I'm thinking about switching to a home made diet. Hear me out!

[jorats]

Wow. That site has some great stuff. If only we can make a vitamin add on just to be sure they get everything...and then the rest all that awesome food stuff, even their veggies and fruits look awesome.

 

[KatTheHippie]

Right? And I love that they're freeze dried so they retain all their nutritional value, keep for a long time, and the ratties can enjoy some yummy, healthy, flavorful, crunchy food.

I'm probably going to have to add calcium, vitamin D, and copper. But I'm worried about finding good vitamins since they're not regulated by the FDA and a lot of the time don't contain what they say they do.

 

[KatTheHippie]

While researching, I've found that seafood, kale, cashews, and sesame seeds seem to be high in copper, and the easiest available food to add to mixes.

Calcium rich foods: Dark leafy greens like spinach, kale, turnips, and collard greens (So kale is good for both copper and calcium!) sardines, soybeans, cheese, and yogurt.

Vitamin D is the hardest one to try and figure out. A lot of fish, the oily ones especially like salmon. And cod liver oil/fish oil. Egg has a decent amount of it too. I'm considering adding powdered egg into it.

 

[jorats]

They need 5 grams of calcium a day... the problem is getting that much from small amounts of food. 1 cup of kale is only 90 mg of calcium. 1 cup of egg is only 60 mg.
It's mind boggling that they need so much.

 

[KatTheHippie]

Hm. I'm going to add in those foods anyway, but definitely look into a vitamin or suppliment.

 

[BlueSkyy]

Do they seriously need 5g per day? Like 5000mg?

Cause humans only need 1000-2000mg per day (1-2 g)

 

[BlueSkyy]

jorats - IMPORTANT!

The numbers you got were for kg of the DIET not kg of the rat! Check the very top of the table. I though 5g was ridiculously high. XD

I assume this is the table you were using. At the very top it says "Amount, per kg diet"

So you'd only need 5g/kg of the food you were making. Much more manageable.

 

[jorats]

Ugh!! Thank you for catching that BlueSky. That makes a difference for sure... for all of it.

 

[KatTheHippie]

That sure changes things, haha! I hate graphs and diagrams, I always have to triple check them, then have someone else double check for me because they're so hard to read and understand.

 

[jorats]

Same here...
Now who here can help us calculate the right amount? So for every 1 kg of food, there needs to be 5 grams of calcium and so on.... Now to sit down and figure that out.

 

[KatTheHippie]

So I found these 2 cereals that I'm adding in to my mix. They're organic, healthy, non GMO, and all around awesome.

They're both Nature's Path cereals, the first one is Mesa Sunrise, the second one is Heritage Flakes.

http://us.naturespath.com/product/mesa-sunriser-flakes

http://us.naturespath.com/product/heritager-flakes

 

[jorats]

Nature's Path is awesome stuff.

 

[KatTheHippie]

They sell puffed millet that I want to get also for them

 

[KatTheHippie]

So this is my current mix. It's evolved a lot from what it was before, and it will probably continue to evolve, depending on what else I find when shopping. Right now, I'm happy with it though. So are my boys

Barley 700g
buckwheat 700g
flaked maize (Or popping corn) 500g
flaked wheat 250g


**mixed millets 500g
groats 250g
dari 250g
fennel seed 100g
milk thistle seed 100g
hemp seed 100g
linseed 250g
flax seed 100g
chia seed 50g**

sesame seed 50g
pumpkin seed 50g
cashews 50g
puffed millet 250g
puffed rice 100g
puffed buckwheat 100g
flaked soya 50g
brown lentils 200g
brown or wild rice 200g
quinoa 250g
uncooked tricolored pasta 200g
red bell pepper flakes 50g
beetroot flakes 50g
garlic pieces 50g
dried coconut pieces 50g
dried leek pieces 50g
kelp powder/pieces 50g
dried blueberries 100g
dried raspberries 100g
dried juniper berries 100g
dried strawberry pieces 100g
dried carrot 200g
dried tomato 50g
dried broccoli 50g
dried cauliflower 50g
dried celery 50g
dried spinach 50g
dried kale 50g
dried dandelion leaves 100g
dried mint 50g
dried watercress 50g
dried basil 50g
spirulina powder 50g
dried shrimp, meal worms, crickets 100g
a bit of dried egg powder
and a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon powder

** Bold items surrounded by asterisks mean that all of these items can usually be purchased in one package of bird food (high quality parakeet seed), all together. Sometimes one or two items might not be present, if that’s the case, you can add them in separately.

**Link to shrimp, crickets, and meal worms: http://www.petco.com/product/117288...for-Aquatic-Turtles.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

**I usually dehydrate or dry my own fruits, herbs, and veggies for this mix. You can either buy them already dried, dry them yourself, feed fresh daily, or buy in bulk, prepare a veggie mix, and freeze. Thaw over night before feeding.

 

[KatTheHippie]

I also feed them a daily puree of fruits and veggies, sometimes with added yogurt. Instead, I've found a new method that I'm going to be following. Those of you with Parrots, or other birds, have you ever heard of Chop? It's a method of feeding that a parrot owner developed, for fresh foods. I love it. Here's a video example:

https://videopress.com/v/AbpY9vL8

 

[Joanne]

Wow, chop looks amazing! I wonder how long it will keep?

 

[jorats]

I wish I knew how much total protein percentage that is. Anything over 10% can be detrimental to a rat's health. We need a nutritionist who can calculate that for us. Otherwise, I love the idea of whole foods for rats.

 

[BlueSkyy]

I could do it, but it would take forever with that many ingredients XD

 

[jorats]

I could do it, but it would take forever with that many ingredients XD

Oh BlueSkyy, I hope you find the time to do it!!!!!!

 

[KatTheHippie]

Wow, chop looks amazing! I wonder how long it will keep?

She divides it up into freezer bags, 1 bag being enough for 3 days, and then freezes all of it. You put a bag in the fridge over night to thaw, use it in the 3 day period, then put the next one in the fridge to thaw