Is it possible to design a diet that would give my rats all of their required nutrition without resorting to lab block? I really want to start putting my animals on natural diets. I figured I'd start with my rats. My ferrets are on a kibble diet since things have been hectic here and we haven't had time to prepare raw meat meals and switch our new ferret additions over to a raw meat diet.

Anyway back to the subject at hand. I was wondering if those of you who keep rats as more than just feeders could help me research a rat's complete dietary need and how I could go about designing a diet that would help them get everything they need without having to go out and buy commercial food. I would be willing to cook/bake/prepare just about anything, but I do not want to resort to buying bagged, commercial food. This is kind of an experiment I guess. I want to design an organic natural diet for my rats and see just how expensive and time consuming it will be.

Anyone want to help me in this? First few things on my list to do are compiling a list of safe veggies, fruits, ect that are safe for rat consumption, and also trying to find their needs as far as nutrient intake.