# Dog biscuits for rats?



## Willieboo

Are certain dog biscuits okay to give rats? I know at home right now we keep Blue Buffalo brand dog biscuits for our black lab; they're supposed to be healthy and natural and all that. But I was wondering if it would be okay to try one with the rats as a special treat (I imagine chewing them would be good for their teeth too).
If not Blue Buffalo, are there any other kinds of healthy dog biscuits that people like to give to their rats?
If dog biscuits aren't all right, I was planning to go to the pet store to find some cooked sweet potato chews. I've tried treat toys with my rats and all, but now I'm on the search for something healthy that can keep their chewers entertained every once in a while, help with their teeth, and be fun for them. (Maybe if I'm lucky I'd be able to give them something like this when I go to bed to keep them from trying to shred everything. I was up late last night and the whole time from 8 pm to 5 am my rats had free range from the cage to the bed to play with me and they were so active, yet when I had to close up the cage and go to bed Mocha STILL wasn't satisfied, so I need to figure out something else to help entertain).


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## unlikelyfather

There are some that may be acceptable to chew here or there, but you would need to know the ingredients and in what amount. A lot of treats can have too much of something rats need very little of, such as protein. Soy is also not very good for them, which a lot of dog food and dog treats contain. Others may know if there's an acceptable brand name of treat or biscuit out there. 

I imagine that there are, because many people feed their rats specific brands of dog food as a staple to their diet.


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## Willieboo

My rats are still pretty young, but I assume they don't really need as much protein now as they did when they were babies. The dog biscuits we have right now are Chicken Liver biscuits, so probably not the best to give rats. There's no soy in them, just a lot of oats, rye and chicken product, but 17.0% crude protein, yikes! If I ever gave them those, it would have to be a very small amount. Anyways, I'll keep searching for dog biscuits that are more fruit or vegetable oriented that wouldn't have as much protein in them. I'll probably wind up with sweet potato chews either way; it just seems safest and healthiest considering cooked sweet potato is the only thing that's in them. Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it.


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## Willieboo

Oh, also, a little off topic, but I have access to Oxbow Regal Rat at my local pet store, and was tempted to buy it instead of the lab blocks, but I noticed it said it was for adult rats over 4 months old. My rats are just 4 months, so not that big of a difference, but should I wait on the Oxbow until they are older? I wouldn't want them to be missing out on some nutrients they need or getting too much of nutrients they don't need yet...it's also quite a bit more expensive than the blocks, but I want the best for my girls, so I'm willing to pay it if it really is much better nutritionally than the blocks.


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## Jaguar

Oxbow is fine for younger rats, it's just nice and low in protein (14%, or maybe the new formula is a bit higher) so it's better for adult maintenance on its own. If you're worried about them getting more protein for growth, you can give them tiny amounts of higher protein foods like scrambled eggs, cheese, lean meats, mealworms, etc. maybe even the dog biscuits) It is a very good food though, one of if not the best "commercial" diets out there. I have always fed it to my rats.


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## Willieboo

Thank you very much for the help, Jaguar! I recently bought a bag of lab blocks, but I definitely think I'll start a switch to Oxbow when I get low on the blocks. I definitely like the fact that Oxbow is shaped more like kibble (looks much more appetizing for the rats, I think). To help with the change, though, I think I'll try to introduce the Oxbow slowly with the lab blocks, like I do with my lab when we put her on a new food. (Hopefully that will be a little easier on the digestive tract). Thanks again!


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## LightningWolf

I really don't like dog biscuits, mainly cause they normally have all types of meals in them (Chicken by product meal, yuck!). you can make your own though for about the same And make more and make them more rat friendly.

Get some flour, water, maybe an egg, and add in other ingrediants like oats, bird seed, flax seed, berries, vegetables, I guess in this case you could cook up some Sweet potatoes or use Sweet Potato baby food. mix it all up, and then bake in the oven, you can just do one sheet, dots, or you can get cookie cutters. Then you could hang them up in the cage as a chew toy.


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## Incandescent

LightningWolf said:


> I really don't like dog biscuits, mainly cause they normally have all types of meals in them (Chicken by product meal, yuck!). you can make your own though for about the same And make more and make them more rat friendly.


This wouldn't be an issue with Blue in particular. The brand is known for sticking to decent ingredients: no corn/wheat/soy, no artificial dyes/preservatives, no by-products, does have chelated minerals, etc. Protein's high for a rat's staple diet, but this is for an occasional treat if I'm reading properly.


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## Jaguar

Rats and dogs have completely different nutritional needs. Rats thrive on high carbohydrate diets, and dogs thrive on high protein meaty diets. Honestly, the cheaper, corn/soy loaded dog food is more suited to a rat's diet than the high quality grain free/meaty stuff. Feed in moderation!


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## Willieboo

If I do give a little bit of dog biscuits, I definitely will only feed in moderation. For now though I got some all natural cooked sweet potato chews and gave a small piece for them to work on together (and gave one of the bigger pieces to my sweetie black lab, who LOVED them). They're really hard, so they'll probably be beneficial to the teeth, as well as just a good treat now and again. 
I wanted to string one up but they're kind of oddly shaped and tough, not sure how I would do it.


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## scottpaul1075

Willieboo said:


> Are certain dog biscuits okay to give rats? I know at home right now we keep Blue Buffalo brand dog biscuits for our black lab; they're supposed to be healthy and natural and all that. But I was wondering if it would be okay to try one with the rats as a special treat (I imagine chewing them would be good for their teeth too).
> If not Blue Buffalo, are there any other kinds of healthy dog biscuits that people like to give to their rats?
> If dog biscuits aren't all right, I was planning to go to the pet store to find some cooked sweet potato chews. I've tried treat toys with my rats and all, but now I'm on the search for something healthy that can keep their chewers entertained every once in a while, help with their teeth, and be fun for them. (Maybe if I'm lucky I'd be able to give them something like this when I go to bed to keep them from trying to shred everything. I was up late last night and the whole time from 8 pm to 5 am my rats had free range from the cage to the bed to play with me and they were so active, yet when I had to close up the cage and go to bed Mocha STILL wasn't satisfied, so I need to figure out something else to help entertain).


I'm giving my little boys Baker's compete pet food as a top up food for them to eat 
I have looked into it and it has a lot of good things in it and not a lot of sugar .
And are made from Beef and vegetables if I'm doing something that can hurt my boys please let me know because I really wouldn't want to hurt them


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