Bird food?

[Kat]

Just have a question about giving ratties bird food, because one of my coworkers fed only that to her rats and said they did amazing on it and also gave them more variety in their diet. So I searched some of the main foods she used on petsmart, here are the links... What do you guys think of feeding that to ratties?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754170

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754162

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2754187

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=3265512

 

[keysong]

None of those are very good. While none of them contain too much protein or fat, all of them except the last one contain corn as their first ingredient. Corn is pretty bad for rats because it makes them fat.

The last one is also bad, because it's a mix and rats tend to pick out the bits they like best and leave the other ones behind - which means they don't get all the nutrients they need.

I'm also not too sure about the other nutrients, like vitamins and minerals. I'm not totally sure how much rats should get... it's better just to feed them a rat-specific block as a staple food (like Harlan Teklad 2014 or Oxbow Regal Rat) along with fresh fruits, vegetables, and grains, and occasional meat. Feeding them different veggies or fruit every night will also provide variety.

 

[Moon]

I'm a little skeptical as to your coworker's standards if they did "amazing" on it.

Bird food is not formulated for rats. You don't feed dog food to your cat, after all.

 

[SQ]

bird food is not what ratties need ...

 

[Kat]

Ahh good thing i didnt buy any of them then. right now im feeding extrusion and fresh veggies, baby food, oatmeal, and some fruits. im getting Oxbow next week too

 

[Moon]

It sounds like your current feeding plan is perfect.

 

[jorats]

The two last ones are not good at all, high fat!
But the other two, the first two, they would make a suitable treat or supplement. Corn is not bad!!! it's a carb and rats need carbs as their energy source.

But... I prefer fresh and natural supplements and treats like veggies and fruits.

 

[keysong]

And besides, Harlan and a lot of other lab blocks are quite high in carbs (Harlan 2014 is 55.5% carbs, I believe).

 

[mercurydust]

I have given my girls snix snax bird treats as a special treat every once and a while. I originally bought it for our parakeets but they didn't like it, and I set the package in ratty reach and they had torn the package open and were going to town and seemed to like the bird goodies. But I wouldn't make that their diet-the diet you have them on now sounds perfect. :thumbup:

 

[SQ]

Good lab blocks should be 80% of the diet, vegs & a bit of fruit are the other 20%

They love healthy treats ... mine think their daily vegs are treats ....

 

[Kat]

Thanks for the tips guys