What do you feed yours rats

[saphire]

I have met a girl that feeds her rats puppy food. I was totally surprised and did not think that was a good idea, but then I wouldn't know.:hmm::banghead:
Can someone give me some input on this please.

Thanks

 

[tunes]

Some people feed puppy food, but it's part of a mix. It's called Suebee's. It usually isn't given just plain though.

 

[beanjelly]

yup, a high quality dog food and a mix (with pasta, whole grain cereals, oats, etc.) is a mix some rat owners feed. I stick with lab blocks, though. There's a great rat forum here: http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/

 

[Jeanette]

I was confused for a second here.
I was like "why would't you just buy them frozen? Then you wouldn't have to feed them anything."

Sorry, as a snake owner, my mind isn't on the right track.
But I have seen people who keep rats as pets. I think that it's kinda neat! But then I go home and see a few staring back at me from my freezer... kinda creeps me out.

 

[Heather]

I feed my hairless rats and mice puppy food because they need a slightly higher protien. There bodies are burining more calories to stay warmer, you can really tell the difference when you feed them puppy food instead of regular rat food. I just gave it to my regular rats as well, since I only had two living with the hairless ones, and they seemd to do fine, all lived to around 4 years, which is a long time for a rat !

Heather

 

[mishalaa]

I feed mine the lowest protein dog food I can find - I check all the labels - along with the grain mix and tons of fresh fruits and veggies. I was feeding Harlan Teklad lab blocks, but that got to be a pain to get them with as much as I go through (I breed them as well). Puppy food seems like it would be kind of high in protein - even "low protein" dog food is still around 22% and optimum for rats is 14-18%. Feeding the grain and fresh foods offsets that percentage which is why it's not recommended to feed dog food alone. Too much protein causes skin irritation, scabs and hair loss (from excessive scratching) - I've seen it happen.

 

[Heather]

I dont know, I cant speak for any other rats but mine, but when I bought them, the hairless ones definately had "skin" issues and I talked to a vettech that I knew about it which is where I got the puppy food idea...that cleared up within a month of being on puppy food. They had fruits and veggies to suppliment too, but I really feel it was the puppy food. Of course it was a high quality puppy food, not wal-mart type junk...

 

[Cookie21]

my rats get oxbow from the pet store with lots of vegies and fruit. plus some of the stuff i eat too.

 

[saphire]

thank you everyone for your input, I've definitely learnt something new.

I feed mine Oxbow and the question came up when a friend who's rat breeder told her to feed puppy food and I was very surprised. It never crossed my mind to feed them that.
But they are doing very well on oxbow and plan on keeping them on it.

 

[menagerie]

Puppy food is too high in protein. Excessive amounts of protein can lead to liver and kidney problems.

I feed Harlan lab blocks and fresh foods. I don't do the suebee's mix because it tends to produce obese rats.