# Protein Content and Good Rat Food Brands



## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

Hey, I am going to be getting rats int eh spring and have been keeping mice for years and thus just wanted to know something.

With mice traditional mouse food has a protein content too high for mice since idea is 13 to 14% Thus hamster food is best to feed them. What is the best protein content then for rats? Is normal rat food alright for them or is the protein content too high like with the mouse food, and what is the best brand of rat food? Personally if Browns Tropical Carnival makes rat food I'll stick with them since currently my mice eat their gerbil and hamster mix and it has done wonders for them plus satisfies their natural scavenger instinctual when mixed with meal worms, dog kibble, oats, and the occasional scrambled eggs. I just want to know ahead of time so I can start organizing a balanced meal plan for my rats before I have them.


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## Jaguar (Nov 15, 2009)

14% is the general "adult maintenance" level. But not all proteins are the same... there are animal proteins, plant proteins like soy, etc... they are not all the same and protein is not the only thing you should base their entire diet on.

Seed mixes like Tropical Carnival are the equivalent of what we'd call junk food to rats. They are high in fat (seeds) and uncooked corn kernels can be toxic. Foragers like rats will pick out all the most tasty things (usually the seeds) and leave the pellets. Feeding solely seed mixes can lead to obesity, poor coat quality, and damage internal organs over time. Rats have starved to death because owners fail to realize the bowl is full of nothing but empty seed shells and bits their rats don't want to eat.

We recommend all in one block-type foods that discourage selective feeding. Some brands are Harlan Teklad, Oxbow Regal Rat, Mazuri 6F Breeder Diet, and Living World Extrusion for Hamsters. These are all in NA though, European foods are different. Let us know where you are and we can suggest foods to look for.


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

I live in Minnesota. Mice and rat diets must be very different then because with mouse healthy high quality dog food mixed with Tropical Carnival is idea and lab block is avoided. I don't know how I would feel feeding just lab block since with my mice I am use to feeding them a lot of meal worms and fresh food as well since it gives them a better diet and a balanced one. I know a lot of pet store feeds are not perfect and all have their pros and cons.

Wow people have had their rats starve? That is irresponsible you are suppose to change food daily weather it has all been eaten or not to avoid food from getting stale or sitting out too long. Just as you should change water daily to avoid it from getting stale.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

I would suggest HT 2014 for adults. I feed that and supplement with fresh foods for both my mice and rats. 

With rats seed mixes just aren't a good thing. We had one on seed mix for a year, he was obese and had a horrid coat. It wasn't my rat and I didn't know anything about them then, so all I could do for him was feed and water him since my brother would let him go days without anything, but to this day I feel bad about that poor sweet rat man.


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

Okay so still feed with fresh foods? Good because I just don't trust only feeding lab block. Can you also feed with meal worms as well because I have a reptile breeder friend who breeds his own live fresh meal worms and it has done wonders for my mouse girls and they love eating their fresh worms (I kill them all first because otherwise I can't stand having them eat the worms alive it's too sad.) Also would a store like Petsmart carry that brand of food (no PetCo after seeing their mice and rats I refuse to buy anything from them.) or even better would an exotic animal vet clinic carry it? Should I get it in rat or gerbil hamster like with my mouse food? And do I need to also add dog food or is that not needed with rats?


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

They can have meal worms, although not often because they are very fatty, and fresh food is very good for them.

Harland Teklad has to be ordered online. The Crafty Rat sells it flat rate, so does Mainely Rat Rescue. Both are reputable. It's fairly inexpensive, and is made for lab rats and mice. 

You do not need dog food, although I sometimes offer it to my rats as a treat. Harland Teklad is a complete diet with all of what they need. However, I give dog food to young, growing rats to boost protein since I feed 2014. It helps them to have enough protein to grow. I only give them a very little bit each day, and they eat HT most of the time. 

Another way to boost protien in young rats is give eggs, or chicken bones to gnaw. You could also just get the 2018 formula. My house has mostly adult rats, making it much easier to just boost protein with fresh foods rather than ordering two different types and trying to keep track of which is which.


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

How long does it take for the food to get delivered on average? And do they deliver to your house or do you need to pick it up at a local store?


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

It comes to your house, I have found that fro the crafty rat it gets here in usually less than a week.


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

Okay good, I am a crazy person and usually calculate through the level of my mouse food in the storage bin when I need to get my next bag of mouse food. If it has to be delivered to the house and I can't instantly get my rat food I need to factor in how much I have left, how long it will last them, how long delivery will be so by the time the food gets to my home I still have a few days left of feeding in the bin. It drives my mother crazy with my mouse food because she will look in the bin and tell we that we must go get more food but then I look in the bin and tell her I have so and so many days left for feeding and we need to get more food when I only have five feedings left otherwise it throws off my crazy OCD feeding system. 

Also is this HT 2014 within this 14% protein range? 

I am also strict on this because people don't think it can happen but my little cousin had her two mice on mouse and rat food which was too high a protein content for them and yes they did start losing their hair. They didn't start getting better until I gave her a bag of my mouse food to transfer it over. 

Also on the note of transferring food are rats sensitive like mice that when you switch over their food or change their food over they get upset stomachs? Should I buy a bag of the food they are currently on from their original keeps and slowly transition them over the the brand I feed?


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

Yes, 2014 has 14%, 2018 has 18% and so on. 

If you can, get the old food and switch them slowly. My rats have never been very sensitive and I feed them rather random foods sometimes- I have never had a problem, I nicknamed them the garbage guts. But it is always best to be careful, and check the forbidden foods list/use common sense.

I should really take my own advice on that. Lol. I throw all sorts of food in the cage for them- like Ravioli. Ha. (I don't feed them forbidden things, of course. Just..less than healthy things sometimes.)


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

Okay that is what I thought. I will make sure to ask for a bag of their old food as well.

Ha I do that with my mice especially since they are old and need to put weight on. Most of what I feed Ophi now is not the most healthy but it is all her favorite snacks since she doesn't have much more time with me and I want to spoil her to her last breath.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

My mice get a pretty restricted diet. Haha. I don't trust those teeny little bodies to eat anything I give them.


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## LadyVictorian (Jan 4, 2011)

They are actually capable of munching a lot of stuff. Oats should almost be a must just not too much, cheerios (original not they honey coated) they LOVE but only 10 a day, fresh veggies and fruits, rice (cooked) scrambled eggs, and noodles. Yogurt too is good but most of that should be treats aside from oats. I have even given my girls unsalted unbuttered popcorn before, they loved it. Turkey, chicken, love that stuff too. Whenever they get sick I give them chicken noodle soup without onions in it and low salt. I am always looking up if food is safe for them to try out new treats and see what they like and what they are not fans of. Helps a lot too in training your mice to know what they are most willing to work for...it's not their normal food that is for sure. OOOH and pumpkin and sunflower seeds, my girls go crazy for them. Ophi is getting her fill of those right now and loving it. It is also helping to put weight on her which I am happy about since she was getting very skinny for a while after getting sick. The things I never give them is any sort of cheese product, milk, or peanut butter or peanuts because Verona is allergic to peanuts and I don't want her eating a peanut that was meant for someone else. carrots and peas are also favorite snacks along with blueberries (skins peeled off) raspberries, cranberries (peeled again they could choke on the skins) strawberries, and if they are very good little apple pieces or applesauce (organic) I don't trust a lot of those ones that have been spiced up <.< Ophi is pretty much living off her yogurt, eggs, applesauce, and oats right now since she gets it almost every day but I need to let her lick it off my finger because I don't trust leaving a dish or else Vero will eat it all T.T she thinks she should be able to eat a lot too because she is old.


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## Kinsey (Jun 14, 2009)

I give my mice the very occasional fruit or veggie (I don't eat much of them myself..), scrambled egg (if there is no cheese on that bit..we make it with butter though so I avoid egg for that reason most of the time), cheerios, crickets, a bit of toast or tortilla chip, dog food, whole wheat pasta (cooked and uncooked), applesauce, and they get oats fairly often.

Compared to my rats that is super restricted. Seriously, I feed my rats ice cream, ravioli, blueberry bagels with strawberry cream cheese, salt and vinegar chips, all sorts of crud. It's always very small portions of course and the chips are only when they manage to steal one and eat it before I get it back. But, they still eat that stuff- it can't possibly be good for them but Romeo is very old and he's been eating all of what I give him since he was young so I must be doing SOMETHING right. None of what they eat is forbidden food, but the salty chips are no good (I really don't let them have those, though.) and they love it so much.


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