Rats!!

[Abi5sos1d]

Just a quick question about food, the breeder has told me she feeds her rats on p@h rat nuggets and that the babies are fed on them too. She said she tried other food but they seem to always like the nuggets, I thought it would be best to go for science selective but if the babies don't like the food, it's best not to buy it and waste it right?

[AmityvilleHams]

Science Selective is going to be the healthiest option.You want to find a way for them to eat it,even if they won't eat it straight out of a bowl.Not many pelleted foods are truly appropriate for rats in every way,since some have unsafe ingredients or contain hay which rats can't digest properly,which isn't the case with Science Selective.

If you can find an alternative cheaper way to get Science Selective,that would be a great idea.I believe Viovet sell the smaller bags at a cheaper price,so that would be one potential option instead of having to buy the big bags right away.

I would avoid the P@H Nuggets at all cost,since they don't even give an ingredients list I know there are lots of good treats that P@H make but that doesn't mean all their products are safe or appropriate,especially when you have pets that do have such specific dietary needs.

Make sure you're not just feeding pellets by the way,as a lack of variety is almost as bad as malnutrition.While a seed mix alone isn't good,pellets alone don't offer enough variety and would have to be mixed with suitable seeds and other healthy foods.

[Abi5sos1d]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Science Selective is going to be the healthiest option.You want to find a way for them to eat it,even if they won't eat it straight out of a bowl.Not many pelleted foods are truly appropriate for rats in every way,since some have unsafe ingredients or contain hay which rats can't digest properly,which isn't the case with Science Selective.

If you can find an alternative cheaper way to get Science Selective,that would be a great idea.I believe Viovet sell the smaller bags at a cheaper price,so that would be one potential option instead of having to buy the big bags right away.

I would avoid the P@H Nuggets at all cost,since they don't even give an ingredients list I know there are lots of good treats that P@H make but that doesn't mean all their products are safe or appropriate,especially when you have pets that do have such specific dietary needs.

Make sure you're not just feeding pellets by the way,as a lack of variety is almost as bad as malnutrition.While a seed mix alone isn't good,pellets alone don't offer enough variety and would have to be mixed with suitable seeds and other healthy foods.

I did think science selective would be better, she did advise me to introduce the food slowly when I get them, and I will be providing them with fresh fruit and veggies as well as seeds and nuts as I do with my hamster who is on science selective for hamsters and Harry Hamster. Would you advise me to get Reggie Rat too?

[AmityvilleHams]

Reggie Rat has alfalfa meal which isn't appropriate for rats.It would be an excellent mouse food,but for rats it just isn't suitable.Instead,you could find a more appropriate seed mix to order off of Rat Rations and then add the Science Selective rat pellets.

You could even go from one seed mix to using more mixes,or adding in different seeds along with nuts and other healthy foods as you've mentioned Variety is key,and they way you plan to do it except for just using a different mix instead of Reggie Rat will be perfect!

[Abi5sos1d]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Reggie Rat has alfalfa meal which isn't appropriate for rats.It would be an excellent mouse food,but for rats it just isn't suitable.Instead,you could find a more appropriate seed mix to order off of Rat Rations and then add the Science Selective rat pellets.

You could even go from one seed mix to using more mixes,or adding in different seeds along with nuts and other healthy foods as you've mentioned Variety is key,and they way you plan to do it except for just using a different mix instead of Reggie Rat will be perfect!

Alright, is there any seeds or nuts that are posioness to rats? I know almonds are posioness to hamsters, I regularly get this unsalted nut mix from tesco and give Peanut those except for the almonds. I'll have a look on rat rations is there a seed mix you recommend? Any treats? I'm just wondering if there is some treats I can use for both Peanut and rats.

[AmityvilleHams]

Safe mixes:
No1 - For Female and Young Rats - £0.72 : ratRations.com
No2 - Suitable For All Rats - £0.78 : ratRations.com
No3 - with Soya - Geriatric and Kidney Support Plus - £1.20 : ratRations.com
No5 - Mums and Babies Basic - £0.66 : ratRations.com
No6 - Geriatric and Kidney Support - £0.90 : ratRations.com
http://www.ratrations.com/seed-mixture-p-418.html

The last mix is in some of the other foods,so it could be bought on its own or already in another mix.You can feed seeds by hand just as you could for hamsters,which is an excellent treat without having to use sugary storebought treats as you probably already know

Treats really depend on which mix you choose,since you can add extra seeds of different types or a variety of safe nuts.In general the same nuts that are hamster safe are also rat safe.Just avoid unnecessary added sugars,artificial preservatives(BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin,unspecified antioxidants and such which are likely BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin,and sulfur dioxide are most common),and pretty much unsafe foods would be mostly the same as hamsters!

[Abi5sos1d]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

Safe mixes:
No1 - For Female and Young Rats - £0.72 : ratRations.com
No2 - Suitable For All Rats - £0.78 : ratRations.com
No3 - with Soya - Geriatric and Kidney Support Plus - £1.20 : ratRations.com
No5 - Mums and Babies Basic - £0.66 : ratRations.com
No6 - Geriatric and Kidney Support - £0.90 : ratRations.com
http://www.ratrations.com/seed-mixture-p-418.html

The last mix is in some of the other foods,so it could be bought on its own or already in another mix.You can feed seeds by hand just as you could for hamsters,which is an excellent treat without having to use sugary storebought treats as you probably already know

Treats really depend on which mix you choose,since you can add extra seeds of different types or a variety of safe nuts.In general the same nuts that are hamster safe are also rat safe.Just avoid unnecessary added sugars,artificial preservatives(BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin,unspecified antioxidants and such which are likely BHA/BHT/ethoxyquin,and sulfur dioxide are most common),and pretty much unsafe foods would be mostly the same as hamsters!

Would you suggest as an everyday feed, the science selective pellets, some seeds/nuts and some fruit or veggies, or would that be too much? I'm getting all the bags you suggested and I was thinking of giving a pinch of a different bag each day? As well as fruit or veg and the pellets.

[AmityvilleHams]

That would be fine!Since you're getting young rats high protein isn't bad,but once they're in the older age range you could perhaps cut back just a tiny bit on high protein extras.That's something to worry about in the very far future though,not so much an issue for a long time to come

[Abi5sos1d]

Originally Posted by AmityvilleHams

That would be fine!Since you're getting young rats high protein isn't bad,but once they're in the older age range you could perhaps cut back just a tiny bit on high protein extras.That's something to worry about in the very far future though,not so much an issue for a long time to come

Okay, it's just I want to give my ratties the best life I could possibly give them as my last pair of boys, we made a couple of mistakes with them. Before we got them we rescued a couple of chinchillas and when they passed away we decided to get a couple of rats, 2 albino boys called pinky and Brain (from the kids TV show). Looking back on it now the cage wasn't suitable, they had their delicate paws on wire from the cage and they didn't have many toys and their diet was pretty plain. Neverless they were still lovely boys and I remember playing with them every day after school and having cuddles with them watching my kids TV, but I wish I knew better back then so they had a better and healthier life.

[Abi5sos1d]

My Ferplast furat cage arrived today, I've put it all together and it looks great, however I'm finding it quite tricky opening and closing the front door of the cage, I fear it might upset my rats when I have to open the door and that they might escape when I go to close it