Dog Food?

I've heard alot about people feeding their rats dog food. What brand of food do you recommend? Is this their primary food? Any help on feeding would be appreciated.

dog food will work,just don't buy any with food dyes.recently i started using kent feed rodent food and it seems to work well,and it's cheaper than dog food,only $9.99 for 50 lbs.

if you go to kentfeed.com it has a dealer locator,i'm sure there's one near you,also tractor supply store can order it.

23% protein and formulated for rodents plus cheaper than dog food,best deal i could find.have fun !

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Originally Posted by twh

dog food will work,just don't buy any with food dyes.recently i started using kent feed rodent food and it seems to work well,and it's cheaper than dog food,only $9.99 for 50 lbs.

if you go to kentfeed.com it has a dealer locator,i'm sure there's one near you,also tractor supply store can order it.

23% protein and formulated for rodents plus cheaper than dog food,best deal i could find.have fun !

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23% protein to too high even for breeder rats (this can lead to higher rates of cancer and skin issues). Not to mention if you read the ingredients in Kent it is crap. A primary ingredient is Alfalfa which rats cannot digest.

To the OP Senior dog foods seem to have the closest ingredient and protein/fat (target 18%) mix for rats...but I wouldn't feed it exclusively as they were designed for dogs so key ingredients are missing. But the dog food will work for a base food provide you are supplimenting with table scraps or other goodies.

sean...it also comes in 19% protein mix.after looking at the label there's no mention of alfalfa,how do you determine that the primary ingredient is alfalfa?

BTW i starting using kent on a reccomendation from a large rodent breeder who has used kent for several years with great success.do you consider kent food crap from personal experience or what others have told you?

not trying to start a pissing match but it seems hard to believe that kent products are crap when so many people use it with great success.please educate me on why you consider kent products crap.have fun !




QUOTE=lord jackel]23% protein to too high even for breeder rats (this can lead to higher rates of cancer and skin issues). Not to mention if you read the ingredients in Kent it is crap. A primary ingredient is Alfalfa which rats cannot digest.

To the OP Senior dog foods seem to have the closest ingredient and protein/fat (target 18%) mix for rats...but I wouldn't feed it exclusively as they were designed for dogs so key ingredients are missing. But the dog food will work for a base food provide you are supplimenting with table scraps or other goodies.[/QUOTE]

I use Wellness senior, but it is not the only thing I feed them. I followed Becky's rodent diet and my rats are doing great. I would hesitate to only feed one type of food honestly.

As for Kent being crap, I have no clue, but what I can say is millions of people feed things like Old Roy or Dog Chow to their pets- yes your pet may be ok, but I would rather feed a high quality diet than something just because it is cheap.

Thank you all. I've got enough to go on. I appreciate it.

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Originally Posted by twh

sean...it also comes in 19% protein mix.after looking at the label there's no mention of alfalfa,how do you determine that the primary ingredient is alfalfa?

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My apologies I saw the "K" and the brain started farting(you wrote Kent and my brain saw Kaytee). I don't have any specific experience with Kent but Kaytee is what I was referring to as being junk. It has a primary ingredient of Alfalfa, corn meal and several animal fats (crap)

My apologies for my error :oops:

However, if they make a 19% version that would be better for your rats long term.

i don't want you to think i use kent solely because of price,that's a secondary concern.what i look for is quality,the fact that kent is appox. half the price of mazuri is iceing on the cake.

sometimes we (i'm including myself here) think that a product that cost more is much better and since we love our pets so much we automically assume higher price means higher quality,sometimes true,sometimes not.

i'm not advocating kent food just sharing my personal experience.have fun !

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Originally Posted by catawhat75

I use Wellness senior, but it is not the only thing I feed them. I followed Becky's rodent diet and my rats are doing great. I would hesitate to only feed one type of food honestly.

As for Kent being crap, I have no clue, but what I can say is millions of people feed things like Old Roy or Dog Chow to their pets- yes your pet may be ok, but I would rather feed a high quality diet than something just because it is cheap.

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You are right, high price is not always an indicator. However extremely low price always makes me question integrity or quality. I think that people should research before buying regardless of price, especially when it comes to our animals health.

As for Kent, I had never heard of it hence why I cannot comment on it. I do use Mazuri myself and am very happy with it. But if there is something comparable that is less expensive, I will certainly look into it. I am all about saving money if it does not compromise quality.

What is the actual URL for the kent feeds? When I typed in kentfeed.com it redirected me to someplace called petsupplies.net

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Originally Posted by MarkS

What is the actual URL for the kent feeds? When I typed in kentfeed.com it redirected me to someplace called petsupplies.net

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kentfeeds.com. don't forget the "s" :)

Where can I find the rodent feed on their website? I have been unable to locate it... :/

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Originally Posted by catawhat75

I do use Mazuri myself and am very happy with it.

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Where can I get this Mazuri? I would like to look into it.

You will have to find a purina dealer or distributor, I know Soldans can order it for you. Soldans is in MI only as far as I know.

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Originally Posted by Royalherper

Where can I get this Mazuri? I would like to look into it.

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I get mine from a local feed store. You can try Mazuri's website, they have a dealer locator:
http://www.mazuri.com/Home.asp?Products=2&Opening=4

Also, if the local feed store near you doesn't carry it, they still may be able to order it for you.

Thank you both for the info.

connie....i forgot to mention that kent for whatever reason does not list there rodent food on there site,it's a special order.any of there dealers can order it,no minimum.

also all tractor supply stores are kent dealers and can order it.

BTW how's the rev doing,is he going to breed this upcoming season?

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Where can I find the rodent feed on their website? I have been unable to locate it... :/

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Originally Posted by twh

connie....i forgot to mention that kent for whatever reason does not list there rodent food on there site,it's a special order.any of there dealers can order it,no minimum.

also all tractor supply stores are kent dealers and can order it.

BTW how's the rev doing,is he going to breed this upcoming season?

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Hey thats great, we may seriously look into the Kent feed. I would like to compare it against mazuri, and if it's just about near the same, I would love to save half of my money!

As for the Rev, I believe we've decided to not breed any girls this year. There's just too much stuff going on in our lives, not to mention we're coming up short for space as of right now. Haha ;) He's getting along fantastically though, he's packed on quite a bit of weight and is no longer that cute little yellow bud you gave us. :D And so far, he is the tamest pet we have, loves to hang out around our necks and just say hi. :sunny:

I've raised rats on a mixture of grain and dog food before, and they just did not seem to thrive quite as well as those on lab blocks. So, I have to go with recommending the lab blocks--Mazuri brand or any other brand. The one I have right now is LabDiet, manufactured by PMI Nutrition. I picked the bag up at a local feed store. Just call around to the actual feed stores, not pet stores, until you find one that carries it. There will be at least one. The one I found actually does orders for the Omaha zoo, so they have pretty much everything.
As was said, most feed stores can and will order it for you. It's not very expensive, you're looking at around $20 for a 50 pound bag. And 50 pounds of these blocks last a LONG time if you feed them in a way to minimize waste. Plus, the blocks are very hard, so they help keep the rodents' teeth trimmed down.
They are more expensive than grain and dog food, but considering my results, I'll pay 5 bucks more for healthy rodents and larger litters.