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

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Oh BlueSkyy, I hope you find the time to do it!!!!!!

Me too, that would be awesome! I know there are a lot of ingredients, but I like to provide a lot of different options that have similar vitamin/mineral content to make sure that my guys are all getting what they need. I emailed Ratrations.com to ask if they knew of any US equivalent of their Dailyrat3 suppliment, which I would feed them daily with their veggie puree/chop.

I'm also going to start giving my oldies a vitamin b suppliments. It apparently not only slows and helps the process of HED, but is also good for their kidneys.
 
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This is what I get using MyFitnessPal:
6418a59eaf9a5ad9d86576d3cbee6b10.jpg

(Ignore the goal %s lol)

Here is the nutrition in 1/9th of the recipe posted, as I understand that was one days worth of food?
99ff15f95a20be08ab4c1d6cc1ca05aa.jpg


The percents here for vitamins A&C, calcium and iron are for a human.


Edit
Removing the shrimp/cricket/mealworm cocktail knocks out a percent of protein:
b663aa2434e588cd181f2005303da233.jpg


And here is the 1/9th nutrition with no shrimp/cricket/worm: (see Trans fat and cholesterol specifically)
ffa27fb7471b7e4a444feb398c75805a.jpg
 
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I'm going to lessen my seed percentage, and up my grain percentage to hopefully balance it out, decrease the fats and proteins. Velo, what program did you use for those nutrient charts? I'd like to run different percentages through it to see what works best :)
 
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Yes it's MyFitnessPal, which is free to use, you just make an account. Unfortunately, the pie charts are only on the mobile app though (which is also free and has a bar code scanner which is handy but not sure if you have an iPhone or Android phone) so you have to use that to get those. I can't remember what sorts of graphs are on the website, I'll have to check again.
It's a good resource, their nutrition/food database is huge.
You could probably get more accurate numbers than me because you know what brands you are using, etc because stuff can very a lot from brand to brand.
Anyway if you need help navigating the site lemme know.
 
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Maybe also, adding more vegetables? Please keep sharing! We are all learning with you. It looks like Velo is using MyFitnessPal.

Definitely thinking about more veggies. They're the most difficult variable, because what I can get changes with what my stores provide during the different seasons and such. I'm considering starting a small indoor garden for greens and herbs, mostly, so I can grow them year round to dehydrate and add to my mix. I'd like to have a nice veggie patch outside too, in the nice seasons.

I will definitely keep posting :D Thank you guys so much for sharing this journey with me.
 
Yes it's MyFitnessPal, which is free to use, you just make an account. Unfortunately, the pie charts are only on the mobile app though (which is also free and has a bar code scanner which is handy but not sure if you have an iPhone or Android phone) so you have to use that to get those. I can't remember what sorts of graphs are on the website, I'll have to check again.
It's a good resource, their nutrition/food database is huge.
You could probably get more accurate numbers than me because you know what brands you are using, etc because stuff can very a lot from brand to brand.
Anyway if you need help navigating the site lemme know.


Thank you! I've been chatting a lot with a woman who helped start up Ratrations in the UK, and she's also been giving me some tips, so hopefully I can get things running smoothly soon!

I'll post again soon, when I can sit down and edit things!
 
hahaha I keep getting notices that you've posted Kat, but then I come here and the post is gone

thinking about doing a homemade mix for my girls.


ETA:nevermind, there's the post now!!
 
So this is my current mix. The boys get about 1 and 1/2 cups of this mix daily, they tend to eat more in the winter so I adjust how much I feed based on how much they eat. They're fed in the morning when I first wake up, and if the bowl is empty around 6 PM, then I'll give them another half cup. It's usually still half full though. I've found a few products that make my life a LOT easier, like the Kashi cereal, parakeet seed, and multigrain medley. Those products have a combination of ingredients that I previously had to buy separately, and this way is not only easier but way more cost effective.

popping corn ⅓ cup
old fashioned oats 2 ½ cups
Healthy Select parakeet seed 1 ¼ cups
Kashi 7 whole grain puffs cereal (Red wheat, whole brown rice, whole oats, whole barley, whole triticale, whole rye, whole buck wheat, sesame seeds) 4 cups
pumpkin seed ¼ cup
cashew pieces ¼ cup
walnut pieces ¼ cup
Minute Rice Multigrain Medley (Brown rice, red rice, wild rice, quinoa) 2 packets.
lentils ½ cup
uncooked tricolored pasta 2 cups
dried mealworms ½ cup
garlic pieces ¼ cup
spirulina powder ¼ cup
and a liberal sprinkle of cinnamon powder

As you might have noticed, this mix is a lot more simplified than my other mixes. That's because I cut out all of the dried fruits, veggies, herbs, and greens and instead I feed those fresh daily. In the morning when their food bowls are filled, they also get a bunch of different fresh foods. Their veggies and fruit are skewered onto a few kabob toys (They LOVE chewing their veggies/fruit off of those!) and their herbs and greens are stuffed into a basket toy for them to dig out. This provides mental stimulation, but also encourages their natural foraging instinct, which I think makes for happier rats. I will probably end up introducing dehydrated veggies, fruits, and greens back into their dry mix when I get a food dehydrator and it's easier to do, but for now, this is fine What they get is dependent on what's in season and available, but they get a variety of things.

This is a list of what I give them. Obviously they don't get all of this every day, but they have a rotating schedule, and get most of this at least once a week:

bell pepper (red, green, orange, and/or yellow. I usually grab a few of each and switch it up) blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, pomegranate, cantaloupe, honeydew, apple, pear, peach, plum, carrot, tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, greenbeans, peas, spinach, kale, dandelion leaves, mint, watercress, parsley, basil, cilantro, carrot tops, beet greens, swiss chard, collard greens, arugula, green leaf and red leaf lettuce, and romaine





 
are these things cooked or raw? popping corn, rice, lentils?

except for the meal worms (worms totally gross me out, hahahha) it looks very tempting

love the skewered veggies and fruits! I must try that!
and the greens in the holder, great idea!
 
Just to add: Ever since I switched, even with the trial and error of recipes, I've never had healthier rats. No tumors, no UTI's, no ear infections, and my first URI since I started just popped up, but is currently being treated. Also, my oldest boy (2 years and 3 months) is still acting healthy, and is super playful, even keeping up with the youngsters of the colony. My guys used to barely make it to 2 years, and if they did then they had severe kidney issues by this point. Their waste also has a much less noticeable scent, and their fur is soft and shiny.

So far I'm considering this a major success. I'm never going back to lab blocks, ever. I love the control I have over what they eat, and my rats have never seemed happier.
 
You had me up until the mealworms - just cannot do that. Not going to lie, I'm not sure what some of those other ingredients are either. Would it be bad to leave the mealworms out?
 
You had me up until the mealworms - just cannot do that. Not going to lie, I'm not sure what some of those other ingredients are either. Would it be bad to leave the mealworms out?

In place of the mealworms you could add dried shrimp, or dried crickets to the mix, or give your rats some scrambled eggs once or twice a week :) The mealworms add necessary protein, it's important to remember that not all proteins are built the same, and that's why a lot of commercial rat nuggets cause kidney failure in male rats. It's not just the amount of protein, it's where the protein comes from. Proteins from bugs and eggs are the most easily soluble for male rats kidneys, the proteins in those are easily absorbed by the rats bodies and barely any are sent to the kidneys, so they don't exert themselves breaking it down. Next up on the list is fish, which takes a bit more effort, but still isn't too hard on them. Poultry comes after, the proteins in it are a bit harder for their bodies to absorb so more get sent to the kidneys, but the worst for them are pork and beef. The proteins are too harsh, and not easily absorbed at all, so the rats kidneys end up trying to synthesize a lot of them and it wears them down.

Also, just let me know which ingredients you don't know about, or are confused about, and I'd be more than happy to tell you what they are and what they do :D
 
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