Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok this would not be there main diet. There main diet is finch mix (plenty of millet) and sunflower seeds and safflower seeds. I was thinking of adding a small bag of dry cat food to 50lbs of there seed mix to bump up the fiber and protine. The cat food is arouns 25% protine, but they are getting low volumes of it. whatya think?

Sounds like the most unhealthiest diet out there. Your using a seed base and supplementing it with a high animal protein and fat diet?

ASF and mice are mostly herbivores. That being said, they do need a higher protein than rats, but not near as much as cat food. Cat food is ideally close to 30%. On top of that, the animal fats coupled with the high fat and starch content of the seed mix is no doubt going to produce some unhealthy ASF and mice.

I would toss the kitten/cat food and settle for a senior dog food, with a protein content around 18%. Look at the main ingredients, if any animal fats or protein is near the beginning of the list, your better off finding a different brand.

Use the dry feed as the main source of feed, no less than 3/4 of the diet, and supplement with some dry goods like cracked corn, oats, beans, lentils, puffed wheat or rice. I would use the bird seeds as a treat as it is very high in fats.

Just my .02 cents

yea i didn't think of the fats. Ironically they didn't end up eating it anyways. I was thinking beans quite a bit. I got an 18 bean soup mix to try out to see what they eat out of it. I'd just mix it into the seed mix. do you think the high fiber in the bean would cause wet tail?

I'm not sure if ASF can get wet tail, as it is generally a bacterial infection in the digestive tract. I know rats do not get wet tail, but hamsters do.

If you want to serve beans, I forgot to mention that they have to be cooked dry beans, not raw.

You can use any type of cooked dry beans (such as pinto beans) in the diet (canned is fine). Give a variety of different beans to take advantage of their different nutrients.

Here are some ideas from the Rat care guide. Assuming ASF are still rats, I would imagine these are all going to do well with them.

I suggest trying something new each week, see how they react to it, any digestive problems, skin lesions, bloating, lethargy etc. You always want to monitor how new foods sit with them.

This along with a staple kibble to be eaten freely like Mazuri 9f or Harlan should give you some healthy and happy ASF.

Wild & Brown Rice
Tri-Color Pasta
Toasted Unsalted Soy Beans
Toasted Unsalted Chick Peas
Hulled Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds (not always, and 1/2 portion)
Rolled (roasted)Oats
Bran Flakes (cereal)
Shreddies (Wheat Chex)or Cheerios
Regular Granola
Hard Wheat Kernels
Soft Wheat Kernels
Spelt Kernels (when I can find them)
Rye Kernels (when I can find them)
Rye Flakes
Wheat Germ
Raisins
Dried Cranberries
Soy Nuggets (3 portions or more)
Pot Barley
Split Peas
Lentils
Flax Seed (1/2 portion)
Dried Apple
(Canada) Vector cereal (2 portions)
or
(USA) Total cereal (2 portions)
popcorn kernels
unsalted corn (unsalted toasted corn sold as a people snack)
Supplement diet with fresh fruits and vegetables.
Rat Guide- diet

good info for the masses thanx