"Naval Rat" ? :S

[totheend]

Natal rats as in African soft furred rats. Not the same as a regular rat at all.

[NennaMeerkat]

Oh goodness that thing is cute totheend! But can they be used as temporary food?

[totheend]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

Oh goodness that thing is cute totheend! But can they be used as temporary food?

People use them all the time as food. Some people think that snakes such as Ball Pythons will imprint on them but I have yet to see that with my animals. But I do believe the main purpose of the ASF is food.....

[sickvenom]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

Now I am curious as to what the difference should be/is Every rat has the same nutritional needs no matter what their "fate" is. Sure 24-48 hours before they are frozen/fed you feed them something different but for day to day living they have their nutritional needs right?

Pet rats aren't always fed the same diet as feeders.

[Jay]

I feed ALL my Gopher samkes these guys.

[ilovemypets1988]

basic rat needs (food wise):

fibre, vitamins, calcium and thas it.
most cat food or dog food has these in high levels due to the fact that the intended animal and it doesnt matter whether or not they are feeder rats or pet rats

[NennaMeerkat]

Originally Posted by ilovemypets1988

basic rat needs (food wise):

fibre, vitamins, calcium and thas it.
most cat food or dog food has these in high levels due to the fact that the intended animal and it doesnt matter whether or not they are feeder rats or pet rats

This is why I say that dry dog food can easily make up a large part of any rat's diet. They are omnivores by nature. As long as "corn" isn't the first ingredient in the dog food (which is why I buy cat food for my 2 girls) then you are good to go. Heck compare the amount of crude fat, protein, grain, ect. that is contained in the dog food vs. those expensive rat blocks and such.

I still haven't heard what people feed their feeder rats vs. pet rats. And I can't find anything online that is giving me much of anything.

[mykee]

"Natal rats. Young rats "

Not natal-young, Natal; as in African Soft Furred Rats, or ASF's, AKA Natals.

"Heck compare the amount of crude fat, protein, grain, ect. that is contained in the dog food vs. those expensive rat blocks and such."

Yeah, they are NOTHING alike.
Would you feed your dog cat food? Then why feed your rats dog food?
IMO, those who feed their rats anything but rodent chow (there are plenty of brands out there) are making excuses to save a few bucks.
I personally would never and have never bought my feeders from someone who feeds their rats dog food, cat food, llama food, alligator food, tortoise food, etc.
Rats eat rat food. It's made for them, formulated for them, and provides the proper nutrition they need to be healthy, strong breeders and most of all, nutritious to my snakes.

I know I'm going off on a tangent here, but I had a friend (who is no longer in the biz) who bred rats and mice for pet stores to sell as feeders. They fed their rats and mice Mainstay (you know, that cheap-crap dog food they sell at Wal-Mart).
I feed Mazuri 6F.
Since I'm OCD, I suggested a scientific experiment of sorts for the sake of curiosity:
We had the same size racks (they used my design to build their racks) so this would be easy to duplicate.
We each used four colonies of 1.3 breeder rats and continued to fill their hoppers until one complete bag of food was completely empty.
Mainstay ($11 a bag) was gone in 12 days: 5.8 cents/day/rat
Mazuri ($23 at the time, $29 now) was gone in 22 days: 6.5 cents/day/rat (then) 8.3 cents/day/rat (now)

I won't even get into the weight difference between the two groups of 10 day old hoppers, 30 old small adults, and 90 day old full-sized adults OR the litter size difference between the two groups either.

[ilovemypets1988]

Originally Posted by NennaMeerkat

This is why I say that dry dog food can easily make up a large part of any rat's diet. They are omnivores by nature. As long as "corn" isn't the first ingredient in the dog food (which is why I buy cat food for my 2 girls) then you are good to go. Heck compare the amount of crude fat, protein, grain, ect. that is contained in the dog food vs. those expensive rat blocks and such.

I still haven't heard what people feed their feeder rats vs. pet rats. And I can't find anything online that is giving me much of anything.

i very much doubt that you will find anything as until the rats become feeders, they are pets and therefore there is no difference to what you feed them

[NennaMeerkat]

Originally Posted by ilovemypets1988

i very much doubt that you will find anything as until the rats become feeders, they are pets and therefore there is no difference to what you feed them

You are right about that. I should ask my guy I get my pinkies from what he feeds all his rats. He sells live and frozen rats and mice of all sizes. I am sure he "gut loads" them like you do crickets before shipping them or freezing them.

However as I own two rats, have rescued many rats in the past, and owned rats in the past I see no reason why you can't feed them 1. wild bird seed 2. uncooked whole wheat pasta 3. dog/cat food As a whole mixed together all their basic needs as rats are met. And yes they do need about 10% of their diet to be protein which can be found in the dog/cat food. To many fruits/veggies will give them the runs and just supplying them grain will lead to other health concerns.

[ilovemypets1988]

rice would be good to form part of there diet too, thas what my dad feeds his prized german shepards as they have the best condition that ive ever seen

[ilovemypets1988]

also another thing to consider aswel is, do they have a choice of what to eat in the wild NO, do snakes still eat them and are perfectly healthy YES, so in reality it really doesnt matter

[mykee]

LOL!!!
Rats (as we know them) are RARELY eaten in the "wild".
Rats are a 'substitute food' that we feed our snakes because we do not have access to their true diet.

[NennaMeerkat]

Originally Posted by ilovemypets1988

rice would be good to form part of there diet too, thas what my dad feeds his prized german shepards as they have the best condition that ive ever seen

There are quite a few dog foods that have rice in them. As well as cat foods.

Would you feed your dog cat food? Then why feed your rats dog food?

It is perfectly fine for dogs to eat cat food. Have had more than one dog become cat food thieves in the past. Would eat the durn cat's food but not their own.

Also I am NOT saying that dog food should be the ONLY thing the rat eats. I also mentioned wild bird feed and whole wheat pasta as other staples. I have read several articles written by different people and while many things vary they do say you can feed your rat dog food supplemented with other things.

[ilovemypets1988]

Originally Posted by mykee

LOL!!!
Rats (as we know them) are RARELY eaten in the "wild".
Rats are a 'substitute food' that we feed our snakes because we do not have access to their true diet.

so your telling me that young burmese pythons do not eat rats in the florida everglades becos its a proven fact that they do