# rodent feed



## taylor111 (Feb 26, 2010)

hey guys, im looking into breeding rodents on a larger scale and am looking for a a good lab block the i can get in qld.

any ideas?

cheers taylor


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## taylor111 (Feb 26, 2010)

bump


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## Bax155 (Feb 26, 2010)

vella mice and rat cubes...


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## Choco (Feb 28, 2010)

Laucke mills rat and mouse cubes or barrastoc. 1st are only bout $15 for 10kg or there bouts. Good healthy rats too.


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## dodgie (Feb 28, 2010)

Dog Pro working dog food $27-20 kg bag.I tried rodent pellets,waste of money.


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## Lewy (Mar 1, 2010)

Laucke mills rat and mouse cubes I have bred thousands of rats and mice on this stuff and IMO better than dog food as last time I looked rats aren't dogs!


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## Bez84 (Mar 1, 2010)

Go to a produce place or rural centre, ive used feed from there for years.
Sheep and cattle nuts (aka custom pellet mix) currently costing me $17.70 for 25kg beat that lol.


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## j.kcustoms (Mar 1, 2010)

hi taylor i use 2x25kgbags (of breed performer for horses $22.80per bag) mixed with 1x20kg bag off corn $17.00 makes a great mix and i find they eat all off it that way rather than turning to crumbs and wasting it and you can get it down the road from your place cheers josh


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## j.kcustoms (Mar 1, 2010)

and yes i no rats aren't horses either ...


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## dodgie (Mar 1, 2010)

Lewy said:


> Laucke mills rat and mouse cubes I have bred thousands of rats and mice on this stuff and IMO better than dog food as last time I looked rats aren't dogs!



Geez i didn't know that.


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## Bax155 (Mar 1, 2010)

Feed em whatever you like as it seems everyone has their own opinions none of which is based on nutrition, so go with something with over 18% protien which they need during gestation and weaning it also gets them growing quicker.. as for feed that has crumbs yes it may dirty the tubs quicker but I find thats what they run to as soon as its in their cage, lazy buggers!! If you clean more than once a fortnight it should never be a problem anyway!!


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## taylor111 (Mar 21, 2010)

j.kcustoms said:


> hi taylor i use 2x25kgbags (of breed performer for horses $22.80per bag) mixed with 1x20kg bag off corn $17.00 makes a great mix and i find they eat all off it that way rather than turning to crumbs and wasting it and you can get it down the road from your place cheers josh




cheers at the moment im using that and my rats seem to be on the thin side,


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## solar 17 (Mar 21, 2010)

*Lean rodents*

*l am going to ask ....have they maybe got mico plasma...its sounding a bit suspicous ! If you are not sure mico plasma is a bronchial condition in rats thats highly contagious, you can generally here it if there quietness around and listen [just close to them is enough] you will if they have it hear a slightly laboured breathing and in severe cases a bubbly sound while breathing .........there is a lot more of this condition around than people realize or are willing to admitt to, if you have it and you want to be rid of it, the only way out / around it is to fill the freezer and start again with clean stock, not as easy to obtain as you may think [imo] if you want to beef you current stock up [and you have this condition] is to feed some fruit and veg as well to your critters....cheers solar 17 [baden]*


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## taylor111 (Mar 21, 2010)

cheers mate do you know what will cause this condition?


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## solar 17 (Mar 21, 2010)

*Mico plasma*



taylor111 said:


> cheers mate do you know what will cause this condition?


*taylor111....RATS ARE VERY SUSCEPTIBLE TO THIS THIS CONDITION, A BIT LIKE THE FLU IN HUMANS, APPARENTLY IT CAN BE ERRADICATED WITH THE USE OF ANTI-BIOTICS, BUT WITH INDIVIDUAL INJECTIONS EACH DAY THIS IS NOT VERY PRACTICAL, THE GENERAL CAUSES APART FROM IT BEING PASSED ARE POOR NUTRITION, OVERCROWDING AND OVERHEATING [CAUSING STRESS]......NOW KEEP IN MIND AND ITS WELL DOCUMENTED THE "IDEAL" TEMP. FOR RODENTS IS 23c....CHEERS SOLAR 17 [BADEN]*


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## taylor111 (Mar 21, 2010)

that would explain it, after all the heat we got a few months ago!


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## Danniell (Apr 5, 2010)

Mycoplasma pulmonis affects all rats, its pass on when young are born so the only way to prevent it is c-section than NO contact with other rats with is pretty much impossible. There is no cure. Antibiotic treats the infection that the bacteria causes wither upper/lower respiratory or genital. 

Some strains of rats are more Prone or resistant to the infections. Poor ventilation, ammonia and stress increases the likelihood of Infections. 

So unless you would like to run a labotory breeding program than I suggest that you find good breeding stock that has a genetic resistants to mycoplasma. I’m sure there are breeders on here that have good stock. pet shops normally breed unhealthy animals so Don't bother with them


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## Lonewolf (Apr 5, 2010)

Worded perfectly Danniell 

I'm hopeless at explaining. 

Anyways, on the food topic. You can make your own food just by getting a bunch of stuff at the supermarket which is what we will be doing again shortly. We went with pellets for a while and found that they crumbled, the rats and mice didn't eat them so lost condition and it was just messy. 

We used to buy muesli mixes, wild bird seeds, dry dog or cat food plus an additional serving of fruit and veg a few times a week. We threw in any uneaten dry cereal too. (Corn flakes, weatbix etc).

I'd only recommend this if you don't have heaps of rodents to feed. As sometimes it does get expensive.


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## taylor111 (Apr 12, 2010)

thanks for your help guys, can anybody get 300 rats on the sunshine coast?


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## Jdsixtyone (Jun 13, 2010)

So if i have rats sneezing next to good ones it will spread??!!


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