# Ok just a lil worried....



## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

So like Alyssa is drinking alot ((and i mean alot)) of water... her water bottles about the size of my hand and she goes through it every 1-2 days.. and she doesnt like leaving her cage anymore.. she gets really skidish and scared.

Also TempleTon.. ive never seen a rat eat so much in my life of owning rats.. so i usually give them both ((Alyssa and TempleTon)) 5 rat blocks to last usually 5-7 days.. with Alyssa one can last 2 days but with TempleTon those 5 dont even last 3 days.. Alyssa will scatter hers and hide them around her cage.. but TempleTon eats them! i know this cuz i dont find any remains or hidden food in ((or around)) his cage.

Are any of these behaviors odd... can anyone help me out??


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## DarkDesires814 (Apr 8, 2007)

5 lab blocks for a week? Each of my rats can go through more than that in one day. Him eating 5 in 3 days actually seems like he's not eating enough to me


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Seems like he's eating just fine. He's a growing boy...

As for Alyssa, that much water consumption could mean she's sick.... Or your water bottle's leaking.


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## lilspaz68 (Feb 24, 2007)

Is the bottle an 8 oz bottle? Put something under it to see if its leaking. 8 oz's in 2 days is too much water if she's drinking that much. Is she older? Older rat may be going thru kidney failure which is a normal thing sadly.

Okay the average adult rat eats 3-5 lab blocks _per day_. The higher the quality of the lab block the less they will eat because low quality labblocks are full of fillers and not as much nutrition.

I free-feed my lab blocks, I just make sure they are low protein and low fat.

Are you restricting their diet for some reason?


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

No firstr Alyssa only a couple months old so there should be no kidney failure.. then TepleTon is reaching his adult hood ((acording to the Rat aging Chart)) so maybe that could be why hes eating so much.. im not restricting there diet at all.. i just figured the blocks should last.. TempleTon eats twice at much in on week as Alyssa so of course hes getting more food than her. 

Alyssas water bottle could be leaking.. ill watch it i guess.


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## OnlyOno (Apr 4, 2007)

how large are the blocks you're feeding them? rats generally don't overeat, they know when to stop and will stop when they have gotten enough nutrition out of their feed. rats get fat when there is more fat than they need in the amount of food they eat to meet their other nutritional needs. i'd see how much your rats eat if you just give them unlimited blocks. it honestly doesn't sound to me like they're getting enough.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

ummm idk there pretty big blocks.. and its only TempleTon that eats alot.. and its not that hes getting enough cuz whenever i se that he doesnt have anymore food i give him more food. He gets more than i think he should get.

And yea i think Alyssas water bottle is leaking cuz the bedding under her water bottle is a lil damp.. but not wet.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

He gets more than you think he should get?

Give him a bowl full. COUNT the blocks. Count how many he eats in a week (eats, not hides). That's how much he should get, plus a bit.


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## DarkDesires814 (Apr 8, 2007)

I don't understand why you think they should only have one block a day. Did you read that somewhere or did you just look at the size and think they should last longer? What brand are you feeding them?


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

I think my smallest rat eats around 4 or 5 a day, I make sure everyone has 7 a piece per day at least. Sometimes they won't eat it all, others they do. It's just better to keep them plentiful so you know they never hunger.

Are Alyssa's poops runny? If her poops are runny, then I would worry about her water. The tiny amount she eats worries me.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Ok im only ganna say this one more time.. TempleTon does not hide his food he eats it all. I give him food when he runs out and obviously ive learned that i need to give him extra food whenever i feed them. 

No Alyssas dropping are not runny, there normal and Alyssa just doesnt eat her food as quick a TempleTon, she likes to hide each peice of food in different places and eat them gradualy.


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

I don't feed rat blocks, but 1 a day does sound very little. Are you feeding her anything else on top of the blocks? Could it be that she is filling herself up on goodies and so she's not eating as much of her normal food?


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

No.. Alyssa eats fine.. Its TempleTon eating so much, so i filled his bowl up completely but it holds 30+ rat blocks so today i did fill it up to 30 peices and still by the end of the day half of that was eaten... hes a pig.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

No, one a day is too little. What type of block do you feed them? I wouldn't worry about Templeton, you should free feed lab blocks like crazy if you can. One a day isn't enough food for a rat to live off of.

Like I said 5-7 a day is normal. 15 is a little high but he may be incredibly hungry from only eating a couple a day because that ISN'T enough. So yeah free feed as much as possible, if he wants to eat 15 lab blocks, let him eat 15 lab blocks. I would worry about Alyssa only eating one, that's scary because that just doesn't contain enough calories for a rat too properly live off of.


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## kancerr (Apr 7, 2007)

your rat should drink on average 1 oz of water a day.(you should still change it often even though it holds more). if there is no hole in the bottle and everything is the way it should be, you have to remember to fill the water bottle all the way to the top(completely full) and screw it on tight. (i made the mistake of fillin it up half way once and it leaked all the way out). and as far as the food, if theyre not gettin fat theyre eating is fine(as long as its not too little, if theyre barely eating you might wanna get em checked out). but as everybody else said, rats are great at rationing their food.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Ok again Alyssa fine.. she eats plenty, she just doesnt eat it as fast. TempleTon is fine also, ill free feed them from now on and how you got the "1 block a day" thing is beyond me, I seid "5 Blocks usualy last them the week but TempleTons been eating alot more lately" i never seid i feed them 1 block a day.
And im feeding them:
Classic: Mouse & Rat Food ((Essential Daily Nutrition)) the 4lb. bag

When TempleTon was in his smaller cage he would take the cloth and push it up against his water bottle licky thing and it would soak through all the fabric... but i think Alyssas is leaking. I figured out how much water her water bottle holds and its a 4-5 oz. one ((its long and sorta thin)).


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

5 blocks in a week is less than a block a day. That's too little.

Is that the stuff with molasses in?

I think I used to have that, maybe it's a different brand, though.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Idk if it has Molasses in it.. it rat blocks.. its the only king the pet store had and that ive ever seen.

They obviously get more than 5 blocks a week.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

But you said that's all they _eat_. Were you simply exagerating?

As for the food, maybe it's a generic brand... my old kind probably was too... We stopped feeding it... figured it was probably too sugary.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Its all Alyssa eats plus a few i feed her through the cage as a pretend treat ((she doent know the diff.)) when im out of treats for her, if i give her more than that she'll have a few laying around her cage when i clean it. 
Now TempleTon eats way more than that but when i got him the 5 would be fine for him, maybe hes eating more cuz hes growing into a medium sized rat, Alyssas still a small size.

Idk it could be genaric.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Alyssa_Rat said:


> with Alyssa one can last 2 days


That's where I got one block a day. But I see you put one block every two days. But then you put 5 blocks last a week which is less than a block a day. I'm sorry I'm just confused, what size is your bag of food and how long does it last you? Maybe that's an easier way to determine things.

And yeah, just keep a closer eye on how many they eat per day. I know you said 1 every two days then you said 'where did you get 1 per day!' but IF it is one per day like I said that can't be enough. Can you see her bones? But if you feed her tons of other food I can see how she can survive off of that.

I wouldn't worry about them eating too much though I'm sure Templetons is fine. Just keep an eye on how much he eats on average and give him a couple more blocks then that a day. You always want to keep lab blocks readily available so if they eat all of those in a day you want to up the number so there are a few left after each day.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Oh found the block. Yeah those blocks are about normal size, maybe twice the size of mine though. At least 5 a day of those were the norm when I used that block. I believe on the back it says 2-3 per rat per day lol, yeah right. And when I used that I thought my boys were overeating because it told me to feed them that much. It turns out they can eat however they want per day and the average here is 5-7 per rat per day, especially with my 550-660gram boys.

http://www.1stqualitypetsupplies.com/474711.html

that one right?


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

No se what happens is i would give Alyssa several blocks a day and by the time i cleaned her cage out she would have a bunch laying around.. so i started lowering the amount i gave her everyday to were i would give her 5-7 blocks ((pluss the few extras during the week for treats)) when i clean her cage out and she'd have like 1 or 2 left over the next time i clean her cage out. Alyssas still a small rat so i can se why she eats less than TempleTon. The bag is a 4lb bag and ive had the bag since i got Alyssa which was about 67 days ago and i gotta go out and by a new bag in like the next week, but im shure at TempleTons rate it wont last that long anymore.

No I cant se Alyssa bones... infact shes at a pretty normal weight, i wish i could actually weigh her with something... although maybe i can sneak her into the store the next time i go shopping and use one of those produse weighy thingys to weigh her!! while no ones looking of course :wink: 

I can do that with TempleTon and with Alyssa ill give her a few more than i usually do.

That rat food is exactily it, its the 4lb bag that i have ((which is down to like less than half a pound)) and the bag is the same and everything... so yea thats it.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

I would suggest a mix for her as well then. Bert doesn't like the lab blocks that much either. I feed him a homemade mix of oats, uncooked noodles, cheerios, and total. Feeding her something similar to Suebees in addition to lab blocks would probably be a good thing to give her the energy and nutrition she needs.

But yeah, Bert is hairless and also not a huge lab block eater. I would also suggest Mazuri if you can find it, it's a better block and contains more nutrition. I find it amazing you've had that same bag  we go through a bag every two weeks lol. But as I said I have two HUGE two hander rats. I don't feed my larger rats my mix as much, about 2x per week, more if I'm giveing them their herbals medicine and only a TINY bit when I do. Odin gained 40grams in two weeks on it so yeah, stopped giveing them treats/feeding them that as much lol.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Yea maybe she doesnt like the block that much.. before i use to give my rats half a cup of gerble/hamster food plus the lab blocks but they ((meaning my rats from before)) would make a huge mess with it.. maybe i can go back to that. Now the home diet thing i cant do... idk were to get half the stuff and that cost extra money.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

No, don't feed her that mix. That's full of bad for her stuff and is basically garbage she can't digest. It's really not that expensive to buy oatmeal, cheerios, uncooked noodles, total, etc. and a few tupperware containers. Quite a bit cheaper actually especially if you get the cheap stuff.

Most of the stuff in the mix she can't digest, it's bad for her health. The hard corn can carry mold, the seeds are mostly fat, the pellets are alfalfa which rats can't digest. Yeah... not a good thing.


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## IceLore (May 13, 2007)

That's a really, really bad quality block.... Did you look at the ingredients list? Its full of fillers. You should do a little bit of research and try to provide your rats with at least decent nutrition. You can't just toss any old thing at them and expect them to be healthy. :/


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

Ok then i wont feed her tha hamster food stuff... 

And those lab blocks are the only blocks ive ever seen.. ive never seen any other kind of blocks before.


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## IceLore (May 13, 2007)

Alyssa_Rat said:


> Ok then i wont feed her tha hamster food stuff...
> 
> And those lab blocks are the only blocks ive ever seen.. ive never seen any other kind of blocks before.


Well, if there are no other blocks available in your area, then look in to ordering them online or through a local store. Or you could feed them a homemade mix. There are lots of options.


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## Alyssa_Rat (Mar 19, 2007)

umm ok i guess.


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## jriche (Jun 2, 2007)

what kind of lab block brand do you guys recommend?

i just got my rats, i got 2 black hooded males. Right now the food that i got is something called "Small World" and it has: Oats, Sunflower seeds, Peanuts, and Corn. I think this stuff can be fattening because of all the seeds and peanuts, so i was considering going into lab blocks. 

Thanks,
JRiche


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Lab blocks are definitely better than that mix, I'd think. The seeds and nuts can be fattening, the nuts are high protein, the dried corn can carry mold... :?

I feed Harlan Teklad 2014.


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## Chivahn (Mar 30, 2007)

I went to the store and got everything to make my own mix for about $10 in the bulk foods section. And that filled a 3 gallon trashcan. I also add in fresh fruits and veggies daily (I'm on a superstrict diet, so I have a lot of that around).


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