Dog food?

[Aric]

Today I was looking on the Mazuri site for local places to get the food and then I printed off the list of what the mazuri food contains, I then took it and looked at our dog food.

The dog food I was looking at has

18% Crude Protein
6% Crude Fat
6% Crude Fiber
12% Moisture

do those sound ok to feed the rats?

[jglass38]

Its not just the nutritional profile but also the what is used to reach those percentages. You can have a high quality lab block and a low quality dog food that have the same nutritional profile but are worlds apart. I am sure Becky can offer some more info..

[Aric]

the main ingredients in the food are

Corn Gluten feed, Wheat Middlings, Ground yellow corn, meat and bone meal, Calcium carbonate, soybean meal, Animal fat (preserved with BHA), Salt, Brewers dried yeast, brewers dried grain, dried whey.

[jglass38]

What's the brand?

[Evan Jamison]

Rodents (and most animals for that matter) don't digest corn very well, or at least don't derive much nutrition from it, though it is used as a filler in many animal feeds. I have used dog food in a pinch on occasion, but only until the next rodent food order arrives. If you do use dog food, even on occasion, only buy those that have no dyes, especially red dye in them.

-Evan

[Aric]

What's the brand?

I believe its called ValueTime, we were out late one night and had to stop and get some food. Its the only stuff they had. Ive looked at other top of the line named dog foods and most had WAY to high protein and wasnt this close to the mazuri ingredients.

[Aric]

Rodents (and most animals for that matter) don't digest corn very well, or at least don't derive much nutrition from it, though it is used as a filler in many animal feeds. I have used dog food in a pinch on occasion, but only until the next rodent food order arrives. If you do use dog food, even on occasion, only buy those that have no dyes, especially red dye in them.

-Evan

The food has no dyes in it at all, I might try a pinch just until I can get out and get some mazuri, that is if it sounds alright?

[SatanicIntention]

Get some Wellness Senior it doesn't contain any fillers, artificial preservatives, by-products, nadda. Just whole, organic actual food. It does cost $12 for a 8lb bag. You can also make ALOT of my food mix for under $20. I feed all an all-organic mix to my rats(25+) and the way I mix it, it costs around $60 and lasts 4-5 months. Just something to think about. I feed that and lab blocks in conjunction with each other, and the rats thrive. If you have a WalMart, you can easily pick up enough cereals/grains to make alot of food, and it will cost very little.

I wouldn't trust that dog "food" to be nutritious for anything but the mold that might be growing in it. Generic brands are all the same, all are crap and all have the nutritional value of beef-flavored cardboard.

[kellysballs]

I dont know if this will help but here is a scan of the Mazuri ingredent label