I was comparing oxbow regal rat food to harlan teklad and I still can't quite decide on which one to buy. I was leaning towards oxbow's because harlan tecklad's has corn in the ingredients. Then I found out that the website that I was comparing the two on was selling what I think is an old version of oxbow's food. So, on oxbow's website, what I think to be the newer version of their food has inulin in it, which was not in the older one.
So, I researched a little about inulin and it doesn't look so good: http://www.naturalnews.com/022356.html.
Though, is that all the same for rats? I figured becasue both oxbow regal rat food and harlan teklad had what I assume to be very good researchers/scientists working on this and based off most of the ingredients in their foods, I'd be able to trust they new what they where doing... but what about the inulin and corn...? :-\

meh. corn's just a filler kinda ingredient. if there was no corn in the food the blocks would be considerably smaller and less "filling" for the rats, so they would eat more, and be getting too much vitamins and minerals to be a normal maintenance diet. the brown rice, oats, and bran in oxbow is the same thing.

i have never heard of inulin... i just bought a bag of regal rat two days ago and it isn't in the ingredients. :P

That might be helpful, did the bag you bought have a picture of a rat that was coming out of the border of the picture or completely inside? http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail? or http://www.petfooddirect.com/product/7203/Oxbow-Regal-Rat-Food
And corn being a filler doesn't make it okay, in fact I'd say that it makes it worse because theirs more of it. Dry corn is not good for rats as it says here, from the rat fan club:
"Dried corn can contain high levels of fungal contaminates which has been shown to cause liver cancer in rats. Corn also contains high levels of both nitrates and amines. These two compounds can combine in the stomach to form nitrosamines which are carcinogenic. Other foods high in nitrates include beets, celery, eggplant, lettuce, cucumber, radishes, spinach, collards and turnip greens. Therefore, I suggest you limit the amount of these foods in your rat’s diet. Some fresh corn is fine, but if you feed your rats blocks, try to avoid brands which have corn as the first ingredient."
So I still am not sure which to buy... I wonder if it would be best to feed half and half...??

You need to look at it differently than dog or cat food, where corn is a terrible filler. Rats are meant to eat grains, vegetables, fruits, and a small amount of protein. So it is very different for rat food to have corn and wheat in it than for cats and dogs, where it is biologically inappropriate.

About the dried corn, that's just it, dried kernels of corn, are prone to fungus. This is not an issue when ground up and part of the block.

About the nitrates and amines combining, I'm only able to find anything about that with regards to rats, and all of what I'm seeing is just quoting the rat report. Too high a level of nitrates can be bad, I am seeing that, but I am not finding anything else to support this. I did find one report, in an area that had unhealthily high levels of nitrates and nitrites in their water who then pickled vegetables in the water, which by the time it was done only had nitrites left which caused problems. I also found similar evidence that it is nitrites not nitrates that can react with amines, and for the nitrates to convert to nitrites, it appears they need to be left outside to sun dry, be pickled in icky water, etc. Nitrosamines are however found in fish and fish meal.

It is a personal decision but I thought I'd give my thoughts on it :)

If you try to feed half and half they may just pick one, defeating the purpose.

Edited because I didn't finish my sentence lol.

it's the old bag, the one on pfd. i have never seen that new packaging before.

stacy about summed it up, yeah - whole dried kernels of corn are definitely a big nono, but ground corn can be sterilized and autoclaved.

the whole nitrosamines in fish meal thing is why i don't really recommend mazuri foods, unless it's absolutely all you can get.

Wow, thanks both of you for your help, and smesyna, sounds like you researched it, thanks so much! Also it's fine that you gave your thoughts, often they help. ;)
The Oxbow one has Menhaden Fish Meal in it, which has Nitrosamines then right? So I guess that's not good. And if the corn isn't an issue after all in the Harlan one, it's a lot cheaper anyway... hmm...
By the way, doesn't Mazuri have alfalfa in it? I thought rats couldn't digest it.

mazuri does have alfalfa, but it's just another filler. it's not that they can't digest it, they can pass it just fine, it just holds little to no nutritional value to them. it would be like eating cardboard. corn is really the same - unless corn is crushed or ground it comes out in the same form as it goes in, so to speak. ;)

I'm not sure... I herd alfalfa got suck and stayed in a rats intestine or stomach... ??? I'm gonna look it up some more...

I'm not sure... I herd alfalfa got suck and stayed in a rats intestine or stomach... ??? I'm gonna look it up some more...


lol, absolutely not. can you imagine how many people would have accidentally killed their rats if it were true?

but looking into it more will give you more information and piece of mind. :)