Dietary requirements of hispid cotton rats were studied by the self-selection of diet method. A subject pool of 46 animals was required to provide 10 males and 10 females which adjusted successfully to the feeding plan. Subsequently a mash devised on the basis of self-selection data fed naive subjects more efficiently than did a commercial chow. Consequently dietary self-selections by the successful selectors, while possibly nonrepresentative for the species, may provide a suitable maintenance ration for captives.
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