Food containers

[suzuki4life]

if you are using a rack with the small mesh wire, make a tray out of the small wire and add it to the top. Some falls through but most will stay on top.

[Mike Cavanaugh]

What would be considered a good set amount?

Would i look at the weight of my rats and give that much food per day?

Do they scavenge once the food is under the bedding. Will they search for it?

Hmmm...

They are rats! if they are hungry, they will find and eat every last crumb.

Yes, most people over feed big time. Before I actually tracked and measured things I was throwing away 3/4 of the food I fed.

Easiest way to figure out how much to feed it to do this:

1.) Dump 1 cup on substrate.
2.) carefully examine substrate daily until all of the food is gone... even the crumbs. Write down how long it took for all food to be gone.
3.) Repeat.
4.) Repeat.
5.) Use the info you gathered to start tweaking the amount of food you dump at a time depending on how many rats are in the tub and how often you want to feed.

With established breeders I always error on the side of caution... I make sure they never totally run out of food, even for a few hours. A little food gets wasted as result but it is very little.

As the guy who wrote the how to on hoppers... I now recomend against using them completely. Way too much trouble, and totally not needed. Don't think like a human, think like a rat. They are perfectly happy eating food mixed in the substrate.