Anything but Mazuri

Mazuri is a good food, just difficult to find around here. I feed a good quality dog kibble, IAMS sensitive naturals. Who else out there feeds other feeds like dog, cat, bird, hamster, other rats feeds, etc.,? And why?

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How big of a colony do you have??

Mazuri had really good shipping deals earlier in the year...but I dont know if their still going on now. We ordered directly from them and got a real good deal.

http://www.reptilebasics.com/diet

???

I feed out 40lbs of dog food a day.

What kind?

sent from my incubator

I only have three colonies of about 1.4, plus some just weaned babies.

sent from my incubator

Just putting it out there, but anything IAMS isn't quality.
:what:

Harlan Teklad is a quality rodent diet if you can't get Mazuri.

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I fed hog feed when I started and my rodents thrived. Only reason I switched to 6f is I found a supplier closer to me that carried the stuff. My rodents continue to thrive on 6f, I wouldn't say they do any better than when they were on swine feed though.

I feed 16% hog feed mixed with a bird seed that has peanuts, corn and sunflower seeds.

And x2 on IAMs.

I wouldnt feed that to anything

Honestly, it seems like a low quality dog food would be better than a high quality one when it comes to rats, if you decide to go with a dog food.

Mazuri (6F)
First five Ingredients:
Ground Corn, Dehulled Soybean Meal, Porcine Animal Fat Preserved with BHA,
Cane Molasses, Wheat Middlings

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude protein not less than..........................16%
Crude fat not less than................................6.0%
Crude fiber not more than ...........................6.0%


General conclusion: High in grain, little to no meat content. Low protein, very low in fat, fairly high in fiber.

Next up - low quality dog kibble.

Purina Dog Chow
First five ingredients:
Whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, meat and bone meal

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (Min) 21.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 10.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 4.5%

General conclusion: High in grain, mid-meat content (from vague/questionable animal sources). Mid protein content, slightly higher in fat, low in fiber.

Next up - high quality kibble (with grains).

Nature's Variety Prairie (Chicken Formula)
First five ingredients:
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Brown Rice, Barley

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (min): 22.5%
Crude Fat (min): 13.0%
Crude Fiber (max): 6.0%

General conclusion: High in meat content, mid grain content. Mid protein content, high in fat, mid fiber content.

Just looking at the first food, it would seem rats do best on a diet with no meat (fat is not considered a meat product), high in grain, low in fat, and low in protein. A high quality dog kibble is the exact opposite of that. It seems that if anything, if you're going to choose a dog kibble, it'd be best to go with a LOW quality kibble. They're full of grains as cheap fillers, they're low in meat content, and lower in fat. Seems to be closer to a rat's diet than a good quality dog food. Not to mention cheaper.

When I started raising rats, I fed dog food. I soon stopped because it didn't seem good for the rats. They were skinnier and had greasy fur.

With the hog feed and bird seed mixed they seem to be doing much better.

This Is What i found about Tekland Harlan 2018 Lab Block with Rich in RBI sells looks like is higher in Protein and lower in Fiber than Mazuri...

http://www.reptilebasics.com/harlan2018

2018 Teklad Global 18% Protein Rodent Diet
Crude Protein	18.6%
Fat (ether extract)	6.2%
Crude Fiber	3.5%
Energy Density	3.1 kcal/g
	13.0 kJ/g
Calories from Protein	24%
Calories from Fat	18%
Calories from Carbohydrate	58%

Link to PDF with full spec: http://www.reptilebasics.com/manuals/2018_datasheet.pdf

18.6% is still pretty low protein content (compared to dog foods, anyway).

When considering protein, you also have to consider the source the protein is coming from. In that 18.6%, very little (or none) of that is derived from animal/meat sources. It's all from plant matter.
Versus a dog food, where some (or most, depending on the quality of the kibble) is being derived from meat.

I don't know as much about rat dietary needs as I do dogs', but if they can't properly digest meat proteins, then the food with protein derived from meat will be less useable for them. They'll have to eat more to get the nutrition they actually need, and they'll waste more as well.

I know people who feed poor quality dog food (Walmart kind). Their rats were really smelly and their fur was very oily like BobbaFett described.

When switched to a proper diet, these rats improved greatly in body condition, odor, productivity, and litter numbers.

I've taken dog food fed rats and saw the same improvement when switched to a rodent production block diet.

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Yup, dog food = gross rats

I use Doggy Bag from tractor supply. I have tried Mazuri and hog feed. They smell much worse with the hog feed. They eat less of the Mazuri than the dog food but the price is way too high for Mazuri. My rats look and smell the same on Mazuri or dog food. I use 1200 lbs a month at .33 cents a pound. Can't beat the price.