# What do you feed YOUR rats?



## MrsWeasley (Sep 19, 2016)

Hello! 

So I'm new to rats. I know they have just about as diverse diets as humans, but I don't know what that should look like on a regular basis. I feed Oxbow blocks, but I want to know how your week / day usually goes with your "kids"! What does a balanced diet look like for your rats? Keep in mind I have very young boys right now so I know citrus is a no no, but I want to hear all of it! Thank you, I'm excited to see what you have to say!


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## DashingRatties (Sep 3, 2016)

Hi!
Congratulations on your ratties!
Oxbow is great for rats, I'm jealous! I live in Australia where it's very difficult/expensive to get hold of any good rat blocks, so currently I feed my boys a nutritionally balanced grain mix. I'm hoping that I can find a decent lab block in the long term but no luck so far . 

My boys have grain mix available at all times to snack on, and I give them a dinner of fresh fruit/veggies every night. I try to keep it diverse and give them different fresh food every night  Tonight they got bok choy (their absolute favorite!) green beans and a little bit of apple (without the skin because its bad for them). For treats I sometimes give them sunflower seeds, but rarely as they are very high in protein, and too much protein can lead to seizures and a multitude of other nasty things. Often I will also get them some natural baby food as a treat, which they love. When I have time I will give them some fresh food for breakfast as well, this usually just consists of one type of fruit.

How old are your boys, and what are their names?
I have a one year old boy called Leonardo and two 4 month old's called Maurice and Diablo


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

I am constantly tweaking what my rats eat striving for the very best diet.

They all get oxbow adult 24/7.

I then give them a mix of grains which I can't all remember off the top of my head as I newly switched to it lol umm brown rice, quinoa, millet, etc... flax, hemp, chia seeds. With a wide variety of veggies, a smidge of fruits. Cheerios are a very popular treat. Alittle of this and that. Gerber baby puffs, etc...


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

My rats have Oxbow available at all times. In the morning and evening I give them small bits of fruit and vegetables. For special treats once or twice a month I give them: a peanut in the shell, a spoon with a swipe of peanut butter or cream cheese, a Trader Joe's mini peanut butter cup, 1/4 of a snack chip, a french fry or similar "junk food". Sometimes I give them a bit of whatever dinner was as long as it isn't too fatty, salty or otherwise unsuitable. I also give them Cheerios, other healthy cereals, baby puffs or similar treats in limited amounts during free range. I also sometimes, but very rarely give them a small amount of my Short-Tailed Opossum's insectivore diet. I don't do this often because it is too protein rich to be a daily thing.


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## DamselChum (Jun 8, 2016)

I don't like lab block because of the poor quality and potentially toxic ingredients in them so I use Petguard Organic Vegetarian dog food as their base. I toss the kibble with a few pinches of an organic superfood powder. Then I dehydrate various organic vegetables and fruits (this week I did spring mix, blue berries and carrots). I also add in various organic grains and seeds (last batch was farrow, millet and chia). Sometimes I'll toss a few dried insects in as well. I mix all of that together and it is their dry mix that is available 24/7 - though I do use "scatter feeding" so as to give them an outlet for their natural foraging behaviors so no bowl of food left out for them.

Then in the evenings they get a dinner of fresh food based on what I fix myself and my other pets.

Yesterday I made zuppa toscana for dinner so they had kale stems and greens, cooked potato, and a few Italian turkey sausage crumbles.

The day before they had a big handful of spring mix, a little bit of grilled salmon and some avocado mango salsa. (I have girls)

I roasted a chicken over the weekend so when it was pretty well picked over I pulled the rest of the meat and tossed the carcass in the cage for them. Chicken bones are one of the few things they squabble over.

I did a batch of dog food over the weekend too, so one night they just got all the veggie scraps and got to lick out the kefir container from that.

Oh and their nightly dinner isn't always super healthy either. We did pizza one night last week so they got some crust and I picked some veggies off one of my slices as well. I think I gave them a handful of whatever lettuce mix I had in the fridge too. 

Pasta night is their all time favorite. Poor girls are going to be so sad if I get back onto a low carb kick! Their favorite is Mussels with tomato sauce over linguine (yay for a good dose of lycopene, Zinc and copper!) but they won't say no to a little shrimp Alfredo (I go light with the heavy sauces for them).

They also really like breakfast for dinner nights. Omelette loaded with veggies and whole grain toast crust. A tiny piece of bacon for each (fat trimmed). 

It's probably going to be a salad for dinner and left over soup night for me. So they'll get some organic spinach, black berries, and a little bit of chicken breast tonight. 

I like to offer a lot of variety.


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## Munchies (Nov 23, 2014)

I make them a veggie stew made of mostly boiled organic kale, red cabbage, tomato paste, a bit of rice, a bit of freeze dried duck liver, miso, omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E. I also give them natto and yogurt, fresh fruits and veggies, cheerios and dried split peas to snack on. Once in a blue moon, I'd give them a whole walnut or hazelnut to gnaw on. The last thing they get at the end of a day are Harlan blocks, 14% protein.


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## MrsWeasley (Sep 19, 2016)

Holy moly you guys I love this!!!! So many ideas! I do have some questions! I've seen multiple notes of concern over too much protein in nuts because of strokes, which makes sense, but a bit of meat seems to be a regular thing for a lot of rats. Is it just a matter of not being excessive like we worry about heart disease in people?


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## MrsWeasley (Sep 19, 2016)

DashingRatties said:


> How old are your boys, and what are their names?
> I have a one year old boy called Leonardo and two 4 month old's called Maurice and Diablo


Almost forgot to answer you! I actually don't have an exact age on my boys, but YOUNG. I'll post pictures soon and put my little hand next to them to show you! Their names are Freddie and George.. I think next will be Ron and Percy


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## MrsWeasley (Sep 19, 2016)

George has the blaze and Freddie is the white one! Terrible picture quality, sorry! The last one is Georgie settling down for a nap after play time <3


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## DashingRatties (Sep 3, 2016)

Nawwww they are gorgeous! xoxo


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## dontmindme (Sep 3, 2016)

Hermie and Hedwig are transitioning to Oxbow young rat at the moment. Besides their block, they get a couple of spinach leaves, sugar snap peas, blueberries or grapes, and a piece of uncooked whole wheat penne a day (they can't get enough of the last one). Additionally, I've been giving them a little bit of chicken+whatever baby food a day, cherrios for tricks, and some bit of what I'm eating if it's safe, like eggs or cooked sweet potatoes.


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## raqathta (Sep 16, 2015)

*What I feed my rats*

I feed my two guys pretty much like others here--steady Oxbow, with additional fresh fruits and veggies, Cheerios, occasional very small snacks of cheese, tortilla chip, melon rind, yoghurt, egg white.

I also feed them a very small amount of extra virgin olive oil once a week. I use an eye-dropper, which I fill only about half an inch or less above the tip. They love it! I read about a study in which olive oil extended the lives of subject rats by two years! My boys will be 2 in February, so we'll see! Right now they are very healthy, but overweight. I have reduced their Oxbow and treat sizes some.


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## crow (Nov 18, 2015)

i give oxbow blocks and harlan teklad blocks, available at all times 
maybe twice a day, i give them some single ingredient puffed cereals (i LOVE these, they're just puffed rice, kamut, millet, corn, etc with no other ingredients), dry pasta, and once a day they get fresh veggies or fruits. every few days, dairy free dark chocolate as a treat. 

my oldgirl udon is having health issues (what we think is a pituitary tumor or stroke) so she gets a very special diet: minced broccoli, capsicum, and carrots, cooked millet, chopped cooked pasta, chopped up dark chocolate, and a variety of baby foods, the ones we have right now are sweet potato/barley and apple/banana/avocado. i have also been giving her crushed lab blocks. some of all of this every single day for my old lady!


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