Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am running a rodent breeding program primarily to feed my own snakes. Lately I have had a few friends ask my to supply thier rodent needs. The largest cost involved is, of course, food. Right now I am using Mazuri Rodent 6F (5M30). It has been a great feed but I have to pay through the nose to get it. (around $27.00 for a 50 lb bag) I was just wondering if anyone knows of a national chain supplied feed that won't cost so much but isn't crap either. I know Hoosier Mouse Supply is getting a great feed but the driving distance makes it problematic to get it from them. (i'm in N.E. Indiana) Thanks to all for any help.

$27.00 for a 50 lb bag of Mazuri 6F5M30 is about as good as it gets, as far as I know. I pay $22.99 plus tax for it. I've been using it for about 3 - 4 yrs now and have yet to find or hear of anything comparable to the cost/quality of it.

Now, I have recently read that there is another rodent feed manufacturer by the name of Kent but it appears to be a special order item. Special order feeds can be a royal pain to get on a regular basis.

When I first started breeding rats I had to special order Mazuri Rodent Pellets 5663 which has 23% protein. It was about $16 - $18 for a 25lb bag and took 2 - 3 weeks to get it once I ordered it. And there were times that it didn't come in when it was supposed to and left me stranded. That's when I found a local Purina dealer to get the 6F5M30 for me within days of ordering. They now stock a few bags just for me.

You don't want to get into special ordering feed. However, it might be worth looking into to see if you can find a local dealer that can & will stock it for you.

Let me know if you find anything better than what you're getting as far as price & quality goes.

Best wishes!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

I aggree it took me a while to get the right person at the purina dealer to order the mazuri it has worked out the best. I use a 100 lbs a week. kent is hard to find a dealer. the hardest part is finding someone at the feed store that won't point you to the decon when you ask for rodent pellets. ask to speak to the person in charge of feed ordering.

>>when you ask for rodent pellets.

ask for Rodent Chow....
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Jeremy Payne
JB Reptile
Specializing in Boa Morph's

1.0 Snow "Kahl"
0.2 Triple Het Moonglow "Kahl"
0.1 Orange Tail Hypo Het Leopard
1.1 Double Het "Sharp" Snow
1.0 Ghost
0.1 Possible Super Hypo
0.1 DH Ghost
1.1 "Kahl" Albino
1.0 Hypomelenistic
1.3 Pastel Hypo
0.1 Suriname/Columbian cross
0.1 Anerthrystic

I aggree it took me a while to get the right person at the purina dealer to order the mazuri it has worked out the best. I use a 100 lbs a week. kent is hard to find a dealer. the hardest part is finding someone at the feed store that won't point you to the decon when you ask for rodent pellets. ask to speak to the person in charge of feed ordering.

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I have noticed Kent feeds in a few of the pet stores in the area. Compared to pet store rats mine are spotlessly clean and gigantic. Now I don't know for sure if that is due to the difference in feeds, genetics, enviornment or even something else. Heck, it could just be your average pet store stock.
But I have seen a few of them feeding one of the Kent Hog diets. Just a quick look at Kents website shows a dealer close enough to make the drive... but it also lists meds, hormones and other goodies in thier hog feed. I didn't see a rodent feed on thier site. I will give them a call after Thanksgiving and try to talk to someone that knows whats going on.
I'll try to post my findings by the middle of next week.
Paul
Oh... yeah.. I think every time I have ever walked into a feed store (at least 5 or 6) and asked for rodent anything, they show me the "pest control" section. The best part is when you finaly convince them that you don't want to kill them... (usualy to an open mouth) is explaining to them why you breed them in the first place. lol

I spoke to the people at kent feed awhile back they have two rodent feeds. when I find my notes I'll let you know their #'s that my save you some time. tractor supply has kent in my area but the closest one is 60 miles from me. kents is supposed to to be cheaper than mazuri, but again it's all a matter of talking to the right person

kent's product #'s for their rodent feed is 7433 for 19% and 7439 for their 23%. I could never get a price over the phone from tractor supply. the person in charge of the feed wouldn't bother with it unless i came in in person.so much for going the extra mile for your customers. if any one gets prices i would like to know them

"I could never get a price over the phone from tractor supply. the person in charge of the feed wouldn't bother with it unless i came in in person..."

Well, I hope they ain't waitin' on me to drive the 42 miles to my nearest TSC to get a price on it. Thank you, Purina! (Mazuri)

I reckon that settles that for me. Best wishes to the rest of ya'll!

Later!
HH
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Due to political correctness run amuck,
this ol' hillbilly is now referred to as an:
Appalachian American

www.natures-signature.com

I would recommend finding out where your local zoo gets their feed. More than likely they will have some much better prices than the average feed store you will find because of the volume they buy. I use about 10 bags of Mazuri food a week and the price between the zoo supplier and all others is about $5-6 a bag. The 5M30 is good and is the cheapest Mazuri but I the 5M99 is better for lactating females. Also if you know any other people in your area breeding rodents I would recommend buying it by the pallet and splitting it up, the more you buy the better the price.

I can comment on the Kent food but not the Mazuri, I have never used Mazuri.

I started breeding large numbers of rodents to feed my herps vs buying frozen over a year ago. I am now a fan of the Kent 23% diet, that's all I've ever used besides dog food so take my comments for what you will in light of that fact.

Both rat and mouse colonies improved overnight once I switched from dog food to Kent 23% rodent diet. I rarely see a tumor in the mouse colony anymore. The 19% may be more suited to mice or rats, I just took the only rodent block a feed store 14 miles down the road offers. It's nice to know there is another option because IIRC one (mice/rats) has higher protien needs than the other. I did not make a science of researching rodent dietary needs but the Kent is working very well for me and I pay almost half what the Mazuri is costing you for a fifty pound bag when I get several bags at once. It's cheaper than dog food!! My rodents are healthy with straight tails and a shiny coat. They produce better than ever and I'm considering dowsizing the colony in light of the improvement.

I keep enough Kent stockpiled that I can deal with a two month delay in getting the Kent feed if there is one that long. To date, it's taken two weeks every time I special ordered the Kent product from a local feed store that caters to farmers. These people are here to make money, just relax and explain that you want to make a large order of a food you know Kent offers and they will surely start seeing dollar signs at some point. My feed store is more than happy to order me ten bags at a time. It seems to me that money is very tight and businesses are more willing than ever to work to earn you money. If you patiently work your way around their misgivings about what it is you do and they get some money in their pocket that first time, they should come right around and be very prompt in the future. At least that's how it worked for me. They know me by name now and I don't even have to tell them how many of what I'm wanting. They just know I called so they're ordering me ten more bags of the stuff and they call me when it shows. It might help to go by in person if you can determine who sells Kent's other products.

I'm very happy with KENT! My rodent colonies are both doing great and I'm saving money versus buying dog food. I hope you can find a good local feed store to deal with.

TC

It seems that your poorly veiled "best food" question, is really a question of "cheaper food".
If you want the best, you continue to feed Mazuri at any cost with the peace fo mind knowing that your rats (and your snakes) are getting the best food around. You want cheap food, go to Wal-Mart and buy Mainstay dog food for $8/50 lb. bag.
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www.strictlyballs.ca

You are right to some extent. I would like to pay less for my rodent feed. Who wouldn't? My intent with the post was to get more information from a very diverse group of rodent breeders. The dollar sign isn't my bottom line. The health of my rodents and my snakes are the bottom line. If there is a feed that will both cost me less and provide excellent nutrition for my collection I want to know about it. If there is a feed that will cost me more but provide better results I want to know about that too. If money was my only concern I wouldn't have posted at all. I would have done exactly as you suggested and bought the wallyworld junk. To be honest I was expecting more "horror stories" about the non-Mazuri brands.

At this time i'm still doing research (as time allows a busy scedule), collecting information and feeding 5M30 to my rodents. I am considering splitting up some of my rodent colony and trying out some of the suggestions I have recieved. Thanks to all who have chimed in and I invite others to do the same.

Merry Christmas everyone!
Pauly