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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 1, 2004 21:48:46 GMT -4
I got some LM food today - little tannish colored food blocks each about the size of the first half of your thumb, or a little less. It is for "mice and rats", but "also for gerbils and hamsters".
I was wondering what success anyone has had in getting any of these critters to eat the stuff.
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Post by rasputin on Jul 1, 2004 22:09:44 GMT -4
My rats prefer blocks to anything else -- will fight over odd numbers of them -- will dart forward and snatch them from my hand.
Gerbs are indifferent at best -- but I keep a block or two in the tank as backup -- they will eat blocks if nothing else proves palatable.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 1, 2004 23:26:13 GMT -4
Well, I am getting concerned they know they can out wait me for peanuts and sunflower seeds, and cheerios. Cliffy, uncle to the three black guys, just sits there and looks at me waiting for a peanut. I better not look at him as I will weaken! They have their lab blocks, so that is all until tomorrow, except for some alfalfa. The mice made theirs disappear, so they must not hate them.
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Post by jeannie on Jul 2, 2004 12:09:19 GMT -4
This is giving me flashbacks from childhood of having to sit at the table in front of burnt vegetables until I ate them. Parent can be so cruel
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Post by rasputin on Jul 2, 2004 20:06:55 GMT -4
I don't really recommend blocks for gerbs -- it is unpalatable -- like slightly sweet-ish cardboard. It may be desirable to us for our gerbs to acquiesce and eat whatever food we would want to offer them, but gerbs need variety and stimulation in their diet.
I give food blocks to the gerbs and hamster in case I have an emergency and cannot feed them on schedule, to be honest -- I have sometimes been kept for doubles at the store, which really messes with care and keeping.
Besides, I don't trust the tagline on the package about gerbs and hams -- cedar bedding purports to be good for small animals, too.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 2, 2004 21:38:46 GMT -4
The gerbs just pushed the block aside. I also broke another into small pieces - they are not hard at all - and sprinkled it around the dish. That vanished, or just got pushed into the bedding. Variety is nice, but not when they only wait for the "good stuff" and ignore the rest! How do you know it tastes like cardboard?? Have a nibble? Speaking of workplaces, my local pet store is missing a worker who had been there for at least a few years and was very helpful to me - Dave; I named a gerbil after him, Sam's tankmate. I found out from sources he had gotten in a fight with another worker in the store. Both were canned.
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Post by rasputin on Jul 17, 2004 16:15:31 GMT -4
Yes -- it tastes like sweet cardboard (I sometimes taste the pet food so I know how little flavor these guys are used to having).
The gerbs had to make do for a day on lab blocks -- Tuesday I was en route to pick up their food at Feeder's Supply when hurricane force winds and torrential rains struck Louisville -- I could see only white gusts and vague other stuff outside my car, aside from small leafy branches that [pelted the van from all directions.
I navigated mostly by the yellow roadside signs and by the center line because nothing else was really available. I had hoped to continue to the store and shelter inside to wait out the storm but a transformer blew ten feet from my car -- and all I could see for several seconds was blue light and a huge spark shower.
As I drove on, a live wire behind me, power started failing systematically in every neighborhood I went to. The major street with Feeder's Supply was completely dark and powerless when I got there, so I had to return home by another route, emptyhanded. Again, I watched more power losses and tree downings from the van -- I was very forttunate to make it through the half-hour journey unharmed. I couldn't top ten mph throughout the trip for fear of hitting something/someone or being blown over by the wind or not seeing some hazard or another.
And the gerbs ate blocks gratefully, though at a slow pace.
The hamster took hers into her secluded den so I couldn't see her eat them, but she seemed interested enough in them.
The rats were happy, of course -- they like the blocks tremendously, moreso than the more-expensive rat food mix I got them a while ago.
Everyone's back on regular food now but things were pretty tight for a day and a half. No one seems the worse for wear, though they were all overjoyed to get their regular mixes back, as was I.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Jul 17, 2004 22:15:42 GMT -4
Very interesting adventure! I knew NJ got hit pretty hard. On August 14th it will be the first anniversary of the still mysterious power failure in the Northeast. I did some intersting things that dark night, but it would have been more pleasant if it wasn't so damn hot.
I'm trying to generally cut back on food; longevity equals eating less, or vice versa. Stanley though seems to eat everything; it all just vanishes so if he is stashing it i can't find it, unlike with the others who stash some food they don't care for and then pee on it. But Stanley isn't fat. Must be one of those lucky thin types with the crazy high metabolism.
I cut back on mix, and especially corn and nuts, and adding more crumbled up (a little) lab blocks and those round green thingees from Hartz Mountain, the ones my bunny loves (but she gets them only as an occasional treat).
Glad you survived the adventure with the weather. I once wtched the edge of a hurricane whipping up the winds from a Cape Cod dock.
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Post by jessicareed on Dec 15, 2004 20:28:40 GMT -4
I personally would not feed my rats lab blocks because they are for LAB animals (which is cruel) so that all the animal will have the same diet. Thus, the diet is very plain. I would only give them lab blocks if I HAD to and if I could still give them fresh and dried fruits and veggies everyday. You take a big part out of their life if you don't.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Dec 16, 2004 0:17:34 GMT -4
The reason for considering some sort of uniform diet (blocks or pellets) is my concern that with mixes that just pick out the parts they like and leave the rest.
Right now, the gerbils and hamsters get Sun Seed Vita mix for each type of animal (no "hamster and gerbil mix" stuff); I sometimes mix in LM Bounty Buffet, with the whole corn removed for the gerbs. I occasionally add in some generic Cheerios, and bits of nuts, raisins, veggies, apple bits, alfalfa (only for the gerbs), and the blocks and pellets, and occasionaly Monkey Chow. I also sometimes mix into the Sun seed hamster mix other mixes, such as Kaytee Fiesta - but not for the gerbils as it has the whole corn they ignore.
So they get a very varied diet. I also don't put more in until I see the dried veggies being eaten.
Oh, sometimes they get bits of tuna, chicken, or tofu (which they eat), along with scrambled eggs and cheese.
So they are eating well, but not over eating!
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Post by fantasma on Dec 16, 2004 0:22:10 GMT -4
My rat loves lab blocks. I don't give my rat a special diet or anything like that, I usually just buy what looks good and is cheap. Right now i'm feeding my rat lab blocks and a mix of nuts/oats/dried banana and other various things along with fresh veggies every other day. My rat, he loves it.
Some of you might not agree with what I feed my rat, but just to let you know; I've had three rats in my entire life and I havn't fed any of them any special food and they have all lived well past age two. My rat right now, he's three and a bit.
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Dec 16, 2004 0:33:52 GMT -4
I posted a little while ago in another forum about lab blocks and diet. Suffice it to say here I have heard that rats love those LM lab blocks. Have you ever considered Monkey Chow? I'm sure your diet is quite good.
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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 9, 2005 3:19:45 GMT -4
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Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 9, 2005 6:50:41 GMT -4
How many rats or other rodents do you have? I have well over forty, so preparing home made food is not practicable for me: not enough time nor energy, considering the normal care I give.
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Post by sapphireratties on Mar 10, 2005 13:34:16 GMT -4
I don't have as many as you lol but I have 5 rats, 4 mice, and a hamster that all get the same basic mix. I have to totally retract the support I gave to harlan lab blocks, as I just recently found out that they also sell "lab animals" for testing on . If you go to a bulk store you should be able to find the cheap brands of everything i've listed. A large garbage can, stick (like a new broom handle, for mixing lol). One of those large buckets last all my guys about 2-3 months. (so probably a few days for you!). But I KNOW you can get mazuri rodent food in canada, and in the states. It is a VERY good lab block that I would and do reccomend, I have tried it with a group I had before and they loved it. But am having trouble finding a dealer in my area right now.
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