Feeding Your Rats

Rats, like humans, are omnivores. They eat vegetables and meats. Their diets should not be high in fat, sugar or sodium. You have many different choices when it comes to feeding your rats. You can feed them a rodent block food, a seed mix, a mix of your own or prepare a diet just for your rats. I use a combination of rodent block, fresh foods and a grain and seed mix. You'll want to put the rat food in a bowl to keep it clean and out of the litter. Some will be eaten, some hidden, but usually some stays in the bowl. Please note that these suggestions are for adult rats that are not breeding. Pregnant or nursing females and growing pups need more than any of these can give alone.

Pet Food: The Lowdown on Labels, by By Linda Bren-this is more specific to dogs and cats but does apply to pet food, in general

Who Regulates the Pet Food Industry? -all sorts of helpful information on how to choose a good pet food

How do rats choose what to eat? -it is partly up to the breeder to teach them to eat healthy

Rodent Blocks

If you choose to feed your rats a commercially prepared block-type food, you can be pretty sure they are getting what they need. They can't pick out their favorite parts so you'll know they are getting all they are supposed to. You should still give them some fresh fruits, vegetables, pasta, etc. occasionally for variety. As for blocks as a staple, I use LabDiet 5001, Harlan Teklad (2014 for adult males and 2018 for everyone else) or Mazuri (the last two are made by Purina). Some of the other brands contain preservatives I prefer not to give to my rats. Try to give them just what they need each day so they do not become overweight and so that the rat food doesn't get soggy in the cage. If you can get a food bin that mounts on the side of the cage, I recommend it to keep the blocks clean and so there is less waste.

Some say that their rats won't eat block food, but I don't buy that. Blocks are available to all of my rats, and they do eat them, lots of them, along with their other foods. Rats, like humans, would rather eat the really yummy, sweet and fatty foods that are not good for them. If they are only offered blocks and other foods that are good for them, they have to eat them. If I am given a choice of french fries or brussels sprouts, of course, sometimes I am going to choose the fries. I will not be healthy on that diet (and will probably get fat), but that's what I'd choose. If I am just given the brussels sprouts, I'll eat them and be much healthier for it. Keep this in mind when you choose what you will feed your rats, but hopefully, your breeder has already taught your rats to eat healthy.

Mixes

There are lots of mixes to choose from for your rats. I do not recommend seed mixes, though, because they tend to be high in fat and the rats pick out what they want and leave the rest. They are, therefore, not getting all of the nutrients they need. I have also found that some of the mixes on the market contain ethoxyquin (go ahead, do a search on it), a preservative/pesticide/insecticide, that our rats and other pets shouldn't get in their food. Remember, too, that just because it doesn't say it on the label doesn't mean it isn't there as a preservative of one of the ingredients.

You can put together your own rat diet, but you must be careful about giving them a homemade mix exclusively. You want to be sure they are getting all of the nutrients they need (see "Can I Make My Own Rat/Mouse Diet?" RMCA). My rats are fed a combination of LabDiet or Harlan Teklad blocks (available "free-feed" in a feeding bin to keep it clean and dry), Kelly's Food Bin Mix and fresh vegetables, fruits, rice, whole grains and other fresh foods.

The following grain mix is from a customer of mine, Kelly, who used to frequent a store in Shawnee, Kansas called The Food Bin. She came up with this mix from some of the grains she found in that store. The store has since closed making it harder for us to assemble all of the ingredients for the mix, but we manage. The rats love it, so it is worth the extra travel and work to get it together for them. We do not feed it to our rats every day. This is for a couple of days a week as they also get cooked grains with their vegetables sometimes. Basically, we believe it is important that they get their blocks and then a good variety in their other foods.

There are other homemade rat diets out there. Just be careful what you give them and be sure it is something you are willing to take the time to prepare, that it is nutritionally complete and that it is not too high in sugar, salt, fat or protein.

Veggies/Fruits

I supplement my rat's diet with fresh fruits and vegetables, rice and other whole grains, pasta, or whatever is handy and good for them. It doesn't have to be given every day, but be sure they get plenty of fresh foods, and remove uneaten portions from the rat cage after a couple of hours. Go easy on things like lettuce (all water-diarrhea), undercooked eggs (salmonella), nuts (too much fat), chocolate (a little bit of dark chocolate is okay), etc. Do not give your rats, especially the males, too much fat or protein. Fresh oranges, given occasionally, are believed to help protect females from cancer, but dont give it to males, and don't give them the peel (see "Orange Juice, D-Limonene, and Cancer in Male Rats" RMCA). Berries, especially blueberries and blackberries, are also supposed to help protect rats from cancer. Just use common sense when deciding what to feed because they'll eat whatever you give them. Don't give too much fruit as there is alot of natural sugar in fruit. Some is fine for normal, healthy rats, but you don't want to fill them up on sugar. Some things my rats especially like are:

Since we had a baby with anencephaly in a litter born at SRR in August of 2003, we have been especially concerned about the diet of our rats just prior to breeding. Anencephaly can be genetic, however, the breeding was from a mother and her son-the son being the result of a total outcross. The mother came from lines with some inbreeding already, and there were no cases of anencephaly at the rattery where she was bred. Siblings of hers have been bred together with no incident, and there were no cases in the litter she was born in or a related litter from her aunt. It may have been an isolated incident-we simply don't know. It could have been caused by many other factors. One that is being researched in people is lack of folic acid in the mother's diet prior to pregnancy or at the beginning of pregnancy, especially during the first trimester. While we don't believe in supplementing mommies during their pregnancies (unless they are very young-too young to be bred in the first place), we are paying special attention to the vegetables and fruits and other foods our moms receive prior to pregnancy and in the earliest days to be sure they are getting plenty of folate, biotin and other vitamins. We are especially careful to be sure all of our rats get a good variety of fresh foods, whether they are breeding or not.

Treats

Rats love treats! Treats are very helpful when training your pet rats and fun for any time. If you start to give them treats around the same time each day, they will come to expect them. When I come home from work around 7:30 in the morning, my rats are crazy waiting for their treats. As treats, my rats like puffed wheat or rice (with no added sugar), Cheerios, grapes, spinach, sunflower seeds, etc. I try to keep it healthy, but they have had the occasional french fry or cookie piece as a treat. There are also rodent treats that you can get at the pet store like yogurt drops or other colorful, fruity-smelling treats (for birds or rodents), and they are nice as occasional treats, but they tend to be high in sugar with little nutritional value.

Water

Your rats should have fresh, clean water available to them at all times. If you put it in a bowl, it will get dirty fast and will probably be knocked over in the cage. Instead, use a water bottle with a stainless steel tube (the kind with the ball in it). This keeps the water clean and out of the bottom of the cage. Check the bottles daily to be sure they are full and not clogged or cracked. They must stay airtight to work. We buy our large-mouth water bottles from the All Rat Mart.

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