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  1. #1
    Registered User Lore's Avatar
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    Thumbs up Rat Food Choices and Costs

    Block Food
    Harlan Teklad (price varies) [AFRMA: http://www.afrma.org/sales/labblocks.htm] [Mainely Rat Rescue: http://mainelyratrescue.org/store2/] [The Crafty Rat: http://www.thecraftyrat.com/]
    Mazuri (50lbs of 6F for $30.99) [http://www.mazuri.com/ratandmouse.aspx]
    Kent (unknown) [http://kentfeeds.com/products/other-...ent-products/]
    Oxbow Regal Rat (20 lbs for $40.79 on Amazon) [http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/pro...il?object=1565 click "Get Product"]
    Native Earth (40lbs for $44.99 on Pet360) [http://www.pet360.com/product/9093/n...t-diet-40-lbs]

    Mixes (Note about mixes: http://nom-ology.blogspot.com/2011/0...-rat-diet.html)
    Suebee's (Price varies by location and availability) [http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html]: I have used Suebee's before to add variety to the standard lab block diet. Rats grow to weight more quickly because they are interested in their food.
    Shunamite (UK ingredients, price varies) [http://shunamiterats.co.uk/shunamite.shtml]

    Other
    Non-Medicated Hog feed (with no copper added): I have never used this because I have other things available. Some have noted a dramatic decrease to litter size.

    Dog food alone IS NOT a complete diet for rats!


    Fruits and Vegetables Rats CAN eat
    A
    Aduki Beans
    Apple (no seeds or core)
    Apricots
    Asparagus
    Aubergine (Eggplant)
    Avocado (flesh only, no skin or stone, feed with caution.)

    B
    Bamboo
    Banana
    Bean Sprouts
    Beetroot
    Blackberries
    Blackcurrants
    Blueberries
    Bok Choy (Pak Choi)
    Broad Beans (canned or cooked)
    Broccoli
    Brussels Sprouts (cooked only)
    Butternut Squash
    C
    Canneletti Beans
    Carrots
    Cauliflower
    Celeriac
    Celery
    Cherries (without stone)
    Chick Peas (soaked, canned or cooked)
    Chicory
    Coconut
    Courgette (Zucchini)
    Cranberries
    Cress
    Cucumber
    D
    Dandelion Leaves
    Dates
    E
    Eggplant (Aubergine)
    F
    Figs (small amounts)
    G
    Gala Melon
    Garlic
    Grapes
    Green Beans (cooked)
    H
    Honeydew Melon
    K
    Kale (curly)
    Kidney Beans (cooked only)
    Kiwi
    L
    Leek * (small amount)
    Lettuce (in moderation)
    M
    Mange tout
    Mango (girls only)
    Melon
    Mushrooms
    N
    Nectarines (girls only)
    O
    Olive
    Onion * (small amount)
    Orange (small amount, girls only)
    P
    Pak Choi (Bok Choy)
    Papaya
    Parsnips
    Peach
    Peas (frozen or fresh)
    Pears
    Peppers (all colors)
    Persimmon (Sharon Fruit)
    Physalis (Chinese Lantern Fruit)
    Pineapple
    Plums (without stones)
    Pomegranate
    Pomelo (girls only)
    Potatoes (cooked, no eyes or green portions)
    Prunes
    Pumpkin (cooked)
    R
    Radish
    Raspberries
    Red Onion * (small amount)
    Rocket
    S
    Savoy Cabbage
    Sharon Fruit (Persimmon)
    Soya Beans (must be cooked)
    Spring Greens (Spring Cabbage)
    Spring Onion (small amount)
    Spinach
    Strawberries
    Swede
    Sweet Corn (In moderation. Frozen or fresh, on the cob or off.)
    Sweet Peppers
    Sweet Potato
    T
    Tomato
    Turnip
    W
    Watercress
    Watermelon
    Z
    Zucchini (Courgette)
    I do not own snakes (though I have before) I am here to help with rat related questions.
    Rat food choices and costs:
    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ices-and-Costs

  2. #2
    Registered User Lore's Avatar
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    Extra Note

    NOTE: I did NOT compile the list of fruits and vegetables that rats CAN eat! If anyone finds where this list comes from, I would love to credit the creator!

    Extra information is also welcome!
    Last edited by Lore; 10-22-2014 at 01:55 AM.
    I do not own snakes (though I have before) I am here to help with rat related questions.
    Rat food choices and costs:
    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ices-and-Costs

  3. #3
    Registered User Wizard's Avatar
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    Well that's quite a comprehensive list.

    I feed my rats a mixture of puppy chow and adult dog food plus what ever my kids don't eat after dinner.
    __________________________________________

    1.1 Piebald
    1.0 Caramel
    1.0 Jigsaw
    0.1 Bumblebee, het. VPI Ax
    0.1 VPI Axanthic
    1.0 Lesser

  4. #4
    BPnet Lifer wolfy-hound's Avatar
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    I feed Mazuri block(about $25/50lb) and then a hodgepodge of everything scrap from the kitchen and leftover dog food and fruit, pretty much anything except those few things they should not eat.

    But the base diet is the lab block. I tried hogfeed and dog foods, and the rats were not as healthy, would cannibalize other rats, and did not produce as well.

    I know others have had good luck on hog feed though.
    Theresa Baker
    No Legs and More
    Florida, USA
    "Stop being a wimpy monkey,; bare some teeth, steal some food and fling poo with the alphas. "

  5. #5
    BPnet Veteran Rhasputin's Avatar
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    Yep. Hog food is the cheapest and healthiest option. at 50lbs for $15.

    Dog food can be cheaper (or the same price?) I think, but it's not healthy to feed rats just dog food. The Purina Sow and piglet food is virtually the same product as lab blocks, only in much smaller pellets.

  6. #6
    BPnet Senior Member artgecko's Avatar
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    Rhasputin- Do you know what % protein the hog food has? I've been feeding native earth (has 18%) and am curious how the hog food compares to that.
    Currently keeping:
    1.0 BCA 1.0 BCI
    1.0 CA BCI 1.1 BCLs
    0.1 BRB 1.2 KSBs
    1.0 Carpet 0.5 BPs
    0.2 cresteds 1.2 gargs
    1.0 Leachie 0.0.1 BTS

  7. #7
    BPnet Veteran Rhasputin's Avatar
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    Specifically the sow and piglet also has 18%. Any other hog food I have seen has about 14%

  8. #8
    BPnet Lifer MrLang's Avatar
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    Thanks for this list - nice to have some quality rat discussion on a board where nobody is passing judgement on feeder breeders.

    I feed Doggy Bag brand dog food and have had success with it. In general I have not seen many other dog foods that have the right ingredients and nutritional breakdown but this one seems to work because it's such a bad mix for dogs... some of those same qualities make it pretty great for rats:

    http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/stor...food-40-lb-bag

    I haven't noticed greasy fur, smell, decreased lifespan, or decreased litter size since using this. Before this I fed Mazuri 6F but it's 1.5 hours away and significantly more expensive so I decided to switch. I'm about 1 year in to the Doggy Bag and overall pretty happy with it.
    Dreamtime Exotics -- Check it out!
    Ball Pythons, Monitors, Saltwater Reef, Fancy Rats, Ferrets

  9. #9
    Sometimes It Hurts... PitOnTheProwl's Avatar
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    Feeding Mazuri 6F here as well.
    Only one feed store here carries it colse to me l, about a 20 mile round trip so I try to get 4 to 6 bags in a trip. One bag usually lasts me close to a week depending on how many feeders I have holding.
    Wouls like to find something a little cheaper or something to mix in.
    How small are the pellets of hog chow and do they fall through 1/2" mesh?

  10. #10
    Registered User Lore's Avatar
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    Responses

    I feed in different "waves" I guess you could say. My rats have a base of lab blocks (Harlan or Mazuri, depending on availability), which takes up no more than 25% of what they eat and is their staple diet. Then I have a variation of Suebee's as a "fun mix" because it keeps my rats in good condition and keeps their weight on an incline instead of the plateau problems I encountered on just a lab block diet. On top of that, I have a series of small decorative plates that I make "mushes" of different fruits and vegetables (to prevent selective feeding) to feed daily.

    Current daily mushes (which I will have to change next week because my boy is allergic to strawberries): Collard greens, Sweet Peppers and Carrots, Broccoli and Peas (with a little corn) and Blueberries and Strawberries blended then mixed with oatmeal. I make separate mushes so I can keep track of their vitamin A intake and I can put medicine in their favorites without it being an issue. I use a Magic Bullet blender to make the mushes and store them in baby jars in the refrigerator. Baby food is the easier (though not cheaper) alternative to this.

    My "Fun Mix":
    - Base of Vitakraft Vita Prima Sunscription Rat, Mouse and Gerbil diet (http://www.petco.com/product/122412/...escription-tab) ((I always get more than one bag of this for the mix))**
    - Total cereal
    - Dry Rolled Oats
    - Bag of wild bird seed (mine was for song birds and contains raisins, sunflowers and millet)
    - Puffed rice (I get the flavored stuff in the tubes down the baby isle)
    - Puffed wheat cereal
    - Pumpkin Seeds
    - Tri-colored Spiral pasta
    - Sliced almonds
    - Unsweetened Cheerios
    - Broken cheap dog biscuits (You can buy these at the Dollar Store, brand doesn't matter.)
    - Dog food (I rotate between brands due to cost and availability.)

    **NOTE: This mix contains alfalfa, something that people commonly say that rats cannot digest. There is no evidence of this myth and the majority of foods on the market for rats (including lab blocks) contain alfalfa.
    Cite Source: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science...1562648190448X (Check the link for the Food and Cosmetics Toxicology and the study of the toxicity of alfalfa saponins in rats.)


    @wolfy-hound
    [...] I tried hogfeed and dog foods, and the rats were not as healthy, would cannibalize other rats, and did not produce as well.

    I know others have had good luck on hog feed though.


    I know several people who have had production issues with rats on just dog and hog food, but there is the rare person who does well. I think sometimes the set up of a project disallows negative behavior by removing them from a colony and into a trio or duo so the "weakest link" among them is a grunt of the frustrations but not a target due to overcrowding. Also helps to feed off rats with cruddy personalities, but a lot of people do not like to feed off females that could be producing.

    @Rhasputin
    Yep. Hog food is the cheapest and healthiest option. at 50lbs for $15.

    Dog food can be cheaper (or the same price?) I think, but it's not healthy to feed rats just dog food. The Purina Sow and piglet food is virtually the same product as lab blocks, only in much smaller pellets.

    I have never used hog food, but it is nice to see that someone is coming out ahead with it. What is your average litter size and do you take weights of your rats? Maybe a weekly grow rate? I hope to fit in reviews of different feeding as well as the pros and cons to it. What set up do use to house your rats?

    @MrLang
    Thanks for this list - nice to have some quality rat discussion on a board where nobody is passing judgement on feeder breeders.

    I feed Doggy Bag brand dog food and have had success with it. In general I have not seen many other dog foods that have the right ingredients and nutritional breakdown but this one seems to work because it's such a bad mix for dogs... some of those same qualities make it pretty great for rats:

    [...]

    I haven't noticed greasy fur, smell, decreased lifespan, or decreased litter size since using this. Before this I fed Mazuri 6F but it's 1.5 hours away and significantly more expensive so I decided to switch. I'm about 1 year in to the Doggy Bag and overall pretty happy with it


    No problem! I am a feeder breeder and aspiring show breeder, so I get a bit of whiplash from the community at times for being on both sides of the fence. There is no reason that the fancy should be cutting themselves off from the feeder breeding community. My mentor doesn't breed feeders (she is a strictly show breeder) but she knows I do and she is perfectly fine with it as long as they are treated with dignity and respect. I do keep my lines different, for record keeping and health tracking purposes.

    I noticed the soy in that food, never listen to the community when it comes to feeding soy. Soy is a neutral food with a lot of opinion (UPG) on if it is beneficial or carcinogenic.
    Cite Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2815317/
    Important note(s) within source:
    (1) "However, SI, even at high doses, did not affect the gut ecosystem or suppress biomarkers of colon cancer in rats."
    (2) " Consistently, our previous study showed an independent suppressive effect of SI (1,000 mg/kg of diet) on colon cancer biomarkers, and these effects of SI were also synergic with FOS. In contrast, Sørensen et al. (1998) reported that high amounts of SI (475 mg of total isoflavones per kg diet) in a Western-type high risk diet did not protect against intestinal tumor development in a relevant animal model such as Min mice. Furthermore, animal studies in general have not demonstrated an inhibitory effect by soy foods and isoflavones on the development of chemically-induced colorectal cancer (Messina & Bennink, 1998). In a recent study by Daly et al. (2007), dietary SI (2 g/kg diet) did not provide protection against the development of preneoplastic colonic ACF in female rats. However, Guo et al., (2004) reported that estrone and SI have been associated with lower incidences of colon tumors."

    I will take note of your positive review. Have you had any issues with cannibalism in your colony? How are your rats set up?


    @PitOnTheProwl
    Feeding Mazuri 6F here as well.
    Only one feed store here carries it colse to me l, about a 20 mile round trip so I try to get 4 to 6 bags in a trip. One bag usually lasts me close to a week depending on how many feeders I have holding.
    Wouls like to find something a little cheaper or something to mix in.
    How small are the pellets of hog chow and do they fall through 1/2" mesh?


    I can't give you information about hog feed (I have never used it.) but I can let you know that Mazuri 6F can be ordered online in 50lb bags via http://www.mazuri.com/mazurirodentbr...50lb-5m30.aspx and can also be mixed with some dry ingredients to last longer.
    I do not own snakes (though I have before) I am here to help with rat related questions.
    Rat food choices and costs:
    http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...ices-and-Costs

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Lore For This Useful Post:

    wolfy-hound (10-28-2014)

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