Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had good success over the last year and a half using a basic easy multi grain food that has soy, barley, corn, wheat, and mollasis. But I have had a lot of corn waste lately and also the barley is gettign partially wasted. i am ready to design my own grain mix for rats primarily but I do have ASF and mice too. I go through 200 lbs every two weeks right now. so it has to be in volume.... anyone?

i go to the local feed store and buy the OATS, for horses, 50lbs, with and without molasses, works great,put in some alphalpha hay and human food here and there, all is going well here.
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1.4 various boas(Flicka,Felony,Nova,Alias,Alibi,confessa,custody,Ms.Demeanor)
0.1 BRB Abalone; ABBI
1.0 Rott X (OSO)
2.0 cats (Simba, Morris)
fish & feeders

yea I am picking apart everything that is in the food. I like the oats, I think they eat it. I'd like to find rolled soy beans as they are monster protine. but I am looking into other beans right now.

My Neighbor gave me 5 gal. pails of Wheat,Oats.Barley.Rice,5 grain mix.and I mix a scoop of each and a scoop of cracked corn in a pail and regularly give all my trays a handful along with regular feed

Rats can not digest alfalfa or hay. I have never had a rat eat it. People use rabbit pellets as rodent bedding because they will not eat it. Save your money and don't bother trying to feed them grass products.

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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

where did you get alfalfa from? I am thinking twards rice quite a bit.

Diggy posted about alfalfa.
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Shannon in Reno
2.3 dogs
1.0 cat
Bunch O fancy rats and mice
50 something chickens
1.0 Black rat snake
2.0 Albino corn snakes
0.1 Chissel tooth kangaroo rat
0.1 Rosy Boa
0.1 Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Amazing Boyfriend

I don't know a thing about feeding rats intentionally! But I have raised livestock my entire life. Of all the feed out there, what I have found is that rats, mice, rodents in genral love hog feed. Its just corn and soybean meal ground up with whatever vitamin/mineral mix you want in it. Rodents flourish on this stuff. If you can find a place/person that still grinds feed ( grain elevator, feed mill, local farmer) you should be able to buy in bulk (1/2 ton, 1 ton, etc) fairly cheaply. Oh if you do then be sure to either store outside home and/or in rodent proof conatiner or else you'll have more rodents then you'd ever dreamed...and not the ones you wanted!

I am using horse feed right now and am paying under .50 cents a pound. How much does hog feed go for? I use a lot of corn (getting wasted) and i am ready to go with strait soy, sunflower, safflower,rice, barley,maybe some beans, but if I can get a cheeper base. I am buying 100 lbs of base every two weeks and thast number is climbing.

Where I'm from I can usually could get a complete ground hog feed for roughly $35/ton.That was 3 years ago. Now even if it dooubled it'd only be $0.035/lb. I haven't fed hogs in roughly three years so that is only a guess. As for the wastage. In my opinion the finer the feed is ground the less waste because hogs or rodents can't pick through what they want. This of course is only worth it if you can find somewher that still grinds feed.

at .03 a lb I wouldn't care too much. I'm gonna look into it. I am close to farm country and am doing quite a bit of biz with IFA intermountain farmers association. So i'll look into it thanx...