Discussion on Rat food.

Well if anyone of you want to get really, really, really technical....LOL


http://www.afrma.org/bc_ratdiet.htm

I have to say, I commend you for starting this thread. No matter what you come away with, you're willing to actually discuss an issue instead of throw a tantrum about something just because you may think its right...
anywho, I just wanted to say that, because it shows your interested in the well being of your animals and not your ego.
I'm not going to say I'm a rat expert, I keep one rat, that's it, I feed f/t so the rest are in my freezer awaiting feeding day. So I won't pretend that I know a whole lot about rat nutrition. But think about it this way. Consider morphology, look at even the dentition or skull shape of a dog vs. a rat, they're completely different meant for eating different things. They also have a digestive tract meant for digesting different things. BUT... like I said I'm no expert, besides that the thing I would think about would be, would you be able to live on a dog food only diet? and would your dog be able to live on the diet that you are currently eating? I doubt it, both of you would be fine for a while, then get pretty sick, at least I would imagine so. I would say it's the same thing with rats and dog food. But that's my over-simplified take on it, maybe it means something maybe it doesn't.

I use the hog feed (unmedicated) as a base. I mix in uncooked tricolor pasta, some high-quality dog food, and large unsalted peanuts and sunflower seeds. I have been using this method for months now, and got completely away from the lab blocks.. my rats have been doing great.
For the weanlings, I feed the mix but I also add some drops of water onto it; seems to soften the pig feed pellets and make the transition easier from mom's milk to food.

I feed pretty much Becky's rat mix, but I don't use dried lentils and peas, as my gang didn't seem to eat it. I buy Kashi cereals for most the cereal part of it when it's on sale (and then stock up), store brand rice and wheat puffs, I don't like using any sweetened cereal, but I will sometimes use the store brand raisin bran, and I also get a wild bird food that has whole sunflower seeds, seeded sunflower seeds, mixed nuts and mixed fruits, as well as pumpkin seeds.

I don't often supplement with leftovers, that's more of a treat, but they will also get fresh fruit and veggies.

People often joke and ask me "what are you feeding your rats?" when I have posted litter sizes in the past. I average litter sizes of 15+ with all my females, unless it's a first litter, and then it's never less than 12. I do also rest my females and don't breed them back to back.

I rarely loose any babies through culling or not surviving birth.

So, I'm quite pleased with my results.

I absolutely had to share... my friend's sense of idiotcy.
When I mentioned that I was trying to convert the pythons to frozen thawed rats, because it meant I wouldn't have to clean up after rats, or feed them... he said...
"Do you feed frozen rats frozen food?"
OMG. Laughed until I choked. Then I felt bad, becuase... wait for it.... he was serious.
Once I pointed out the true ridiculousness of that statement he felt like a giant doofus, and he owes me a ice cream cone now.
Sorry, it's a little off-topic.
Wolfy

Omg Wolfy....hahahahahahahaha! Tell him they love the frozen food but they don't breed worth crap...being frozen solid and all that! :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MarkS

I've always been of the mind that the ingrediants in the bag are more important then the picture on the front. Here is the list of ingrediants to the brand of Dog food I use, it seems to me that the list is, while not identical, very similar to the list of ingredients on the bags of rodent chow I've used in the past. The only major difference I've been able to determine is the amount of money left in my pocket. With the dog food costing me $11.95 for a 50lb bag, and the harlan teklad costing me over $19.00 for a 33lb bag, the savings really adds up. So, how is feeding dog food 'bad' if it meets all of their nutritional requirements?

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see i get my kent rodent diet for 10.00 a 50lb bag were my dog fog cost me 16.00 a 50lb. bag

Also something that I was told by a friend of my who is a MD with a PHD is that when feeding higher proteins your rats will produce stronger urine. Stronger urine is something we can all do with out.

Richard

If I could find the lab block with a decent price tag, I probably would use it. But it's twice the cost for a smaller bag. I've even called Harlan and was told that they didn't have a distributor around here at all. The guy I was buying the feed from, was buying it from another person so it's marked up even more then if it had been bought from a more direct source. Harlan would be happy to sell it to me directly if I drove to their factory to pick it up, but thats about a 10-12 hour drive for me (round trip)

The dog food I've been using is Sprout dog food which is the store brand for Mills Fleet Farm. They have a lot of different animal feeds under the sprout brand name, I've been thinking of trying the hog feed, I've seen others mention it before but I'm really hesitant to get it because it's small and I'd have to feed in a bowl. One of the reasons I built the racks was so I didn't have to use a feeding bowl, just one more thing to clean every week.

I do get the point though that more variety would be a good thing. I've read before that other animals can get upset stomachs and even go off feed if you vary their diets too much, but it makes sense that rats wouldn't have that problem. After reading frankykenos post about table scraps I even rescued a bag of hotdog buns I'd thrown in the trash earlier that day and gave it to the rats. (I picked off the spots of mold first) I'm a bit hesitant to mess with something that's been working for me, but I suppose some small changes wouldn't hurt.

I have one of those big plastic pails with a lid that you get icecream in and it just lives in the fridge (marked RAT FOOD). After dinner all scraps are put in there and basically it's a mish mash and pretty odd looking but the rats love the stuff. As long as it's kept refrigerated, it's fine for a few days. I also have one bread bag that is kept for ends of various breads, buns, etc. I never toss out those two handfuls that are always left in the bottom of the cereal boxes anymore. I figure why not use what is basically free food to suppliment the rat's diet plus it makes sense to turn my "garbage" into happy rats. :)