Healthy rats loosing a lot of weight?

[Mackenzie]

Edit: I believe the lack of weight gain is likely from the fiber content in their diet, as they have always been eating a lot of fiber since I got them. Studies that have rats eating both a fatty diet and fiber suggest they have a much harder time gaining weight. Thanks for the replies!


Hi! So I’m concerned about three of my 4 female rats! When I look and play with them I believe the are very healthy, they are super active, have great appetites, have very soft shiny fur and have good teeth, nails, and soft skin that is free of dry skin or dander. However, 3 of my 4 ladies loose weight in just a few hours. I feed once a day Mazuri mini pig active adult, diamond dry dog food (small amount, maybe 1 cup of dog food to 3 cups of pig) and a variety of fresh foods including veggies, fruits, chicken, and eggs. They eat great, except when the food bowl runs out they loose an excessive amount of weight. Within a few hours they will be super skinny and starving for food.
None of them are related and my youngest of the affected is 3 month old Blossom who has 10, week old babies has never been in contact with the others.
They don’t show any symptoms of worms, I keep the cages clean, no signs of respiratory illness either! Unless rats just have super fast metabolisms, I’m not sure what I can change. I ordered mazuri blocks that I’ll just keep filled up, and before pig diet was a homemade diet but they don’t like pasta or cereal. Any ideas as to what’s up with my rats would be appreciated, thanks!

 

[SqueakingJellybean]

Dog food and guinea pig food is not formulated for the nutritional needs of rats. Something like Harlan-Teklad blocks for rats is your best bet. Oxbow makes some good stuff as well. Definitely supplement with fruits and veggies, but go easy on the extra protein. A lab block made with rats in mind should already have enough in it. Extra protein for your nursing ratmomma is probably a good idea.Poor little bean, giving birth so young.

Not sure about that kind of rapid weight loss. Are you certain it's weight loss and not just rats in different positions? Sometimes rats are like liquid-- they will change shape to conform to the space they're in. One moment you have a furry potato, and the next, you have a string bean.

 

[Mackenzie]

Dog food and guinea pig food is not formulated for the nutritional needs of rats. Something like Harlan-Teklad blocks for rats is your best bet. Oxbow makes some good stuff as well. Definitely supplement with fruits and veggies, but go easy on the extra protein. A lab block made with rats in mind should already have enough in it. Extra protein for your nursing ratmomma is probably a good idea.Poor little bean, giving birth so young.

Not sure about that kind of rapid weight loss. Are you certain it's weight loss and not just rats in different positions? Sometimes rats are like liquid-- they will change shape to conform to the space they're in. One moment you have a furry potato, and the next, you have a string bean.

Mini pig food, for pigs. I was recommended by a breeder and other breeders have approved. It’s low in sodium, fat, and protein which is why I was using the dog food to make up for it. I’m getting mazuri rodent blocks to have as grazing for them but I’ve had so much success with the pig diet I’ll probably continue, I’ve never felt rats so soft! It’s definitely weight loss, they never get fat! Yeah I bought the baby mom already pregnant, breeder said it was completely accidental that a buck escaped... even before the pig diet my oldest female and much two boys were always getting skinny and they were eating a homemade (with recipes from reliable sources!) and I switched them after some breeders were talking about diets, they get fresh stuff every day and I’ve been adding vitamins and such. Just have no idea why they loose weight in just a few hours, it’s the same with water if my oldest runs out of water she gets very dehydrated very fast, she’s done that since I got her at 4 months.

 

[jorats]

They really need to be on a better diet. Rat food with low protein, low fat is best. They don't need chicken and eggs and certainly no dog food. Piggie food is probably way too high in fibre for rats. I highly recommend Oxbow rat food.
Any chance you can get a video of the rats losing weight quickly. I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Also, have you weighed them to see how much they are losing?

 

[Mackenzie]

They really need to be on a better diet. Rat food with low protein, low fat is best. They don't need chicken and eggs and certainly no dog food. Piggie food is probably way too high in fibre for rats. I highly recommend Oxbow rat food.
Any chance you can get a video of the rats losing weight quickly. I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Also, have you weighed them to see how much they are losing?

Nutrition shouldn’t be the issue, they look and act very healthy and multiple breeders, and a vet that specialized in rats approved of the diet (minus the dog food, I was adding that within the last few weeks since mini pig diet is super low in fat and protein). Rats are omnivores and I have a nursing girl so im not sure what you mean by they don’t need eggs or chicken, especially since I would be doing a homemade diet again if I thought their current diet was doing them anything less than thriving.

What I mean by rapid weight loss is my rats will go from in the lean side to what I would imagine a rat that hasn’t not been fed in 2 days looks like, they just seem on the thinner side.
My rats also lack a lot of muscle mass because constantly loosing weight, when it was just my one female and I was able to keep food in the bowl 24/7 she was super muscular. Again, long soft shiny fur, healthy nail, tooth and skin and high activity levels wouldn’t mean it was a dietary issue,
I’m just concerned that it could be like a health concern or if it’s just high metabolisms and I’m over reacting! I don’t have a scale unfortunately.
One breeder and a rescue I was talking to suggested it could be worms but they don’t have any symptoms besides weight loss

 

[Luna&Ralph]

A nursing rat should be allowed to eat whenever she wants so that she can keep producing milk I believe, I know this is true for dogs and cats anyway, who also need more fat and protein when nursing. I’m wondering if because of this the mama rat is eating so much food that the others aren’t getting enough. I would try to keep the bowl full at all times and see if that helps. Your girls sound healthy otherwise so it’s probably them not getting enough because the mama is hogging it all because she’s nursing and growing at the same time. Hopefully this helps!

 

[Mackenzie]

A nursing rat should be allowed to eat whenever she wants so that she can keep producing milk I believe, I know this is true for dogs and cats anyway, who also need more fat and protein when nursing. I’m wondering if because of this the mama rat is eating so much food that the others aren’t getting enough. I would try to keep the bowl full at all times and see if that helps. Your girls sound healthy otherwise so it’s probably them not getting enough because the mama is hogging it all because she’s nursing and growing at the same time. Hopefully this helps!

Mama rat is separate and her bowl stays full, or I try to keep it full, at all times! I would have thought maybe someone was being a pig in my girl cage but no one is hog looking and the weight loss was happening back when I only had 1 rat! Thanks!

 

[Luna&Ralph]

Whoops, I figured she was probably separate but I wasn’t sure if you said. How strange! It sounds like you could keep their bowl full all the time and they would still be at a healthy weight. I didn’t see where you said so my apologies if you did but how old are they?

 

[jorats]

Your rats shouldn't be losing muscle mass that quickly, old rats will lose muscle mass but not young rats. I would go buy a scale and weigh them. I have never seen rats do that, looking lean and muscular to emaciated in a small amount of time. And I've cared for over 300 rats in my 15 years of rat care.
BTW, your breeders and vet need to brush up on their rat care knowledge. Piggie food is not suitable for rats.

 

[SQ]

Please start feeding your rats a better diet that is appropriate for rats.
As Jorats wrote, you are receiving very bad information from people who need to do some research re recent info about rats.

The recommended diet for rats is a good block (oxbow or Harlan Teklad 2014)
and a variety of daily vegs and greens
and occasional healthy treats such as berries, a piece of fruit, cooked grains (ie oatmeal, buckwheat, etc), a piece of organic cereal (no added sugar), organic pumpkin seeds etc

No foods with added sugar, added salt, or added fats
Low protein - and plant sources of protein are better for rats ..... research shows that meat, eggs etc are very unhealthy for rats. as for being omnivores, wild rats will eat anything they can get. They also have very short life spans

 

[Mackenzie]

Please start feeding your rats a better diet that is appropriate for rats.
As Jorats wrote, you are receiving very bad information from people who need to do some research re recent info about rats.

The recommended diet for rats is a good block (oxbow or Harlan Teklad 2014)
and a variety of daily vegs and greens
and occasional healthy treats such as berries, a piece of fruit, cooked grains (ie oatmeal, buckwheat, etc), a piece of organic cereal (no added sugar), organic pumpkin seeds etc

No foods with added sugar, added salt, or added fats
Low protein - and plant sources of protein are better for rats ..... research shows that meat, eggs etc are very unhealthy for rats. as for being omnivores, wild rats will eat anything they can get. They also have very short life spans

Hi, I didn’t post what I fed my rats diet wise to be “educated” on what I should and should not feed them. I’ve tried a variety of diets and my rats haven’t changed in apperance if they are eating rodent blocks, homemade/etc. I found out that the weight loss is very likely a result of the fiber in the mini pig diet I’ve been feeding them, as I have been giving my rats mostly just mazuri and they are now gaining excessive amounts of weight. I changed my 3 mo momma to only mazuri rodent blocks and have noticed 0 change in weight gain/loss, she’s still very skinny even though I’m feeding her all day long. I see better results in my 6 mo mom of 12 but she wasn’t as prone to the weight loss problem as my agouti hooded girls are. As for my 12 mo female who was always loosing the weight the rodent blocks have helped her stay at a pretty good weight.

But like I said, none of my rats have changed in energy levels, coat shine/softness, tooth, nail and skin health, etc! But thanks anyways.
If you have Instagram my rats are on there @rattus.gang