Rat Foods & Feeding
Staple DietFor the most part, many of my rats staple diet is a simple combination of GoldMix Rat & Mouse Nuts, also called Norco rat & mouse cubes & a vegetable based pasta. This covers all the rats more specific vitamin & mineral requirements to keep them at their best, being essentially a complete diet in itself.
Every so often, I'll get hold of alternative lab blocks, such a Gordons or Lauke Mills, both of which are quite enjoyed amongst my rats & are good for a change. |
I also use a basic seed & grain mix for my rats, as I find this enriches their diet. My rats enjoy this to supplement their lab blocks, as this boosts their condition & they thrive on it, especially in cold weather. I do not feed it as their sole diet, as it is not complete in nutrients, but I have always & will always feed my rats mixed seeds & grains as I've found my rats do better with it in their diet than without it.
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Other Foods
They regularly get slices of bread, any kind of bread will do them, along with various cereals that are either given for a health reason or just for a treat & bit of fun. Uncooked rice or pasta, they also get it cooked as well, generally a left over from our dinner plates is a pretty normal thing.
They often get bones from chickens, lamb, beef or pork, along with items of seafood when they're available. Most meat products are welcomed, sometimes they'll get some canned dog or cat food or canned fish, which they love. Meat products are given raw or cooked. Come Summer, my family eats quite a lot of prawn, crab & fish, so the rats often get crab shells, prawn heads or fish skeletons to mutilate quite effectively.
Fruits they get are apples, nectarins, apricots, pears, sweet plums, grapes, berries, water/rock/honey dew melons. I avoid any & all citrus, they don't even get juices. I add in dried fruits to their diet sometimes just for an energy boost in the cooler months.
Vegetables are generally carrot as a staple, along with most dark leafy greens like spinach, choko vine leaves, dark leafed lettuces (not Iceberg), along with things like broccoli, zucchini, buk/pak choy, plus tomatoes & cooked potatoe. Often they get the left over mixed veggies from stir fries & out own dinners, which can have any number of vegetables in them.
Dark chocolate is another thing my rats get. It doesn't hurt them, it's as nice for them as it is for us, & it helps rats with respiratory distress to absorb better oxygen & stimulate their blood circulation.
They often get bones from chickens, lamb, beef or pork, along with items of seafood when they're available. Most meat products are welcomed, sometimes they'll get some canned dog or cat food or canned fish, which they love. Meat products are given raw or cooked. Come Summer, my family eats quite a lot of prawn, crab & fish, so the rats often get crab shells, prawn heads or fish skeletons to mutilate quite effectively.
Fruits they get are apples, nectarins, apricots, pears, sweet plums, grapes, berries, water/rock/honey dew melons. I avoid any & all citrus, they don't even get juices. I add in dried fruits to their diet sometimes just for an energy boost in the cooler months.
Vegetables are generally carrot as a staple, along with most dark leafy greens like spinach, choko vine leaves, dark leafed lettuces (not Iceberg), along with things like broccoli, zucchini, buk/pak choy, plus tomatoes & cooked potatoe. Often they get the left over mixed veggies from stir fries & out own dinners, which can have any number of vegetables in them.
Dark chocolate is another thing my rats get. It doesn't hurt them, it's as nice for them as it is for us, & it helps rats with respiratory distress to absorb better oxygen & stimulate their blood circulation.