# Rats For Dummies: What do Rats Eat?



## holidayincambodia (Nov 10, 2009)

*What Do Rats Eat?*

Rats are omnivores, just like us. For top health, they need to receive a balanced need all of the food groups each and every day.
Many pet stores will feed their rats a seed mix, this is a very poor diet. They may tell you that this is all a rat needs to be healthy - but there is one reason for this: it's cheap. If pet stores and their breeders were to feed their pets a proper diet, they would not make any profits. It costs them less to feed their stock - and they can sell it to owners for more than it is really worth.

Some try to feed their rats rabbit pellets, which is a very poor choice as rats cannot digest alfalfa.

The best thing to feed your rats is a quality lab block formulated to suit the nutritional needs of rats. Brands include Harlan Teklad, Oxbow Regal Rat, Extrusion, Mazuri and Kaytee - all of different quality and cost. 
Though, some people prefer an all fresh diet, which can be done in a balanced and healthy manor, proves to be much more work for most owners and it often costs more, depending on your location and shopping skills.

I have been told by many rat owners, breeders, and pet shop workers that rats "can and will be fine on a diet of plain old dog or cat kibble." 
The information is usually spread by the grossly misinformed, and many people will tell you it is fine. It is not.
The nutritional requirements of cats and dogs are completely dissimilar to one another, not to mention rats. 
A high quality, low fat/protein dog kibble, such as Solid Gold "Holistic Blendz", can serve as one of the many ingredients in a balanced dry mix for rats, but it is certainly not something to be used as a staple diet.

A dry mix for your rats should not just be seeds and dog food, though. Certainly, it is not that simple. One of the best dry diets formulated for rats is known as *Suebees Diet. *



Though, even the maker of this diet strongly encourages lab blocks as a staple diet, if available. Subees diet consists of Holistic Blendz supplemented with a quality dry mix. To view the ingredients for this dry mix, click on the photo above.

*Forbidden Foods*

Some people may say that rats can eat ANYTHING. This is not true at all - in the wild they do what they need to survive - but they have forbidden foods, just like other animals. I mean, you CAN eat sand and cotton for lunch: But why would you want to?

The following is a list of what not to feed your rats. Though, this list is not 100% complete, you may also want to read this, just to be safe.

Cheese
Candy 
Raw dries beans
Peanut butter (Can induce choking)
Raw potato/potato skin
Cabbage and brusel-sprouts
Artichokes
Green Bananas
Rhubarb
Oranges
Onion
Raw meat or tofu
Carbonated drinks
Avocado
Dried corn


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