KatTheHippie
Well-Known Member
First off, please, no harsh scolding, and hear me out before commenting. I would love to hear opinions, but I would also like to keep things civil.
When I got my first group of rats, it was 11 years ago. When I researched, I heard about lab blocks, but most of the things I read seemed icky, and all of the things that I read about home made mixes seemed great. So my first group of 4,and the following group of 7 were all fed diets that I made myself. In that group, most were rescues, who originated from the pet store before making their way to me, so I know luck was a big factor in their genetics. Either way, most of my rats lived to 3 or older, and none of my 5 girls developed any tumors.
After those guys, I had a year long gap before I adopted any more rats, because of school. When I finally brought Alice home, it had been quite a while, so I decided to do some more research and see what changed. When I found the rat shack, everyone preached about lab blocks, and it made sense. Complete nutrition, no worries about missing suppliments, and much easier to just order one thing, other than shopping around for all of the other things I needed for mixes. Since then, I've had 2 groups. My group of girls (5) and my group of boys (10, though not all lived at the same time, some have passed and some have been added) Once again, I know that their genetics are completely unknown, and can definitely come into play since all are rescues.
But I've noticed that they've been living much shorter lives. Most pass around the age of 2, if they even make it that far. Out of my girls, 2 developed numerous mammary tumors, and one a pituitary tumor. Alice passed at 2 years old after battling pneumonia (Probably from living on pine before I got her) and Rhydian died on the operating table. But I don't count her in this, since she was wild and had completely different genetics.
Of my group of boys, I've had 2 develop tumors (Kreacher, who developed a crazy amount of abdominal tumors which turned necrotic and resulted in him being put down. He was 3 months old. And Cooper, who just passed recently, who had a mammary tumor on his lower abdomen. He was barely 2) I've had at least one more pituitary tumor (Meeloh for sure, he was a year and a half, and Edgar I'm pretty sure but it could have been something else. He was 2.) Then Igor just suddenly fell ill and passed extremely quickly, he was 2.
I know it could just be coincidence. But I'm willing to experiment if it could mean my babies live healthier, longer lives. Dover's 3 now, and I'm constantly worried that something may happen to him. Toby and Cheswyck are a year and a half, and Ivan's 2. My babies, Ozzy and Dio, are about 8 weeks now. I plan on doing a LOT of research over the next few weeks/months, and have been reccomended a book called The Scuttling Gourmet, which I'll be getting my hands on soon. I'm not making any changes until I'm well versed in everything.
I know that rats tend to pick out their favorite bits of food to eat first, then leave the rest for later, but with the diet I'm most interested in, I've heard from most owners that their rats eat the whole mix no problem. Obviously, I would still give veggies and fruits often as well. I've been seeing a lot of talk about how processed blocks are, and how they've been developed to make sure rats in experiments are on a consistent diet so that it won't effect test results. I think doing this may really benefit my babies.
I'd be glad to talk about my results when switching. It will probably be a very long term thing, since I mostly want to switch to see if it helps with longevity and less illness, so updates will most likely be every few months. I also want to say now, that if you are considering a home made mix, you REALLY NEED TO RESEARCH! You can't just throw things together and think that's fine, you really need to take into account a lot of different variables and percentages, and make sure that you have the time and patience to dedicate to making sure your mixes offer everything that they need.
When I got my first group of rats, it was 11 years ago. When I researched, I heard about lab blocks, but most of the things I read seemed icky, and all of the things that I read about home made mixes seemed great. So my first group of 4,and the following group of 7 were all fed diets that I made myself. In that group, most were rescues, who originated from the pet store before making their way to me, so I know luck was a big factor in their genetics. Either way, most of my rats lived to 3 or older, and none of my 5 girls developed any tumors.
After those guys, I had a year long gap before I adopted any more rats, because of school. When I finally brought Alice home, it had been quite a while, so I decided to do some more research and see what changed. When I found the rat shack, everyone preached about lab blocks, and it made sense. Complete nutrition, no worries about missing suppliments, and much easier to just order one thing, other than shopping around for all of the other things I needed for mixes. Since then, I've had 2 groups. My group of girls (5) and my group of boys (10, though not all lived at the same time, some have passed and some have been added) Once again, I know that their genetics are completely unknown, and can definitely come into play since all are rescues.
But I've noticed that they've been living much shorter lives. Most pass around the age of 2, if they even make it that far. Out of my girls, 2 developed numerous mammary tumors, and one a pituitary tumor. Alice passed at 2 years old after battling pneumonia (Probably from living on pine before I got her) and Rhydian died on the operating table. But I don't count her in this, since she was wild and had completely different genetics.
Of my group of boys, I've had 2 develop tumors (Kreacher, who developed a crazy amount of abdominal tumors which turned necrotic and resulted in him being put down. He was 3 months old. And Cooper, who just passed recently, who had a mammary tumor on his lower abdomen. He was barely 2) I've had at least one more pituitary tumor (Meeloh for sure, he was a year and a half, and Edgar I'm pretty sure but it could have been something else. He was 2.) Then Igor just suddenly fell ill and passed extremely quickly, he was 2.
I know it could just be coincidence. But I'm willing to experiment if it could mean my babies live healthier, longer lives. Dover's 3 now, and I'm constantly worried that something may happen to him. Toby and Cheswyck are a year and a half, and Ivan's 2. My babies, Ozzy and Dio, are about 8 weeks now. I plan on doing a LOT of research over the next few weeks/months, and have been reccomended a book called The Scuttling Gourmet, which I'll be getting my hands on soon. I'm not making any changes until I'm well versed in everything.
I know that rats tend to pick out their favorite bits of food to eat first, then leave the rest for later, but with the diet I'm most interested in, I've heard from most owners that their rats eat the whole mix no problem. Obviously, I would still give veggies and fruits often as well. I've been seeing a lot of talk about how processed blocks are, and how they've been developed to make sure rats in experiments are on a consistent diet so that it won't effect test results. I think doing this may really benefit my babies.
I'd be glad to talk about my results when switching. It will probably be a very long term thing, since I mostly want to switch to see if it helps with longevity and less illness, so updates will most likely be every few months. I also want to say now, that if you are considering a home made mix, you REALLY NEED TO RESEARCH! You can't just throw things together and think that's fine, you really need to take into account a lot of different variables and percentages, and make sure that you have the time and patience to dedicate to making sure your mixes offer everything that they need.
