Rodent Food (BioMare Cubes)

[solar 17]

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]

[wokka]

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?

[VixenBabe]

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

[snakecharma]

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

[solar 17]

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]

[Bredlislave]

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

[The Devil]

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.

[solar 17]

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]

[jack]

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).

[Bredlislave]

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

[boa]

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.

[Sdaji]

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.

[Choco]

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.

[Poggle]

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?

[Mattsnake]

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.