Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've set up my 1.4 breeder colony and have been looking for cheap dog food to feed them. The only cheap food I could find was the Target brand with 21% protein. I know mice should have around 28%-31% or so, but only the more expensive puppy foods have this, and I'd be paying literally 5 times as much. So i have been feeding them the Target brand for a few weeks now and they're pregnant.. I really don't want them to eat their babies (like i have experienced in the past) because they arn't getting enough protein. What do you all think? Is this enough? Have you had any experiences with breeding with this number? Thank you!

i have the same size colony and Feed a mixture of purina kitten chow 40% protein/12.5% fat, Vita-vittles 16% protein/6% fat, and Nutro natural choice dog food 21% protein/12% fat. Is this ok?

The kitten chow alone has 40% protein , so thats an option. But being as though i use it as a mixture i only buy a few 1(lb) boxes for $1.99 ea.

They really love the kitten chow, ive noticed the tend to eat that first.

Hello, I feed my Rats 21% Wal-Mart Ole Roy (red bag) dog food,around $11-12 for 50 lbs.I also give them sunflower seeds and shelled corn. I think my breeders (around 25) are doing great on this diet and they're having large litters.
I hope this helps you!!!
John

>>I've set up my 1.4 breeder colony and have been looking for cheap dog food to feed them. The only cheap food I could find was the Target brand with 21% protein. I know mice should have around 28%-31% or so, but only the more expensive puppy foods have this, and I'd be paying literally 5 times as much. So i have been feeding them the Target brand for a few weeks now and they're pregnant.. I really don't want them to eat their babies (like i have experienced in the past) because they arn't getting enough protein. What do you all think? Is this enough? Have you had any experiences with breeding with this number? Thank you!

Sorry for the extra post

When we were raising mice we went to the local feed store and purchased cotton seed meal, soy meal, and sun dried alphalfa pellets. Cost about $25.00 for 150 pounds of 30-35% protein. $5.00 for used blender. We stored it in its original bags. We threw in extras like corn and sun flower seeds every other batch. Easy on the sun flower seeds as they have a lot of oil, put in blender after grindiong up other stuff. Took about a year to use it up with 50-75 feeders.

Yosemite

Protein level is over rated in my experience. I have two colonies going right now eating a mixture that is 14% protein. First litter for each of the females was cannibalized, but none since. My brother in law runs 4 colonies with the same mixture.
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Darin