started this thread :-) Thanks guys! :-)

I feed mine the higher protien rat and mouse block. It costs me 17 bucks a month and it helps during the winter when it gets cold in the garage. I know it probably doesn't matter but I just figure if I feed my feeders a better diet it will give my snakes more good stuff when they eat them. Like I say it probably doesn't matter but I do it just to do it.

Most people that feed dog food have some issues with the aggressively hungry moms that sometimes kill their own. So most of the larger breeders will feed a rodent block that is more expensive but healthier. As far as feeding to your snakes as long as you do not see any physical signs of tumors or hair loss you should be fine with the feeders.

Rat blocks sadly are not available here locally.. Thats why most just feed dogfood..

Anyway fromy stabd point, I am no rat breeder yet, just concerned the safety of our snakes who eat rats
Who have been fed dog food. Now that I know it is safe, all is good then :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by D&J Reptiles

Most people that feed dog food have some issues with the aggressively hungry moms that sometimes kill their own. So most of the larger breeders will feed a rodent block that is more expensive but healthier. As far as feeding to your snakes as long as you do not see any physical signs of tumors or hair loss you should be fine with the feeders.

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I've had my rats on dog food for years and that's never happened for me. If that is happening chances are the mother isn't getting fed enough.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muzikfreakah

Rat blocks sadly are not available here locally.. Thats why most just feed dogfood..

Anyway fromy stabd point, I am no rat breeder yet, just concerned the safety of our snakes who eat rats
Who have been fed dog food. Now that I know it is safe, all is good then :)

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If you want to use rat blocks, you can have your local Tractor Supply store order some for you. ;)

As for dog food, I use a cheap brand called "Doggy Bag" it's like 6$ for a 40lb bag; you can get it from Tractor Supply. I prefer that brand because of the kibble size which is the size of a marble. Sounds strange but I find that my rats waste less food because of the kibble size being so big.

One thing you should look at is the crude protein on the back of the bag, from what I've read the best dog food for rats has a crude protein level around 15%-18%. The brand I use is 18%. If the protein is too high, the rats have a tendency to loose their hair.