[Rattenstein]

I was wondering if anyone knows some good things to give my baby rats, they're between 4 and 5 weeks old and I thought eating nothing but oxbow pellets was probably pretty boring. I tried giving them a small slice of carrot, but they didn't seem to really like it, Burrowsworth nibbled it a bit and Tumbleton wouldn't even taste it. Then I tried some unsweetened cinnamon oatmeal (a reserved spoonful from my breakfast) which was a big hit with them. I don't have a whole lot of stuff around, but I have frozen peas, 'spring mix' salad, various squashes, apples, eggs, brown rice, broccoli, pasta, roasted chicken and cream of rice. I know I shouldn't feed them TOO much extra stuff because they are still getting used to real food (I got them Thursday and was told they had just been weaned a couple days before), but would these things be ok for them?
Also, can rats eat plantains? I tried searching online but didn't really find anything, I really like these roasted plantain chips from Trader Joes, they contain plantains, sunflower oil, and salt, and I wanted to know if I could share with them.

-Thanks

 

[ratbasket]

A little bit of veggies and fruits are good, the peas, apples (no cores) egg, broccoli, pasta (cooked or uncooked), and the bones from roast chicken are all things I have fed my rats in the past, though they are older than yours, I wouldn't give them more than about half a tablespoon per day starting out so they don't get tummy aches. good luck with your new rats!

 

[Isamurat]

The main rules with rat treats are;
*not too many - try and keep them to less than 5% of the diet or less
*not too salty - i avoid anything with added salt or thats a salty food
*not too sweet - sugar can cause issues with teeth longer term, rats cant brush there teeth
*not too fatty or calorific - not so bad as babies but as they get older they can get chubby easily, especially males

My other personal rule is to make the treats do something. So in the case of babies they need lots of protien to grow strong, they also need extra calcium and other vits and minerals to form well. So i feed high protien treats such as pumkin seeds, sunflower seeds, natural cat kibble, natural puppy/kitten treats, dreid mealworms/fish, bits of fish and chicken etc. I also feed cooked bones often and they get a good mixture of veg a couple times a week which is mainly dark green leafy veg with some colourful stuff thrown in. I start small and build it up

 

[Rattenstein]

Okay, thanks! I gave them each one piece of dog kibble, which they eagerly snatched from my fingers, then later I gave them a leg bone from the cooked chicken, they seem to like it a lot. I think we have kale in the garden, so I might give them a little of that, might wait until tomorrow though, don't want to give them belly aches.