# Rodent Food (BioMare Cubes)



## solar 17 (Mar 12, 2010)

Over the past few months myself along with [4] others have been part of a study by a multi national interested in providing [selling] a rat / mouse pellet of exceptional quality with some of the tests performed being quite unusual :wieghts, numbers [pinkies] manure / viscosity, urine sampling, plus a couple of others all during these tests ample free food was provided and while this food is not available yet l feel it maybe too expensive for the average punter.......but and the point of this post is during these tests we were provided with opposition foods to try as well and one very impressive performer (IMO) was/is BioMare Cubes made by Prydes at Gunnedah (NSW) on checking the composition it appears to be very good although the protein @ 15.8% maybe a bit low for some l personally feel its more than adequate plus it has some excellent trace elements in it and while at Brisbane Northside Produce buying woodshavings for the critters l noticed BioMare was selling for $26.50 for a 25 kilo bag working out at $1.06 a kilo now this produce is middle of the road with prices so l am just posting them as a guide and just one final point rats and mice seem to love the flavour [added bonus]........cheers solar 17 [Baden]


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## wokka (Mar 12, 2010)

Baden,
One important difference is the Boimare is based upon vegetable protein via soya bean whereas most other feeds rely upon animal offal as their protein scource. We theorised that animal offal may develop a taiste for meat with the easiest available scource for the adults being their pinkies. On the otherhand using only vegetable feeds may develop a craving for meat which may lead to adults eating pinkies. What do you think?


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## Vixen (Mar 12, 2010)

I use Biomare with occasional supplements of higher protein dog feed and vegetables, never had a problem.


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## snakecharma (Mar 12, 2010)

i have been using BioMare for the past 6-8 months and i can vouch for its quality, the old pellets i used to use changed somehow and all my adults started eating there babies. After months and months of searching i found BioMare and wont be stopping now. The developement of pinkies in mice more so, seems to increase when fed on a diet of BioMare. Just my observations though 

cheerz


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## solar 17 (Mar 12, 2010)

*Protien*

I sit on the disappointment side with proteins a complete human protien contains 23 amino acids [which make a complete protien] as apposed to koala bears / pandas requirements which are in the extreme, vegetable proteins escape (incomplete) under international agreement....l personally (believe) that l have not experienced fanticide (baby eating)....but l personally believe there are other mittagating circumstances .....overheating [now its well documented 23 degrees is considered ideal ....overcrowding and poor(terrible) diet are other factors involved.....cheers solar 17 [Baden]


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## Wild~Touch (Mar 12, 2010)

After using Biomare for around 6 months I noticed a lull in breeding activities in my ratties and decided not to use it again

This product is designed for lactacting mares and young horses which interested me in the first place

I think it is fine as long as it is not used soley.

Afterall ... my rats do well on a mixed and varied diet, ie, good quality dog pellets and even Aus Organics rat pellets
The above are just my observations only and I beleive variety is the key

Cheers
Sandee


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## The Devil (Mar 12, 2010)

I've been breeding rats for about 12 years and at times find that a litter of baby rats have disappeared.
9 times out of 10 it happens with new mothers and their first litters. I've usually put it down to maybe the girls were a bit young and didn't know what to do with their babies.

With regard to the different sources of protein, it would seem that in most rat food the protein from vegetable matter. This makes sense as that in the wild rats and mice would only get meat protein from the occasional dead animal they come across.
The only rat food I've come across that doesn't use vegetable matter for protein is the Norco brand food.
Norco uses fish meal for their protein source.


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## solar 17 (Mar 12, 2010)

*Variety !!!!!*

Bredlslave (Sandee) l couldn't agree more about variety, these dry foods only form the basis of my diet as my critters get (daily) anything from palm nuts / corn / peas / & fruit & anything else thats available [SEASONAL]....cheers solar 17 [Baden]


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## jack (Mar 12, 2010)

thanks for the info solar, my missus works in gunnedah, so i will get her to pick up some of these pellets and i will give them a go. 
by the way, it is twenty amino acids required (there are 23 human chromosome pairs though).


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## Wild~Touch (Mar 12, 2010)

Agreed Baden....the keywords being "Seasonal" as well as "Variety" 

for healthy animals and maximum production results

It amazes me how many people just fill up the food chutes with cheap dog food and think that is all to it

On a side note: 
I have been using barley straw as bedding for my rats lately as I cannot see the value in dusty wood shavings. Barley straw is messy but the rats love it

Cheers
Sandee


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## Retic (Mar 12, 2010)

I have been using Biomare cubes for about a year now and I am very happy with them and more importantly the rats seem to like them and grow well.


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## Sdaji (Mar 12, 2010)

With the cost of food being a small consideration compared to the amount of time put into breeding rats and mice, I don't mind paying a little extra. If you're using supplements (extra foods such as seeds, fresh vegetables, meat, etc) one person's trials don't mean anything to you unless you are also copying the extra part of the diet, so what I do might not mean much to anyone else, but I have had the best results with Cummins Mill pellets. If you're supplementing heavily it doesn't really matter what staple you're using.

Wokka: I very strongly believe that giving them meat will make them less likely to eat their babies. Other than what I've observed, it makes sense. Rats are naturally omnivorous, and it seems weird to think that something which naturally eats meat would suddenly want to eat its babies if you give it meat. They'll eat their babies if they are genetically poor or if there is a dietary deficiency, or if they get freaked out. The degree to whick they are prone to eating their babies is highly heritable. If they're genetically programmed not to eat their babies they'll abandon them instead of eating them if things get tough.


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## Choco (Mar 12, 2010)

Might have to have a look for BioMare and have a try. I use Laucke & Mills which seems to work very well . Good litter sizes, no problem with eating babies, and good rat body mass. Only supplements they get is the odd vegetable peeling/offcuts when cooking dinner.

Anyone else had experience with Laucke & Mills and Biomare to compare. I used to use Barastoc if anyone uses and has comments on it too.


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## Poggle (Mar 12, 2010)

Just out of curiosity my complany make and sells a Rat and mouse breeder cubes feed.... Called Riverina Rat and Mouse.... Has any one else tried it.. Contains 18.5 % Protein . It is sold for 17.05 for 20 kg. i can list full information on this product if any one is interested?


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## -Matt- (Mar 12, 2010)

Poggle said:


> Just out of curiosity my complany make and sells a Rat and mouse breeder cubes feed.... Called Riverina Rat and Mouse.... Has any one else tried it.. Contains 18.5 % Protein . It is sold for 17.05 for 20 kg. i can list full information on this product if any one is interested?


 
Poggle do you know anybody on the Sunshine Coast that stocks it? I would be interested in giving it a try.


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## Poggle (Mar 12, 2010)

if anyone interested in trying it gives me their locations i will look at what i can find out for you... i am in charge of sales for the area where i am, not particularly the coastal are but i shall have a look.


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## No-two (Mar 12, 2010)

We give ours a bunch of different things and have to agree with Sdaji here, the cummins is providing fantastic results, but in saying that we also give them some biomare aswell (generally it's about 2 40kg bags of cummins and then 1 25kg bag of biomare then back to cummins, works a treat). On occasions we give them fresh corn and seeds aswell


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## Poggle (Mar 12, 2010)

Here is the number for the loganlea branch 32006366. Try and buy direct from them if you can that way you get better pricing. But if not they will be able to give you a contact of ours on the coast


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## solar 17 (Mar 12, 2010)

*Rodent Feed Trials*

What 'Sdaji' has tried to infer is not correct, those feed trials were done strictly on pelleted diet only, with all foods provided by the company involved, with the urine, blood and other samples taken by myself and to the lab by myself and its my experience that these trials were incredibly unbiased all l was trying to do in this thread was provide some (imo) some trial results and experiences, these seasonal fruit, veg seeds and nuts provided were to my other lot as its just a passion l have as several people on this site have witnessed, rats up to 750 gms and clutches up to (24)....cheers solar 17 [Baden]


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## wokka (Mar 12, 2010)

The Devil said:


> I've been breeding rats for about 12 years and at times find that a litter of baby rats have disappeared.
> 9 times out of 10 it happens with new mothers and their first litters. I've usually put it down to maybe the girls were a bit young and didn't know what to do with their babies.
> 
> With regard to the different sources of protein, it would seem that in most rat food the protein from vegetable matter. This makes sense as that in the wild rats and mice would only get meat protein from the occasional dead animal they come across.
> ...



My obseration is that feedmills use the cheapest scource of protein if possible which is normally offal. Since the mad cow scare, If the feed is for animals being used for human consumption they cant use offal, the price of offal based protien has fallen as demand has reduced, but since rats are not for humans offal is a cheap souce of protein which can be used. One of the cheapest rodent pellets around Sydney is Vella which uses animal protien.


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## Australis (Mar 12, 2010)

Ive used bio-mare supplemented with dry dog or cat food for years on and off.
Best thing about it was the "cube" size and integrity compared to smaller and
more "brittle" feed options.

Hope they don't relabel it as rodent feed and bump the price up.


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## Poggle (Mar 12, 2010)

So noone has ever used the Riverina Rat and Mouse cubes?


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## The Devil (Mar 12, 2010)

Poggle said:


> Just out of curiosity my complany make and sells a Rat and mouse breeder cubes feed.... Called Riverina Rat and Mouse.... Has any one else tried it.. Contains 18.5 % Protein . It is sold for 17.05 for 20 kg. i can list full information on this product if any one is interested?



No Offense BUT I did use Riverina rat and mouse a few years ago. It would have to be the WORST I've ever used.
Maybe, just maybe the formula has been changed as the main problem seemed to be the amount of SALT in the mix.
More salt equals more water drunk which equals more PIDDLE and that equals MORE SMELL. Hell the stink was unreal.....

Have to say that when I changed to Barastock the level of smell DECREASED by at least 50% plus.......


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## Retic (Mar 12, 2010)

I would never use Riverina again, they would crumble to dust and the results weren't that good.


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## kupper (Mar 12, 2010)

I use biomare but was previously using cummins , i have found for rearing and growth of juveniles it has worked wonders but i have noticed my frequency of litters have dropped considerably 

i have decided to mix both foods, in an even mix and am yet to have done that for a long enough period to declare it succesful


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## Reptilia (Mar 13, 2010)

If you use mazuri's rodent pellet as an example, it is easy to see why the production of rodents in america is far greater than it is here in aus.


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## wokka (Mar 13, 2010)

Reptilia said:


> If you use mazuri's rodent pellet as an example, it is easy to see why the production of rodents in america is far greater than it is here in aus.



Why do you think production of rodents in America is far greater than it is here in Aus? Are you implying it is due to feed or is it simply due to the higher demand?


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## geckodan (Mar 13, 2010)

Mattsnake, Beerwah Feed Barn stocks Riverina but they must be between batches as its not been available for a few weeks


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## Reptilia (Mar 13, 2010)

wokka said:


> Why do you think production of rodents in America is far greater than it is here in Aus?
> Are you implying it is due to feed or is it simply due to the higher demand?



Both. I believe the quality and variety of ingredients within the feed results in higher litters and healthier stock. (greater production per breeder female)

If you were to compare a large australian rodent breeder to an american one of similar size, the american breeder would need less breeder females (based on feed quality) to produce an 'x' amount of rodents per week resulting in less feed costs overall in comparison to an australian breeder (more breeder females to produce same 'x' amout of rodents per week)

The demand is obviously high in the u.s with breeders trying to produce high quality rodents at the lowest possible price. This usually comes down to feed costs and labour costs.

Currently not possible to compete with american prices due to:
1. demand.
2. quality of feed.
3. feed costs.
4. labour costs.

Heres a list of ingredients within australian suppliers rodent pellets.
By mixing some of these feeds together you can gain a wider variety of ingredients. The end result is better production.


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