a must read about rodent diet

[Raptor]

The Mazuri found in pet store is highly expensive and cannot compare to the Mazuri for animal used as feeders.

Mazuri 6F which is used for feeders cost about $20/$25 for a 50lbs bag (depending on your area), this can be found/ordered in/by feed stores carrying purina

I have a max of about twenty mice. Ordering that much food would be overkill. I'll just stick to dog food. Cheaper and easier to get.

[SnakeKB]

Hog Feed for the Soft Furs (Tub Setup) and Dog Food for the Rats (Rack Setup). Im getting an average of 10 soft furs per litter with the hog feed. Im still waiting for the Rats because ive only had them 2-3 weeks now.

Check out the ingredients of what everyone uses. They all consist roughly of the same stuff. Nothing far out of the ordinary of what rats shouldnt have. As far as the smell, thats just the nature of the animal. Your not gonna make poop smell good. No matter what. Ive found the rats dont smell too bad if there in a decently ventilated area and cleaned often. And my Soft Furs dont smell at all. I keep them in my room and i have roughly 50 of them right now.

[Shenzi Sixaxis]

While I know people have good luck with Mazuri, people have good luck with hog feed or another brand of lab block, people have good luck with cat/dog food and table scraps, and rats out in the wild do good on garbage and foraging our gardens.

While I DO believe we should feed good food to our rodents, crappy dog food is crappy for dogs. Because many Walmart brands are made with mostly grains and fillers, it is actually quite good for rodents. Feeding two different brands, tossing in a bit of cat food, some lab blocks from wherever, table scraps, oat meal, and other things is just fine as well. I don't do the two brands, but I am doing everything else + whatever we had for dinner that night, and I have healthy rats and a litter on the way from one female for sure.
And once that bag of dog food runs out (hell, that's a GOOD dog food, Nature's Recipe), I'll be using the 14% hog feed at Walmart.

The only thing I think EVERYONE should do is avoid food dyes, as I heard something about the Red 40 dye being bad for snakes, but anything else goes, I think. Everyone else is going to have different results, but all input is helpful to everyone.

[suzuki4life]

show me an article that says a red dye fed to a rat is bad for the snake please.

I switched my stuff to the doggie bag dog food and the only thing I have noticed is that I am saving $10+ a bag. I don't have to order it in special like Mazuri. I am not limited to suppliers, I can get it at all TSC stores.

[wilomn]

show me an article that says a red dye fed to a rat is bad for the snake please.

I switched my stuff to the doggie bag dog food and the only thing I have noticed is that I am saving $10+ a bag. I don't have to order it in special like Mazuri. I am not limited to suppliers, I can get it at all TSC stores.

What kind of food do you use?

[Raptor]

show me an article that says a red dye fed to a rat is bad for the snake please.

I switched my stuff to the doggie bag dog food and the only thing I have noticed is that I am saving $10+ a bag. I don't have to order it in special like Mazuri. I am not limited to suppliers, I can get it at all TSC stores.

I'd say that when the dog food has so much red dye in it that it makes the dog crap red..Then it's over kill.

[SnakeKB]

I use the doggy bag dog food from tractor supply too. It's like 12$ for 40lbs.

[suzuki4life]

What kind of food do you use?

It is actually called "doggie bag"..

Tractor supply has it.

If I lived where Kent was available, I would use that.

[suzuki4life]

I'd say that when the dog food has so much red dye in it that it makes the dog crap red..Then it's over kill.

snakes will eat many things in the wild covered in ticks, mites, and loaded with infection and disease. If you ate ONE item only like a dog on kibble does, your crap would change colors also. Don't judge it by that.

[BAMReptiles]

the only thing i dont get is, you people always talk about low protein. then why on the purnia brand DEVELOPED by SCIENTISTS for BREEDER lab rodents, which are held to a far higher standard, do they use 23% protein? idc where it comes from, but ill bet my money on the smart people who develop it with far stricter standards in mind. just my 2 cents