Ok So due to Dora being changed from Mice To rats this week and an imposible mission to find rats in my country (some how they are currently out of stock) and due to love to have a new pair of pets around my house i decided to buy 4rats from my usual breeder (tough he's not always available latly due to work) 2 adults female and male and 2 small ones wich one already fed to Dora and the other is for next week. So the Three other rats are together now but i wanted to confirm some questions.

I know i should remove the male to give the female a break after breeding for some weeks, but should the male be remove when the female is pregnant or after she gives birth is ok? also is it true that the male rat can eat the pups or this is a rumor ?

something about feeding , unfortunatly in my country we don't have rats as pets so i couldn't and Never in my 19years living in malta saw any rat/mouse food for sale (they are seen as pests here). Now i read many times that hamster food is not ok for them for some reason, mine contains (11.5% Raw protein, Moisture 10.2%, Raw Fat 5.2%, Raw Fibre 8.3% , Ashes 4.1%, Calcium 0.62%, Phosphorus 0.32% and Sodium 697ppm.)

Now the breeder told me he feeds them a mix of rabbit and chicken pellets.
Of Course im no expert and just a n00b in breeding rats, so can anyone suggest something not expensive to feed for someone who can't buy rat food?