Dog Food as Main Rat diet staple?

[MultiRatty14]

:bow: So , I was looking into trying dog food as the only rat food they sell for 3 hr is pretty much garbage is the rat ration or what ever...
I go to petvalu (only store) :emb: and i was wondeirng if anyone knows of using cat or food food and which would be best

 

[lilspaz68]

dog food is completely inappropriate as a staple for rats...dogs and rats get their nutrition from different things (jorats is so much better at explaining this) and what is good for a dog is not good for a rat. At Pet Valu you can get Living World Extrusion for Hamsters and its actually a very decent rat lab block staple.

 

[victoria]

You can also go online and get HT 2014 or Oxbow Regal Rat from Flowertown or Montreal Critters.

 

[jorats]

Cat food is mainly meat protein same with dogs which is not good at all for rats. Rats need carbs, their energy source must come from things like corn, wheat and other grains. So you would be better off finding a food for hamsters because they too need grains for their energy source. Living World Extrusion for Hamsters is a good one for rats.

 

[SQ]

Dog food is not a healthy diet for rats.
80% of a rat's diet is a good block (Harlan Tech 2014, Oxbow Regal Rat, or Living World Hamster extrusian)
20% of the diet is daily vegs and occassional healthy treats such as a piece of fruit, cheerio, cooked oatmeal, etc

FlowerTown Chinchilla is a good site that sells 10 Ib and 33 Ib bags of Harlan Tech 2014 (and other items such as chew toys, cages, etc)
See http://www.chinchilla.ca/items.php?Prod ... =Fortified

 

[Rattus]

Also I'm wondering if your Pet Valu doesnt sell it at the store anymore you could ask them to order it in for you?