# Which of These rat foods in best?



## OverAGlassWall (Dec 15, 2014)

hey guys it's me again. here in australia we have very limited choices with rat food so I have made a list of the rats foods available here that come closest to the standards I have seen. alot of the other foods had protein levels up at 20%! and for the mixes I can take out the corn and lessen some ingredients to reduce the protein levels. I just wanted to know which one out of these you guys thought was best, I know none of them are great but this is all I got. 



*
LIL FRIENDS RAT AND MOUSE FOOD (MIX)

*Rolled oats, dried carrots, split peas, maize, oat bran, black sunflower seeds, lentils, soy grit and vitamins and minerals.

Crude Protein 16%
Crude Carbohydrates 59%
Crude Fat 5%




*PETERS RAT AND MOUSE FEAST (MIX)

*Steamed and rolled barley, Extruded cereal pieces, Oats, Black sunflower seed, Wheat, Banana chips, Micro pellets, Flaked peas, Meat extrusions, Carob, Vegetable oil and Colours.

Min Crude Protein 15.0%
Min Crude Fibre 8.0%
Min Crude Fat 6.0%





*LIVING WORLD CLASSIC RAT FOOD (MIX)

*Wheat, corn, barley, red milo, wheat shorts, white millet, black oil sunflower seed, dehydrated alfalfa meal, oat groats, flaked corn, wheat middlings, flaxseed, ground wheat, ground corn, soybean meal, dried green split peas, dehulled peanuts, dried banana, dried papaya, raisin, safflower seed, corn gluten meal, calcium carbonate, dried beet pulp, cane molasses

Crude Protein 12.0% (min), Crude Fat 6.0% (min)



*

BURGESS SUPARAT RAT ROYAL (PELLET)*

Wheat, Wheat Feed, Maize, Chicken Meal, Soya Meal*, Beef Meal, Beet Pulp, Poultry Fat, Oatfeed, Salt Minerals, Fructo-Oligosaccharides (0.3%) * Contains GM Material

Protein 15%
Fat Content 5%
Crude Fibre 4%
Crude Ash 5%,
*



VETAFARM RODENT ORIGINS (PELLET)
*
Grains - corn, wheat, soybean, oats. 

Min Crude Protein 17% 
Max Fibre 3.5%
Min Crude Fat 5.0%


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## Finnebon (Jul 15, 2013)

I cannot give you advice on your options here, but I know there's a few people with a good deal of knowlege on rat nutrition who I'm sure will chime in here and help you out.

I have also read that if a good rat lab block is not accessible, you can also use certain brands of light or senior dog food kibbles mixed with a few other things. Maybe someone can give you suggestions on dog kibble alternatives too so you have more options to choose from.


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## erinsweeney (Nov 13, 2014)

I also am inexperienced in rat nutrition for the most part, but I know that pretty much nobody recommends you buy anything labelled "rodent food." You can buy lab blocks online.


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## Sanat (Dec 20, 2014)

OverAGlassWall said:


> hey guys it's me again. here in australia we have very limited choices with rat food so I have made a list of the rats foods available here that come closest to the standards I have seen. alot of the other foods had protein levels up at 20%! and for the mixes I can take out the corn and lessen some ingredients to reduce the protein levels. I just wanted to know which one out of these you guys thought was best, I know none of them are great but this is all I got.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't buy these packages. Rats can eat anything that you eat. But it should be healthy one.
I give them dehydrated veggies, dry fruits, poped rice, mushrooms, corns, etc. They love it and it's healthy too. 
Don't give them fast foods or any kind of packaged foods. Sometimes it's OK to give littlebit potato chips, cheese and other things but not daily. 
Well, at present Chutkie is enjoying mushrooms on my head!


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## saratherussiandog (Aug 9, 2013)

I think the first one without sunflower seeds or third one are the best of the list. You could also make your own mix, their are several good recipes for them, or order online at places like rat rations or http://www.ratsnacksnstuff.com/ which is a member on here's(cagedbirdsinging -she is also good at rat nutrition so you could ask her how to make a balanced mix.) business.


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## Isamurat (Jul 27, 2012)

If that was my only choice and i couldn't mix my own i would probably mix the peters stuff 50:50 with the living world stuff. The Peters is based on barley which is good bit is too high in protien and i dislike the unspecified meat as a form of protien. The living world is better protien level if a little low but a bit sugary with that fruit and the molasses. The combo of the two would make a much stronger mix. i wouldn't feed Burgess as I've had bad experience with it and the first one is far too high in oats and just a bit weird in terms of amounts of ingredients. The bottom one is far too unspecific for me. i like to know what the lads are getting

you could akways feed some of the above mix of two and make your own mix up to as a way to ease yourself into it and help cover some of the vitamins


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## DustyRat (Jul 9, 2012)

The Vetafarm pellet food is likely the best. It has the necessary formulation. And eliminates rats being selective in a grain or feed mix type of food where they pick what they like and leave out the rest. You can always supplement the pellets with vegetables or bananas and other healthy stuff so they get a good variety.


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## Emergent (Jun 20, 2014)

Maybe LW Classic? Rest are way too high in protein. Rodent food makers have much less understanding of ideal rat nutrition than the labs themselves. You may find this article helpful http://aboutpetrats.com/nutrition/commercial-diets 

Why don't you make your own diet? You can make a better diet yourself if you do the research, as no pet blocks can supply the live enzymes behind making all those dry vitamins and minerals work, nor adequate water content. Myself, I use a good home-made 7-grain rice mix as a base (10% protein), and mix with pureed pumpkin which satisfies *most of total rattie micronutrient needs (spent days with a calculator working this out btw!).

I chose rice because it has one of the lowest mycotoxin contents 
http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/food-safety/at-the-food-processor/print,mycotoxins.html

This article is also well sourced .
http://www.world-grain.com/News/News%20Home/Features/2011/6/Mycotoxins.aspx?cck=1


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## OverAGlassWall (Dec 15, 2014)

thanks for your imput guys. as for ordering lab blocks online, I've tried to get the good brands like harlan and oxbow, but it's like 60 bucks shipping.

making a mix sounds like the best way to go for me.  thanks


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