help with ASF diet, what is good to feed them?

[SquamishSerpents]

hey all, just wondering about some foods for my ASF's. i've been having issues with finding babies dead. they haven't been fighting (well, i haven't HEARD them rumbling or squeeling), the dead ones didn't look like they were attacked or eaten, they were just laying there dead.

the breeder i got them from suggested the adults may not be getting enough nutrition and just stop nursing them sometimes.

i was looking up their staple diet (Step 2 Extruded Horse Crunch)to see the nutritional breakdown, and i see there are 2 separate versions of the food i'm giving them. which ones looks more appropriate to you? i don't know which one i have them on right now! i wasn't aware there were 2 and i got it delivered from a buddy last time. but anyways, here's the breakdown:





that's their staple food, it's in their tubs all day everyday. i've also incorporated some superworms (which they got freaking NUTS for!), trail mix (peanuts, almonds cashews, whatever other nuts are in there), they eat the bread loaf ends, i've given them some carrots tonight, and somebody suggested finch seed mix/millet. does this sound like it will spruce up their diet enough? is there anything else i can supplement them with on a regular basis which will keep their nutrition up?

thanks!

ETA: i just dug the bag out of my deep freeze, the one i'm feeding them is the 2nd photo. 10% fat. it doesn't say "Peak Sweet" on the bag though? i'm confused. next time i'm going to have to drive the 2 hrs to the feed place myself to compare the different crunches.

[spitzu]

Just an observation, your food has almost 4% less protein and 4% more fat than the Mazuri 6F that I feed, and I don't supplement their diets at all.

I do have the occasional tub with dead hoppers. From what I could tell it's either the mothers not doing their jobs or the babies getting trampled when the adults fight. Either way those groups are worthless and get fed off.

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[llovelace]

the fat & fiber content is tooo high, I feed hog feed as a staple 3% fat, 5 % fiber.

[SquamishSerpents]

Just an observation, your food has almost 4% less protein and 4% more fat than the Mazuri 6F that I feed, and I don't supplement their diets at all.

I do have the occasional tub with dead hoppers. From what I could tell it's either the mothers not doing their jobs or the babies getting trampled when the adults fight. Either way those groups are worthless and get fed off.

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so more protein, less fat? i can't get my hands on Mazuri 6F up here in Canada. trust me, i've tried! but seriously getting things in the reptile hobby just seems like pullin' teeth in Canada. just to get a set of probes it's going to be like $60 because of shipping from the states. can't get big bales of aspen easily, can't get 6F, etc. it's sooooo frustrating!

the fat & fiber content is tooo high, I feed hog feed as a staple 3% fat, 5 % fiber.

hmm. most of the people here in the lower mainland are feeding the Step 2 Extruded like i am, but most of them have quit breeding them because they just take too long to get up to size. i'm stuck with breeding ASF as feeders, because i breed them in my office in a rental suite and i cannot go with any of the stinkier rats.

what are some brands of hog feed? which one do you feed, and what is it's nutritional breakdown?

i got them a bag of sunflower seeds from CT the other day...should i take it back? i assume they're pretty high in fibre and fat as well, so if i already have too much of that i should stay away from them i suppose.

[SquamishSerpents]

okay so i spoke with my local pet store and she is bringing me in a bag of hog feed. i'm just wondering if they're all pretty generic or if there are certain hog feeds that are better? i don't know which brand she is bringing or, or the nutritional content but i will post it here when i get the bag.

[SquamishSerpents]

spamming my own thread!

thought i could come back and edit but i guess i waited too long. anyways, i'm pretty sure the pet store is getting the hog feed from ProForm, and i just did a search on their website and it says they have these types of hog feed:

Starter
Grower
Finisher
Supplement
Premix

but the website doesn't provide any of the nutritional breakdowns. which one of these should i most likely be using for my ASFs?

[KLMuller]

I have been using the purena hog feed grower and my ASF's have been doing very well on it

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[SquamishSerpents]

thanks! is there any chance you can post a photo of the bag? or the nutritional breakdown?

looking at the Purina site, there are SO many different types!

http://swine.purinamills.com/OurProd...W/default.aspx

like i said i *think* it's ProForm that my pet store is going to bring in, but i at least want to match the nutrition as close as possible.

[llovelace]

Purina makes country acres hog feed also, it's 16% protein

[SquamishSerpents]

Okay, thanks so much! not sure if Purina is available up here but I will definitely look into it.