I'm thinking about switching to a home made diet. Hear me out!

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My guys are loving the food. I think they are excited that the flavour changes and I have noticed a reduction in smell already.
Everyone loves the food even took a handful to work for the critters there and everyone gobbled it up.
 
My boys smell way better too, almost sweeter, like berries. It's nice! Their fur is also way softer and shinier, and my chunky boy Toby looks like he's getting a bit leaner, too. Much less like a little furry tennis ball :p
 
I definitely see healthier weight on everyone. Even big boys Boots and Yoshi seem a bit more fit. The skinnier boys look properly filled out as well.
Boots actually took the hard way to the water bottle this morning. Normally he is lazy and takes the easiest route!
I also found they don't seem to be starving when it gets to bowl fill time. They take a piece and go sir and eat but they don't cram 16 pcs in their mouth and hide in a corner trying to eat it all. They are excited but not in an "I'm freaking starving" kind of way
They are more active, less listless, more happy and healthy all around.
Even old man Garfield looks better with his fur and weight.
 
I'm still tweaking the moisture content and what works best. We have added an egg and removed some of the legumes to balance protiens. Added coconut oil, taken out the quinoa and any veggie or fruit matter.
We're also playing with the cooking process. So far they are just getting a 2-4 homemade blocks per day with 24hr access to oxbow Still but I have seen some great positive changes. And I haven't gone through near as much Oxbow since starting the homemade. It actually seems to fill half their daily intake. So instead of going through 20lbs in 4 weeks I've maybe gone through 8-9 lbs of it.
They go nuts for it! As I said before their coats and energy level have improved. Their poops are perfect and waaaay less stinky!
Even their pee odour seems reduced.

Also, it makes about 2-2.5 lbs a week at a cost of less then .50c/lb
 
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by adding eggs, I would be very worried about protein and cholesterol.
Eggs are very unhealthy for people so I assume they would also be unhealthy for rats
 
KatTheHippie said:
Hey guys! I'm loving everything everyone's been posting about their home made diets! I'm super jealous of all of you with dehydrators, I want one so bad. (Adding that to my birthday list along with a sewing machine ;) ) How are all of your ratties taking to the food? Do they like it? Have you noticed any changes in them at all?

In my current mix I have:

Puffed wheat, puffed rice, shredded wheat, corn flakes, apple, prunes, pears, apricots, cranberries, pearled barley, brown rice, peas, cooked potatoes, tomato, spinach, parsley, and kelp. They get a few unsalted pumpkin and sunflower seeds as treats.

I'm going to be adding pumpkin, flax seed, and soya.

They also get a "smoothie" every day before they're fed. It's always different flavors, to keep them interested. Today it was banana, blueberry, yogurt, basil, carrot, and mint. They loved it!

Anyone have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

no suggestions but in case you are not aware, items like cornflakes contain GMOs :(
(Only mentioning it because I am personally very concerned about feeding my rats GMOs and am hoping someone will discover a diet better then blocks that doesn't contain GMOs.)
 
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This is why I stopped sharing....always a negative comment
Its 1 egg in 3 cups of ground mixed dry ingredients, hence why we cut back on the legumes and the food is very low fat...we actually needed to add some good fat. Not like they're each getting a whole egg every day.
I know many here are vegan, but I grew up eating eggs 3 days a week and my cholesterol is perfect! We were actually finding the food didn't have much in the way of fats in it. And if we are going to eventually feed this block exclusively it needs to have enough fats. There are far worse things we could add.
 
SQ said:
by adding eggs, I would be very worried about protein and cholesterol.
Eggs are very unhealthy for people so I assume they would also be unhealthy for rats
Click to expand...
Eating eggs daily is only bad for people with diabetes. So if you wanted to draw the same parallel, then eggs are bad for rats with diabetes.
 
not according to research I have read, but this isn't a thread on eggs so I am done
btw, I was trying to be helpful
 
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Thank you Joanne for something positive. I am merely attempting to improve my rats health. I'm open to suggestions, but simple negative comments with no helpful suggestions to a substitute is just that, negative. The whole eggs being unhealthy is foreign to me as a person who grew up with egg being an almost daily super food. And from my health nut friends who are body builders and police/fire personnel who I know personally eat at least 2 eggs EVERY DAY why if they are so bad do they!? Eggs are only bad when #1 like Joanne said a person has diabetes, #2 they are eaten in excess daily and not worked off by exercise, #3 eaten raw frequently. Maybe its old fashioned thinking but things that come straight from nature in their purest forms are better for you then over processed, manufactured, artificially preserved things. So when I weigh processed lab block to fresh, mostly organic, whole ingredients I don't see how I'm doing wrong by my pets. I have done the homework to find natural sources of vitamins and minerals that rats need daily. I'm not a scientist so yes it is taking time to perfect.
When someone comes up with a better (affordable) alternative I'll be happy to take it into consideration. For now I will continue working on improving my recipe and taking positive, constructive notes.
 
Eggs have become very controversial in the last few years. I read this article a couple weeks ago and found it interesting ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life...news-and-bad-news-about-eggs/article12502116/) I personally am still on the fence about eating eggs myself but I do think it is something to question especially since I personally am already at risk for diabetes from both side of my family. From that article I understand that consuming a small amount of eggs isn't an issue and like you said each rat is getting very little so I wouldn't think it would be a huge issue. Out of curiosity would adding some sort of fish (I would need to research type before suggestion one) instead of eggs be a viable option?
 
Fish is a tricky one. We looked at that but #1 I'm allergic to most fish. And I cannot stand the smell of ANYthing fishy. Preparing it in a way to incorporate into the block and keeping it nutritious is tricky. We have access to fresh farm eggs for $1/Dozen. I doubt I could find fish at that price without going fishing myself which though I do to relax I never catch anything...not even a cold!
The controversy over eggs is the same with the war on gluten (a separate topic and not meant as a comment on those who choose not to or cannot consume gluten). Its not the egg itself its the method of production. Mass farming and poorly stimulated hens makes for what I call 'sad chicken eggs'. The depressed, stressed chicken is not producing a healthy egg. Its also likely not getting exercise or proper natural sunlight.
I'm trying to find an old picture I took of a store bought egg next to a local farm egg. These local farmers allow their chickens to roam around the farm, lay eggs where they please, eat and forage naturally. These eggs are 20% larger, darker yellow/orange and have a fuller flavor and cook up like a dream. They also produce more, larger eggs then the average production line chicken and live longer.
Lots of foods are getting this way due to cutting corners and rushing the natural process or forcing the natural process. Corn, wheat, milk, eggs, all once staple foods that now have a higher rate of allergen sufferers...why!? Because we (as a human race) messed with the natural structure and process.
Anyway. I digress about eggs. I will continue using the egg in my batches until I can find a suitable, affordable replacement :)


ETA I found the picture. You see top, a store bought egg and bottom an egg fresh from a local farm who free ranges their chickens. Its larger, more full, you can't see the white well but it was clearer (less cloudy), its a richer colour.

44353e7f09184cf76480b6f88b6a9dd7.jpg
 
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SterlingRats0408 said:
I'm trying to find an old picture I took of a store bought egg next to a local farm egg. These local farmers allow their chickens to roam around the farm, lay eggs where they please, eat and forage naturally. These eggs are 20% larger, darker yellow/orange and have a fuller flavor and cook up like a dream. They also produce more, larger eggs then the average production line chicken and live longer.
Lots of foods are getting this way due to cutting corners and rushing the natural process or forcing the natural process. Corn, wheat, milk, eggs, all once staple foods that now have a higher rate of allergen sufferers...why!? Because we (as a human race) messed with the natural structure and process.
Anyway. I digress about eggs. I will continue using the egg in my batches until I can find a suitable, affordable replacement :)
Click to expand...

I know exactly what you mean about the difference between the 2. Growing up we raised chickens and had fresh eggs and they were much better quality. Maybe when I move back to Ontario I will convince my uncle to get some more chickens.

http://www.ratshackforum.com//www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
 
One of my friends has laying hens and gives me eggs. When I run out, I get some eggs called 'Free Run' eggs. These hens are allowed free run of the barn they are kept in. I want to support local farmers that are moving towards more humane animal husbandry. When I contacted the company, they said they were trying to set up another group of hens that can go outside. It is more expensive for these eggs, but I'm willing to pay it.
 
It feels pretty bad that when I expressed a fact based concern that I would be worried ..... in an attempt to be helpful, I was accused of making a negative comment and people started making posts defending eggs, making this into a thread about eggs.

It really sucks that because I wrote a simple statement I feel attacked and feel like I need to defend myself.

So since I seem to need to back up the concern I expressed, or people are not willing to accept that it is legitimate that I have this concern:

"Consuming just one egg per day may significantly shorten our lifespans, increase the levels of the cancer-promoting growth hormone IGF-1, and increase our risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, gestational diabetes, and some types of cancer". It is "significantly associated with stroke, hospitalisation and death from heart failure, higher total mortality risk (meaning eating just one egg a day was significantly associated with living, on average, a shorter life)". (Michael Greger M.D., http://nutritionfacts.org/topics/eggs/ )

This is about research involving adult humans. I would assume that a much smaller amount would be needed to negatively impact the health of smaller individuals or animals.

A few references, more available upon request. References were copied and pasted so not alphabetical or in APA style.

Edit: .... for some reason this will not allow me to post the 24 journal references (that support this post) so message me if you want these research articles
 
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I agree that eggs and their nutritional value are controversial. The benefits of coconut oil are also hotly debated. And most fish have high levels of mercury in them.

but that controversy aside, local eggs from truly free ranging chickens are certainly a better choice than grocery store eggs (esp from the farmed chickens perspective)

I admit I lost track of the conversation, what is the purpose of adding eggs and/or fish? if you're looking for good sources of protein, you can't beat plants for that!!

and I'm not saying this because I'm vegan, it just happens to be true ;-)
 
For healthy fats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, walnuts... much much better for rats.
I would never give an egg to my rats. The cholesterol and fat is much too high for their short lifespan.
 

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