RatPalace.com - Pet Rat Care and Discussion

Sat Sep 18, 2004 5:29 am

20% is borderline too high, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. The standard for lab blocks, Harlan-Teklad, has a range of 14% to 19% for their different lab block formulae.

As far as the "vegetable" pasta--there's not much vegetable matter in there, to be honest. For example, let's talk about the green "spinach" pasta.

*Victor adjusts his mortarboard then taps a big stick on the blackboard*

If you go to the USDA National Nutrient Database and enter "spinach" we can take a look at what the nutritional value of spinach is and compare it to the label.

Select "Spinach, raw" then deselect "100 grams" and select one leaf (ten grams). The next page gives you a complete breakdown on what the nutritional value is--notice one leaf will have 10 mg of calcium, 56 mg of potassium, 2.8 mg of vitamin C, and 938 IU's of vitamin A, among other nutrients. These quantities are enough for them to be listed on the nutrition information label, so if you read it...

...they're not listed, which means there aren't enough of them in the food to qualify as having to be listed. That's not to say there isn't spinach in it, but there's not even a total of one spinach leaf in that entire package.

OTOH, our rats love their pasta, too. So if they eat it, I say keep giving it to them! I just like pretending I'm a teacher sometimes

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Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Sat Sep 18, 2004 2:45 pm

My rats get both cooked and hard pasta, hard stuff in their food (Suebees) and cooked stuff as a treat. I've never had a problem with broccoli or any other veggie. I know rats can um....pass gas? So maybe that's how they solve that problem? Any info is appreciated.

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Sun Sep 19, 2004 5:16 am

We give them both raw and cooked pasta. Usually raw, and cooked if we give them some of what we had. As far as broccoli, our rats love it, but they don't get it every day. I don't think they get it every week. Don't worry about gas buildup. If it can't come out of one end, it'll come out the other, and you'll know it.

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Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.

Wed Sep 22, 2004 12:08 am

Hi guys,

I found this article and have decided to boycot most Kaytee products. I now check every rat food label for this ingredient they call "E" (ethyoxyquin)

http://www.rattyrat.com/reviews/foodkaytee.html

Wed Sep 22, 2004 10:48 pm

I feed my rats Kaytee one in a while, but only if I'm out of Harlan and my new order hasn't came in yet. :rolls eyes: Where I live there is no real quality food avalible, I have to order Harlan offline.

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I write down everything I want to remember. That way, instead of spending a lot of time trying to remember what it is I wrote down, I spend the time looking for the paper I wrote it down on.
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Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:09 am

My first question is, is it better to feed my rats 3 times a day and only in small portions as if it were a "meal'? Or is it better to have a dish full of food and then on occasion give them small meals? It seems as if some people feed their rats like a dog or cat periodically during the day in meal portions and some seem to leave food in a bowl for them to eat when they are hungry.

Also in Soubee's(sp?) Diet it mentions lab blocks, is this the bag of dog food? or the Dog biscuits?

Also, any suggestions on diets, treats, feeding arrangments or anything that may help me when it comes to feeding rats is appreciated. ( I have 4 boys; 2 babies (2-3 months) and 2 big boys (7-8 months).)

Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:20 am

Rats (or any caged animal, really) should never be left totally without food. A dish of dry food should be available at all times, but TRY not to cave in when they eat only their favorite bits and leave the rest. Mr. Green

I am currently going into day 3 of not replacing the dry food in the mouse cages until they eat at least a bit more and not just the "good parts". I feel awful but am standing firm.

The lab blocks in Suebee's Mix refer to the processed food fed to lab rodents. Many rodents think they are crap. I agree, they taste like dirt mixed with dog food. Yuck

As to more suggestions, try a forum search here on "diet" and "nutrition" and even "Subee's Mix" and you should get tons of ideas and info!

It'll be good reading. Oh, and search on "treats", too.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:48 pm

I keep dry mix (Suebee's) in the cage at all times. Usually it takes them a couple days to finish it off, and like Kate, I don't refill until it's empty. Each night they get a bowl of veggies, fruits and some other misc treat leftover from dinner.

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Christy
RP Admin
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Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:24 pm

The Kaytee Yogurt Chips have the same Ethoxyquin ingredient in them. Does this mean I can no longer give my rats their beloved Yogies? Or is there a different brand of yogies that everyone else uses? Just curious.

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My Boys:

Napoleon, Atilla, Columbus

My Girl:

Paris and her nine new babies!

Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:34 am

I don't use the Kaytee yogurt drops, mine are the 8in1 brand. Nice container!

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Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:13 pm

I've recently made the swich to SueBees. but also just as I decided I wanted SueBees for my girls... Hannaford has decided to discontinue soy nuts in the bulk... the snack one in the bags have little quanity and are expensive. I haven't checked out the health food stores... i've figured they'll be expensive there also... are there any alternets I could use... ? what about Pine Nuts?

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Merry and The Sunflower Thieves!

Lyric Bean, Emma Kaboodle, and Harley Quinn the rex head.

To all those who have crossed the bridge before us...
Piper Monkey
Princess Zelda "It's beautiful here!, you should see me now, I'm perfect."

Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:33 pm

I believe the soynuts are, in part, there to add vitamin K, so I'd be sure to replace it with something that also contains this vitamin.

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Tue Oct 05, 2004 3:41 pm

For all you Kaytee users without other options, remember, there is the alternative of Suebee's mix which you can find at your local grocery and it's fairly cheap too. And you can make it in bulk - I make mine so that one batch lasts a month.

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Christy
RP Admin
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Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Tue Oct 05, 2004 8:29 pm

	Christy wrote:
	For all you Kaytee users without other options, remember, there is the alternative of Suebee's mix

I'd agree with Christy - If you can't get some other kind of food, take a look at Suebee's diet or something similar - its easy enough to get half a dozen boxes of cereals, some dog kibble and the other bits and bobs to make it up.

Also, I have bought (before I went onto homemixed food) 2Kg and 15Kg bags of food online. Its worth checking to see if any of them can deliver to you for a reasonable cost. For example, you can get Oxbow pellets online (http://www.oxbowhay.com/showProduct.sp?PRODUCT_NO=75) (though they appear to be out of stock at the moment).

I cheat with yoggies - I give them human yoggie drops from an organic food shop... no additives there.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Tue Oct 05, 2004 10:15 pm

Trinity,

if you're considering Harlan blocks by mail order, there's a website www.theratshop.com that charges only about $1.00 a pound for various types of Harlan lab blocks. There's also shipping, but if you order a few or more bags (consider freezing them) the shipping cost kind of averages out to not so bad.

carolyn, kiwi and stripes

Sat Oct 16, 2004 5:01 am

Does anyone know anything about SunSeed Brand Rodent blocks? Are they safe?

It's what I feed both my rats and mice, along with their mix (half petstore mix, half home-mixed) and veggies/fruits.

Fri Oct 29, 2004 2:32 am

Ok i just was wondering couyld someoine crush up our vitamins and give them to rats?? As i take muiltivitamins and some friut and vegtitable vitamins and just thought if rats can have them Confused

Fri Oct 29, 2004 2:51 am

you would have to be careful not to overdose them. I think some people have used kids vitamis, but you can get Ferretvite which has the right nutrients in. However, if you are feeding them a correctly balanced diet they shouldn't need them, unless possibly you are using a homemixed food and need the supplimentation.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon Nov 01, 2004 12:49 am

Hi, i was just wondering if anyone uses this stuff for your rats water.

Oasis
Vita-Drops
Concentrated High Potency MultiVitamins
for Hamsters, Rats, Mice & Gerbils?

I just bought it, but I've never used it before and i was curious if it would help my ratties get all the vitamins they need, or if it is not good for them, etc. Any info would be a big help!

Thanks
Shannon

Mon Nov 01, 2004 4:22 pm

It's unlikely to help your ratties for a few reasons...

1. It may make the water taste funny, so they may drink less.
2. The vitamins lose their potency after 12 hours, so you have to change it and redo the vitamins that often and the rats have to drink it all to get the whole dose.
3. The vitamins have a low bio-availability, so not much is absorbed by the body.

I do use vitamins for ill rats or ones that come to me as rescues and are underweight, have nutrient problems, or injuries. Otherwise a balanced diet should be fine, I do use a fair bit of protein supplements because I've had good results with a higher protein diet, but otherwise I'd concentrate more on the diet end than the supplements.

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Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:55 am

hi im new to the sight an rats aswel,

i owned mice when i was younger but rats are alot diffent im sure. One of my friends use to own rats so i was talking to her tying to learn as much as possible and she told me that she used to feed her rats snails when she came accross them.
So last night when i was out side the groung was moist and i notised a snail, so i picked it up and put it in the cadge and imediatly Raylene took it from me an began smashing it agist the bars of the cadge and eating it. Later on i wondered if it was such a good idear after all?
She seems fine but is it realy heatheyto be feeding her snails? Confused

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my rat maby be the run of her littler-a tiny little thing, but she still kicks the family cat's but!

Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:01 am

I would highly suggest against the feeding of snails to rats, especially any you find outside. You never know what they have been crawling over that may have pesticides on it. And it's just my personal belief that no live animal should be fed to another on purpose - no matter what it is. She should get everything she needs from the diet you feed her. If you need a good diet check out Suebee's Diet.

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Christy
RP Admin
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Frodo, Zorro, Erzulie, Maeve, Clara, Molly & Emily

Thu Nov 11, 2004 7:56 am

i went out tonight and got some things for my new rats and picked up some alfalfa cubes.

the brand was rainbow pets? something like that i know it had rainbow in it.

well anyway i wanted to make sure it was alright to give it to them.

the package said for small animals and rodents. they are greenish brownish hard blocks.

Thu Nov 11, 2004 8:23 am

No. Alfaalfa cubes are indegistibale to rats. It was good of you to ask though, your a great rattie mom!

Thu Nov 11, 2004 5:41 pm

Whoa, timeout on the "indegestible" bit!

Alfalfa is mostly fiber. Almost *all* fiber is indegestible, but it's a necessary aid for good digestion (that is, the process of digestion) in a lot of God's li'l creatures.

After all, birds swallow pebbles, which are certainly not digestible, to aid digestion. Hay, like alfalfa and other grasses, is not digestible, but try to raise a healthy horse, guinea pig, or rabbit without feeding them hay. Cows eat undigestible grass all day, as do geese.

It's a common misconception that "undigestible" fiber is not good for you. That misconception is just plain WRONG.

All that being said, alfalfa is actually quite high in calcium (something *else* that is not digestible, BTW) and for that reason it's not recommended as part of the everyday diet for smaller mammals (I'm not sure about rabbits, but it's a no-no for guinea pigs), as it can lead to kidney and bladder stones. I give my piggies some every now and then as a treat, tho.

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Victor, Bandit, and Sparrow's Sweeties: Neiko & Roo. Sparrow's Boys: Oliver, Arthur, and Rabskuttle. The fRAT Boys: Jim, Jack, and George.
Good night, Witter, Kono, Rat, Olie, Metro, Calle, Mr. Ratburn, Arwen, Leather, Ohana, Zoe, Misto, and Kanga.