[Ratty_123]

Hello! I am planning to change my rats feeding schedule. Does this look good?

(Dry food is a mix of oxbow, mazuri, oxbow garden select, and science selective)

Monday: Veggies
Tuesday: Dry Food Only
Wednesday: Fruits
Thursday: Dry Food Only
Friday: Veggies
Saturday: Dry Food Only
Sunday: Scrambled Eggs

What do you guys feed your rats? I just want to make sure I’m feeding them the best diet possible! Thank you and have a great day! 🐀💛

Please let me know if I can improve anything! I’m open to any questions and advice!!

 

[Cheesefather]

Hello! I am planning to change my rats feeding schedule. Does this look good?

(Dry food is a mix of oxbow, mazuri, oxbow garden select, and science selective)

Monday: Veggies
Tuesday: Dry Food Only
Wednesday: Fruits
Thursday: Dry Food Only
Friday: Veggies
Saturday: Dry Food Only
Sunday: Scrambled Eggs

What do you guys feed your rats? I just want to make sure I’m feeding them the best diet possible! Thank you and have a great day! 🐀💛

Please let me know if I can improve anything! I’m open to any questions and advice!!

Hey! The breeders I've talked to say that mixes should not be used without professional nutrition education. Making your own recipe or using one online will absolutely lead to imbalances in nutrition and it's better to feed only a lab block. In addition, rats can't have no lab block at all on a consistent basis. Eggs, veggies, and fruits do not satisfy their nutritional needs. Good news, they don't get tired of a lab block! It would be best to just use Oxbow Adult Rat, since Mazuri is too high in protein and Garden Select does not meet nutritional needs. That's the best diet possible! Science Select is also good, but if you have access to Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat, that's the best food out there!

 

[LT_2022]

IMO, I view fruits and veggies and other things more like treats. The main daily diet should be the block food (Oxbow, etc). Some fruit, veggie, etc daily is ok but not too much.

 

[Ratty_123]

Hey! The breeders I've talked to say that mixes should not be used without professional nutrition education. Making your own recipe or using one online will absolutely lead to imbalances in nutrition and it's better to feed only a lab block. In addition, rats can't have no lab block at all on a consistent basis. Eggs, veggies, and fruits do not satisfy their nutritional needs. Good news, they don't get tired of a lab block! It would be best to just use Oxbow Adult Rat, since Mazuri is too high in protein and Garden Select does not meet nutritional needs. That's the best diet possible! Science Select is also good, but if you have access to Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat, that's the best food out there!

Thank you so much! Once I run out of food, I'll buy a couple of bags of only oxbow essentials adult rat food.

 

[Ratty_123]

IMO, I view fruits and veggies and other things more like treats. The main daily diet should be the block food (Oxbow, etc). Some fruit, veggie, etc daily is ok but not too much.

Thank you!

 

[CorbinDallasMyMan]

I agree, I would give them access to their pellet every day. You can give them a little bit of vegetable or egg or whatever in addition to the pellets on different days.

 

[Cheesefather]

Thank you so much! Once I run out of food, I'll buy a couple of bags of only oxbow essentials adult rat food.

Of course!! I'm really glad you want to do the best for your rats, I almost made a mix once before I found out just lab blocks were better. A mix seems better since you're giving them a variety, but ultimately they'll usually feed selectively and they still get enrichment from a lab block! Good luck, always pleasant talking to you! 💕

 

[LT_2022]

Thank you so much! Once I run out of food, I'll buy a couple of bags of only oxbow essentials adult rat food.

Chewy sells a 20 lb bag of the Essentials Adult food which is probably more cost effective than a small 3 lb or 6 lb bag if you have multiple rats.

 

[Cheesefather]

Chewy sells a 20 lb bag of the Essentials Adult food which is probably more cost effective than a small 3 lb or 6 lb bag if you have multiple rats.

Yep! It lasts me quite a while with 3 rats.

 

[CorbinDallasMyMan]

The 20 lb bags are great if you have a larger mischief! That's what I buy when I have 5 or more rats.

Dry food doesn't stay fresh forever, though. I try not to purchase more than a couple months supply of food at a time (a little more if it can be stored in the freezer). Once the bag has been opened, dry food will start to lose nutrients, go stale, or even go bad. If you only have 2 or 3 rats, a 20 lb bag of food will last 7 to 10 months. Imagine eating a bowl of 10 month old Cheerios.

The smaller bags of Oxbow end up costing a little more per pound but I think it's worth it to provide healthy, fresh food. If you do the math, it only ends up costing a dollar or two more a month per rat to purchase the smaller bags.

 

[Cheesefather]

The 20 lb bags are great if you have a larger mischief! That's what I buy when I have 5 or more rats.

Dry food doesn't stay fresh forever, though. I try not to purchase more than a couple months supply of food at a time (a little more if it can be stored in the freezer). Once the bag has been opened, dry food will start to lose nutrients, go stale, or even go bad. If you only have 2 or 3 rats, a 20 lb bag of food will last 7 to 10 months. Imagine eating a bowl of 10 month old Cheerios.

The smaller bags of Oxbow end up costing a little more per pound but I think it's worth it to provide healthy, fresh food. If you do the math, it only ends up costing a dollar or two more a month per rat to purchase the smaller bags.

Nevermind, I was wildly off. I don't get 20lb, I get 3lb

 

[CorbinDallasMyMan]

Nevermind, I was wildly off. I don't get 20lb, I get 3lb

lol!

Chewy sells a 20 lb bag of the Essentials Adult food which is probably more cost effective than a small 3 lb or 6 lb bag if you have multiple rats.

When did they start selling 6 lb bags?! That's sorta perfect.

I've noticed that my local PetSmart often has a "buy one get the second one half-off" sales on the 3 lb bags and that makes the price per lb pretty nice!

 

[LT_2022]

When did they start selling 6 lb bags?! That's sorta perfect.

Chewy? Not sure when they started selling it. I noticed the 6 lb option when I ordered food last week.

Storing the open bag in an air tight container would help keep the food from getting stale quickly. I have to keep my rat food in a container because one of my cats wants to eat it for some reason 😲

 

[Ratty_123]

I agree, I would give them access to their pellet every day. You can give them a little bit of vegetable or egg or whatever in addition to the pellets on different days.

Oops! Sorry that wasn't clear, they have access to their pellet food every day and they get whatever veggies, fruits, or eggs in addition on that day. I hope that made sense.

 

[LT_2022]

FYI, Chewy does not have a 6 lb bag of Oxbow Essentials Adult. The 6 lb option listed gets you two 3 lb bags I added the 6 lb option to a future order and it shows up at two 3 lb bags.

Oops! Sorry that wasn't clear, they have access to their pellet food every day and they get whatever veggies, fruits, or eggs in addition on that day. I hope that made sense.

Then your rats' diet sounds fine