# How to Make Homemade rat food based off the Shunamite Diet!



## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

So when you are making your mix the most important thing is to remember that your scoop = 5%. I used a two cup mug for my scoop so 2 cups = 5% for me. This is absolutely necessary to remember when making calculations so you don't buy insane amounts of food and so you don't buy less food than needed.

The standard formula for the mix is:
50% base mix
25% grains
10% protein
10% herbs/veggies
5% seeds

This means that you will add 10 scoops of base mix, 5 scoops of grains, 2 scoops of protein, 2 scoops of herbs/veggies, & 1 scoop of seeds.

Here is what I used:
*Base Mix:* White Mill Seed Mixture Peanut & Banana Dry Rat Food and Kaytee Supreme Daily Blend Rat & Mouse Food for my base mix. I just bought a few bags of each and mixed them together.
*Grains:* This is the easiest part. I bought 2 cheap boxes of cereal with less than 5% sugar and found some pasta, oats, & quinoa that I had laying around and put in a scoop of each.
*Protein:* I used Natural Balance L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets Salmon & Sweet Potato Formula Small Breed. I wasn't sure if my rats were gonna like it but they seem to eat it and will take it from my hand. You can also use dried mealworms but they may get moldy.
*Herbs/Veggies:* I used Sun Salad, Carrots and Peas,& Berries and Flowers. But if you can I would recommend using a Rosewood naturals herb blend. If you do end up using the berries and flowers you will have to remove the berries because these are high in sugar and this can take a while.
*Seeds:* I used White Mill Canary & Finch Seed and it works great.

Other ideas:
Base Mix: Harrisons Banana Brunch
Grains: Whole grain rice, pearl barley, plain rice crackers
Protein: Dried shrimp, egg biscuits
Herbs/veggies: Homemade or store-bought dried veggies
Seeds: Individually packaged linseed, hemp seed, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds

I make one batch at a time and keep the base mix and the food mix in two separate 18qt bins. The leftover ingredients are just in a storage bin sitting in my closet for when I need to make another batch

Once you have all of the ingredients you just put the appropriate amount of scoops of each food group (Base mix, grains, protein, etc.) in the bin and mix.

Also, if you want to you can double or triple it up just by making one batch then doing it over again. (i would suggest not trying to put 30 scoops of the base mix (or three times whatever the number of scoops needed I'm just using the base mix as an example) in at once if you decide to triple it because it gets hard to keep track and makes mixing harder)


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## Rex the Rat (Apr 7, 2020)

Does anyone know if supplements are needed for a mix?


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

I don't think they are but I would research further


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

If your 50% base is vitamin fortified (commercial diet) and if you're using ingredients that are also fortified (breakfast cereal/dog kibble), I believe it would be less important to provide supplemental vitamins. If you're making your own mix from scratch, I think it becomes much more important. 

I think what we've been seeing from sources like Emiology is a very simplified version of the Shunamite diet. Even the more detailed and in-depth info from Isamu Rat Care is not really the full scope of the diet. 

I haven't purchased or read [Alison Campbell's books] but from my understanding, a commercial base (banana brunch, et al.) is not a necessary component of the Shunamite diet. It's not actually needed.


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## Rex the Rat (Apr 7, 2020)

Thank you! I think I'll be buying one of her books. Also, love your new profile pic @CorbinDallasMyMan!


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

Aw thanks. It's Stuart Bailey. I don't take a lot of pictures but I really loved that one of him.


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## VivDaRatLuver (Dec 26, 2020)

Ya he is really cute


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## Elaken (11 mo ago)

I know this is an older thread but I just want to say if you are interested in making your own mix I would recommend going to OUR MIX | Mysite and/or joining the facebook group THE SHUNAMITE DIET USA. 

Vitamins and calcium are needed but frequency does depend on your mix and how much fresh food you make. 

This is my mix.


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## Newratmummy (8 mo ago)

Hi i know this thread is old but im from Australia and am interested in doing this diet for my rats, what ingredients can I get in WA? Thanks


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

Newratmummy said:


> Hi i know this thread is old but im from Australia and am interested in doing this diet for my rats, what ingredients can I get in WA? Thanks


A Shunamite style mix isn't really a recipe but more of a set of guidelines so you can use foods available to you. If you're interested in trying a Shunamite style mix, the very first thing you should do is purchase [The Scuttling Gourmet e-books]. They're very affordable. There's a lot of garbage on the internet about this style of diet so it's best to go straight to the source for your information. The Isamu Rat website and youtube channel are also good sources of info. 

One of the biggest issues I see with people trying this style of mix is they'll use rabbit food as the base. 99 times out of 100, rabbit food isn't appropriate for rats because of the grass content. There's one UK brand of rabbit food that's often recommended as a base but it doesn't contain grasses/alfalfa so it's kinda the exception to the rule.


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