Fruit/Veggie supplementing, and eye color?

[Riana]

I had a question about the 'rule' that a rat's diet should be about 80% lab blocks and 20% fruits and veggies. I give my boys a treat every day while they're out to play, either baby-cereal mixed with soy milk, or peas. I'm thinking of getting stuff to make a little 'fruit or veggie salad'. My questions are:

1) Is this what you fine people do here, have a mixed bowl daily for your rats?

2) What do you feed them for the 20%? Like, exactly what fruits and veggies do you give them?

3) Should I be doing this every day, or maybe a few times a week?

4) Can I alternate with maybe fruit salad one day, veggie salad the next? Is that adviseable, or not? Should I just stick with strictly fruit, or strictly veggies? Or should I mix the two together and feed that daily?

Any comments would be muchly appreciated. As I said, the boys get a variation every day from the lab blocks, but I just want to make sure I'm doing it the right way.

ALSO, Are there different colors of eyes in rats, other than just pink and brown? I swear most times Loki looks like he has dark ruby-colored eyes... not the bright pink like a PEW has... is this possible?

 

[Willow Bean]

I can only answer the one question right now as that's all the time I have. Yes, there are different colored eyes. There is the black/brown and the Pink (the bright pink) and there is also ruby, which is a darker pink. My little Sophie had eyes that were bright pink but, when you looked closly, there was a ring of light blue within the pink as well. I haven't seen the light blue before or since I saw it in Sophie, but it might be possible that that is an eye color variation as well. There are times that I look at Moosh's eyes and they look dark blue. Who knows! LOL!

 

[jorats]

As for food... it's not an exact science so don't put too much thought into it.
I give my guys their blocks in the mornings, then I let them come out to play, they don't get any treats then, I want their motivation to be exercise, freedom and play for their out time. Then when it's time to go home they get their veggies, every day it's different: one day it's broccoli, the next will be peas, the next will be spring mix, the next will be romaine, the next kale and so on, but you can definitely give them a bowl of mixed veggies. And during the hours of stuck in the cage, that's when they get their treats, I'll pass them a piece of banana, a grape, blueberries and such.
I believe every day veggies is important as it's full of antioxidants, flavonoids and packed with vitamins and minerals.

 

[LA]

Here are a few pictures of Lily and she has Ruby eyes.

 

[lilspaz68]

Pink, black and ruby are the regular eye colours. Although ruby can fool a lot of people. It can range from a dark pink to almost black.

 

[LA]

Here's a picture of my three girls. Pink, ruby and black all in a row.

 

[SQ]

I'm with jorats.
Vegs everyday is important. And variety is good.
Cooked beans and chickpeas are good as well as the peas, broccoli, and kale our ratties love.

 

[dingosm8]

Can you imagine how cute blue eyed rats would be?

 

[user 78]

I feed my 3 girls breakfast and dinner. I usually get one of the premixed fruit cups from the grocery store that have watermelon, pineapple, honeydew, cantaloupe, grapes, and blueberries. I just grab a couple of pieces and cut it up into small chunks. It lasts my 3 girls a little over a week, but usually I still have to freeze a few pieces.

At night they get an organic spring lettuce mix, mixed veggies, or cereal. The mixed veggies are just packages from the organic section - Chinese, Japanese, and California mixes. Basically it just has carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, *cooked* onions, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. The cereal I use is an organic mixed grain and then I add a bit of an amaranth flake cereal with it. Depending on what I had for dinner, I may give them a tiny bit of that as well.

While I try to give them breakfast/dinner every day, it doesn't always happen. They always have access to their lab blocks.

Baby cereal isn't the best thing to give them as an every day thing. It does tend to pack on the pounds, which is why it's such a good thing for oldies and sick rats.

 

[Riana]

Thanks for your replies! I didn't know that about the baby food! Both SQ and Godmother feed it to their youngun's, up until 8 months old I believe... in any case my guys love it, and I think they'd be depressed if I stopped! Do you think it'd be okay to give if I just kept an eye that they didn't get fat? ^_^;

Last night the boys got a mixture of organic romaine lettuce hearts, blueberries, carrots, and peas. They friggin' inhaled it! I'm really excited about giving them the extras, because I'm sure it's good for them, but it'll help the lab blocks go further, maybe.

 

[SQ]

I supplement ratties with baby cereal until 3 to 4 months as they are growing fast and can use the extra nutrition.

I also feed it to old, sick ratties who may be losing weight.
I add a bit to meds, along with other things, to get them to eat their medication.

 

[user 78]

Getting a rat to lose weight isn't as easy as it sounds. Just as with humans, weight gained while they're young is twice as difficult to get off when they're older and less inclined to really exercise. Like I said, it's fine for a treat, but I wouldn't give it every day. They'd go just as mad over fresh fruits, veggies, or some other whole food treat.

In the end, they're your rats, and only you can decide what you feel is best for them.

 

[SQ]

As javakittie said, it is very hard to get rats to lose weigh.
Boys tend to gain weight easier than their sisters who don't have time to eat .. just stash and run lol

 

[Godmother]

Although I don't intend to do so, the plates of fruit and veg that I give them always come out looking so pretty == just like a magazine spread!

I sometimes mix fruit and veg. The plates look so nice with the different colours and textures. Carrots, bananas & broccoli.... watermelon, peas on yogurt!

I agree that baby cereal can only be an occasional treat for a full grown rat, or else they'd get very plump. Now that my little girls are five months old they get it only occasionally. They are perfectly happy with oatmeal or Red River cereal instead.

 

[Riana]

Interesting ideas, thanks!

We as a family don't really do a lot of veggies or fruit, so this grocery I actually bought some with the intent of them being for the rats. Silly But if that's what's good for them, I'll do it.

 

[user 78]

While I eat quite a bit of veggies/salads, the girls get their own veggies. Mostly because I don't eat as wide a variety as they like. You can get the mixed veggie bags in your freezer section, and they're just as good as fresh. Lasts *alot* longer, too. With just 3 girls now, it takes them a while to go through a whole bag.

ETA : You want to try and keep away from the mixed veggies which have mostly corn.

 

[Riana]

Is it really necessary to have a whole slew of different veggies or fruits, or is it okay if I were to pick up just like one type of mixed veggies bag as a staple, and then treat with different stuff besides that once and a while? Like, have a bag of mixed veggies so that they have different options, but only one bag?

 

[jorats]

I suppose it would be ok but keep in mind each veggie hold it's own blend of nutrients and that's why it would be beneficial for the ratties to have more than one kind.

 

[user 78]

There's usually a special on buying 2 or 3 bags at my grocery store, which is the only reason I get more than one bag at a time. So yea, that'd be perfectly fine. I try and mix it up a little every few weeks, since I know I'd get bored eating broccoli every night, hehe. I get the stir fry mixes and such, so it stays interesting.

 

[Riana]

Okay, good to know! I'll try to hit my parents up for that next time we get groceries!

Also, is it inhumane to give them only one type of fruit/veggie a day? :lol: I think if I were to buy a couple different types and spread it out by giving them one kind one day, and so on, my parents may be a little more accepting. I think they think I'm crazy for buying this stuff 'just for rats' in the first place.

And sorry if I sound a little stupid about this topic... With Zoey she would get the occasional treat when we had something, but it was far from every day. I didn't know better, I suppose.