# What food im i giving them that they are having really smelly poops?



## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

So my two boy have been having really smelly poops, i cleaned their cage yesterday and its already smelling again.
Here is their diet:
this is the base food: http://www.cunipic.com/web/en/products_fitxa.php?id=77
Mixed with dried pasta and corn flakes.
Their treats: 
fresh Sweet corn (barely, seeing how they dont seem to be to interested in it)
Peas ( about 5 each a day)
Oat flakes (quite a bit - they love it)
Banana (I only have given them it about 3/4 times since ive got them and in small amounts)

And once this week I gave them a bit of apple
They also Have been eating their bedding, its 100% recycled paper.
What would be causing their smelly poops? I need to sort this out quick because their cage is in our room and my bf isnt too happy about the smell.
Also, Im planing to get food from ratrations instead of buying cunipic, hopefully that will be better for them.


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

also, one of them is having green poops, but not the other.. they eat the same thing.
Please help! I dont know what i could be giving them thats making this horrible smell i just came back from work and the room stank :/ Luckily they are almost litter trained so its easy to clean out the cage.


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## ratsaremylife (Nov 5, 2013)

Is it a bad quality food maybe? I've heard of that happening.


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

That food is not a good, high quality food. Just from gleaming the ingredients, it contains alfalfa (which rats don't digest) and sugar (which is a no-no!). Also, avoid feeding corn flakes (they contain sugar) and corn (which is high in sugar).

Switch to a high quality lab block. I use Oxbow. There is one other brand recommended on here.

Increase the amount of fresh fruits, veggies, nuts, berries, seeds, grains they are getting. Don't feed them processed foods or food that has added sugar or salt.

Two of my rats were fed a low quality diet before I got them. Their poops were horrible when I first got them.


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## kjgannon09 (Oct 16, 2013)

Peas and carrots have always given mine bad poops, so I stay away from those completely. Maybe try cutting out the peas and the corn flakes. Corn flakes can be used as a treat, but they probably aren't helping the smell either.

Sometimes cleaning a cage too often can cause boys to mark up their cage with smelly urine to make it smell like them again. Next time you clean it, leave some of their mess in their litter box so they won't feel the need to mark.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

It's all the diet that is causing this problem, your rats need a high quality rat food like oxbow. Don't feed peas and corn every say you should switch fresh veggies up and don't give them water ones, also not a lot a day the peas and corn should be part of their treats. 

Also don't mix their food with extra stuff if you do switch to oxbow you don't need to add anything to it. 


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

I have said a trillion times on this forum : I do not have access to oxbow nor that other one people recommend. That is why i made a thread to get peoples opinion on what food i should get with the options i have and they chose the one I mentioned here. Obviously, If i had access to better quality food I would buy it!
I havent given them peas and corn for a while now and it is still smelly and green so im guessing that it is the base food im giving them. Im going to try make my own mix, but i dont think ill be able to get everything they need.. Still prob better than this though. Then when i can, ill buy from ratrations.


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## shelbygrace97 (Oct 2, 2013)

Oxbow made mine's poop stink :/ I couldn't stand it anymore so I switched to a terribly basic one with fresh fruit and veggies. I'm waiting to order Harlan Teklad off of ebay c;


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

liana said:


> I have said a trillion times on this forum : I do not have access to oxbow nor that other one people recommend. That is why i made a thread to get peoples opinion on what food i should get with the options i have and they chose the one I mentioned here. Obviously, If i had access to better quality food I would buy it!
> I havent given them peas and corn for a while now and it is still smelly and green so im guessing that it is the base food im giving them. Im going to try make my own mix, but i dont think ill be able to get everything they need.. Still prob better than this though. Then when i can, ill buy from ratrations.


Not everyone reads every comment or thread. I didn't know that. Also you could order it online from amazon or any other online store that sells it, there are many ways to get it other then stores in your area, lots of online stores sell oxbow and harlan tekland

Also a tip is if you post anything about food put in it no matter if you have said it in other threads that you can't get oxbow.

PM cagedbirdsinging or isumarat I think I splet the name wrong I will check it and repost the username.

The fact that your rats haven't had a balanced healthy diet for a while it will probably take a while to get their stool back to normal.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

shelbygrace97 said:


> Oxbow made mine's poop stink :/ I couldn't stand it anymore so I switched to a terribly basic one with fresh fruit and veggies. I'm waiting to order Harlan Teklad off of ebay c;


How long were your rats eatting oxbow and how long before you feed them it did they eat another kind of food?


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

Also the reason why there are not many options is because those two brands are the best rat block you can get for the rats, your options are very small unless you want to feed them junk food.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

I would also suggest doing more research on where to buy these two brands or make a thread asking people where they get theirs. There are MANY websites. You can order it on amazon and petsmart, and globalpetfoods. Those are the three places I get mine from.


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

I don't read every thread either. I only really come on here when work is boring.

My first suggestion is to find a lab block if you cannot order any online. The problem with the mixes is that they can contain things that rats cannot eat (like alfalfa pellets), the corn can be lower quality and contaminated with mould, and rats pick and choose what part of the mix they eat and what they don't eat, which means they aren't getting all of the nutritional benefits from the mix.


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

Mitsy said:


> Also the reason why there are not many options is because those two brands are the best rat block you can get for the rats, your options are very small unless you want to feed them junk food.


You make it sound like anyone who doesnt feed their rats these brands are bad rat owners. There are plenty people on here who dont feed their rats these brands and have very healthy rats.
There are "MANY" websites that sell these brands, yes, but not all of them send to Portugal and im not going to ship form the u.s.a because that would cost to much. Im going to check out the uk amazon see if they sell them. But anyway, like I already said, in this post, Im going to buy from ratrations, In your opinion - "junk food".


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

trematode said:


> I don't read every thread either. I only really come on here when work is boring.
> 
> My first suggestion is to find a lab block if you cannot order any online. The problem with the mixes is that they can contain things that rats cannot eat (like alfalfa pellets), the corn can be lower quality and contaminated with mould, and rats pick and choose what part of the mix they eat and what they don't eat, which means they aren't getting all of the nutritional benefits from the mix.


Actually my rats have been eating all of their food, they do pick what they like first, but then eat the rest. ^^
Im not going to buy anymore of the food i have now, going to buy from ratrations.
Though their poos are back to normal ever since I stopped giving them peas as treats.
I tried giving them some warm carrots (its sooo cold here) but they dont really seem to interested in it :/ Still trying to find a veg that they like and doesnt make their poo smell.

Thanks for the help trematode!  Btw, what vegs do you feed your rats?


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

Your welcome 

I eat a very healthy diet, so it's easy to feed my rats a large variety. Off the top of my head:

Carrots
Tomatoes
Cucumber
Celery
Sea Vegetables
Leaf Lettuce
Romaine Lettuce
Spinach
Beets
Cabbage
Red, Yellow, Green Pepper
Avocado (as a treat and not the peel or seed)
Blueberries
Raspberries
Strawberries
Grapes or Raisins
Apple
Banana
Tomato sauce
Zucchini
Button Mushrooms
Sugar Snap Peas
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Pumpkin
Sweet Potato (cooked)

They also get a grain (usually brown rice, quinoa or cooked pasta) with it and some protein (beans, lentils). They get a combination of raw or cooked foods. They get a mixture once a day... I think it amounts to a small handful for each rat.

Lots of lettuce, pumpkin and squash can sometimes cause soft poops in my rats. Also feeding them more fresh veggies than what they are used to can cause soft poops. Just the other week, I was feeding more fresh foods than average because I could not get Oxbow in my city and I could not get to the bulk store to make a homemade mix. One night, they had pretty smelly poops... I made sure I cleaned the litter box out as soon as I noticed it and I fed them a little less veggies and a little more grain, nuts and seeds the next day.

I feed my girls 3 meals a day. At one meal, they'll get their veggies and grains. It's enough for them to eat but not hoard. At the next, they'll get my homemade grain mix and then Oxbow. I haven't had many problems with smelly poops.


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## trematode (Sep 8, 2012)

If it makes it easier, you can buy a lot of veggies, prepare them and freeze them. Then you take a little bit out and thaw it before you give it to them. I give them a lot of my leftovers too because there usually isn't anything harmful in there.


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

Yeah i think ill make freeze the veggies. Is pear okay to give them? I have never given them nuts I would like to give them some, my father in law brought some nuts home, but i have yet to see what they are and if they are good for the rats.

Btw while i was writing this my rats are in free time, I have a cup of carrots with me but seeing how they didnt want to eat it i left it on the bed while i was writing.. this is what Totoro has been doing : 
(they havent been eating it and ive already taken it away just in case they decided to scoff it all down) 








This was under this little house i made for them. I just thought it was funny.. doesnt like to eat it but stores it away xD


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

liana said:


> You make it sound like anyone who doesnt feed their rats these brands are bad rat owners. There are plenty people on here who dont feed their rats these brands and have very healthy rats.
> There are "MANY" websites that sell these brands, yes, but not all of them send to Portugal and im not going to ship form the u.s.a because that would cost to much. Im going to check out the uk amazon see if they sell them. But anyway, like I already said, in this post, Im going to buy from ratrations, In your opinion - "junk food".


I did not say that people that don't feed their rats these brands are "bad rat owners" I was saying basically all other brands are junk food. I went through with finding oxbow here and I went through the same thing. Really though most brands are junk food for your rats they have different diets. I am pretty sure I fed my rats a version of the brand we were talking about in block form and was told by people here that it was junk food for them.

I am not in anyway saying anyone that feeds their rats other brands then these two are bad rat owners. That is the furthest away from what I was saying I was just stating a fact that I learned from others. 


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## liana (Dec 4, 2013)

Omg omg, I just found out that this is sold here:
*BEAPHAR CARE PLUS RAT*

The Beaphar Care+ range is the first, totally complete, super premium food available for the small pet, offering the highest possible quality and formulation known to man. The high quality proteins and Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids ensures that an animal will have a healthy and long life with out experiencing the diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies. The foods also contain prebiotics and Yucca extracts and the chelated minerals improve absorption and supply to the body.
Being developed in cooperation with veterinary surgeons, dieticians and leading rodent experts this food has to be the very best available on the market today.

*International*

Supreme Science Selective block

Ingredients:
Wheat, Soya, Barley, Oats, Soya oil, Apple (2.5%), Blackcurrant (2.5%), Limestone flour, Methionine, Lysine, Salt, Vitamins and Minerals. Preserved with EC additives

Typical Analysis:
Protein 14%, Oil 4.0%, Fibre 4.0%

Burgess Suparat 
3.5% fibre, 16% protein, 6% oil, 4% ash

Is it ok? they are lab blocks so it would be better than giving them mix, i hope its good!


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

the protien level is good and everything listed in it sounds safe for them. It would definitively be better then the mix. I would ask cagedbirdsinging or isumarat for their opinions on it sense they are the food gurus here. Just PM them the information.


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## shelbygrace97 (Oct 2, 2013)

Mitsy said:


> How long were your rats eatting oxbow and how long before you feed them it did they eat another kind of food?


Sorry I didn't see this! They ate it for about two months and the poop smell was VERY noticeable. Now they don't smell at ALL, so I'm almost certain it was the oxbow. Is Harlan Teklad okay? I'm getting the 14% protein because I just noticed both of my boys have one protein scab each. I'm assuming that's what they are, not to make this thread about me haha! xDD <3 Also that other brand of food that's around you sounds awesome, Liana.


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## Mitsy (Apr 8, 2013)

shelbygrace97 said:


> Sorry I didn't see this! They ate it for about two months and the poop smell was VERY noticeable. Now they don't smell at ALL, so I'm almost certain it was the oxbow. Is Harlan Teklad okay? I'm getting the 14% protein because I just noticed both of my boys have one protein scab each. I'm assuming that's what they are, not to make this thread about me haha! xDD <3 Also that other brand of food that's around you sounds awesome, Liana.


What do you mean by a protein scab?, and yes that kind is a good brand. Adult rats should 16% protein but 14% should be fine if you want to make sure they are getting more I would scramble an egg for them maybe once a week.

Some rats just don't do we'll with oxbow I'm not sure why, I think it maybe because if they have a poor diet from before their system isn't used to it. I'm not sure why that would happen, maybe you were sensitive to the smell from their poop with the oxbow? I know I can smell my rats I don't clean the litter box every few days their also in my room which is small and I don't open the door because of the cats.


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