Turning lab block to dust...

I have my colony in a large tub with a 1/4in food hopper. They seem to turn at least half of their lab block into dust with a few days. Anyone have any advice on how to stop your rodents from turning their food into dust?

Mine are actually in a bowl and they take out a block at a time and finish like half of it. They come back later and eat the other half. I only put 2 or 3 each in there every day. I havent had any problems with uneaten blocks.... Maybe they have access to too much thats why they waste it ????

They're bored or stressed. What do they have to chew on and wear down their teeth with? Do you give them anything to keep them busy?

They've got a wheel and wood blocks for chewing... And theyre off in the corner of my room, so I can't imagine they would be stressed much.

What temps do you have them at? They could be stressed because of cold. Or maybe over crowded?

Just don't give them a ton of block,limit what you give them.even if they had a mini circus to keep them occupied they would chew block because i think they like it:p

i only giv the asf about 4 little rodent blocks and some seeds but i also have cardboard tubes for them to chew on and wooden blocks and they don't chew though th waterbottles now lol.. Ialso gave then 2 ol bowl with a hole to use as hides and they love them lol. I watch them run for the bowls to hide in when I walk in the room.

Do they use their wheel (i.e. it’s not stuck or some how doesn’t work for them)? The last time I heard of dust makers the guy said wheels fixed the problem for him. I've been lucky and mine haven't started doing that. I have them in the big Home Depot concrete mixing tubs and have yet to find a low enough profile wheel but they have wood blocks to chew (and they use them) and lots of room and they climb on the bottom of the hardware mesh. Actually they have to jump up a bit to get to the top where the food is so maybe that helps keep down idle food wasting.

I wonder if it helps at all that I also give a little bird seed daily. The guy I got them from reported that the babies grow faster with some seed and they seem to like it even though they always have the Mazuri 6F available. Maybe there is some extra thing they crave from the seeds? I just brought back a bucket of soybeans from my dad’s farm so will be interesting to see how they like that as a treat.

I have one tub that always does it, one option is to get smaller screens to chew through, if you cant do that then just do not replace the food until the next cleaning. Im not sure but I would think that they hate eating their now chewed up pee swelled food and do not do it was much anymore.

i have one tub of asf's like that. i just give them a little each day about the same amount my other tubs usually eat in a day.

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

I have one tub that always does it, one option is to get smaller screens to chew through, if you cant do that then just do not replace the food until the next cleaning. Im not sure but I would think that they hate eating their now chewed up pee swelled food and do not do it was much anymore.

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I would not suggest this. You do not want your feeders to be hungry at all or with our water they will turn on each other. Just because they have a food source that they ruined does not mean they will eat it.

I would suggest giving them a smaller amount like a previous poster said and see how that goes. Also be sure you have lots for them to do. I have about 6 little blocks of wood, a wheel, and a hopper for them to climb on. They have yet to waste food like that.

But remember I have only had mine for two weeks so I do not know a whole lot about them. Just what i have researched.

the wheel oh man do they love it . .you can wake up at night and hear that thing just a turning . I shocked that the ynot made a ball bearing type lol.. plus I watch the one mom thiss morning tring totake the baby for a run in her mouth as she ran on the wheel. I actually need ot pick up a 3rd whell and at least 4 more water bottles cause they killing an 8 oz bottle every 12 hours ( and my rat kill a 16 in a 24 ) and the rats stink a lot worse. I am gonig to keep my asf colonies going and freeze off the rats for the one boa I got then just order rats once in a while frozen for her. until I think she need rabbits .. the asf are split into 3 tubs (with at least 2 more going to be needed by the spring if they keep up this rate of pinkie dropping. ) I wil be settign up a single tub for local pet stores and people to aquire direct from me. and keepnig at least 2-3 tanks to keep my count up high and I want to keep mixing the babies up about every other litter -aka toss them all into a single container and split the pups up again to keep the gene pool as wide as possible .

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Originally Posted by hoax

I would not suggest this. You do not want your feeders to be hungry at all or with our water they will turn on each other. Just because they have a food source that they ruined does not mean they will eat it.

I would suggest giving them a smaller amount like a previous poster said and see how that goes. Also be sure you have lots for them to do. I have about 6 little blocks of wood, a wheel, and a hopper for them to climb on. They have yet to waste food like that.

But remember I have only had mine for two weeks so I do not know a whole lot about them. Just what i have researched.

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Works for me:weirdface You can give them a smaller amount but they will just shred that too. Some people say they give them a small amount in a bowl, but trust me, food will go by faster that way because half the time they will shred that all over the place when you think they are eating it.

the only time they will turn on each other in my experiance is when they have no water.

Ive been giving sunflower seeds & dog bisciuts to let them chew on,seems like they are eating more block & not shreding it.

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

Works for me:weirdface You can give them a smaller amount but they will just shred that too. Some people say they give them a small amount in a bowl, but trust me, food will go by faster that way because half the time they will shred that all over the place when you think they are eating it.

the only time they will turn on each other in my experiance is when they have no water.

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I'm sorry, but withholding food is not teaching these animals that they shouldn't crumble their food! That's irresponsible to think that if they run through it, they will somehow learn a lesson.

How is it that I have no problems with food crumblers unless they're under great distress? (like breaking up a colony)

I give them seeds, toilet paper rolls, blocks of wood, deep aspen, left over bread, dog treats, mainly just things to destroy and keep them busy. I keep their numbers light, I wean early...

Your fooling yourself if you honestly think that your teaching these animals a lesson by not refilling food once they've crumbled it.

Remember, they need to chew to keep their teeth worn. If they didn't their teeth would grow too long and they will starve. If they grow extra long, it will grow right into their skulls.