Phantastic Pheeders
African Soft Furred Rats aka multi mammate mice are very good feeders as far as rodents go. Mice and rats are also. Rats tend to have more fat than mice. Giving the rodents wheels and such can help keep aggression down and the opportunity to excercise also increases prgan size and bone mass so you have leaner more protein packed animals. Rats are fairly lazy and might not use a wheel. Adult rodents or weaned rodents also tend to be more nutritious than unweaned. So it is usually better to feed adults of smaller species than babies of larger ones. We have had noticeable differences as well as our clientele when using pygmy mice, where adults weigh an 1/8th of an ounce as opposed to rat pinks or small unweaned mice. Various rodents that make good feeders are, in addition to mice and rats, African soft fur rats, Robrovski hamsters, pygmy myce©, deermice, and voles among others, Guinea pigs tend to be high in fact but make helpless victims when feeding live
As far as gutloading I take it you mean like a power diet or something for a day or two before feeding. As far as rodents go you are better served with feeding them a constant healthy nutritious diet, you will have superior results.
Now on to birds. Generally birds are also more effective if you can feed adults as opposed to hatchlings, chicks etc., for the same reasons as rodents. Button quail are very small as adults, finches and canaries are also very good. serama chickens are the smallest breed in the world and range from about 6-12 ounces as adults. Chicks and turkey poults are also very good. Again feeding a complete balanced diet will yield superior results to gutloading.
Invertebrate feeders. When providing a variety of invertebrate feeders fed healthy wholesome diets supplementation is redundant. Variety for the sake of variety is meaningless. Variety in the form of offering different animals that bring different nutrients to the equation however is what the goal is. An example is Praying mantids and stick insects. Praying mantids eat other insects and animals thus having a higher protein content. Stick insects eat only leaves. Being 2 diferent types of insects with different types of diets means they bring a more balanced and healthy diet than one or the other. if you feed the feeders healthy varied diets you will have better results than gutloading. Some superior feeders are Hornworms, silkworms, roaches, earthworms and nightcrawlers, snails, certain spiders, isopods and flies as well as locusts. Of course all feeders mentioned should be captive bred to lessen the chance of bringing somthing nasty into your menagerie.
Digby Rigby
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