Out of labblocks..alternative food?

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HugglesBubble

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I'm out of the ratty bulk food, I think you guys call it lab blocks? I do however have guinea pig food, will that work? Picture below.

What else can I feed them over the course of 4-5days till payday?
 
I would suggest cooked grains like organic quinoa with a lot of a variety of vegs daily ..... green leafy vegs, carrots, cooked sweet potato, cooked squash, etc
and perhaps a few cooked beans, chick peas or legumes (cooking dried ones is best as canned have added salt and other chemicals)

you can give pieces of fruit as treats such as ripe banana, apple, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc
 
I'm out of the ratty bulk food, I think you guys call it lab blocks? I do however have guinea pig food, will that work? Picture below.

What else can I feed them over the course of 4-5days till payday?


can you take a photo of the ingredients and nutrient list off the gpig food pkg?
also how old are your rats again? you want to avoid the highest protein foods the older the rat is, but for young rats it's not as bad, since they need a bit more when they are growing.

the gpig food might be ok to use as a part of their diet while you wait to get blocks, I think it will probably have a lot of undigestible fiber in it though, as I believe gpigs need more fiber than rats

you want to look for low protein/sugar/salt/fat and a food made primarily with carbs/grains

rice, oatmeal, pasta are all things rats can have, also infant cereals.
 
Oh jeez it didn't give the picture aha @Petunia sorry. Hope this works.
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hmm ok alfalfa meal being the first ingredient, meaning that's what it's got the most of,
I don't know if I'd bother to give them that.
I find conflicting info on how it would affect them- they either can't digest it, OR have a hard time digesting it, and basically get no nutrients from it- and may end up with digestive upset,
so, in my opinion, why risk it?

I asked because I've got a hamster food that is ok for rats in a pinch, but it does not have alfalfa as far as I can recall (and if it does, it's not the main ingredient)

the main things that your rats will miss out by eating grains and veggies while you wait to get the rat blocks, is the exact vitamins and minerals in the quantities that are best for them. it's not going to harm they for a few days but it's not something you want to do on a regular basis, of course


if you've got veggies that are you are not sure they'll like, and you've got a blender or food processor, you can blend them up and give them along with cooked rice (I don't know if they can eat raw rice?) cooked or raw pasta, cooked or raw oatmeal, etc
some ground flax seed is good for them.

years back (and even now I guess) ppl would make up a cereal, dried fruit and nut mix that sometimes had dog food in it,
and often had Total cereal added. the reasoning behind the dog food and/or Total cereal was that they both have added vits and minerals, so ppl were thinking this would help cover that part of the rat's diet

The thing being, of course, that the added vits and minerals in dog food is precisely formulated for dogs, not rats
and the Total is has supposedly 100% of the RDA of vits and minerals for people

If you use beans or other legumes, be careful not to add too many other gassy foods, like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers etc or you will have rats with tummy aches and possibly the worst farts you could ever imagine LOL
I gave my new girls broccoli and one single kidney bean each the other night,and OMG the smell almost knocked me off my feet, hahahaha.
but mostly I felt bad that they probably had a tummy ache from that.
Now I pay more attention to the combination of veggies I give them.
Rats can't vomit, and I think they can't burp either, but they can definitely pass gas LOL
 
I second all that Petunia said! Not a nutrition expert personally, but from what I've read on rat nutrition I agree.

On the topic of guinea pig food, I know some people use guinea pig / rabbit food as rat bedding because rats typically won't eat that stuff, aside from a few little tastes. I have also read that rats can't digest alfalfa. From my understanding, that's an issue because it's too much fiber for rats, and they won't get many nutrients from it. My doctor explained to me that fiber is something we can't digest, so our digestive system dilutes it with water to help it pass (hence why eating fiber helps with constipation). I think the same goes for other mammals that can't digest fiber, too? Overall, I agree that it doesn't seem worth the experiment on rats, lol, though I have used it as rat bedding with no known issues.

Another major thing about nutrition: variety. Formulated rat blocks are designed to give the exact nutrition needed for rats. Without that, I'd think the best way to get those vitamins is to feed a huge variety of healthy foods. When you think about it, we as humans don't eat 1 food as our staple. Instead we eat a bunch of foods that balance out into a complete nutrition (at least, we try).

So yep, grains and veggies are key. Maybe some lower sugar fruits?
In general, here are some veggies/fruits I give my rats: tomato, cucumber, lettuce (darker stuff, I often buy a mix of prewashed stuff), carrot, peas (easy to keep on hand if you buy them frozen), banana (higher in sugar so don't feed too much), plain pumpkin (easy around autumn time to buy an edible one, cook and freeze the mush), plain cooked squash, cooked sweet potato, broccoli, berries (my rats don't like them too much though), sweet corn (the fresh type that humans eat), watermelon and other melons, apples. There are a ton more, I just know my rats like these!
Grains are awesome too, but I'm not super knowledgeable about which ones are best. I will give oatmeal (cooked with water), baby food cereals (mixed with water), and sometimes rice if I cook it, often the more exotic rice types like 'black rice'. I find it tastes better than brown rice, and seems even healthier (insanely more expensive though).

Gah, sorry for the long reply! Again, to clarify I'm not a super expert. If an admin disagrees with what I said, they are probably right. Just felt the need to add this.
 
and not GMO corn as it has pesticides in the kernels and I have heard of it killing rats (which I believe it was designed to do, among other "pests")
 
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