Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay.. today I went out and bought a 2 month supply of rat food.. 50 lbs of Legends 12% Horse feed.. (12% protein, 6% fat)and #20 lbs of 18% protein dog food.. Should cover the protein needs shouldn't it?

I then came home and got online looking for something a bit closer to proper ratio's and came across Pig feed.. This is the small blurb I found..

20% Sow & Pig Ration
Pellets
SKU 12465932
Protein 20%
Fat 4%
Fiber 5.6%
A complete feed for pigs weighing 20 to 70 lbs., and for lactating sows.

Its not medicated or sweet feed.. so I was wondering if it'd be a viable option as well or if anyone has any experience with it? I'm working on cutting costs without cutting nutritional aspects.. And looking for the best way to do it. Any advice or opinions are welcome...
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

The percents sound okay. I think the trouble you will have is getting them to eat it and controlling waste. I have tried various and sundry feeds over the years and often what seems perfect is something they just think is 'Gak!'
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

Fussy fussy animals.. Up until now I've been feeding them a mix of Wild bird seed.. or Squirrel corn/sunflower/peanuts mix, rolled oats and dog food.. but they end up wasting more of the seeds than they eat... And getting lab blocks cheap is like out of the question here. Most of the feed stores I have around me don't even have a supplier to order them from and half the time are clueless as to what they are. I was thinking of trying to order Leaf eater biscuits or Monkey chow to mix with dog food..though I'm not sure if thats available either here...and shipping something that large would be way too much..I'm trying to find a brand of lab blocks they do carry or can get that isn't $30 for a 20 lb bag. I don't even spend that on dog food for my dogs *L*
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Lucien

1.1 Columbian Redtail Boa (BCI)(Sutekh and Isis)
2.1.1 Leopard geckos (2 Blizzards (Caine and Goliath), 1 Tangerine Albino (Tequila Sunrise ...Tiki for short) and 1 dbl. het blizzard x tang albino (Malice))
0.1 Savannah Monitor (Kiros)
13 rats
1 Gerbil
2 Dogs (Loki and Storm)
2 cats (Sahara and Hercules)

Tons of people feed just plain old cheap dog food.
I actually plan on going back to it.

You have to remember that rats are omnivorius (sp??) eating both meats and veggies/grains. So you have to supplement some kind of animal meat, like pieces of ham or something.

I am using the lab blocks, they aren't even breeding now. But i've noticed they are getting thin, and "food crazy".

so i'm putting them back on the cheap wal-mart ol'roy bites and bones dog food.
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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn, 1.0 western hognose, 1.0 red blood

i was just wondering what people are paying for there rodent food,on a cost per pound basis.i'm presently useing lab diet rodent breeder diet (5013).it's 51 cents per pound,am i paying too much? i was thinking of mixing my own formula from the feed store,but if there is much waste is it worth it? ol'roy is about 28 cents a pound at my wal mart,the food dyes concern me.is there a way to get a good rodent food that not wasteful for less than 51 cents per pound?

>>i was just wondering what people are paying for there rodent food,on a cost per pound basis.i'm presently useing lab diet rodent breeder diet (5013).it's 51 cents per pound,am i paying too much? i was thinking of mixing my own formula from the feed store,but if there is much waste is it worth it? ol'roy is about 28 cents a pound at my wal mart,the food dyes concern me.is there a way to get a good rodent food that not wasteful for less than 51 cents per pound?

Okay, this is what my rodents are getting right now and I see some dog food waste if I overfeed, but otherwise not. The rats get (yeah, I been measuring) 10-15grams of dog kibble and 10-15 of whole corn/sunflower mix...about 2:1.Per rat. The variation in weight is due to their condition....lactating a big litter/growing gets more... They won't eat the whole oats I add for the mice so I don't bother with it for them.
Whole corn is $6.09/50#(12cents/#)
Black oil sunflower is $15.25/50#(30 cents/#)
Dog kibble $10.78/50#(21cents/#)
Lactating a big litter or lots of weaning babies and they get more seed and some cat kibble a couple times a week....like 20grams.
I can't get lab blocks cheap(more than you are paying) and have yet to find some my rats eat and do well on.
Like I say, unless I overfeed with the dogfood they eat it all. I may skip a day feeding if the group is between litters and not eating it all. The seed gets scarfed down. As does any leftovers...rice/pasta/stale cereal/vegetables/greens.
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Sonya

Haven't we warned you about tampering with the structure of a chaotic system?
Mrs. Neutron

your at 21 cents a pound,maybe i should really reconsider going to a "custom" blend.....hmmmmmmmmmmm

Ol' Roy dog food in the red bag. From what I've heard it has no red dye in it.
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Greg Holland
G&M HERPS
www.imageevent.com/gmherps
gmherps@sbcglobal.net

what are you paying for ol'roy at your wal mart?

ol'roy bites and bones (no red dye and can easily be fed in a 1/2 wire hopper) is about 11$ for a 50lb bag or about .22Cents/lb.

Always supplement with fresh veggis, fruits, eggs, and meat bits when you can.
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1.1 Ball Python, 0.1 motley amel corn, 1.0 western hognose, 1.0 red blood

..............of what i'm paying now.even if i went 1/2 ol'roy and 1/2 lab blocks it's 36 cents a pound.thanks for the info.