# Rats won?t eat food?



## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

I feed my rats breakfast in the morning, which may be oatmeal/porridge or eggs or something like that and then feed them at night which is mostly veggies and little of the food we eat. 

Anyway, I bought them their food when I got them, it?s pets at home nuggets which is like blocks. It was recommended when buying them as they were on that already in the shop, but when I noticed they weren?t eating them I switched their food to the brand selective rat food which is another kind of nugget food. I don?t think seed foods are good bc of the selective feeding, and only buy that for my gerbils. I fill their bowl up with a mixture of the two foods, but then I noticed that nothings been touched the next morning? Like the bowl is still filled up.

I don?t want to change food again, as I have quite a bit (2 full tubs). If I have too, I will though. How can I encourage them too eat it?


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

Are you sure that nothing's been nibbled on? It sounds like your rats get quite the heavy breakfast and lots of extra food, so you can't expect them to eat lots of pellets. Unless your rats are very young, you might want to ease off some of the more protein rich food like eggs. Too much protein causes skin issues in older rats, and I believe it can also put a strain on their kidneys.


What you could try is not feeding them any extra food (no breakfast, no veggies, no treats) for a day. Keep the dish filled with pellets, and observe if they eat any. If it doesn't look like they did, try offering one yourself to them and see how the react.

At any rate, if rats have the option to eat tastier foods, they will. So if your guys are filling up on other stuff, their not going to eat boring old pellets. My girls are free-fed Oxbow in the cage, and only get treats at night during free-range. So they tend to very much eat the Oxbow during the day, but only nibble it at night. If I don't take them out, then they'll resign themselves to eating it (they love it, but would rather eat treats ), but otherwise they just wait for treat time.


I'm guessing that pets at home lab blocks aren't the best nutrients wise, but I'm not sure about the "select" brand your using. If its nutritionally complete, you really don't need to feed supplemental food, so letting them go a few days with only pellets to effectively convince them to eat them should be just fine.

I'd also recommend that you don't switch back and forth too much, and rather let the rats have time to adjust to their new food. It could be that they don't view it as food yet, and aren't hungry enough to try it out. 


Good luck!


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## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

What if I try taking out veggies that they haven?t eaten after an hour at night, and leaving their bowl full during that time? May that work? Also, I?ve had the ratties for a month so they?ve been with the food for that long.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

Most rats won't refuse Oxbow Adult block. I recommend trying them on Oxbow and giving them a little less of the other stuff, which could be filling them up before they get a chance to eat their blocks. Some brands of lab blocks just aren't made to be very palatable, which is something that Oxbow fixed with their own product a long time ago.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

It's not going to hurt them to go without veggies for a few days. For best "results", you'll probably want to just give them pellets for a day or two (so that their truly hungry enough to try them). My girls only get veggies and such maybe 3-5 times week, but they'll always pick the fresh food over the dry ones. 




Another thing you can try is mashing up some lab blocks and add a bit of water. My girls go CRAZY for mashed up lab blocks (or really, mashed up anything), and for some reason I've found that rats will always pick wet food over dry ones. I usually take the "food dust" from my lab block bags, add some water, and give it to my rats to eat, but mashing up a few lab blocks should work just as well. You could also try putting some liquid food on an individual pellet and offering it, though this might just end up with the rat licking off the liquid treat and leaving behind the pellet.




If its been a month though, you might just need to buy a different food. A few years back, people went through something similar to you with the Oxbow rat food, as many rats just hated the taste. Now that the formula's changed, most rats adore the stuff and eat it without issue. But back then, people would try freezing the Oxbow, mashing it up, giving it as the only food, and so on without any results.


I'd probably still go ahead and try having them on only pellets for a day to see if they'll give in and eat it, but otherwise if they aren't eating it by now, I'm not sure if you can convince them to do so.


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## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

I have added water before, and they did enjoy that but I thought adding water everyday was unhealthy. They do eat it occasionally, I didn?t mean they didn?t eat the entire month. Reading up when people say they need to refill the food each morning made me concerned. 

I would try oxbow and have found it on amazon for £20. I live in Scotland, which makes it verrrrry hard to get. I?m low on money at the moment and will consider that as a possibility for the ratties.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

I only refill lab blocks every 3 or so days and that's with 4 girls and one large food bowl.
Same with water, I refill and clean the bottles every other day or so, when the level drops a sufficient amount.




Adding water isn't unhealthy to my knowledge. In fact, I always add food/water mixes when my rats are ill, as that way they'll eat more with less effort. The only thing I'd worry about is the food maybe growing mold or something, but I'd imagine it'd be consumed way before that. I guess you could also worry about your rats teeth not getting trimmed down, but from my understanding when rats brux, they naturally wear down their teeth. Of course, you still want your rats to be able to eat dry food.




If your re-filling the dish every other day or so, I wouldn't worry. If your really concerned, you can buy a scale and weight your rats daily.




Oxbow definitely isn't necessary if its hard to get, but it is one of the more palatable lab blocks out there. The only lab blocks I'm really familiar with are the Oxbow and harlan teklad ones though, so I wouldn't know what else to recommend.


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## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

Isn?t mashing up their blocks everyday unhealthy or should I encourage them to eat it solid. I know they love baby food. I?ve added in water to their blocks before, and they?ve eaten that, but I thought adding water everyday was unhealthy.


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## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

Ah, I reposted the same thing without realising, still getting used to this. Thanks for the response. They definitely aren’t skinny and they aren’t overweight so I’m not majorly worried. I gave them a VERY small breakfast of oatmeal compared to the usual I give them. I’m hoping it’ll convince them to eat food until I feed them later on tonight.


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## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

It is okay to add water if that's how they will take it. You could also look for Mazuri, it tends to be cheaper than Oxbow, just try to avoid the high protein one. I think it's the "Rodent Breeder" formula? It has about 16% protein, but if you supplement veggies then that'll bring the protein % down. They sell that formula online in 50lb for $35.

http://www.mazuri.com/mazurirodentbreeder6f50lb-5m30.aspx


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## Imjessiegee (Oct 5, 2017)

So this is the food they are currently on, I’m in the UK so I think is a UK brand.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B007ZYR9S0/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1508799119&sr=8- 1&keywords=selective+rat+food&dpPl=1&dpID=51RuCgW4i7L&ref=plSrch

I can only find the vegetable giant block Mazuri on the amazon here, unfortunately.


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