Green Oasis Reptiles
New member
Okay, I've never been an advocate of "lab blocks"...yes, I know, some science student who did his thesis on the dietary requirements of lab rodents probably made a fortune selling his ideal "formula" to the companies that produce the stuff, and yes, it probably covers all the bases as far as the nutritional health of the intended prey items. But...how BORING must it be (and I daresay, not very healthy at all) to consume nothing but a "ration" block all the time? Rodents need a variety of healthy foods! Even (or more appropriately "especially") if they are intended to be food for OTHER animals.
So, in doing my OWN research into the subject of rodent diet, I came up with a "recipe" that I have been using with great success for my feeder/breeders for quite some time now. In the interest of community, I present it here to you, because, as I noted another user quoting in another thread, "healthy feeders = healthy snakes" ...that has been my motto since I started the whole "feeder breeding" operation!
The recipe is:
4 parts (Iams) puppy food
3 parts "songbird" wild bird food
1 part chicken scratch
1/2 part puffed rice, cracker crumbs, dog biscuits, etc.
Now a bit more on the parts:
Iams Puppy Food: I use Iams puppy food because I found that it has the best ingredients & protein ratio (I raise a lot of hairless rats & they need more protein to keep their body temp up). This part is the main bulk of the food, so you want it to be the best. Iams puppy food also contains NO RED DYE! It is VERY important that if you're varying the brands or types of foods you use to *never* use anything containing red dye in it (some parrot foods have little "kibble" pieces that are suspect). It will not harm the rodents you feed it to, but it will build up in the reptiles' kidneys/liver and produce a toxic effect eventually, which could be their demise. Since I feed mostly rats/hairless rats, I use 4 parts of this ingredient, but if you're feeding mice or ASFs, they prefer more grain, so, they will do better with only 3 parts of this (that's good, because it's not cheap!) ;^)
"Songbird" Wild Bird Food: I found this at "Buy Me Crap"-Mart. It has just the right proportion of black sunflower seeds, peanuts, cracked corn, millet, sorghum & dried fruits. I haven't found any other like it, so I just continue to use this. I might post a pic of it later, for ease of locating, but I'll have to buy more first!
Chicken Scratch: We also have chickens, so, I use some of their food to "round out" the rats' food with more grains (wheat, millet, more corn, etc) I suppose if chicken scratch wasn't available, you could either leave this part out, or substitute a more "seedy" bird food for it (plenty of millet, sorghum, cracked corn, wheat, etc)
Puffed Rice: Again, from "Buy Me Crap"-mart. This is really just for a "treat"...the rodents really like it, but sometimes I will also use cracker crumbs, crumbled stale bread or tortilla chips, old granola from a "health" kick...anything that's not overly processed or containing red dye (old cereal is good, so long as it's not anything like Froot Loops!) The point of this part is to just give them a "treat"...so, if you don't have anything to make up this part, it's fine to just skip it.
Mix this all up & feed one Tbsp per animal/day for rats, 1/2 Tbsp (or less!) per animal/day for mice, & 1/2 Tbsp (or less!) for ASFs. Don't overfeed! I realize that most people use racks with a "bin" for lab blocks...even when I FINALLY have racks, I'm still going to feed my mix in bowls. That's how much better I think it is! :^P
As far as cost...this mix costs me about $30 a month (or less) to feed 50+ rats. I'm sure you can probably feed them cheaper on lab blocks...I don't know...but, I like this mix...I know what's in it...and my rats love it too!
Oh, and another note: I also give my rats puppy biscuits every few days or so, to help with the need to gnaw...but they don't really *need" that...it's just something extra I do for them.
Good Luck! Never give up...Never surrender!
So, in doing my OWN research into the subject of rodent diet, I came up with a "recipe" that I have been using with great success for my feeder/breeders for quite some time now. In the interest of community, I present it here to you, because, as I noted another user quoting in another thread, "healthy feeders = healthy snakes" ...that has been my motto since I started the whole "feeder breeding" operation!
The recipe is:
4 parts (Iams) puppy food
3 parts "songbird" wild bird food
1 part chicken scratch
1/2 part puffed rice, cracker crumbs, dog biscuits, etc.
Now a bit more on the parts:
Iams Puppy Food: I use Iams puppy food because I found that it has the best ingredients & protein ratio (I raise a lot of hairless rats & they need more protein to keep their body temp up). This part is the main bulk of the food, so you want it to be the best. Iams puppy food also contains NO RED DYE! It is VERY important that if you're varying the brands or types of foods you use to *never* use anything containing red dye in it (some parrot foods have little "kibble" pieces that are suspect). It will not harm the rodents you feed it to, but it will build up in the reptiles' kidneys/liver and produce a toxic effect eventually, which could be their demise. Since I feed mostly rats/hairless rats, I use 4 parts of this ingredient, but if you're feeding mice or ASFs, they prefer more grain, so, they will do better with only 3 parts of this (that's good, because it's not cheap!) ;^)
"Songbird" Wild Bird Food: I found this at "Buy Me Crap"-Mart. It has just the right proportion of black sunflower seeds, peanuts, cracked corn, millet, sorghum & dried fruits. I haven't found any other like it, so I just continue to use this. I might post a pic of it later, for ease of locating, but I'll have to buy more first!
Chicken Scratch: We also have chickens, so, I use some of their food to "round out" the rats' food with more grains (wheat, millet, more corn, etc) I suppose if chicken scratch wasn't available, you could either leave this part out, or substitute a more "seedy" bird food for it (plenty of millet, sorghum, cracked corn, wheat, etc)
Puffed Rice: Again, from "Buy Me Crap"-mart. This is really just for a "treat"...the rodents really like it, but sometimes I will also use cracker crumbs, crumbled stale bread or tortilla chips, old granola from a "health" kick...anything that's not overly processed or containing red dye (old cereal is good, so long as it's not anything like Froot Loops!) The point of this part is to just give them a "treat"...so, if you don't have anything to make up this part, it's fine to just skip it.
Mix this all up & feed one Tbsp per animal/day for rats, 1/2 Tbsp (or less!) per animal/day for mice, & 1/2 Tbsp (or less!) for ASFs. Don't overfeed! I realize that most people use racks with a "bin" for lab blocks...even when I FINALLY have racks, I'm still going to feed my mix in bowls. That's how much better I think it is! :^P
As far as cost...this mix costs me about $30 a month (or less) to feed 50+ rats. I'm sure you can probably feed them cheaper on lab blocks...I don't know...but, I like this mix...I know what's in it...and my rats love it too!
Oh, and another note: I also give my rats puppy biscuits every few days or so, to help with the need to gnaw...but they don't really *need" that...it's just something extra I do for them.
Good Luck! Never give up...Never surrender!