[Rattyteapots]

While preparing to get rats again in a couple of years I decided to research about home-made mixes (Shunamite mix) I have everything ready besides a base mix. I found one base mix but it's two towns over and my mother would prefer something closer. I was unable to find the certain rat food I needed, so I'm opting to see if any of my local foods are good enough. I knew most of the foods were not okay but I've never seen this brand before. Is it okay for a base mix?

 

[CorbinDallasMyMan]

It looks like it has alfalfa pellets. They're not really rat food and most rats will ignore them. This means that your rats wouldn't be getting the balanced nutrients offered by the mix. Unfortunately, I think most US mixes aren't great. Personally, I'd use a trusted lab block/kibble like Oxbow as the base for a mix.

 

[_L0U_95_]

It looks like it has alfalfa pellets. They're not really rat food and most rats will ignore them. This means that your rats wouldn't be getting the balanced nutrients offered by the mix. Unfortunately, I think most US mixes aren't great. Personally, I'd use a trusted lab block/kibble like Oxbow as the base for a mix.

Yup, agree with this person. I’ve been feeding my rats Oxbow for a while and they like it a lot more than some of the other brands I’ve tried, seems a lot better for them too.

 

[Ratty_123]

View attachment 310435
View attachment 310436
View attachment 310434
While preparing to get rats again in a couple of years I decided to research about home-made mixes (Shunamite mix) I have everything ready besides a base mix. I found one base mix but it's two towns over and my mother would prefer something closer. I was unable to find the certain rat food I needed, so I'm opting to see if any of my local foods are good enough. I knew most of the foods were not okay but I've never seen this brand before. Is it okay for a base mix?

I would not feed this. The best brands to feed are oxbow, mazuri, science selective, and native earth.

 

[Cheesefather]

I would not feed this. The best brands to feed are oxbow, mazuri, science selective, and native earth.

yep! best are oxbow adult rat and science selective (depending on where you are). they're nutritionally complete for any age of rat and they don't get bored of them! you can still feed treats but just a lab block is perfectly okay (and actually preferred) to feed to your rats alone!

 

[Cheesefather]

I did so much research on the shunamite diet and made a whole recipe before learning that it's not good- there's so much info that isn't right or is really old about rats :/