Making my own Rat Food.

[Tara]

It's official. If I want the kind of rat food I've been feeding, I'll have to drive 100 miles to get it. (I wish I were exagerating) The pet stores in my area are discontinuing sales on the only rat food I found that I liked. I have one bag left and then thats it. Do you guys have any good tips and recipies/mixes for what you feed your guys. I confess I do not cook. I mostly eat out of the microwave myself (Bachelorett that I am) but I really want my guys to eat well. Besides the occasional veggie, fruit, and catfood treats that they get now, they really need a regular dry mix... If I were to make a dry mix of my own, what would I put in it?

-T

 

[LA]

I'm interested in this as well as there are things that my girls don't eat. I am somewhat dissapointed in some rat foods like Reggie Rat which has alfalfa. My rats also dislike those cyclindrical pellets. I would be interested in knowing what to make. Although i know you have to be very careful to give them what they need.

 

[SQ]

I would strongly suggest that you feed your rats Harlan Tech. 2018 (if under 8 months), and 2016 or 2014 if non pregnant adults.
This can be ordered from Kim's Ark, a rescue in the US, if you can not get it elsewhere. A number of people on this forum have gone in together on a big order from a warehouse in Ontario .... you might want to do this the next time it occurs.

Mixes, tho they may be better than some of the alternatives, are not as good as a good quality lab block as they do not have all the nutrients, etc that rats need.

If you plan on making a mix, the only mix I would recommend is Debbie Ducommun's mix. It can be expensive and time consuming but her diet is supposed to be as good as or better than lab blocks.

See http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html

 

[raindrop]

I might be hard for Tara to do this as she is in Alaska.

Ann

 

[Melissa's ZOO]

I feed OxBow, My girls really like it but I have heard a lot of people say their rats just stop eating it. I have gone through two bags and everyone is maintain a healthy weight. So I have not had anyone boycott the food yet.

I buy it from
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=16965

I am pretty sure they would ship to Alaska, I am just don't know how much it would be.

 

[jorats]

You can feed your rats fresh. But not grain mixes. Mixes like Suebee's mix are extremely lacking as a balanced diet.
If you want to feed fresh, you would have to do a lot of research to make sure you have all the vitamins, minerals, macrominerals that a rat needs.
Dog food is not energy dense enough for rats. Rats metabolism is much faster.

 

[jennifervb]

It's official. If I want the kind of rat food I've been feeding, I'll have to drive 100 miles to get it. (I wish I were exagerating) The pet stores in my area are discontinuing sales on the only rat food I found that I liked. I have one bag left and then thats it. Do you guys have any good tips and recipies/mixes for what you feed your guys. I confess I do not cook. I mostly eat out of the microwave myself (Bachelorett that I am) but I really want my guys to eat well. Besides the occasional veggie, fruit, and catfood treats that they get now, they really need a regular dry mix... If I were to make a dry mix of my own, what would I put in it?

-T

I feed my boys the following:

- Oxbow Regal Rat Food. You can get it online or at most veterinary offices. Here is the link:

http://www.oxbowhay.com/link.sp?page=RegalRat

INNOVA Senior Dog food (dry) was recommended to me by Michelle from the Small Angels Rescue and Ben and Basil LOVE it!!!
You cannot order INNOVA Senior Plus online but the following website allows you to find a supplier in your area. Make sure you get the Senior dog food! It has reduced protein which is healthy for rats! The puppy or adult foods are too high in protein and could harm your little fur faces.

http://www.naturapet.com/brands/innova.asp

I also provide my boys with Debbie D's tofu/molasses mix. I buy my ingredients from Whole Foods because they sell the necessary seeds and grains in bulk and I can buy only the amounts necessary for one batch.

I find that my boys get tired of the tofu mix so I only give it to them for 2 weeks out of a month.

I hope this post hasn't put you to sleep.

 

[Tara]

I feed OxBow, My girls really like it but I have heard a lot of people say their rats just stop eating it. I have gone through two bags and everyone is maintain a healthy weight. So I have not had anyone boycott the food yet.

I buy it from
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=16965

I am pretty sure they would ship to Alaska, I am just don't know how much it would be.

I looked into that. They're out of the smaller bags right now, and I just dont want to buy 40lbs of it, pay the ugly shipping fee, and then find out my rats dont like it.:shock: My Vet Dr. Williams is really good about working with me on some things. He might be able to order it for me, even though there aren't too many rat owners in my area right now. (At least not pet rat owners) So I'd probably be his only customer for the product. :roll: I just really want to feed good food, and lately my options have been limited. And I usually only have a few rats at a time, so I cant see it working out to do the big recipe thing, besides the fact that I can barely boil water to make myself Macaroni and Cheese. *Sigh* I'm all for enrichment, but as for the main course, I'm gonna have to find something that I can buy. I wouldn't make my rats eat MY cooking. :lol:

 

[Tara]

I would strongly suggest that you feed your rats Harlan Tech. 2018 (if under 8 months), and 2016 or 2014 if non pregnant adults.
This can be ordered from Kim's Ark, a rescue in the US, if you can not get it elsewhere. A number of people on this forum have gone in together on a big order from a warehouse in Ontario .... you might want to do this the next time it occurs.

Mixes, tho they may be better than some of the alternatives, are not as good as a good quality lab block as they do not have all the nutrients, etc that rats need.

If you plan on making a mix, the only mix I would recommend is Debbie Ducommun's mix. It can be expensive and time consuming but her diet is supposed to be as good as or better than lab blocks.

See http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html

Which formula of Harlan tech would you feed? I'm confused as to the differences between them. My three rats are of good weight right now and they are all between a year and two years old.

 

[jorats]

I would feed them the 2014. The lower the protein, the better.

 

[KristyR]

My two cents.... I feed the molasses mix (we call it "rat gunk") found on the Rat Fan Club site. http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html Our kids LOVE it, and no one has been sick since we started feeding this. We have blocks available, but they don't eat them anymore. They get "rat salad" every day too.... fresh veggies and a fruit, and canned oysters twice a week. We feed a homemade "seed" mix (organic cerals, home-dried fruits and pasta) as a treat. They are healthy, happy, active, shiny rats!

 

[Tara]

Thanks for everyone's advice! I think I have a little better idea what to do now. The rat situation in Alaska is pretty grim and I was getting discouraged. But the suggestions here have snapped me out of that ' nothing can be done ' mope. I'm ready to tackle this nutrition thing. If I have to cook, then I'll learn how to be a rat cook at least. But I'll probably still burn my alphabet soup everyday. :laugh3: