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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 14:27:56 GMT -5
great. now i get to type this all over again.  anyway, I'm thinking of getting some whole prey for my girls, rats right now, because i found a supplier for cheap. so I'm going to go up the ages. but is it hard to transition them to whole prey? the did have a mouse or two, back when i was breeding mice, but when i gave them a mouse about two weeks ago the didn't touch it. and at what age do rats have all the nutrients available/there. since mice are adults, but rats have different sizes such as weaned, small medium, etc. |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 7, 2011 15:05:06 GMT -5
As for the nutritional scope of the rats, I'm fairly sure it would be the same as mice growth wise. Adult is adult, juvie is juvie, pinkie is pinkie, etc.
How to get them eating it? I had to chop pinky mice and mix them into their meat, then start giving the whole mixed in, then by themselves. Same for the fuzzy ones. When we actually got to fur, I had to cut them open and squirt some oil inside. They figured it out from their, and we just worked our way up the ages.
I'm assuming the same method would work with rats.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 15:08:53 GMT -5
so would a small rat be the nutrition they need? or would i have to go up to bigger sizes?
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Post by Sherry on Apr 7, 2011 15:10:19 GMT -5
I think a "small" would be a young adult, so it should be fine.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 15:15:33 GMT -5
awesome thank you.
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Post by joclyn on Apr 7, 2011 16:11:09 GMT -5
i thought rats didn't have all the proper nutrients ferrets need???
i'm sure i've seen that stated more than once - both on the old hf forum as well as other places....is that info wrong???
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 23:33:02 GMT -5
Maybe as a sole protein? But that applies to any meat/prey, so...  |
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Post by Sherry on Apr 7, 2011 23:35:03 GMT -5
Rats are a part of any balanced whole prey diet- or could be, if you can get hold of them  They are simply another protein, as is chicken, turkey, what have you! It's the very young animal that doesn't hold the calcium levels needed, but the young are still a necessary part of any diet, simply because they contain nutrients older animals don't. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2011 23:49:26 GMT -5
That's what I thought  |
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Post by Heather on Apr 8, 2011 0:18:45 GMT -5
As Sherry posted, rats are just a component. You can feed rats (a variety of ages), Mice (a variety of ages), and guinea pigs (a variety of ages) and you should be able to cover the minimum requirements for a prey diet. Pinkies are candy, they have little to no nutritional value and are best used as treats and starter prey. I feed rats, but I also feed mice, quail and rabbit (as well as ground and frankenprey). The minimum requirement though is 3 types of protein (the more the merrier though ;D)
ciao
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Post by crazylady on Apr 8, 2011 13:41:46 GMT -5
rats and mice to mine are snacks lol ( boy would I need a good few hundred to feed mine lol ) one plus side to rats and mice are there fur cleans the digestive tract so if nothing else every where gets a good clean though take care bye for now
crazy lady
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