Who uses Native Earth food?

[kc261]

I have read that the pellets are smaller than other lab blocks. How small? Does it work to feed it through 1/2" hardware cloth, or will it fall through? I'm a little afraid to order it and then find out it doesn't work in my feeding system.

If anyone has (or can take) a picture of the blocks on some 1/2" hardware cloth, that'd be great! Thanks!

[satomi325]

It's about the same size as other lab blocks. It works fine in a rack and 1/2 hardware cloth.

It's Hog feed that is small and falls through hardware cloth.

[Kat_Dog]

Native earth is awesome. Works perfectly with 1/2 wire cloth.

This is how big native earth is:


Not my pic, got it from a forum.

[sorraia]

I use native earth, no problem with 1/2"wire mesh. I buy from petfooddirect/pet360 or Amazon, whoever has the cheapest price at the time with shipping and tax included, taking into account available coupons. Usually its the former.

[kc261]

Thanks every one! I'll place an order today and see how my rats do on it.

Another thing I'm slightly worried about is that Mazuri supposedly has an ingredient (I don't remember which ingredient) that reduces odor, and I haven't seen that mentioned in the Native Earth info I read. I haven't exactly done an exhaustive search though. I just figure I'll find out if my nose likes or dislikes how my rats smell when eating the different diet soon enough! Has any one who has used both foods noticed that one or the other is better for minimizing odors?

[tprdevore]

I switched over to Native Earth from Mazuri about a month ago. The smell for me has not changed at all. I have noticed they seem to eat more of the \NE compared to Mazuri though. Seems like i'm filling the food hoppers up more often.

[artgecko]

I feed NE. Can't give input on the odor... Mine are inside and do not stink given weekly substrate changes. That said, try adding some vanilla extract (I use about 14 drops into a large water bottle). The VE seems to really help the odor and has no ill effects that I can tell. You do have to use the real vanilla extract though, not the imitation.

[JohnNJ]

I go through more NE than Mazuri but I'm not sure it's because they like it more. I think the NE block is more fragile/softer than Mazuri so it crumbles. There is more dust in the NE bag. When both are given the NE goes faster which may be because it's easier to get through the screen.

[satomi325]

Pound for pound, I'm still running out of NE at the same time as when I used to feed Mazuri.

The excess dust is annoying. But you can mix it with water in a baking pan, rebake, and re-feed.

Or if you have insect colonies, just dump the dust in there.

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