Rat feed

I am looking for some help finding a good rat feed. I wanted to use doggy bag but I have no tractor supply anywhere near me. There is a IFA a couple of hours away but I haven't had any luck with them getting it. I live in a small town and the local feed stores tell me the only dog food they will get is neutro. Can anyone recommend a good dog food without red dye from wal-mart. I checked with my local pet store and he will sell me a lab block bag of 40 lbs for 30 dollars but that's a bit high. Any help is appreciated.

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This topic has been pretty much beaten into the ground. The search feature is you friend but in short; don't feed dog food, rodent block will save you money in the long run.

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Originally Posted by zoomin31

I checked with my local pet store and he will sell me a lab block bag of 40 lbs for 30 dollars but that's a bit high. Any help is appreciated.

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The price is about right, and it lasts longer than dog food;)

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Originally Posted by ScottNBecky

This topic has been pretty much beaten into the ground. The search feature is you friend but in short; don't feed dog food, rodent block will save you money in the long run.

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I have read many posts on here of people who swear by the doggy bag food. One guy said he had over 300 females and they did great on it.

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My question is does anybody have a suggestion for a dog food that could be used from wal mart that dosen't contain any dyes. The lab block I got from my local pet store was the IFA brand and the bottom quarter of the bag was just powder.

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Mind you this is all just my opinion and this is what I think...
I would not suggest dog food at all for a staple for rat feed.
Least of all dog food from walmart. Yes it may be cheap but cheaper most of the time isnt better.
Why cut corners with your feeders food for investment quality snakes? I look at it as whatever im putting in my rats stomachs are going into my investment BPs so why wouldnt i feed them the best? If I spent thousands on snakes, I will go the extra bit to make sure they are fed right.
Most dry kibble isnt even good for a dog to live on for its whole life.
Im just saying as a staple diet I would go with a rodent pellet such as mazuri. They come in all size bags and it isnt all that expensive. In addition to the pellets I then feed mostly grains, which include bagels, whole wheat breads, granola bars, oatmeal, cereal, cooked rice, etc. Then veggies, collard greens, broccoli, etc. They can have most anything for table scraps.

Im not trying to judge or seem like im rude in this post, its just that a lot of people are under the misconception that dry dog food is great for rats. I personally dont agree.
If you want to use dry dog food as a staple just please give them additional grains and fresh veggies. And keep in mind that just because their feeders doesnt mean they dont deserve a great diet so that your snake can benefit the most from them.
Again this is all IMO!
I hope this helped you.

I use doggy bag dog food and thats it. Never had any problems.

Many people use doggy bag, or dog food. Many people don't....


My opinion, contact one of your local feed stores, and find a quality rodent block, buy in bulk, and save money...
You can usually get Kent or ADM blocks for around $20-25/50# bag if you look around.

i use dog food for my feeders and i have no problems at all with any of my 12 mother rats or the babies and 8 of the mothers ive had for over 2 yrs now and they do great ( hey if do well on it why not buy it)i get 20lbs bags from dollar store for $5:gj:

Quality counts for everything:gj:
Be it anything you are feeding, I have always fed Nutro to my bullies because of the quality see in my dogs.
I now feed lab-blocks to my mice and rats after seeing how much less food they eat and how much faster the litters are growing. In turn my snakes are putting on more weight and even my problem feeders dont lose as much weight as they use to after 3 or 4 weeks of not eats.
That speaks volumes to me, so you save $15-$20 by using cheap dog food, BUT quality will always count in the end as far as I see it.
My snakes are the final product and are only worth what I am going to put into them so why not start with the quality of their foods food.

example, I have two rescues and a pastel that were all around 200-300g 4 to 6 months ago, I was feeding once a week with pet store rats. They all put on about 100g in 3 to 4 months so that makes them 300-400g in about FOUR MONTHS.
Now my rat production is up to the scale I need at this moment and feeding these same 3 snakes my rats that have been on lab-blocks from their start with me. All three snakes have at least doubled their weights. Nothing has changed except they are fed my rats now.
So, is it the snakes or the food;)

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Originally Posted by PitOnTheProwl

I now feed lab-blocks to my mice and rats after seeing how much less food they eat and how much faster the litters are growing. In turn my snakes are putting on more weight and even my problem feeders dont lose as much weight as they use to after 3 or 4 weeks of not eats.

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I've done my own tests on this as well.... My rats and mice ate more of the doggy bag food, and had fewer and smaller litters on it.
The rodent block costs just slightly more, they don't inhale it like it's crack, and my litters are bigger, and I have less cannibalism.
I buy 40 bags(1 ton) of rodent block at a time, every 3-4 weeks. They more you buy, the cheaper it is... I get it for under $18 a bag when I buy in bulk. As opposed to buying from the same distributor, a couple bags at a time for $24 a bag... Even at $20-25 a bag, it still saves you money in the long run...

Not only have I found it last me longer, but I could not belive how the smell went down when I switched over to a rodent diet. There is no smell what so ever. I will never use edog food again.

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Originally Posted by jasbus

I buy 40 bags(1 ton) of rodent block at a time, every 3-4 weeks. They more you buy, the cheaper it is... I get it for under $18 a bag when I buy in bulk. As opposed to buying from the same distributor, a couple bags at a time for $24 a bag... Even at $20-25 a bag, it still saves you money in the long run...

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Which rodent block are you buying and from where?

Thanks.

I feed breeders mazuri 6f and growups get kent 23% and production is great and honestly for the price it is well worth it mazuri is about 25 for 50# and kent is like 14 for 50#. If you feed quality rodent food you get quality rodents to feed your quality balls IMO.

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Originally Posted by VicShell

If you feed quality rodent food you get quality rodents to feed your quality balls IMO.

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That's all I'm sayin

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Originally Posted by Tatt2Python

i use dog food for my feeders and i have no problems at all with any of my 12 mother rats or the babies and 8 of the mothers ive had for over 2 yrs now and they do great ( hey if do well on it why not buy it)i get 20lbs bags from dollar store for $5:gj:

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here a pic of one of my last litters nice large little of 17 http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/...b/DSCI1824.jpg

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Originally Posted by JohnNJ

Which rodent block are you buying and from where?

Thanks.

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I buy direct from a wholesaler, who in turn buys it from ADM in Ill... Even with the wholesaler buying it, I get it delivered for under $18 a bag...
Sometimes I get Mazuri 6F instead, but I usually stick to ADM, I like the bigger sized blocks...

When I was using doggy bag food, they inhaled the stuff. I was using way more dog food than blocks. Plus, the DB came in 40# bags, at the time was $14 a bag, or .35 cents a pound. And, like I mentioned, they ate way more of it.
I get the ADM for under $18 a bag, or .36-.37 a pound....

No brainer.

Not to mention, my mice always had greasy coats on the DB, and they smelled way worse. I change bedding once a week, and the mice were smelly after just a day or maybe two on DB.

In my opinion, in the long run, even if you have to pay more for a quality block, you will save money. My rat racks are 14 tubs each, and on average, each rack gets one 50# bag per week. In my case, that's 7-8 bags for just my rats per week. On DB, I did a side by side rack comparison, and was using almost two 40# bags of DB in the same amount of time. Probably about 60-70# opposed to 50# of block.

On my mice, they were absolutely inhaling the DB, I was filling hoppers all the time. On block, I fill only twice a week when I refill water buckets...

I use doggy bag dog food mixed with goat, horse, or cattle feed. Which ever is cheaper that month. I have never had a problem with my rats or snakes. They are all very healthy.

Doggy Bag dog food from Tractor Supply. $15 for 40 lbs.