Colony Collapse - Food Tainted

[littleindiangirl]

That is great news! I hope that it was just a bug, and not poisoned food.

I pulled Mazuri last night, no one was dead or sick, but I wasn't about to take any chances until Purina gets back with me.





edit: Just a side note for other readers, chocolate is okay as a small treat for rats, giving it as a treat is okay... just don't overdo it, as it may be toxic in large amounts...
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/ratchoc.htm

[Bradford Cole]

If hooded females are of interest call me...I can hook you up with some...

[Dr Owens]

Does anyone have any sort of proof that there is a problem with Purina's products, or are people just jumping to conclusions?

Lord Jackel said that he was feeding a custom blend that was "similar" to Purina's product.

[littleindiangirl]

Purina foods is doing the testing...as my supplier is owned by them. I agree with you when they told me what is was I asked the same question. That is why the Food and Drug Admin is involved...I am still piecing this together. But if I had to guess the grain used was from one of those batches of bad grain from last year. I received the batch in Dec...which means it was pry made in Oct/Nov....so it is very possible the grain came in earlier.

The world may never know...or at least I may never know.

Sean,

I have been breeding rats for a while I have a breeding colony of a bout 75. I feed Muzzri 6f just went and got two new bags a week or so ago. Walked in last night to 3 dead rats different ages, different sexes different ages, different tubs, called around and this thread came up. I came out this morning and 3 more dead. I am scrambling to get this under control I have moved them to a meal mix of my own but I fear the damage is done.

Any help would be hot.

Well, two different products... both someway or another owned by Purina. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Dr Owens]

I'd rather be safe than sorry.

I can understand that, but it just seems like people are jumping to a lot of conclusions.

I have been feeding a couple hundred pounds a month (at least) of Mazuri 6f...and I haven't lost a rat yet...unless it was in a snake cage.

[Louis Kirkland]

I can understand that, but it just seems like people are jumping to a lot of conclusions.

I have been feeding a couple hundred pounds a month (at least) of Mazuri 6f...and I haven't lost a rat yet...unless it was in a snake cage.

We go through 100-150 pounds of Mazuri 6F per week and so far have not experienced any problems or losses (outside of snake tubs ). I have contacted my supplier, who in turn contacted Purina. Purina is saying that they have no knowledge of any problem with the feed in question. I will post an update if anything changes.

[MarkS]

I can understand that, but it just seems like people are jumping to a lot of conclusions.

It's not that big of a jump. It seems that Purina is concerned about this as well, otherwise why would they be doing the testing? And it appears that it's their testing that found the cause. I'm glad they did, maybe they can nip it in the bud before it gets worse.

Purina foods is doing the testing...as my supplier is owned by them. I agree with you when they told me what is was I asked the same question. That is why the Food and Drug Admin is involved...I am still piecing this together. But if I had to guess the grain used was from one of those batches of bad grain from last year. I received the batch in Dec...which means it was pry made in Oct/Nov....so it is very possible the grain came in earlier.

[Dr Owens]

It seems that Purina is concerned about this as well, otherwise why would they be doing the testing?

Because they would be stupid to ignore a possible problem such as this. Of course they're concerned...Purina apparently owns the supplier who produced the contaminated food. Purina is doing the testing because they have the laboratory capability to actually do the testing...something a local mill doesn't even begin to have the resources to do. However, to say that all Purina products might be contaminated just because one small supplier (who is reportedly owned by Purina) produced a contaminated product in a mill that is small enough to produce product for an individual is a bit of a stretch. Nestle Purina is a huge company with many different mills located all over the country. The odds of one of the big Purina mills (which produce their main product lines) having overlooked a problem such as this is remote...however, it's not impossible. I just think that people should recognize the risk for what it is, and not over react.

And it appears that it's their testing that found the cause.

That may be the case, but was this fact definitively stated?

This statement was made:

After a lot of research and testing it was determined that the soybean meal (from Korea) was tainted with Formaldehyde.

But I'm not aware that this testing was done by Purina. (However, I could have overlooked something.)


BTW...For the record, I don't work for Purina or anything, so I'm not trying to defend them. However, I have been around the feed and grain industry all of my life, so I know a little bit about how it works...and some of the concerns being expressed here don't appear to be substantiated by the evidence.

[littleindiangirl]

Purina did test the food according to the previous posts...:

...Fast forward to today...I have 10 rats left (of 300!!!). After a lot of research and testing it was determined that the soybean meal (from Korea) was tainted with Formaldehyde. I have the food and drug admin involved but will pry never know what happened...

Who do you bring it in to for testing? How much does the testing cost? This sounds so much like the contaminated pet food from last year where peoples dogs and cats were all dying from renal failure due to contaminated feed from China. Why is one of the largest grain producing countries in the world importing grain from Asia?

Purina foods is doing the testing...as my supplier is owned by them. I agree with you when they told me what is was I asked the same question. That is why the Food and Drug Admin is involved...I am still piecing this together...

The world may never know...or at least I may never know...

I don't know where we've overreacted anywhere. Pulling Mazuri only was ever stated at after Freakie Frog commented on the mysterious deaths in his colony.

He stated he had just recently opened bags of Mazuri 6F as well. I don't think it's far fetched to say he could have gotten the same batch of soy bean meal. Only him having it tested will confirm that it was the food causing deaths.

This isn't the first time Purina has had tainted feed. Look at the recalls on dog and cat food just months ago. I think riding on those curtails, it's not over-reacting to stop using any Mazuri or Purina feed until something firm has been stated by Purina or the FDA.

Caution is not over reacting. It's simply taking preventative measures to keep yourself from any risks.

[Freakie_frog]

Heres my two cents, Sean was having an issue with a Purina food, lost 300 rats. I get a new shipment of Purina food and in 24 hours 7 of mine die.

Now I can't afford to replace 75-100 rats right here a couple of months before I am expecting little snakes to feed. Not including the 80 a month I already feed. Plus the rats I sale.

I also can't afford to loose my snakes because I ignored something that any responsible breeder should pay attention to, and fed a poison rat to my 3000.00 female mojave.

It is also easy to say some one is over reacting when your on the other side of the story with no issues, not having to worry about how if all your breeder rats die how will you feed 20+adult ball pythons and an unknown number of hatchling at 2.50 a rat and still replace you 100 + 300 lost rats and time building you colony back.

The odds of one of the big Purina mills (which produce their main product lines) having overlooked a problem such as this is remote...however, it's not impossible.

And yet this year 600+ pets died from just such an issue. But not from 1 food brand but hundreds that had over looked just such an issue that was "remote". But we shouldn't over react right I mean it not like it has happened before....OOPPPs ..I mean you can't blame them or worry it was only hundreds of pets and hundreds of brands.

I just think that people should recognize the risk for what it is, and not over react.

Yes a risk like handing a gun to a child is a risk. Driving drunk is a risk. Swimming in shark infested waters is a risk. Risks are something that once made aware of, people tend to go out of their way to avoid. Saying I don't want to knowingly feed my rats a possibly contaminated food and letting others that might also benefit from my loss know of the risk is not over reacting its called being aware of my responsibility's as a rat breeder and doing what I can to ensure the well being of animals I have taken in to my care.