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Rat Food

S

suecornish

New member
My husband go a trio of rats the other month; a male and two females. He was told to feed them bird food. Well, me, decided to slip them some veggies and fruit; you know, peelings from cantalope, the ends of root veggies that would be thrown away, left over strawberries, etc.

I still wonder how nutricious the babies are for our snakes. So far the rat pinkies and fuzzys get eaten fast because none of the snakes are eating anything bigger than that.

Does anyone have a food fomular for their rats that is better than table scraps and bird food?
 
This is gonna sound weird, but it's actually very true.
In the past i've fed our rats a brand of rodent food said to be fit for every type of rodent. They didn't do well on it, so i switched to rat specific food. This was slightly better. But then i spoke to a fellow snake keeper who also breeds rats, and he told me he feeds his rats pig food because they are omnivorous (hope my translation of that word is correct, if not, sorry :) )
Now they have been feeding on (organic) pig food for over a year, and they look great! Their fur shines, they have healthy offspring, just general great health. Bonus for them is the fact that they actually love it, haha.
And in my opinion, if the rats are in great health, the nutrition value for the snake that feeds on them is also good.
Hope this helps.
 
J&SReptiles said:
This is gonna sound weird, but it's actually very true.
In the past i've fed our rats a brand of rodent food said to be fit for every type of rodent. They didn't do well on it, so i switched to rat specific food. This was slightly better. But then i spoke to a fellow snake keeper who also breeds rats, and he told me he feeds his rats pig food because they are omnivorous (hope my translation of that word is correct, if not, sorry :) )
Now they have been feeding on (organic) pig food for over a year, and they look great! Their fur shines, they have healthy offspring, just general great health. Bonus for them is the fact that they actually love it, haha.
And in my opinion, if the rats are in great health, the nutrition value for the snake that feeds on them is also good.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...


This is what I have been trying to tell my husband. The food item is only as good as the food it eats. How healthy is a rat that is feed on bird seed. I did a search and Petsmart sells several good types of rat/mouse food. Now if I could just get my husband to be welling to shell out the extra bucks for the better food.

After I posted this I sort of mentally hit myself in the head because all I needed to do was a Google.
 
I feed a mix I make myself. I go to the local feed store and buy grains in 50 pound bags. So here is my recipe. 50 pounds of each ingredient.

Whole Corn
Wheat
Milo
Oats
Black Oil Sunflower seeds
22% (protien) turkey pellets
16% (protien) chicken lay pellets
Low fat cheap cat food

That makes a total of 400 pounds. I mix it up and put it back in the bags the grains originally came in. It comes out to about the same crude analisis as does the lab pellets I supplement with. I ends up costing about $7.50 per 50 pounds.
 
I'm a firm follower of the give rodents RODENT FOOD if you want them to thrive the best. That means health, productivity, use as feeders, etc. - EVERYTHING. Fattier diets might give higher production for a limited time, but that means less beneficial as feeders. They've put millions of dollars into designing a "near perfect" diet for rodents. Do you think those places would be using rodent diet if dog food, catfish feed, pig diet, etc. was better - or even as good? Heck, no!

Just like with dog food, there are better and worse diets of rodent food. Duh. People that say science diet is better for their dog than "Old Roy" pretend that all rodent diet is the same. It's silly. Pay for the best diet, and your rodents will thrive if your husbandry is correct. PLUS, different lines of rodents will do better on different lines of diet - just like dogs again. Geez......lol.

BUT, supplementing rodents with extra food (table scraps, seeds, etc.) does NOT seem to hurt...and may improve them as feeders. I believe this is a case of "can't hurt and may help" AS A SUPPLEMENT. benefit from the millions spent on rodent diet research - go buy some GOOD rodent blocks and just give them supplements of table scraps. Best of both worlds - and DOES cut down on the price of rodent food in the long run. :)

Do a search on the forums HERE. There have been some recent discussions comparing a couple of the major diets....and I describe the one I have settled on after years and years of breeding various colonies of rodents. Just remember, you get what you pay for. :)

Good luck - and give them those supplements!
KJ
 
wade said:
I feed a mix I make myself. I go to the local feed store and buy grains in 50 pound bags. So here is my recipe. 50 pounds of each ingredient.

Whole Corn
Wheat
Milo
Oats
Black Oil Sunflower seeds
22% (protien) turkey pellets
16% (protien) chicken lay pellets
Low fat cheap cat food

That makes a total of 400 pounds. I mix it up and put it back in the bags the grains originally came in. It comes out to about the same crude analisis as does the lab pellets I supplement with. I ends up costing about $7.50 per 50 pounds.
Click to expand...

How long will it take three adult rats to eat 400 pounds of food?

Right now I have to get a different type of food bowl for them. One of the females had her litter last night and the aspen is piled all in one corner and it is covering the food bowl. Not only does the aspen get into the bowl but they crawl around in it, poop and who knows what else in it.
 
KJUN said:
I'm a firm follower of the give rodents RODENT FOOD if you want them to thrive the best. That means health, productivity, use as feeders, etc. - EVERYTHING. Fattier diets might give higher production for a limited time, but that means less beneficial as feeders. They've put millions of dollars into designing a "near perfect" diet for rodents. Do you think those places would be using rodent diet if dog food, catfish feed, pig diet, etc. was better - or even as good? Heck, no!

Just like with dog food, there are better and worse diets of rodent food. Duh. People that say science diet is better for their dog than "Old Roy" pretend that all rodent diet is the same. It's silly. Pay for the best diet, and your rodents will thrive if your husbandry is correct. PLUS, different lines of rodents will do better on different lines of diet - just like dogs again. Geez......lol.

BUT, supplementing rodents with extra food (table scraps, seeds, etc.) does NOT seem to hurt...and may improve them as feeders. I believe this is a case of "can't hurt and may help" AS A SUPPLEMENT. benefit from the millions spent on rodent diet research - go buy some GOOD rodent blocks and just give them supplements of table scraps. Best of both worlds - and DOES cut down on the price of rodent food in the long run. :)

Do a search on the forums HERE. There have been some recent discussions comparing a couple of the major diets....and I describe the one I have settled on after years and years of breeding various colonies of rodents. Just remember, you get what you pay for. :)

Good luck - and give them those supplements!
KJ
Click to expand...


You are/were using Harlan (recommendation in another post). I did a search and one site said it was now known as Native Earth. Are these the same? It looks like they offer 40 pounds for $20.
 
suecornish said:
You are/were using Harlan (recommendation in another post). I did a search and one site said it was now known as Native Earth. Are these the same? It looks like they offer 40 pounds for $20.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the Harlan/Teklad is what I use. I'll have to go out to the back shed to see the the number if it isn't in that old post. It is 18% protein, probably 2018, and is THE bag they use for breeding their mice. Not sure if they use it for their rats. I do with GREAT results.

They've stopped handling small orders now ($1,000 minimum order as of the 1Apr08), but they sell it in bulk where it is re-packaged and some under a new name and number. That MIGHT be the stuff you are talking about. I don't care. I can meet their $1,000 order at least once per year (shavings AND rodent food - not just rodent diet), so I'll continue to buy from them directly and save the cash....I hope. :)

Mazuri (don't remember the number) was what I used to us, and MOST feed stores seem able to get that one. It's a little more $$ and not as good as Teklad, so I switched. I'd go back to it if I had to, though. Thankfully, I ended up stocking a shed with 30 extra bags or so before the new rules at Harlan wen into practice.

The thousand dollar minimum order doesn't bother me TOO MUCH, but you can no longer pick up at their Houston office. You have to have it delivered, and they won't accep many NEW delivery locations. That's OK, though, because I believe I have a good spot to have them deliver VERY close to where they normally drop off. Fingers crossed, but I see this as NO PROBLEM.

Try the Native Earth stuff if you think it is HArlan's diet repackaged. If it is, it's worth it to me!!
KJ
 
You should feed them a good quality lab block. DO NOT buy from PetSmart unless you want to pay a ridiculous markup.

Avoid Kaytee brand, its full of fillers and crap.

Mazuri 6F is good. Most feed stores which carry or can order rodent lab blocks will get Mazuri 6F. Any official Purina dealer should be able to get it. $18-$24 for 50 lbs

Harlan is probably the best quality available, but they don;t sell to retail so its very rare to find it at a feed store. I get Harlan 2018 at the local reptile show, $13-$15 for 33 lbs.

Purina LabDiet is good as well, I have been told its pretty much the same as Mazuri.

PetSmart sometimes carries another Mazuri formula lab block but they charge $6 or more for 2 lbs. Figure on at least 1 lb per rat per month, perhaps more when breeding.
 
KJUN said:
They've stopped handling small orders now ($1,000 minimum order as of the 1Apr08)
Click to expand...

Be thankful that you had until April until they pulled smaller orders (mine was $300 minimum order)...They yanked the small accounts at the Maryland office in January. I don't have anywhere to store $1k in product, so I've been SOL as far as rodent block, bedding & rabbit food since they did it. :bang:

If I can find some people to go 1/4 or 1/2 with me on an order, I might be able to swing it space wise.
 
blckkat said:
Be thankful that you had until April until they pulled smaller orders (mine was $300 minimum order)...They yanked the small accounts at the Maryland office in January. I don't have anywhere to store $1k in product, so I've been SOL as far as rodent block, bedding & rabbit food since they did it. :bang:

If I can find some people to go 1/4 or 1/2 with me on an order, I might be able to swing it space wise.
Click to expand...

Before April, it was a $100 minimum order. No biggie. (BTW, the $1k minimum was company-die as of 1Apr, so I'm surprised the MD office jumped the gun. What can you do about it, though?) The "no pick-ups" policy is screwing me more now than the minimum order. I can understand the increase in the minimum order and the "no new customers" policy, but I don't know why the local office stopped allowing pick-ups. Grrrrr!

Will the MD office allow pick-ups? Most offices stopped that, but not all of them. I'm just curious.

I get my rabbit feed and my rodent litter from the local producers coop. If I wanted, they'd almost definitely make my rodent block "special order" for a very fair price, but I'd have to know exactly WHAT recipe to have them make. Still, it might be worth it if I can't get my Teklad in the future. :( I'll miss the litter for my snakes that I have gotten from Harlan in the past, though. :( I've never used the Teklad rabbit diet - the coop stuff fits the bill as well for what HAS to be a much lower price tag. Ditto for my chickens.

Hmmmm, I guess that's an advantage of living in Texas. There's a Farmer's coop feed store on every corner.....lol.
 
KJUN said:
Before April, it was a $100 minimum order. No biggie. (BTW, the $1k minimum was company-die as of 1Apr, so I'm surprised the MD office jumped the gun. What can you do about it, though?) The "no pick-ups" policy is screwing me more now than the minimum order. I can understand the increase in the minimum order and the "no new customers" policy, but I don't know why the local office stopped allowing pick-ups. Grrrrr!

Will the MD office allow pick-ups? Most offices stopped that, but not all of them. I'm just curious.

I get my rabbit feed and my rodent litter from the local producers coop. If I wanted, they'd almost definitely make my rodent block "special order" for a very fair price, but I'd have to know exactly WHAT recipe to have them make. Still, it might be worth it if I can't get my Teklad in the future. :( I'll miss the litter for my snakes that I have gotten from Harlan in the past, though. :( I've never used the Teklad rabbit diet - the coop stuff fits the bill as well for what HAS to be a much lower price tag. Ditto for my chickens.

Hmmmm, I guess that's an advantage of living in Texas. There's a Farmer's coop feed store on every corner.....lol.
Click to expand...

I have no idea why the MD office cut off smaller orders (or why my minimum order was $300 while yours was $100) with the new year. Maybe because they knew it was coming ahead of time? And yes, they won't allow pickups anymore (I'd need to rent a box truck anyway to haul THAT much product), but are more then willing to setup a delivery at my home.

I think I was paying $7 for a 50lb bag of rabbit diet from Harlan. I'd have to dig out my pricing again (not that it's worth anything now). The only "feed store" I have near by is a place called Bowman's...And they will only get in Mazuri's 25lb bags for $20 (when I'm used to getting 50lb bags for $8-9).

I've been rather frustrated lately over this whole thing. Thank goodness I only have the rabbits & ASF's left here breeding...I would be going bankrupt if I had full colonies of mice & rats as well and I had to pay these retail prices. :smash:
 
i wish i was only paying $20 for a 50lb bag of rat food, i pay $50 for a 50 lb bag, still way cheaper then buying feeders so worth it.

due to shipping i was unable to purchase teklad($40 per shipping 1/2 bag)
but found purina prolab rmh 2000 to be the next best diet i could find ingredient wise.


i hate to see how much my next bag will cost with the rise in prices.
 
Okay, first I apologize for my short term memory because it's lousey. I got a bag of the Nutra-something from Petsmart; something like $6 for a 5 pound bag. In looking through it and reading the label it seems good so I going to try it. I'll also try the Harlan/Native Earth. www.petfooddirect.com sells it but I don't remember the price.

Now my problem is a feeding bowl that won't get covered with litter or one that they won't crawl and poop in. Any suggestions? I was looking at a "chinchilla" bath ceramic thing that might work but is there rat feeding bowls available that will protect the food from trash.

I didn't see anything in Petsmart. My rats are in a 28 gal curved front tank and I am thinking about putting them in a 20 gal critter tank and use the 28 gal. for my tree boas (divide the tank in half with plexiglass). Is there something better to use for the rats instead?
 
Here's the bowls that I've used before. But they only really work if you have cages. I'm not sure it would work if you had a tank. They are sold in the bird section, but they work great for rats and mice. You place the crock dish up about 6 or 7 inches from the floor, and the rats have to climb up the cage bars to get to the food. That way they don't walk in it and poop in it all the time.

http://www.petco.com/product/104835/PETCO-Twist-and-Lock-Bird-Crocks.aspx
 
Also, its really better for rats to be in cages. There's more ventilation in cages. A lot of time rats will get respiratory problems in tanks because of the ammonia that builds up from their pee.
 
my rats are in an old homemade chinchilla cage(modified to make make more cages), what i did for dishes is take some of the 1/2" mesh from the doors and made a square food basket, works great i can fill them up every 2-4 days and they can't bury/pee/poop or anything else on them.

i got really tired of the females emptying the food dish and hiding al the food in the back.
 
The female that just had a litter decided to move all the aspen in the tank over to "her" corner and she ended up covering the food dish with 6" of aspen. I know food gets wasted that way. I'll look into getting a mesh tank for them. thanks for all the help.
 
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