# bulk rat food



## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

where do you buy rat food in bulk?

I have about 15 adults and 100's of young rats (food) that are costing me around £40 a month to feed so its not really saving me any money on food for my snakes.

I dont want to be mixing this with that and the other, I just want a complete food that I can buy a bulk sack of.


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Sow pellets?


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## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

LoveForLizards said:


> Sow pellets?


from where?


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

markhill said:


> from where?


If you have local feed shops/farm stores they should stock it or be able to get it in for you. If you look on the farmgate website it will give you details of local stockists aswell, I have found their pellets to be pretty good for breeding/growing rats.


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## spider_duck (Feb 25, 2008)

We pay a fiver for a huge sack of rabbit food, about a tenner? (rie can confirm this, im unsure) for dog biscuits which does the dog aswell, and about 50p for cheap cornflakes and mix it together. Keeps costs down and we've yet to run out :lol2:


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## markhill (Sep 22, 2006)

these any good?

Rare Breed Sow Breeder Pencils


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## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

Yeah they will be OK.


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## red foot marg (Feb 19, 2008)

if you want to feed them for free, go to your local bakery? they throw all the unsold bread away, take it home spread it out to let it go dry,then feed to your rats/mice.A friend of mine used to get a few sacks of rolls each saturday, he use to sell 100's rats each week.


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## Mischievous_Mark (Mar 16, 2008)

red foot marg said:


> if you want to feed them for free, go to your local bakery? they throw all the unsold bread away, take it home spread it out to let it go dry,then feed to your rats/mice.A friend of mine used to get a few sacks of rolls each saturday, he use to sell 100's rats each week.


Surely they cant have just lived of bread that would lead to very unhealthy rats.......


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## ferretman (May 11, 2008)

I just use rabbit food a sack 15 kilo for 6 quid and supplemnt with all sorts of odd bits uneatne ferret biscits , fruit and veg and a bit of fish here and their


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

Rabbit food will do fine, more suitable than pig feed anyway.

Or if you can get it, Rupert Rat is a good complete food (not Reggie Rat, that's rubbish). But rabbit food works out much cheaper. For babies and nursing mums I'd add some dried dog food, or plenty of fresh protein (sardines in tom sauce, scrambled eggs, EMP etc) and lots of kale alongside.

If you want healthy rats, you have to give them a suitable diet, dried manky old bread or pig feed is not suitable. Cheap yes, but not healthy.


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

LisaLQ said:


> Rabbit food will do fine, more suitable than pig feed anyway.
> 
> Or if you can get it, Rupert Rat is a good complete food (not Reggie Rat, that's rubbish). But rabbit food works out much cheaper. For babies and nursing mums I'd add some dried dog food, or plenty of fresh protein (sardines in tom sauce, scrambled eggs, EMP etc) and lots of kale alongside.
> 
> If you want healthy rats, you have to give them a suitable diet, dried manky old bread or pig feed is not suitable. Cheap yes, but not healthy.


I feed my mouse colonies on sow rolls. The nutritional analysis shows it's very similar to lab block feed. They do get extra treats as well but as a basic food it was recommended to me by a rat breeder. Why do you think it's unhealthy?


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

I dont think lab block feeds are good enough on their own either. I mix mine into my mix as an extra, but I'd never feed lab blocks on their own.

I believe rats need more variety to keep themselves healthy and happy. Block feeds are not suitable - eg you cant alter them to suit different ages, or alter to suit rats that have health problems, or over/underweight rats etc. If you feed the same lab block or pellet food to all your animals, regardless of age, health or weight, you will end up with some unhealthy rats.

JMO, but you can alter a mix to suit every age, every weight etc.

Edited to add - that was a recommendation from a rat breeder too (as I am one).


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## midori (Aug 27, 2006)

I know you don't want to mix, but it would make for healthier rats, and can be very cheap. I find with rabbit foods they leave the pellets as they don't like them, unless I am really strict about not feeding until the bowl is empty, which I am not. 

The cheapest way to feed if you have a big enough bin would be to buy in bulk 'straights' from horse feed places (oats, barley, flaked maize, peas etc) then add some complete dog kibble.

I also give my rats any left overs, providing it isn't junk food, so veggies, pasta, mashed potato, home-made pie etc. Then any stale bread, chicken carcases etc. 

I do give extras aswell, but I keep mine like pet rats.


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

LisaLQ said:


> I dont think lab block feeds are good enough on their own either. I mix mine into my mix as an extra, but I'd never feed lab blocks on their own.
> 
> I believe rats need more variety to keep themselves healthy and happy. Block feeds are not suitable - eg you cant alter them to suit different ages, or alter to suit rats that have health problems, or over/underweight rats etc. If you feed the same lab block or pellet food to all your animals, regardless of age, health or weight, you will end up with some unhealthy rats.
> 
> ...


Thanks Lisa. As I said, I supplement with fruit & veg, a whole ear of sweetcorn is demolished by the mice, as well as things like toast crusts and nan and pitta bread. I want my mouse farm as happy and healthy as possible, both from a humane point of view and so they produce large healthy litters to feed the snakes. Given that I won't be feeding elderly mice, I'm happy to continue with the sow rolls personally. When I tried various mixes there was a lot of wastage with them picking out the stuff they liked best. IMO that could lead to them having an unbalanced diet by their preference. Since changing to the sow rolls their health, growth and productivity are better. Feeding the extras is mostly because I like how tame they are when hand fed treats.


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## LisaLQ (Jan 29, 2009)

Yep - everyone has their preferences. I've found that overfeeding encourages pickyness (is that even a word?!). If they're leaving some, feed less - you should be aiming for the bowl to be empty an hour or two before their next feeding time. 

Mine dont leave any of their mix, unless I've had the kids feed them for me and they've given them too much, or I've recently changed rabbit food to one they absolutely hate :lol2:

Putting them back on the Sneyd's Wonder Rabbit again next time - they left none of that.


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## diamondlil (May 7, 2008)

I didn't have much success at all with rabbit mix, they seemed to leave most of it, and squabbled over their favourite bits. This way I know they have a good basic food and can make sure each mouse gets a fair share of treats. OK I'm also soppy even though they are feeder/breeders and I enjoy hand-feeding them!


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## celicachi (Sep 16, 2009)

is rabbit food ok for multis?


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## pigglywiggly (Jul 19, 2008)

when i had rats i fed them on pellet free rabbit mix, with dried pasta and cat biccies 

the occasional boiled eggs and the chicken carcass on sundays,

never had any food left and they had lovely glossy coats


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