Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Im currently purchasing rat food at my local feed store but my colony is getting large and eating alot. i get a 50lb bag for about 22 dollars but it only lasts a week. Let me hear your input on cheap food if im stuck or if you can buy bulk. Ive heard dog food is bad but i really dont know why so if i could get some info on that it would be greatly appreciated.

WOW,

You have too many rats. I am going to try and breed about 100 rats a month max. That would be about 50 pounds of block a month, so I have been told. I know that dog food and rat food have different protein and fat levels. I know that many people use dog food and I am pretty sure the people that use dog food have a lot of rats or they want to save money. The thing that makes me laugh is that the dog food we use for our dog costs more than the Mazuri M30 we use for the rats. I would rather put my dog on rat food. Anyway good luck.

Mark

I know a guy that uses a skid of rat chow a week....
I use 2 rat chow a bag of corn a half bag of oats and like 30 pounds of dog food a week, plus sweet and white potatoes and seed at times ....yea....$80 a week here....

....look for other places to buy rat chow...

....stick with rat chow....

....buying a skid will not save you enough and it might mold up before you use it all....

...look at their feeding habits...make sure they are eating all you give them, maybe they are wasting some?....I give total like 155 pounds of food a week, and I bet they all totally waste 50 pounds of it.....

...
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......14
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1(1.normal,.1mojave,2.1 spider mojaves)
2(1.normal,1.pastel,spider?Huh,.1blast)1 dud 2 boobs died...
.

>>I know a guy that uses a skid of rat chow a week....
>>I use 2 rat chow a bag of corn a half bag of oats and like 30 pounds of dog food a week, plus sweet and white potatoes and seed at times ....yea....$80 a week here....
>>
>>....look for other places to buy rat chow...
>>
>>....stick with rat chow....
>>
>>....buying a skid will not save you enough and it might mold up before you use it all....
>>
>>...look at their feeding habits...make sure they are eating all you give them, maybe they are wasting some?....I give total like 155 pounds of food a week, and I bet they all totally waste 50 pounds of it.....
>>
>>...
>>-----
>>......14
>>......92/ 11-4
>>...........................
>>1(1.normal,.1mojave,2.1 spider mojaves)
>>2(1.normal,1.pastel,spider?Huh,.1blast)1 dud 2 boobs died...
>>.

Do you mix the corn and oats and dog food as a supplement. Just wondering thanks.
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www.hybridhaven.net

.....my stuff gets lab chow everyday
dog food , a handful like every other average, corn every other between that maybe, oats same deal....might get a handful of oats and dog monday then tuesday a handful of corn or two, then like wednesday just lab chow if I am in a hurry,...sometimes they get it all ......I was getting oats at $6 and corn @$5 for 50 pound,,,,chow is $18.40 - .......

......yes, I believe cheap dog food is bad and corn mold is too....but I never had a rat with cancer yet....mice yes, not alot....and they get fed off ...it all gets killed off every 6 months anyways......I have like 56 tubs x 15 female mice at all times ......if I get one cancer a week, that's not bad....(and I get less)........

....feed anything....

...
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......14
......92/ 11-4
...........................
1(1.normal,.1mojave,2.1 spider mojaves)
2(1.normal,1.pastel,spider?Huh,.1blast)1 dud 2 boobs died...
3(pastelghost....)

at $22 for 50lbs (44 cents a lb) you are already using cheap rat food. I pay .51 cents a lb. If what you're paying isn't producing rats for a cheap investment then you are doing something wrong. It costs me .09 cents to make a small rat.

I'll give you a dime a pop, send me alot...

....cool kewl???

LOL

.....you didn't add the stink,work,tank,tubs,racks, bottles/water lines, electric,stink,trash removal($600 a year here) ,stink, time time time and stink...

costs you more than a dime....

..
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......15
......98/ 11-4
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1(1.normal,.1mojave,2.1 spider mojaves)
2(1.normal,1.pastel,spider?Huh,.1blast)1 dud 2 boobs died...
3(2pastelghost,3pastel,1normal....)

".....you didn't add the stink,work,tank,tubs,racks, bottles/water lines, electric,stink,trash removal($600 a year here) ,stink, time time time and stink...

costs you more than a dime...."

Nope you are right I'm not adding the work(Don't know why I would it's not an out of pocket cost) Tubs, racks, and water lines, are for the most part one time costs. Trash removal I don't pay for. Electric would be the same for me as they aren't being run on a seperate heater/cooler. Rats produced, minus the cost of shavings and food it costs me .09 cents to make a small. period. I will be moving shortly and my costs will go up, by my figures to around .12 cents.

The OP issue was food costs...my point was that he is actually paying a pretty fair price...wish I could get mine that cheap.

Oh and the stink...LOL...I found my calling breeding rats...I was born with anosmia.

anosmia....

I take it that is no sense of smell.....knew a guy like that, he would set and pop the glands right out of baby skunks he raised...just squeezed them out and took them off with his fingers...he could not smell it BUT EVERYONE else could....as with the rats...the stink is costly...

...still taking the dime a pop deal???....

...and you should ad the time....my time is worth more than the people pay me for anything..especially the snakes...people suck pretty much.....!....HA

....have fun...........>>>>>>
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......16
......104/ 11-4
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1(1.normal,.1mojave,2.1 spider mojaves)
2(1.normal,1.pastel,spider?Huh,.1blast)1 dud 2 boobs died...
3(2pastelghost,3pastel,1normal....)
4(1 normal,4 pastel...

OK so 9 cents a small rat at 25.50 for a 50 pound bag. Thats 283 small rats off of 50 pounds of food?
I would go through at least 200 pounds of food feeding the parents 1st off and all those rats from babies till there smalls.
And seeing how a small rat at the very cheapest sells for about 75 cents frozen you could be rich fairly quickly at 9 cents a small.

I want your secret lol