I'm getting two male rats next week and I was wondering what food is best. I hear the store bought brands aren't very good. Is that true? If not, which ones are ok?
Any other tips concerning taking care of the rats will be appreciated. Thanks! :)
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Favorite Answer
Seed mixes are the ones you have to stay away from. They allow the rat to pick and choose what they eat, so they don't always get a balanced nutrition. There are also fillers in many mixes - ingredients that rats just don't eat (or can't gain nutrition from).... like alfalfa or hay or grasses.
I would also avoid Kaytee food products, in general. They tend to be questionable (some supposedly use ethoxyquin, which is a carcinogenic preservative) and poor quality.
You want a BLOCK diet. Oxbow Regal Rat is a good brand, though if you have babies you have to supplement their protein (chicken, egg, broccoli, etc) because the formula is meant for adults. Mazuri is another good brand and it has adult AND baby formulas. Harlan Teklad (Native Earth) is another good brand that has multiple formulas BUT it must be ordered online.
You can supplement a block diet with a grain mix like Shunamite Diet or Suebee's. My girls get a scoop of grains/cereals/pastas twice a week for variety. They also get fresh foods - and sometimes i give them bits of my dinner.
Other tips?
Too many to list. Basics: two or more rats not one, large (four cubic feet minimum) barred cage, no tanks, never use pine or cedar bedding, provide lots of toys, provide lots of out-of-cage play time.
Use google to search for rat forums and/or websites.
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Anything made specifically for rats, no other animals. If it is any good then the food will be little "blocks", I can't remember the real word...
They are going to need probably a ferret cage an lots of toys.
Just remember... Rats are omnivores, not herbivores.
Anonymous
I've been a rat owner for nearly a year now, and I feed my rats Living World Rat Food, a variety of veggies such as carrots, lettuce, cucumber, and peppers, and whole wheat crackers and cereal. All of the things I have for my rats (food, hide-outs, play tubes, cage, water bottles, food dishes, etc.) are Living World. They need stuff to chew on (wooden hide-outs, wooden toys, etc) and since you are getting two, you may need two water bottles (I have experienced two of my rats fighting over one bottle), and more than one food dish. I definitely recommend LIVING WORLD products.
Good Luck with your rats!(:
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either buy a quality block like Oxbow, or get a copy of the Scuttling Gourmet in order to learn how to make a good quality home made mix
maybe the person that's rating down ALL my answers without reading them and seeing that I know what I'm talking about has a problem with people that have experience in keeping pets.
how pathetic are they. all my recent posts have been rated down, because ONE person doesn't know about rats as pets, and they have a petty vendetta. what a sad little life they lead.
I just want the animals to have a good, happy, healthy, life.
Paula
My friend has 3 rats that are awesome at the animal shelter that I work at and she does not buy rat food but she makes it herself. She makes big bags of mixed things like cereals, nuts, seeds, raisins, and stuff like that. You can feed them just about anything except citrus fruits. Google what they can and can not eat. Good Luck!!!