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Shelf life of lab blocks?

F

Flagg

New member
I'm wondering if any of you higher volume breeders could tell me how long Mazuri 6F Rodent Breeder Lab Blocks are expected to last past their expiration date. I picked up a 50 lb bag pretty cheaply and realized after the fact that it was cheap because it had just expired. I've got it all sealed in ziplock bags and the rats seem to eat it just fine but i'm worried that it won't stay viable until I use it up. It's about 3 months past the marked date now and I've still got about 25-30 lbs left.
 
I would imagine its still fine. The only thing on rodent food that expires is the taste appealing to the rodents.
 
I would worry about the loss of some of the vitamins. It won't hurt to feed it to them, but they may not get as much nutritional value from it. I'll have to look up the amount of time those vitamins stay good in my animal nutrition book.
 
Colleen360 said:
I would worry about the loss of some of the vitamins. It won't hurt to feed it to them, but they may not get as much nutritional value from it. I'll have to look up the amount of time those vitamins stay good in my animal nutrition book.
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That's what I was worried about. I've tried calling Mazuri but their support people don't answer the phone ("In a meeting" all day now) and I can't find any other phone number for Mazuri.
 
I never had a prob with expired food, I freeze it in my chest freezer in ziplock bags to keep it fresh as possible, I also have a vacumm sealer I use on my feeders, I bought the sealable contianers and had sealed ratfood in it, and those lasted forever and still smelled fresh. If your food is expired and your worried about, just try one of the above, and throw greens in the mix and youll have nice healthy babies!
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I've fit as much into the freezer as I can, so hopefully that will keep it from degrading any further. I've found another source that's almost as cheap but this will be new non-expired lab blocks. Has anyone heard of Purina or Mazuri 5L42? I can't find it listed on the site but that's what the feed store said it was.
 
The main reason for expiration dates on rodent block is that is when the effectiveness of the fungicide wears off. If your block has corn in it it has fungicide too.

The block I have made for me has a 4 month guarantee on it. The reason listed above is what the feed mill told me.

Bryan
 
Well, I feel sort of stupid now. It turns out that the date on the bag, which I no longer have, was the production date and NOT the expiration date. In my defense the end was torn and I couldn't read the whole date section back when it was thrown away and I just assumed it was an expiration date. it's guaranteed for 9 months past that date, so I'm good for another 5-6 months, plus freezing it will extend the life further. Thanks again to everyone for the replies and suggestions, it was informative nonetheless. =)
 
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