I used to use a good quality (diet science) dog biscuit for my rats and was warned away from it by Wokka who breeds rats on a large scale due the the 15% fat content and high protein content and that is why I now feed biomare, cheaper and lower fat. He has also made the comment about the amount of goodness that they receive out of feed and if you are feeding them a lot of food them they will be doing a lot of pooing which means more clean up, apparently if you feed them a good combination food that provides what they need they will not eat as much food and therefore poo less.i give them a mix i use various seed and grains, fish food pellets, dog biscuits,dried fruit,nuts,vitamins/mineral block things,and heaps of different veggies, my rats go through heaps of food so far i go through roughly 2-3 kilos a week!! and its only a small colony...
I used to use a good quality (diet science) dog biscuit for my rats and was warned away from it by Wokka who breeds rats on a large scale due the the 15% fat content and high protein content and that is why I now feed biomare, cheaper and lower fat. He has also made the comment about the amount of goodness that they receive out of feed and if you are feeding them a lot of food them they will be doing a lot of pooing which means more clean up, apparently if you feed them a good combination food that provides what they need they will not eat as much food and therefore poo less.
Aren't they both fairly low in salt? 2.7 g/kg for rat cubes and 5.8g/kg for bio mare , I know that bio mare is over double but I would think that 5.8g/kg is still fairly low.Have looked at biomare vs rat + mouse cubes and found that biomare contains a lot more salt.Not sure it is a problem or not though.
What is your take on protein percentage, I was told that the ideal percentage was 15% and anything over just means extra poo.Well more salt means more drinking, more filling up water bottles, more peeing, and more changing substrate. I would prefer less salt
You can find rodent cubes at a lot of produce stores. You can email Cummins and Lauke mills, to find a local supplier, or it may be listed somewhere on the net. Not all cubes are made equally though, so I have heard that Barastock sucks. Apparently Norco/Goldmix is good, Cummins (Mcmannus rodent cubes is the other name for that brand), and Lauke mills rodent pellets, are the best. I personally buy 1000kg of Cummins straight from the mill so I can get it at wholesale price, and pre sell half of it to friends.
Yeah I was also told similar about the ratios.I can't remember what my rodent cubes have, but I would assume whatever they have is ideal, seeing as it was made specifically for rodents and is known to be a quality brand. I have been told by a credible source, that the issue is not the percentages, but the ratio of the main things > protein:sugars:fats:fibre:salt etc. If the ratios are ideal then the rat eats minimal food and stays healthy. If the ratios are out of balance, the rat can never get what it needs and is eating more or less of the food than ideal, trying to make up for it. This is an issue, and is also why feeding mixes is an issue, as they just pick out the tasty things and are not getting a complete diet. Kind of like how if you have a table full of lollies, junk food and healthy meals, kids are going to choose what is yummy, not what is good for them long term.
All I know is that biomare contains 1.4% salt and 15.8% protein Vs 0.3% and 18% in the pellets I use.
What price are the cubes that you use? I get biomare in a 25kg bag for $30, I am on my first bag at the moment so I can't comment on how long it lasts yet or growth rates yet.I weighed some of my larger rodents that I grow out to feed my larger snakes, rats are 8 weeks old and they are 150-160 gm and they are fed purely on laukie mills cubes. If you have a stock feed place near you you will be able to get it, nearly all stock feed places sell either "homelay" chook pellets or "uncle Albers " or " great barko" dog food, all these are made by laukie mills and they will be able to get the rodent pellets in, you may just have to wait till they do their next order with them
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