I don't like the rodent foods out there (I used to use a mix of rabbit, hamster, and guinea pig food).
I started feeding about this recently:
25% Kellogs Wheat Bran Flakes
25% Kirkland Signature Dog Food
25% Oats and Barley
25% Dried blueberry, cranberry, raisins
I also give one piece of fresh vegetable a day (broccoli, carrot, etc.)
...Am I lacking anything? I'm basically using a grain-based diet with some protein and fruit. Is there any way I can give more vegetables without it spoiling? My rat drags it around in her bedding before eating it and it gets really disgusting so I only give her vegetables outside her cage.
Answers:
Good quality food and clean, fresh water should be available at all times for your pet mouse or rat. pelleted rodent rations which are processed as dry blocks or pellets are recommended. Typical maintenance diets should contain about 14% protein and 4 to 5% fat, while diets for growth and reproduction should contain 17 to 19% protein and 7 to 11% fat.
Most of this is fine in addition to the dry food mix sold in stores. The dried fruits however should not be given if they have added sugar, usually added before drying. They can't have all that sugar.
I have over 40 small animals and we feed all of them basically the same foods with certain foods removed depending on the breed. We only feed guinea pig and parrot food mixed together as their dry mix. They are very healthy and not overweight. Due to all the animals to feed we buy it in the large bags (8-10 pounds) about 6-8 bags at a time. We store all the food in 2- 5 gallon lidded buckets. This amount last us about 2 months depending on their appetite. Our rats eat the most along with all their other foods. For rats under 12 weeks old feed them dry puppy food, over 12 weeks feed regular adult dry food of good quality. Some good brands are Good News, Beneful, or any with veggies added make good choices.
I have a food list available for rats if you'd be interested in it. It had all the foods they can and can't have to eat. Just email me direct at wolfinator25840@yahoo.com Subject: rat food list. If you use petqna.com to email me, I can't sent the list due to not enough spaces allowed.
Thats a great diet. Only one thing. Cut down just a little on te dog food.
Its has oober amouts of protien, and too much is actually bad for you rat.
But other than that, he should be a happy healthy rat. Its great to make your own rodent mixes.
Im sure he [or she] loves you for it! :]
Kirkland dog food is not a good brand of food. Rats need a high quality dog food, with low protien. Nurto lite is a better choice. If you cannot afford to spend money on quality dog food which should make up half of the diet that just give lab blocks which would be healthier in this instance.
Also 25% fruit is too much, fruit should be fed in moderation.
One other question, how did you come up with this diet? There is a lot that goes into making a nutritionally complete diet for an animal. Please check out these links for some help:
http://www.rmca.org/articles/homemadedie...
http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html...
A proper homemade diet has to be carefully planned and should be checked by a vet. Most homemade diets have a large variety of seeds, nuts, grains, pastas, etc to make them nutritionally complete. When I used to make mine, it had at least 10 ingredients of different grains, seeds, etc.
Maybe a little cheese with the vegetables but other then that the type of food you give her is just fine. She should be ok %26%26 you can blend of chop up the vegetables for the rat and put like 10% of it with the cereal %26%26 sother foods.:]
Try jimmy Hoffa
sounds great for your rat. I prefer kitten chow though. As for the hamster... they tend to have more delicate digestive systems. Just keep an eye on his droppings and make sure they look normal if you do feed him that.
You feed a rat "information" and the "rat" squeals on the Hitman?
... the "rat" will be swimming with the fishes!
Kapeesh?
Hey? do yuze wanna job in the casino bakery?
yuze seem qualified!
at least for making bran muffins anyway! Ciao'
try googling the suebee diet
or the shumanite diet
depending where in the world you are
dried pasta spirals are a good addition as is dried couscous, red lentils, rice,
personally id cut down the fruit [too much sugar]and up the veg especially the broccoli and also add some other veg like spinach and kale, beans tinned in water or dried beans soakd and cooked according to the directions,
plus if shes a lone rat, which is what you seem to infer, id get her a same sex friend, shell thank you for it in the long run
i give my rats kaytee forti-fied lab blocks along with fresh fruits and veggies. it could be that the diet that you've made up is lacking somewhere, although i'm not sure. i rely on the link below, and have even called her for help!
good luck!
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