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TattleTale

New Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2020
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0
Location
Bensalem, PA
Hello!
I’m currently nursing a pregnant momma rat!
She’s a little over a year and a half old and she’s already showing and I want to know what kind of foods I should be giving her? Should I be handling her often? What are the best steps for a healthy happy pregnant rattle?

thanks!
 
Hello!
I’m currently nursing a pregnant momma rat!
She’s a little over a year and a half old and she’s already showing and I want to know what kind of foods I should be giving her? Should I be handling her often? What are the best steps for a healthy happy pregnant rattle?

thanks!
Rats need extra nutrients when pregnant. I would say Oxbow adult rat food (which I’ve found to be amazing) for her food bowl and occasionally make her some unseasoned eggs (which is very safe/good for rats), unseasoned boiled or baked chicken, etc (with the help of google you can find all the safe foods for rats). Good luck!!
 
This is a rat rescue site.
Did you rescue a pregnant rattie girl?
How long have you had her?
Please post pictures for her and her belly from the front and side, and a picture of her cage https://www.ratshackforum.com/threa...file-changing-the-title-of-your-thread.37049/

Please see the Reference Thread for information on diet, nutrition, pregnancy, birth etc
https://www.ratshackforum.com/threads/reference-thread-read-only.35894/

Do you have a good vet with the knowledge and experience to treat rats and to perform a C-section etc if needed? If not find one asap.
Rats usually start to gain a lot of weight in their final week of pregnancy.
Weight her daily at the same time each day and record her weights to see the pattren
Does she live alone?
Make sure she is in a one level baby safe cage, with no levels or hammocks as babies could fall out of them.
What bedding are you using? Make sure there is nothing containing threads and give her strips of paper towel for nest building.

You can handle her often, as much as she is comfortable with.
 
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Racasionally make her some unseasoned eggs (which is very safe/good for rats), unseasoned boiled or baked chicken, etc (with the help of google you can find all the safe foods for rats). Good luck!!

Actually animal protein is unhealthy for rats, although many people do feed them this (see the China Study, etc)
As mentioned above the forbidden foods list as well as info re diet and nutrition are in the Reference Thread
 
Congratulations on the future birth of baby ratties! Yes, make sure the cage is proper for babies. Rats rarely need C - sections, but it never hurts to make sure your local exotic vet provides that service.
Actually animal protein is good for rats. Why do you think all of the wild rats live on our property are constantly tryign to break into our quail hutch and slaughter my quail?
I recommend feeding unseasoned eggs as well. I scramble either one of our quail eggs (very high in protein so I only use half one day then the other half 3 days later) or a half a chicken egg to my growing girls about once a week. Cucumber is good as well along with other fruit and veg. When I got my girls (at about 3 weeks) I fed them Mazuri rat & mouse lab blacks and would make up scrambled egg, chopped up cucumber, apple, and a sliver of chicken meat each. They would have this served to them 2 times a week. The mazuri food was infinate for them as well. I stopped doing this when Cookie (my youngest) turned about 5 weeks. Now they have the Mazuri food, 20% of their diet is fruit and veg and treats.
 
We do not support breeding rats here. This is a rescue forum. If the advocating for breeding continues, I will delete these posts.
 
Actually animal protein is good for rats. ...… Now they have the Mazuri food, 20% of their diet is fruit and veg and treats.

Research shows that animal protein is not good for rats and causes health issues. Protein from plant sources is much better. In addition rats normally need low levels of protein as high levels of protein will cause disease and various health issues. Cholesterol (from animal products) is not good for rats either. Wild rats have very short lives for a number of reasons and will eat whatever they can find.

Mazuri is not a good quality block and rats do not do as well eating it as they do on a good quality low protein block. Oxbow and Harlan 2014 are the recommended blocks.

Please see the Reference Thread for good, reliable information regarding healthy diets for rats as well as their nutritional needs
 
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Mazuri is actually a good food and I'm going to continue using it. And just because you are vegan SQ does not mean no one can feed their rats meat:rolleyes:
 
Mazuri is actually a good food and I'm going to continue using it. And just because you are vegan SQ does not mean no one can feed their rats meat:rolleyes:

You will feed your rats whatever you want, but Mazuri is not one of the recommended blocks for rats. Rats need around 10% protein which is why 14% or 16% protein blocks are recommended - 14% protein in the lowest level available in rat blocks. Most blocks sold by Mazuri contain a min of 23% protein which is very unhealthy for rats.

You are new to this forum, you do not know me. As I previously stated, the information I provided is based on peer reviewed research. You need to do a lot of secondary research if you care about what is healthy for rats. I would suggest that you start with the links in our Reference Thread.
 
NUTRIENTS Protein, %........................................... 24.0
Thats what I found on the Mazuri bag...my research shows that Mazuri is great food for rats.
 
What are the peer reviewed journal research articles that support your statements??
24% protein is extremely high, as research has found that rats need low protein

Jorats, the founder of this forum, reported that when she switched from Mazuri to one of the recommended brands of rat block, her rats became much healthier. You can read what she wrote in the Reference Thread

"Sheehan et al. (1981) found that a dietary protein concentration averaging 4 percent was required", the maintenance requirement is about 5 percent protein when the source is of high-quality. "In natural-ingredient diets a concentration of 7 percent crude protein is suggested by Bricker and Mitchell (1947)." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231925/

"There's only one true study done on rats for optimum health and that's the China Study by Dr. Campbell. It's been determined that rats require very little protein and low fat as well." "In the China Study, it is proven that rats require 10% protein from excellent sources."

"The China Study found that rats require 10% protein for growth. When rats are given more then 10% protein in their diets, cancer cells will grow dramatically as protein % is increased (pp. 54-59)."
"nutrients from animal-based foods increased tumour development while nutrients from plant based foods decreased tumour development" (pp. 59-67)

Please see the Reference Thread on this forum.
 
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If you want to stick with Mazuri, rodent breeder 6f formula has 16% protein, and less than 7% fat.
I use this for my rats. (I do not breed. It's just the only healthier food I can afford)
Also that is very old to be pregnant...
I hope this isn't the first litter she has had, or else she will likely need vet treatment around birthing time.
Handling should be limited at heights to avoid a drop, and never grab her around the belly. But still interact with her as much as possible so she trusts you when babies come. When backs are born, handle them from day 3 onwards. Petting for the first week, then picking up and snuggling for brief time intervals.
For food, don't go too crazy while babies.develop, they could grow larger before birth and cause birthing problems. Just give regular food with some fresh veggies and fruit supplemented. After birth or right before, offer milk soaked bread (calcium) cooked eggs, cat food/dog food for extra protein, but still treat these items like treats and be sparing with the cat/dog food.
Be sure to provide nesting materials and a safe place to have babies. (Box or tuppaware with whole in it.)
 
If you are concerned about increasing protein then you might want to consider heathy foods because eggs, cat food/dog food are very unhealthy for rats …….. 50 g of cooked chick peas, quinoa, or organic pumpkin seeds all contain more protein then an egg ….. and although I have never heard anyone express concerns over calcium re pregnant rats or new mama rats, broccoli, baby kale, and chia seeds are all healthy sources of calcium. The advantage of feeding these foods are that not only are they healthy but they are a normal part of a heathy diet for rats.

Just so you are aware, Oxbow and Harlan 2014 can usually be purchased in bulk sizes from stores that sell it, although they may need to order it in for you. Rat owners often will buy blocks in bulk and repackage into freezer bags and freeze as opened blocks become stale after 3 months but frozen blocks are good for 9 months.
 
Rats need extra nutrients when pregnant. I would say Oxbow adult rat food (which I’ve found to be amazing) for her food bowl and occasionally make her some unseasoned eggs (which is very safe/good for rats), unseasoned boiled or baked chicken, etc (with the help of google you can find all the safe foods for rats). Good luck!!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate the input on Oxbow, as well.
I have been feeding my girls a custom mix of sugarless cereals and fruits and Oxbow but was unsure of whether it had any effect!
Tam did not complete the pregnancy, unfortunately, but we certainly will be thinking about it in the future :)
 
Congratulations on the future birth of baby ratties! Yes, make sure the cage is proper for babies. Rats rarely need C - sections, but it never hurts to make sure your local exotic vet provides that service.
Actually animal protein is good for rats. Why do you think all of the wild rats live on our property are constantly tryign to break into our quail hutch and slaughter my quail?
I recommend feeding unseasoned eggs as well. I scramble either one of our quail eggs (very high in protein so I only use half one day then the other half 3 days later) or a half a chicken egg to my growing girls about once a week. Cucumber is good as well along with other fruit and veg. When I got my girls (at about 3 weeks) I fed them Mazuri rat & mouse lab blacks and would make up scrambled egg, chopped up cucumber, apple, and a sliver of chicken meat each. They would have this served to them 2 times a week. The mazuri food was infinate for them as well. I stopped doing this when Cookie (my youngest) turned about 5 weeks. Now they have the Mazuri food, 20% of their diet is fruit and veg and treats.

You're living such an animal filled life! I'm jealous. Thanks for this information. I need to give my girls more vegetables. I haven't seen mazuri in my area. i live in the Northeastern United States, so Oxbow is my usual go to.

Thanks for your friendly response :3
 
!!!!!!UPDATE!!!!!!!

Tam did not complete her pregnancy, and we definitely misjudged her age to be pregnant. She gained weight and gained weight but never gave birth. She just passed her second birthday, and is now living a comfortable retired life in a Double Critter Nation cage with her sisters :3
 
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