What I feed my rats

[JennaBoBenna]

Hi! So I've gotten a few of you interested in my pet rats' diet, so here's a basic outline of what I feed them!

Every week I go to the farmers' market and I buy a pound of organic baby greens and edible flowers and I give them a big handful or two every day. I usually feed them what I eat, they get the left overs. Sometimes I'll make a fruit salad(nice and convenient) with apples and persimmons, or whatever fruit I have around. Sometimes bananas, kiwi, mango,grapes, avocado, coconut, clementines, bell peppers, zucchini, roots, etc. If I have a green smoothie and I have a little bit leftover I'll pour that over the fruit salad. Or I might sprinkle green powder on the fruit salad. I also give them raw nuts and seeds--walnuts, cashews, macadamias, sesame, almonds. They LOVE nut pulp with agave drizzled on top. But, I just recently had a major ant problem after giving the rats agave, so I don't think they'll be getting any more for awhile, or at least unsupervised.
If I make a fancy recipe, I'll give them the leftovers unless there is a lot of salt in it (ie. wilted kale ribbons) and I make sure they have plenty of spring water in their bottle.
I never feed them cacao, or other stimulants. And when I had boy rats, I didn't give them citrus (cancer causing in males).

I've read that avocado is bad for rats, but I give them avocado and I have never seen any ill effects..I think it's just the fat content that's considered "bad", but it's chock full of such great nutrients! When I had 12 rats(put a female rat and a male rat together and...) I would put half an avocado in the cage(before all the babies were separated) and they would pounce on it and fight over it and be so happy eating it.

For treats I give them seaweed---nori and dulse and they lovvve it! It so cute to hear them munching on nori paper

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/JennasBucketofFun/itty_weetz.jpg

:) :) :)

[Rayne]

Its the skin and seed that is poisonous. My friend often asserts to not feed rats any avocado because the "seeds" are poisonous. Sorry, but since you used the word seeds, 'm fairly sure you've never even seen an avocado xD Besides, the fat is good fat so what the heck, feed 'em avocado xD
Do you refrigerate any of these? I feel like a refrigerator can be a big contaminate so I am trying to wean away from it, at least for my rats food.
Another thing, whoa hey yeah I see you mentioned seaweed, I got a little sushi making (vegetarian sushi =O )kit and am planning on making them little nutritious packed treats xD

[RawKnitster]

It's a rat kind of day! I just posted in another raw rat thread, but had to comment on your pictures. SOOOO CUTE! :)

[JennaBoBenna]

I've been giving my rat (only one now) chlorella tablets lately :) She really likes them! she scarfs em down
my guinea pig too!

I refrigerate most of their food, unless it's like fruit or veg that doesn't need to be in the fridge. I also give Weetzie (the albino one) dried salmon pieces and egg from time to time

[Raene]

Can guinea pigs be fed raw vegan too? I've always wanted one...

[JennaBoBenna]

Can guinea pigs be fed raw vegan too? I've always wanted one...

guinea pigs are naturally vegan. I feed him mostly raw with dried timothy hay and natural timothy hay pellets with balanced nutrients :)
I would definitely recommend getting a guinea pig, mine is the love of my life! He brings me so much joy :)

[JennaBoBenna]

I gave my babies a hibiscus flower today! They devoured it! it was so cute :)

[Crazy Healer Lady]

Wow, such an inspiration! We have two female rats right now, the love of my boyfriend's life, and we give them lots of treats. I'll be adding a lot more greens to their diet after reading this! Thank you :)

[Raene]

guinea pigs are naturally vegan. I feed him mostly raw with dried timothy hay and natural timothy hay pellets with balanced nutrients :)
I would definitely recommend getting a guinea pig, mine is the love of my life! He brings me so much joy :)

Do you have a picture of your piggy too?

[JennaBoBenna]

Wow, such an inspiration! We have two female rats right now, the love of my boyfriend's life, and we give them lots of treats. I'll be adding a lot more greens to their diet after reading this! Thank you :)

one of the cutest sounds you will ever hear is a rat(or couple of rats) nibbling on greens :D

[JennaBoBenna]

Wow, such an inspiration! We have two female rats right now, the love of my boyfriend's life, and we give them lots of treats. I'll be adding a lot more greens to their diet after reading this! Thank you :)


Do you have a picture of your piggy too?

Here's my little guy, Roland Cheddarbits ( i know, i know, but he is cheese colored! we call him Pig anyway :) )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/JennasBucketofFun/peeeg1.jpg

He is such a little squeaker, he sounds like a bird!! He loves to "popcorn" (flip his feet up in the air), jump on top of his cardboard house, and he lovvvves strawberries and wheatgrass from my garden. His favorite raw treats are zucchini blossoms and grass from my yard :)

[Raene]

OMG SOOOO cute!!!! I didn't realize you ever posted a picture until now. Wow.
I would love a piggy, but my hubby says they're too stinky. However, last night we went to a friend's house and her husband has a whole pet store in their house...over 30 snakes, 2 iguanas, 3 cats, birds, etc...he breeds them as a hobby and does certain genetic work with them. It was so cool, and I love snakes, but since they're not vegan, I really couldn't have one as a pet. However, this guy breeds rats and mice too (for food, obviously) and I'm begging my family to get me a rat for Christmas now, even though I didn't get to see theirs. I saw the mice though and they were adorable.

I'm excited to be a first time rat owner! I've had only hamsters and hedgehogs in the past. I really know nothing about rats, but my hubby used to have some in college and they sound like great fun.

PS This is a really interesting story...my husband's mama rat had babies and then she died, and I'm not joking...the father rat ended up producing milk and nursing the babies! I've read articles in which human males can produce milk as well, so this comes as no big surprise, but still...isn't it neat?

PS I've been reading that rats need to be in pairs, but should I get two girls or two boys? I don't want babies, so definitely not one of each.

[MelissaO]

My neice wants a rat however it is always a large debate about of the two neices who is going to scoop the cat litter box (they have 2 cats)- funny how it normally ends up to be me so I do not think that Santa will be dropping off any other pets to them any time soon.

Jenna your little piggy is a very handsome boy!

[JennaBoBenna]

OMG SOOOO cute!!!! I didn't realize you ever posted a picture until now. Wow.
I would love a piggy, but my hubby says they're too stinky..... I'm begging my family to get me a rat for Christmas now, even though I didn't get to see theirs. I saw the mice though and they were adorable.

I'm excited to be a first time rat owner! I've had only hamsters and hedgehogs in the past. I really know nothing about rats, but my hubby used to have some in college and they sound like great fun.

PS This is a really interesting story...my husband's mama rat had babies and then she died, and I'm not joking...the father rat ended up producing milk and nursing the babies! I've read articles in which human males can produce milk as well, so this comes as no big surprise, but still...isn't it neat?

PS I've been reading that rats need to be in pairs, but should I get two girls or two boys? I don't want babies, so definitely not one of each.

Thanks Raene !!

Whoaaa! Piggies are not stinky by any means! If you don't clean their cage, then obviously! But RATS are FAR more stinky than pigs! Rats like to cuddle in their own filth, lol, but I give our ratties regular baths (we just got a new baby! Eee!). A guinea pig is a LOT of work. I wish I had known before getting one! He's like a little infant...! I would definitely get rats before getting a guinea, just to get the hang of a more needy animal.

With the rats, I would get two girls. Boy rats are much more stinky. They produce a special oil that makes them stinky (oh the joy!) and it makes them look really mangy if you don't bathe them often. My two best friends both have only boy rats, and they look really gross, while my girl rats are delicate and beautiful little ladies :)
Boys also get a lot bigger than the females, and their...um..."boy parts" are incredibly HUGE! Girl rats are much smaller, softer, not as smelly, smarter, and more active! Our newest baby is sooo smart and so fast! If you want cuddlers, though, get boy rats. Girl rats will cuddle for the first week or so when you adopt them, but as soon as they get comfy in their new home they will run and jump all over the place. We let our rats run around the living room and "baby proof" it so they can't get into any trouble or get lost!

Rats are SO much better than hammies ^o^ (IMO, of course, I've never had a hammie be as cool as a rattie!)! and holy cow, a male producing milk?! that is WILD!

[JennaBoBenna]

Jenna your little piggy is a very handsome boy!

Thank you Melissa! He's like my little baby :)

[Veganforlife]

He's so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Raene]

Okay, Jenna, not joking...you really should do an e-book of rat care and health the raw vegan way! Any chance you have time and are ambitious? I'd be the first in line! I saw the pinkies last night and they'll be ready in about a month I think. I can't wait to have one, but other than what I've read online, I really don't know what I'm doing, and I definitely don't know what foods to give vs what they shouldn't eat (other than the obvious like chocolate).

Pretty please??!!

[JennaBoBenna]

Okay, Jenna, not joking...you really should do an e-book of rat care and health the raw vegan way! Any chance you have time and are ambitious? I'd be the first in line! I saw the pinkies last night and they'll be ready in about a month I think. I can't wait to have one, but other than what I've read online, I really don't know what I'm doing, and I definitely don't know what foods to give vs what they shouldn't eat (other than the obvious like chocolate).

Pretty please??!!

!!!! Fantastic idea! I just might :) Let's see if dbf can help me :D

[JennaBoBenna]

He's so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii126/carobabehh/icon_cute.gif Awww Thank you! He is my pride and joy!

[Raene]

Oops, I didn't mean one, I meant two. My daughter wants to name hers Muffin (she's 4, lol...I know, it's an overused name) and I'm planning on naming mine Chia. :) Yay, I'll pre-order a book if you want!!

[JennaBoBenna]

Oops, I didn't mean one, I meant two. My daughter wants to name hers Muffin (she's 4, lol...I know, it's an overused name) and I'm planning on naming mine Chia. :) Yay, I'll pre-order a book if you want!!

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh236/Javanut61/blogger%20template/Smilies/laughing-smiley-001.gif
Uhhhhhdorable! Chia and Muffin are great names! Muffin's not overused at all.
My dbf and I just got a baby tan hooded, named her Eleanor :) Her and Weetzie don't get along, though, which is a bummer, so they're in separate cages. When Weetzie is gone(coming up soon :( ), we're going to breed Eleanor with a blue male ! Squeal! I'm so excited!

You're going to LOVE your ratties! It's very sad that more people don't like rats, they make such great pets! Lol, I was telling a patient at work that my bf and I have two rats and he FREAKED! This middle aged man was like: "You mean, you're wearing that cute dress with those cute boots and you're so nice and you have a pet RAT?!" LOL! I was like "my rats are delicate little ladies!"

[Aleesha Sattva]

I feed my mice and ratties flax/sesame/chia/sunflower crackers. i dehydrate them up and then pop them into a ziploc baggie and gift them one a day. They really go crazy over them!!!

I also gift my mice lots of seeds... they seem to do much better on seeds in my experience. They also love nut butters - when they get this treat - I spread it on a flax cracker and then put another on top so their shavings etc don't get stuck in the butters LOL

One way to deal with the urine smell of mice and ratties... you can add a few drops of vanilla extract into their water bottle. It greatly reduces the odours - esp. for the males.

Very cute little critters Jenna!

[Inca_faerie]

Here's my little guy, Roland Cheddarbits ( i know, i know, but he is cheese colored! we call him Pig anyway :) )

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/JennasBucketofFun/peeeg1.jpg

He is such a little squeaker, he sounds like a bird!! He loves to "popcorn" (flip his feet up in the air), jump on top of his cardboard house, and he lovvvves strawberries and wheatgrass from my garden. His favorite raw treats are zucchini blossoms and grass from my yard :)

awww Roland cheddarbits is so cute! Thought you might like this hehe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub3sX3praGE

[jacsam]

Lucky little rats!!!

[JennaBoBenna]

Inca, that video was sooo cute! I loved it! haha

[RawPaw]

Your rats are cute! I don't really like rats, but yours are very Disney-like.

[Raene]

I got my cage and set it up...it's sitting here empty as I wait for the babies to grow big enough to leave their mom. We went to see them a few days ago and they are just starting to get their fur. I'm so excited!

Did you slowly transition yours to raw or just do it right away? These are just being fed those square things at the moment...no fresh food at all.

[JennaBoBenna]

I got my cage and set it up...it's sitting here empty as I wait for the babies to grow big enough to leave their mom. We went to see them a few days ago and they are just starting to get their fur. I'm so excited!

Did you slowly transition yours to raw or just do it right away? These are just being fed those square things at the moment...no fresh food at all.

How exciting! I love when ratties start getting their fur! it's so interesting to see the different patterns emerge!
Let's seee....hm....when my rats were old enough to start eating solids, they just started going for the food I had out for IttyBitty(mama rat). I only fed her raw (except for some egg sometimes) so they started out on raw!
here are some of the babies at about 3-4 weeks munching on baby spinach leaves! (this picture is from IttyBitty's litter in December 2006)
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/cuppiebaer/babies.jpg

as for green stuff, Raene, I usually just feed my animals chlorella tablets or greens in the form of leaves. sometimes they'll get smoothie, but not always. it's hard to feed them smoothies because if you put a bowl full of something in a rat cage, all they will do is step on it and fling the contents everywhere! lol...

[JennaBoBenna]

Your rats are cute! I don't really like rats, but yours are very Disney-like.

thanks RawPaw!! :)

[JennaBoBenna]

Here's a sample for what we feed Eleanor and Margot(new baby!) [rats]

3 or 4 spinach leaves
2 or 3 almonds, walnuts, pecans, or variety
small amount of raw oats(from Alissa's store)
one wet baby carrot rolled in chia seeds (or one tsp of chia gel with almond milk, they like this better!)
sprigs of parsley
fresh water
2 or 3 blueberries

This usually lasts about 2 days (or so I can tell..they like to hoard and hide their food!)

[Rawkinlocs]

Hey Jenna and others,

Our rat has recently started chewing her own tail.

Any insights into why she would be doing this? I'm trying to google and get some info, but thought I'd come here as well.

Thanks for anything you can offer!

[JennaBoBenna]

Rawki, is the rat alone? Does she have a cage mate? Could be a form of self-injury due to being lonely :(

[Rawkinlocs]

Yeah, she is the only rat :(

I'd like to get her a cage mate, but is it too late? She's been by herself for so long, I wouldn't want a fight or anything.

I'll research it more...maybe we can discuss further off-list as I don't want to keep this thread off-topic of "What I feed my rats"! lol.

Thanks Jenna!

[JennaBoBenna]

Yeah, she is the only rat :(

I'd like to get her a cage mate, but is it too late? She's been by herself for so long, I wouldn't want a fight or anything.

I'll research it more...maybe we can discuss further off-list as I don't want to keep this thread off-topic of "What I feed my rats"! lol.

Thanks Jenna!

It's cool, Rawkie, it's all relative :D
How old is the rat? I have a rat that's just coming up on two years and wouldn't get along with a new baby that we brought in, was too territorial of the cage or something.

There is a way to test it, not a very good way, very sad...but most pet stores have a 14-day return policy. So, if you did buy the new rat and they don't get along you could return it...but that's a sad situation. :(

Maybe the rat won't react badly to the newbie if she's already lonely? hmm.... That's about the extent of my advice :o

[Raene]

We adopted a rat who was 6 months and lived alone her whole life and we got 2 babies and introduced the babies to the older rat. They never even glanced at each other...no problems whatsoever!

After we put them all in the same cage, they never had any real problems. Sometimes the babies pester the big one, Miri, and then Miri jumps on top of them and puts her little paw on their throat...a dog trainer once told me that animals do that to show each other who is boss. No harm done...the babies just lay there and then get up.

My only problem I've had so far is that the adult rat is very clean and she doesn't smell. The babies, however, have HORRIBLE pee odor...you know, they smell the cage up in just 2 days...and it's a 4 story very large cage :( I've added vanilla to their water, as Aleesha mentioned, but it doesn't seem to help. It's a terrible smell! Also, they pee in their hammock and on themselves and don't seem to care. It's so gross. Honestly I'd adopt them out and keep the older one, but my daughter has become very attached.

Any ideas how to get their pee not to stink so bad, and also how to get them to stop peeing in their hammock? It's really gross.

[Raene]

Here's the setup...they hate toys so I've removed them...they actually avoid the toys and walk far out of the way. Wouldn't you know?

Can ya spot the three ratties? They are Miri, Muffin, and Mini. :) Yes, my 5 yr old helped name the babies!

[JennaBoBenna]

My only problem I've had so far is that the adult rat is very clean and she doesn't smell. The babies, however, have HORRIBLE pee odor...you know, they smell the cage up in just 2 days...and it's a 4 story very large cage :( I've added vanilla to their water, as Aleesha mentioned, but it doesn't seem to help. It's a terrible smell! Also, they pee in their hammock and on themselves and don't seem to care. It's so gross. Honestly I'd adopt them out and keep the older one, but my daughter has become very attached.

Any ideas how to get their pee not to stink so bad, and also how to get them to stop peeing in their hammock? It's really gross.

Lol, are you feeding them asparagus?? :D

heh heh...rats do like the pee on everything. I don't really think there's a way to get them to stop peeing on the hammock. They really like to snuggle up in their bedding and then bathroom in it...how fun I know. Not sure what to do with the horrible smell...is it the pee in the hammock that's stinking up ? Or is it the cage bedding itself? I'd remove the hammock and give them something disposable, like paper towels and a little box to hide in.

[Raene]

Hehe, no asparagus. The pee in the hammock plus in the bottom of their cage is stinky...plus what's all over them since they pee on themselves while sleeping. :( Another problem with them is that they shun all raw veggies...we have to give them steamed or nothing. But raw fruits obviously are good, as well as nuts and seeds.

We have used Carefresh and Aspen but neither seems to work great to cover up smells.

By the way, the guinea pig is doing really well. She's darling, actually, but I never really understand what she's saying and I wish I spoke Pig. When we hold her and pet her she makes those noises and I don't know if she's content or scared. I've never been so bad at reading an animal before. She seems very easy to take care of so far. She has rarely had fresh food before though, and she doesn't seem to understand what to do with it, other than lettuce which she eats up right away. Even cucumber she won't eat :( And she's apparently never been handfed, b/c she won't eat anything given directly to her. I'll have to attach a picture soon. She must be part goat b/c when we put her in bed with us she eats the comforter. Lol.

[JennaBoBenna]

Hehe, no asparagus. The pee in the hammock plus in the bottom of their cage is stinky...plus what's all over them since they pee on themselves while sleeping. :( Another problem with them is that they shun all raw veggies...we have to give them steamed or nothing. But raw fruits obviously are good, as well as nuts and seeds.

We have used Carefresh and Aspen but neither seems to work great to cover up smells.

By the way, the guinea pig is doing really well. She's darling, actually, but I never really understand what she's saying and I wish I spoke Pig. When we hold her and pet her she makes those noises and I don't know if she's content or scared. I've never been so bad at reading an animal before. She seems very easy to take care of so far. She has rarely had fresh food before though, and she doesn't seem to understand what to do with it, other than lettuce which she eats up right away. Even cucumber she won't eat :( And she's apparently never been handfed, b/c she won't eat anything given directly to her. I'll have to attach a picture soon. She must be part goat b/c when we put her in bed with us she eats the comforter. Lol.

oh wow! Hmmm...when my girls are stinky, I give em a bath and it seems to help with the pee smell. other that that...not sure what else it could be! and how odd they don't like anything raw...my ratties eat it up! the best part was when we first brought them home and they got to try all the new flavors, they were pretty excited. mine also really like seaweed, i like to think its because rats originated in asia :D have you tried giving them a piece of nori? mine devour it!

for the guinea pig, YES! very hard to read! i have no idea what my guinea pig is thinking sometimes! But if you go to a website for guinea pig sounds, you can kinda tell the difference between excited and scared lol. have you tried tomato, red bell pepper, or parsley with your pig? mine lovessss these! also, if you have access to it, lemon balm, he goes crazy over it! mine also likes to eat daisies and stuff :D oh--and italian sweet peppers!

edit: oh oh! have you tried giving cucumber to your rats? mine LOVE to eat the seeds(so i cut the cucumber into spears or circles). my guinea pig doesnt like cucumber so much, but my rats go gaga over cuke seeds !

[Raene]

Haha, the rats don't like cucumber, but they love zucchini. We give them circles and they eat out the inside (with the seeds) and leave the outside. They're silly.

Another guinea pig question...sorry for the overwhelming amount of questions...I am having a hard time understanding why they need that store-bought highly processed stuff. Would it be a problem to just give Frances Timothy hay, grasses, fresh veggies, vitamin C, and the occasional nut/seed/fruit? Obviously they wouldn't eat the processed stuff in the wild...so this would be adequate, right? I don't want to hurt her and I know they have sensitive tummies, so I'll adjust slowly, but let me know your thoughts on this. :)

[JennaBoBenna]

Haha, the rats don't like cucumber, but they love zucchini. We give them circles and they eat out the inside (with the seeds) and leave the outside. They're silly.

Another guinea pig question...sorry for the overwhelming amount of questions...I am having a hard time understanding why they need that store-bought highly processed stuff. Would it be a problem to just give Frances Timothy hay, grasses, fresh veggies, vitamin C, and the occasional nut/seed/fruit? Obviously they wouldn't eat the processed stuff in the wild...so this would be adequate, right? I don't want to hurt her and I know they have sensitive tummies, so I'll adjust slowly, but let me know your thoughts on this.

Cute! That's what my rats do with cucumbers! :p

Hmmmm...not sure about the diet question. I give my pig processed(healthier than most) food because he would drive us to the poor house with how much he can eat! and the store-bought seems to keep him happy and satiated. It's mainly hay pellets, and dried corn and peas and stuff. I don't feed him nuts or seeds as I read that might not be something to feed a pig. well, it said "shelled nuts/seeds" and I couldn't remember if that means the shell on or removed..so I just avoid nuts altogether! I would say try it out, see how the pig reacts, maybe girls don't eat as much as boys! and yes, they have very sensitive tums...I switched food on my boy overnight because they don't carry it at the pet store I go to now( I moved to a different part of my city) and over the next couple of days he had a turd the size of a freakin hazlenut stuck in his bottom :( poor guy, but we took care of it ....:eek::rolleyes:

[Rawkinlocs]

Hey Jenna!

Just wanted to stop in and give you a quick update on Nezumi (Yes...my eldest son named her the Japanese word for rat! lol - he's VERY into Japan and Anime, etc.) but anyway...she seems MUCH better and hasn't chewed her tail since she and my daughters rabbit starting playing together! :D

They run around and Nezumi actually CHASES Thumper (the bunny) around the room and they eat each other's food ('Zumi took Thumper's apple one day and it's been "on" ever since with them snatching food from one another and chasing one another...REALLY cute!) I think my daughter has some video footage of "the chase" so if/when she uploads it to the 'net, I'll show it to you!

So I think you were right about the loneliness...but since they made friends and started playing together, she's been doing better. Thanks again for your support and advice! And sorry for hijacking this thread! :o

[ShantiLove]

Just an answer to the piggy diet question :D

Tecnicaly they can live out of good quality hay and greens and a little fruit (and grass during the summer time ofcourse). But it is so vitaly important they get vit. C enought so giving them a good piggy pellet with vit. C might be a good idear to be on the safe side.

I dont have a rat but finds it really intersting reading your experiences with the little guys :) Loves animals.
I have two piggy boys and a senior rabbit girl that I just love. Rabbits have to be my favorite "pet", but the piggy boys are a lot of fun. It is funny how different their personality are, and yes I find piggys more hard to read aswell. I just have to say that piggys are really easy to keep and they get "tame" really easy and has a really friendly nature. Rabbits on the other hand has more caracter a bit like cats. The rats sounds so lovely. I never had one as my mom never wantet a rat in the house, and we had mice in school and they smells so bad I had this idear that rats are a bit the same ? Do rats need hay ? My husband has pollon allergy and is not doing to well with my little guys food. But I just cant live without my little hairy friends, so if I have to choose..... hhmhmhmh LOL ok but im looking for someone that can take their place when they finaly goes over the rainbow bridge (he agreed to hang in there untill they dies naturaly, got to love they guy). I have been looking alot at the rats at the petshop, they got babies a the moment and they are sooooo cute. What kind of bedding do you use for the rats ?

Im sorry to be a bit of topic here, but just wantet to comment on the piggy questions and I just have to promote the piggys a little ;)

[Soka]

Ok, not to hijack the thread, but I posted about my intentions of putting my rats (I have have two right now) on a raw diet and people on a forum I frequent jumped down my throat telling me that I couldn't possibly provide all their nutrient needs and that I NEED to feed them lab blocks or they will get deficiencies. One person even went as far as to tell me to rehome my rats if I wasn't willing to feed them lab blocks. Any thoughts on this?

[JennaBoBenna]

Ok, not to hijack the thread, but I posted about my intentions of putting my rats (I have have two right now) on a raw diet and people on a forum I frequent jumped down my throat telling me that I couldn't possibly provide all their nutrient needs and that I NEED to feed them lab blocks or they will get deficiencies. One person even went as far as to tell me to rehome my rats if I wasn't willing to feed them lab blocks. Any thoughts on this?

My girls are 100% raw and are beautiful, strong, healthy, and smart! their coats are so gorgeous, soft and thick. there's no way they are deficient in anything.

My other rat, though, the older one is a cooked food rat. She gets store bought food and he coat is more mangy than the raw girls. Definitely a difference!

[JennaBoBenna]

Hey Jenna!

They run around and Nezumi actually CHASES Thumper (the bunny) around the room and they eat each other's food ('Zumi took Thumper's apple one day and it's been "on" ever since with them snatching food from one another and chasing one another...REALLY cute!) I think my daughter has some video footage of "the chase" so if/when she uploads it to the 'net, I'll show it to you!



Rawkie,
Wow! That sounds just like what my rats do to the guinea pig! we can't keep the rats out of the pig cage, they love to take his little dried corns and peas. They also love to jump on him and chase him. They'll even drag huge carrots out of his cage haha

[Soka]

These people want me to take my rats to the vet every week to monitor their health and nutrient levels if I plan on feeding raw just so I make sure I'm not depriving them of anything. Is there a chart somewhere that states how much of each nutrient a rat needs?

[RawkinOnSunshine]

Your babies are adorable :) I'd love to feed my rats raw...maybe when I have more time, but with 13 animals it's difficult ;) Though they get tons of fresh fruits and veggies etc so I don't feel SO bad.

I have boys so I don't risk citrus with them either. Sucks that ratties are so prone to cancer...my females lived over 3 years and never developed it, so I'm hoping the four boys will be as lucky.

What are your ratties' names? Also, curious, ever give them bee pollen?

[JennaBoBenna]

Your babies are adorable I'd love to feed my rats raw...maybe when I have more time, but with 13 animals it's difficult Though they get tons of fresh fruits and veggies etc so I don't feel SO bad.

I have boys so I don't risk citrus with them either. Sucks that ratties are so prone to cancer...my females lived over 3 years and never developed it, so I'm hoping the four boys will be as lucky.

What are your ratties' names? Also, curious, ever give them bee pollen?

Hey! Wow, I know exactly what it's like to have a whole litter of rats! in 2005 I had my rat couple give birth to TEN BABIES! I had no choice but to feed them pellets and supplement with raw. When they were younger, they were 100%, but 6 boy rats eat a buttload of food and we could barely afford to feed ourselves.

The rats in the original post are both gone now(their names were Weetzie Rat and IttyBitty), but my bf and I have two new ones :) He bought Eleanor in Fall 2008, and I bought Margot this past January. In the pic you can see some raw foods(oranges and avocado) AND the new glass bottle I got!
Margot is the blue one, Eleanor is the tan one
http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/cuppiebaer/DSCN0539.jpg
They are sooo mischevious! They hide their food all over my apartment and hide in the guinea pig cage. They climb all over stuff, too. But they are very smart. They can leap super far and run really fast. their coats are beautiful, strong, and soft. We haven't ever had to take them to the vet. They eat 100% raw when I'm watching them. When they sneak into the guinea pig cage, they will eat his pellets. I also found out they had been chewing on a wax candle, rubber from their old water bottle holder, and the carpet(we are SO not getting our deposit back!!) When Eleanor gets scared, she runs to my boyfriend and hides in his pockets, neck or hood. Margot also comes to me when she's scared. They LOVE raw buckwheat cereal and will hoard it away or eat in from my hands. They are such a delight :)
They LOVE bee pollen! I give it to them when I remember to. They also enjoy honey. I usually give them some almond pulp with cinnamon, honey, and bee pollen, and green powder on top. they love that stuff

[RawkinOnSunshine]

I've never had a litter? Unless you thought that's what 13 animals meant. (it actually means: 4 rats, 3 parrots, 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 bunny, 1 snake, 1 tarantula hehe).

That sounds great, that's how my ratties have been except they have had to go to the vet. One of the ratties in my first pair had chronic URIs and my second group was already sick when I got them. They've always been on a homemade, nutritionally balanced and superfood enhanced diet...but raw would be so cool to try. Then I'd feel guilty for not feeding everyone raw =P Still, I'm intrigued, always looking for a way to improve their lives..