dog food and breeding rats

[PitOnTheProwl]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pro...g?cm_vc=-10005

This one?

[Stewart_Reptiles]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pro...g?cm_vc=-10005

This one?

Yep

[MarkS]

I used to use the sprout complete from Fleet Farm which I think it pretty much the same thing as the TCS doggy bag just with Fleet Farms brand name.

protein content/fat is pretty much the same anyway.

[kwright]

still having deaths. 1 to 3 a day. hoping to get it under control. ive switched to doggy bag. of course I have sneezing rats now. ill check on them and everyone appears to be in good shape. come back 12 hours later and usually have 1 or 2 that has just fell over dead. ive introduced tetracycline (antibiotics) into my water system. I have a gravity fed system. hopefully I don't have issues with cloggage.

So my question is, if I have these rats fall over dead, is it safe to go ahead and feed them off to snakes, or should they just be thrown out. currently ive just been throwing them away, but if I can still use them as food and not get anyone else sick that would be the way to go.

also I heard apple cider vinegar can reduce illness? has anyone ever heard of this or used this in their own setup?

[MarkS]

I seriously doubt that they're dying off that quickly due to liver failure. I would suspect some kind of toxin instead. In which case I wouldn't feed them to my snakes.

[Stewart_Reptiles]

still having deaths. 1 to 3 a day. hoping to get it under control. ive switched to doggy bag. of course I have sneezing rats now. ill check on them and everyone appears to be in good shape. come back 12 hours later and usually have 1 or 2 that has just fell over dead. ive introduced tetracycline (antibiotics) into my water system. I have a gravity fed system. hopefully I don't have issues with cloggage.

So my question is, if I have these rats fall over dead, is it safe to go ahead and feed them off to snakes, or should they just be thrown out. currently ive just been throwing them away, but if I can still use them as food and not get anyone else sick that would be the way to go.

also I heard apple cider vinegar can reduce illness? has anyone ever heard of this or used this in their own setup?

There is obviously something going on in your colony it does not mean it is food related.

Personally I would not feed a feeder that I found dead to one of my snake and I would be reluctant to feed anything coming out of a colony that is dropping dead not knowing the cause.

It is possible that you have to start your colony from scratch again if you cannot get this under control.

Did you add new rats to your colony recently? If you did, did you quarentine them?

[JoshSloane]

I would stay away from dog food if you can, at all cost. When I used to breed rats I had the same situation with multiple random deaths occurring weekly until my whole colony was dead. I had a world renowned veterinary pathologist perform a necropsy and the majority of the dead animals had massive organ failure, including liver and kidneys.

Rodent block that is used in laboratories is a much better option, and does not cost anymore than dog food. All of the rats in our facility thrive on it, breeding prolifically.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Rodent block that is used in laboratories is a much better option, and does not cost anymore than dog food.

Right?!?!
Where???
Mazuri is $26.99 a bag here and Purina is $32.99
I do feed Mazuri but compared to Doggy Bag the cost is 0.22 cents per pound more.

Granted I do pay close to $60 a bad for our dogs food.

[JoshSloane]

Right?!?!
Where???
Mazuri is $26.99 a bag here and Purina is $32.99
I do feed Mazuri but compared to Doggy Bag the cost is 0.22 cents per pound more.

Granted I do pay close to $60 a bad for our dogs food.

Harlan lab block is ~28$ for 33 pounds. The premium dog food I was feeding the rats was about 45$ for a 33 pound bag.

[PitOnTheProwl]

Harlan lab block is ~28$ for 33 pounds. The premium dog food I was feeding the rats was about 45$ for a 33 pound bag.

Do you get it local?
I didn't factor that one is because now that they don't do free shipping its not even worth typing about.