DIY Rat Lab Blocks

[breederfeeder]

Has anyone baked their own rat lab blocks as a way to cost savings? I saw some chicken/hog feed seems ideal except some of them are too small and break part too easy to work well in a rack type of system. Not to mention mice constantly spread out food everywhere.

[breederfeeder]

let me clarify what I mean, I want to take animal feed that little loose and compact it enough so it doesnt break apart easily. Any suggestions? Also, do lab blocks help wear away mice teeth?

[wolfy-hound]

You can grind up unmedicated sow feed pellets and then add water, then form into larger chunks BUT....

The reason the chunk of lab block(or any large chunk feed) is so sturdy and hard is because it's forced through a die that shapes it. Just rolling it out and cutting blocks will give you a more crumbly block that the rodents will probably easily break apart, leading to the waste that you're trying to prevent.

Also, getting the proper ingredients cheap enough to make your own block, to be cheaper than food premade by a company would be near impossible, imo. They buy in tons, paying much less.

Right now, my rats are eating the Doggy Bag dog food from Tractor Supply. I had doubts that a dog food could work but other members were swearing by it so I gave it a shot. The rats seem to be doing pretty well on it, it's larger chunks and it's incredibly cheap.

[breederfeeder]

I give my mice TS doggy bag too they seem to be fine with it. I will see if the next litter size will change with it.


Mice in the wild eat corn, does anyone give their mice feed whole corn how does it work so far?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnyHnZUL7Co

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...b?cm_vc=-10005

[wolfy-hound]

Mice in the wild eat a lot of things, including corn IF they live near corn farms. They can eat whole kernal corn if you add some to their diet, but they should not be given only corn.

[breederfeeder]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ADTq3lsuJ4

I guess something like this pvc pipe, maybe fender washers and a c clamp. Dump my food waste into the pipe and clamp it into a food brick for the mice.

[breederfeeder]

my first attempt to make a veggies block. I took some leftover veggies and compacted as much as possible with a c-clamp and iron pipe. The veggies were frozen before. Next time I think i will compact them when not frozen. My plan is to remove as much water from the veggies so it doesn't as fast and more food to help wear their teeth.