Effects of food quality...Watch your Protein

[purple python]

Purple python, you might try offering seeds and oats and whole grain cheerios as treats rather than fruits and veggies. Rats and mice rarely eat fruits and vegetables naturally, and most can have minor negative effects (bloating, diarrhea) on their digestive systems (few can have very bad effects, but none are especially good for rats and mice).

Whole grain cheerios (the sugar free kind) are a real big hit with most rodents!
I would also recomend not using a vegetarian dog treat, but going with a natural freeze dried chicken kind instead (if you're looking for something natural). The meat is healthy for them, and they really like them.
The mealworms are definitely good for them! Crickets are fun too, it's great to see the rodents turn into wild animals and chase crickets around!

Thanks Rhasputin, I only offer produce once a week and usually greens, carrots or apple. Freeze dried chicken is a wonderful idea! I just picked some up, and it's cut into nice small servings, my breeders loved it. For the most part, prefer to keep my rats on primarily a vegetarian diet simply because I don't trust a lot of the animal products in feeds. But thank you for the recommendation, I will definitely make it part of my feeding schedule.


If I didn't have such an irrational hate for crickets, it could be fun to offer some up.

I use Mazuri 6F for my rodents. I don't have a huge colony yet so my numbers of comparison are pretty small, but I feed this to all my rats. For my pregnant and nursing moms, I also supplement with Pedigree Large Breed dog food for some supplemental protein. The others do not receive the dog food. Once I wean my babies, they no longer receive the dog food either. My females stay of good body weight after they delivery and pups grow large and fast. Out of five litters that I've had born, I've lost no pups after delivery. My holdback rats are also growing nicely and don't appear to be obese or have any health problems.

That's an interesting concept and sounds effective. I think if I switch to 6F or a lower protein percentage I will try something similar to make sure the breeders are getting the amounts they need. How is the smell with Mazuri 6F? Another thought I had was that higher protein = stinkier rats. Since switching to Harlan the smell has greatly reduced!