Raw Rats?

[Soka]

I have a few rats and normally I feed them a rodent lab block that is a complete staple diet. It would be nice if it were possible to get my rats on an organic raw diet, but I'm wondering if that is possible. I have asked this question before to some fellow herp enthusiasts and they recommended I stick with the block food as it is the only way to assure proper nutrition.

Any thoughts?

[Veganforlife]

Check this thread out:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?t=34987&highlight=rats

[Soka]

Thanks! :D

[RawKnitster]

Since we started feeding my daughter's rat fresh food she still eats her staple rat food, but not as much. Water consumption also decreased.

Every night she grabs the nuts and seeds, runs back in her cage to bury them. We put the veggies in her bowl. She throws them around. Very funny! She likes red and yellow peppers, kale, broccoli, carrot, peas, tomato, corn on the cob. Her favorites are banana and avocado. I give her a small slice of banana or avocado as a treat. She eats those immediately. Grapes and blueberries are the only other fruits she likes. She's a picky eater.

Your rats are going to love getting fresh food.

[Soka]

Remy, my hairless, loves broccoli. I gave it to him for the first time last night and he loved it. He took the piece I gave him, scurried down to the bottom of his cage and chomped it down. I then gave him carrot. He took a bite, put it down. Gave him spinach leaf, took a bite, put it down. Gave him another piece of broccoli, he went nuts! I'm trying to hand tame him right now. Any advice on how to do that without him biting me?

We have a rat named Cinnamon (agouti hooded) and she is our shoulder rat. You can place her on your shoulder and go anywhere and she'll sit there content. She is technically my friend's rat but when they moved out of our apartment, they didn't take her with them but plan to soon. We took Cinnamon to petsmart and she rode on my friend's shoulder. People would stop us and ask what she was. A rat, duh! They never knew rats could be trained to sit on you shoulder (we never trained her to, she just likes it up there). We got to do some good "rats make good pets" advocating. It was fun, and I want to be able to do the same with Remy.

[RawKnitster]

That's funny! Rats must have personalities, too. I wonder if Remy will become more affectionate as you start feeding him lots of fresh food and treats. A raw food diet mellows out humans, why not rats, too. Hand feed him treats like banana and avocado, or whatever he likes best. Maybe he will start appreciating you more. If that is successful, how about making him walk up your arm to get it. Our rat won't eat food ourside her cage, she will grab it and run back inside.

I have no expertise on rats, other than what I read in library books on rat care. We got our last year when a friend of a relative couldn't take it to their new apartment.

[Hedi]

How cool to see a thread devoted to ratties! They are amazing pets. I miss ours dreadfully now that they've gone to the Rainbow Bridge. Sweet, smart, sassy little ones ... who always loved fruits and veggies. :)

[Soka]

I am sorry to say that our hairless rat, Remy, has crossed the Rainbow Bridge. A few weeks ago, he developed some sort of illness. We don't know what is was. He got severely dehydrated very fast. We found him in the bottom of his cage, barely moving. I sat with him all morning, giving him fluids via syringe. He began to recover (increased activity, alert, drinking on his own) but by the next day, he began to get shakey. The next morning, we found he had passed during the night. :(

We do have a new rattie though. Her name is Sasha, but she is not hand tame and is rather freaked out by any human being close to her. She will need some work.

[JennaBoBenna]

So sorry to hear about your loss, Soka!

Glad to see you are happy with a new baby. It took a while for my new baby to get used to hands, it definitely takes a lot of time!

[Soka]

She is still very freaked out. I plan on switching her to raw soon. As soon as I go grocery shopping for myself, I'm going to get some for her. Thanks for all your help. :)