is this a good type of food??

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I find the protein a little high for my taste that's just me though. I also personally don't like animal ingredients in it (poultry meal, herring meal, poultry fat). Or any treats I give them. It's a personal choice.
 
I'm not too sure. I dont really know if it covers all the nutritional needs. The protein and fat is a little high but with fruits and veggies it should bring that down a little. Wat until Jo answers and then you'll have a good idea whether its good or not!
 
At first when I found out that Martin's were creating a rat food, I was quite excited... but very disappointed with the protein and even the fat levels. :(
 
It's not bad... I wouldn't feed to my rats because of the soy content, but that's because my rats are spayed but it's good to give to intact females. The possible mercury in the herring meal is a slight concern but the main concern is the p/f levels.
 
I'm with jorats - I too was excited when I saw that Martins was creating a rat food but yeah... the protein and fat levels are too high for me too. I think it would be ok for growing baby rats or malnourished rats that we sometimes get into rescue.
 
jorats said:
The possible mercury in the herring meal is a slight concern but the main concern is the p/f levels.
Click to expand...

I agree but FYI:
Herring meal will have less mercury in it than other fish - tuna for example (herring are short lived so they don't absorb as much).
:)
 
Well then i guess i will save it for when i get under weight rats ... Brad picked it up and non of our rats like it so there it will sit Lol... thaanks for your help guys :)
 
Here's my take on it.
I fed it to my guys for about a month when I couldn't find anything else here. Even while supplementing fresh veg in there, they lost weight. I don't know how they did it but they did.
Their coats looked crappy and it just blew.
I wouldn't ever feed it again.
 
I read somewhere that rats need atleast 14mg/1kg Copper in their diet... I didn't see that in the list on that food? I've just checked and Harlan has 15mg/kg, and the food i feed (P@H Nuggets) has 16mg/kg. I've read that Copper helps with coat quality, not sure what else it plays a part in though
 
I was actually going to ask about it, because i'm not overly sure. I've checked and most decent lab blocks do have the minimum 14mg/kg. If you feed a seed diet, it lacks the decent amount of copper, and i always give a vegetable, low fat, low protein dog biscuit mix to try make up the extra copper (only specific dog mix have the right levels of copper). Very rarely though.

Wondering if anyone else has heard of this?
 
I have fed it before when my mom grabbed ot for me, she thought that was what I had meant when I asked for the blocks. I wasn't impressed with it. My rats liked it, but they got a little tubby, even with me giving them lots of extra veggies and fruits, and letting them out for extra exercise. I wouldn't go back to it, even in a pinch. I too, noticed their coats looked less healthy, not as shiny. Could be the missing copper in it.
 
ryelle said:
I read somewhere that rats need atleast 14mg/1kg Copper in their diet... I didn't see that in the list on that food? I've just checked and Harlan has 15mg/kg, and the food i feed (P@H Nuggets) has 16mg/kg. I've read that Copper helps with coat quality, not sure what else it plays a part in though
Click to expand...


Here's info on copper in rats:

http://books.google.ca/books?id=y0_4nhY ... t#PPA31,M1

If I'm reading this right... rats only need 5mg/kg for growth and maintenance.
 

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