# Best food to buy & dentastix for ratties?



## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

I finally got 2 female rats yesterday!! 
I know I was saying I was going to get them for a while but they kept saying no until I bought them yesterday from my parent's friends. 

With that being said, 
I am currently feeding them a mix of food that the person we got them from gave them which is a mix of things like seeds, hard dog/cat food, and other foods like muesli and oatmeal. I have read this isn't the best diet as its high in protein and I looked at the recommendations in the food thread. 
I am going to Petsmart and I have to get the food from there. 
Here are the foods that they have: 
-Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health 
-Grreat Choice Nutri-cube fortfied 
Which one of these would be the better choice to purchase? 

In addition to lab blocks I would also make a homemade feed like the "Rat Snacks N' Stuff Original Formula" or Suebee's Rat Mix. 

What is the recommended % protein and fat for rat foods? 

Could I occasionally feed them cat food (purina one ) or mix it in with their food? This wouldn't be their main diet. 
And can I give them dentastix small chews to chew on? 

Thanks in advance and sorry for all of the questions  !


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## Rattielover965 (Apr 26, 2016)

Never use kaytee!they are horrible.The other is probably bad as most pet store food is.order oxbow regal rat online


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## Rattielover965 (Apr 26, 2016)

Mixes are bad .


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## Grotesque (Mar 19, 2014)

Like mentioned before, Oxbow all the way. It can be purchased online and is the best you can get. Rats shouldn't have over 14% protein unless there is another circumstance such as nursing mothers.


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## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

I'm aware that Oxbox is the best but I am not able to buy it at the time, and was wondering if the Kaytee or Grreat choice would be better.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

cat food should not be fed. Cats have completely different diet needs than rats do. Cat food even given as part of a mix is just far too high in protein. It should not be given.

Low protein, high quality dog food can be given. (purina is not high quality)

I really hate mixes. Suebee style mixes are really bad to start with. Giving a mix of pasta, dried fruits, cereals, and seeds are not well balanced or healthy at all. 
Mixes are not very good because it is very difficult to control what your rat is getting. Rats are very small and a little bit makes a huge impact. 
What happens with mixes is that one rat can eat all of their favorite bits first. Meaning they are going to get alot of one thing, the other rat misses out but gets alot of something else. This often leads to big issues like one rat being overweight (or both), food aggression (as they fight over the best pieces), hoarding, and nutritional issues.

In a mix you have no control over what rat is getting what or missing out on what.

Adult rats should have 14-16% protein (I prefer lower), babies up to 6 months should have 18% as ideal, but up to 20% can be ok.
fat should be low around 4-5% ideally.
You also really want to watch out for sugars.

Diet is one of the most important things to make sure your rats are healthy. Bad diets can lead to short lifespans, many health issues and tumors. You really want to feed the best possible foods.

kaytee is crap. I would never ever feed it. It is packed full of sugars which makes it yummy but will cause weight issues and can lead to tumors. It also contains known carcinogens. 
The other brand seems alittle bit better but it is more expensive than oxbow & still looks way less quality wise. 

I would not give them dentastix.


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## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

I called earlier and they said they didn't have any Oxbow Rat food, 
But I found one bag left in the bird section (not during what it was doing there lol) and it is the "young rat food" (my rats are about 7-9 weeks old) 

How many blocks am I supposed to feed each one daily?


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

diachuk said:


> I called earlier and they said they didn't have any Oxbow Rat food,
> But I found one bag left in the bird section (not during what it was doing there lol) and it is the "young rat food" (my rats are about 7-9 weeks old)
> 
> How many blocks am I supposed to feed each one daily?


Just keep their food dish full. If you feed a good brand of food it is fine to keep the food dish full at all times. 


IMO it is much better to buy your food online. And buy in bulk. Doing these will save you ALOT of money. 
Sometimes you can get stores like tractor supply to carry bulk bags of mazuri for cheaper though.

chewy.com is the best price for oxbow. Buy it in the 20lb bag and you can split it into freezer bags and freeze out portions to make it last longer. 
They offer free 2 day shipping (mine usually comes the next day actually!) if you spend $9 more dollars. I usually get other pet food or something else for them.
or their normal shipping is just $5. 

People will sometimes be like eep over the high upfront price. But do the math and in the long run you save soooo much! It comes out to $2 a lb & each rat will generally eat about 1lb per month (though it depends on many factors). That is pretty cheap!


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

I'm glad you were able to find the last hidden bag of Oxbow, well done!



moonkissed said:


> chewy.com is the best price for oxbow. Buy it in the 20lb bag and you can split it into freezer bags and freeze out portions to make it last longer. They offer free 2 day shipping (mine usually comes the next day actually!) if you spend $9 more dollars. I usually get other pet food or something else for them. or their normal shipping is just $5.


Drs. Foster & Smith often sells Oxbow for the same price as Chewy and right now they have free shipping for orders over $29 so you wouldn't even need to purchase anything extra to get the free shipping.

If you're purchasing Oxbow from PetSmart, you'll be spending about $10 per month for food for a pair of rats. If you order the big bags online, you'll only be spending about $4 a month (less than half the cost). The downside is a full freezer. One 20 lb. bag fills about 5 one-gallon ziplock bags. This supply will last around 9-10 months with two rats so it's pretty important to keep it frozen until you need it. If you don't have that much freezer space to spare, their 3 lb. bags are still almost $5 cheaper than PetSmart.

If you're using the Young Rat formula, it's probably better to just buy the small bags. The 25 lb. bags will last far longer than your rats' adolescence. You can also feed young rats the adult formula and then supplement their diet with extra protein.


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## moonkissed (Dec 26, 2011)

[QUOTEDrs. Foster & Smith often sells Oxbow for the same price as Chewy and right now they have free shipping for orders over $29 so you wouldn't even need to purchase anything extra to get the free shipping.][/QUOTE]

I used to buy from drsfostersmith but I switched to chewy. I really love the 2 day shipping lol

But unless they are having a sale, it is cheaper with chewy. drsfostersmith used to sell oxbow for cheaper and used to have cheaper shipping too. But now if you don't/cant do the free shipping its $7! Their prices just seem to keep going up. But they are a good company. Chewy is also a good company. They send me christmas cards lol

I guess the best thing is to check for sales before buying lol

I have alot of rats and go through 20lbs in a month, sometimes less. So i am crazy about getting the best price lol


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

moonkissed said:


> But unless they are having a sale, it is cheaper with chewy


From what I've seen, they're often quite close in price (right now they're both $39.94) and I usually received shipments within a couple days from Drs. Foster.

I like to find and bookmark the best sources for stuff so when it comes time to re-order, I can do a quick price comparison to make sure I'm getting the best deal. Chewy might be cheaper one month, Drs. Foster might be cheaper another. They both have great service.

If you're a new Chewy customer and you make a purchase through this link, Chewy will donate $20 to The Travelin' Rat (an organization that helps support rat rescues).


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## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

I don't have any freezer space for that many gallon bags haha! But I will most likely start buying from either chewy or the Dr foster website, I was not aware that it was cheaper on there. Thanks for letting me know


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## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

Also, at my Petsmart the young oxbow rat food for 2.5 lbs cost me about $13


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## CorbinDallasMyMan (Feb 24, 2017)

diachuk said:


> Also, at my Petsmart the young oxbow rat food for 2.5 lbs cost me about $13


Yup, the Young Rat bags are a little smaller than the adult formula. I'm seeing $13.99 at PetSmart online and it's about $5 cheaper at Chewy and Drs. Foster ($8.92).


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