Food for the food

[mark129er]

What do you feed your feeder rodents (mice and rats). Obviously a nutrient rich diet would be important because that is where the snake gets its vitamins etc. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Jayson]

Mazuri 6f Rat and mouse food plus the occasional fresh fruit and veggies as a suppliment.
Some people also use dog food with similar ingrediences, Usually the cheaper brands.

Jason

[Linds]

I used to use <a href="http://www.mazuri.com">Mazuri</a>, but last year I switched to Ol' Roy bits and bones dog food (Wal-Mart brand). I have found that my colonies have been more productive, have been having larger litters (12-18), as well as the females were not becoming emaciated looking from repeated breedings. Once a week I also give them treats of nuts, seeds, leafy greens, veggies, or fruit

[Lisa]

We feed them Super C dog (it's CHEAP), chicken bones, fruits and veggies, seeds, pasta, left overs.

[mykee]

My experience was the exact opposite from Linds'. I feed my feeders Mazuri 6F exclusively, with carrots and nuts as a treat. I tried switching to a cheap dog food for a while, and I noticed my babies were MUCH smaller than Mauzuri babies at the same age. I also noticed more stillborns, and birth defects. I switched back to Mauzuri 6F and all is well again. I feel that for MY breeders, Mazuri 6F is the only way to go, even if it costs a little more every month to feed them.

[KingFfaj]

rats can be fed almost anything in small amounts, 1cm cubed pieces of anything

[marisa]

If you look close, and happen to have something similar....a cheap dog food brand actually has IDENTICAL ingredients as Mazuri.

At least mine does. Its called "Mainstay" But not the Purina Mainstay...its a cheap brand. I brought it home and brought up the Mazuri nutrional info, and yep, exactly the same.

So yeah thats what I use AND it doesn't cost more to feed them. Just takes a little investigation.

Marisa

Harlan-Teklad 2018 lab blocks. High quality, rodent specific diet commonly used by laboratories to maintain the least variability between animals at the health level.

[unknownclown]

I feed mine dog food and scraps like bread pop corn...what ever and add vitamin drops in the water

[mykee]

Marisa; identical nutritional content maybe. Identical ingredients, a giant, emphatic NO. Mazuri is made for rats. Dog food, (surprise surprise) is made for dogs. Dogs are not rats, and conversely, rats are not dogs. They each require their own diets. I can get 10% protein from a variety of sources: chicken, cheese, pasta and veggies, fish, beef, rabbit, lamb, soy, milk,eggs...the list goes on. Just because the nutritional breakdown is the same, (i.e. 10% fat, 15% moisture, 12% protein) and so on, the foods which actually make up those arbitrary percentages are VERY different. I understand that many people have wonderful success with feeding dog food to rats. Best of luck to them. But the fact remains that rat food is nutritionally complete for rats and rats only. Same goes for dog, cat, bird, etc......

[Jeff_Favelle]

Step-2 Extruded for rats and the lowest protein dog chow for the mice. More veggies the better. Usually the cheaper stuff.