[zimmyzam]

Until I can get ahold of better food, it looks like my ratties (when I get them) will be having some Kaytee's blocks. If I'm right, then corn is NOT a good thing for rats...? But every food package I pick up seems to have that first or second on the ingredients list, and Kaytee's affordable. For now.

I can't really get much anything else, unless there's cheaper, because this is coming out of a 15 year old's pocket that has no income except the occasional babysitting cash from her parents. And I had to buy the cage, which emptied by wallet by alot... So until I can get more mulah, I'm going to have to feed them Kaytee or something similar. Is this okay for a short amount of time? Say, about a month?

 

[cjshrader]

You can't do the dog foods everyone has recommended? I imagine they'll be cheaper overall.

It's not so much that corn is bad for rats, it's that they don't really digest it so it's wasted food. If a mix or anything is mostly corn, that means they just dumped it full of the cheapest thing they could find (Corn), which isn't going to help your rat at all.

Actually, you should be able to get Harlan Teklad, considered the best, for fairly cheap from many places online. How much money do you have? I think it only costs me like $22 for 15 pounds of the stuff, and you won't need that much unless you can afford it (I actually freeze half of what I order for the future, and the other half goes into a double batch of Suebee's mix)


Whoo, 500th post!

Edit: Oh, I also believe there is some suspicion of the Kaytee food having an agent in it known to cause cancer in rats.

 

[splinter]

It's WHOLE corn kernels. Plain corn in blocks is fine. Reggie Rat is good, and cheaper then Kaytee i believe...I've heard good things about Vitakraft Rat Menu. It's 2 bucks for a 14 oz. bag.

I can relate...Splinter and Tweezer are coming out of a completely broke 14 year old Luckily, mom loves the rats good enough to help...

 

[Forensic]

Even ground corn is just a filler in most any food. Reggie Rat has alfalfa and I'm not too sure about Vitakraft...

If you can afford the dog food + Suebee's that would be better, or HT if you can order online.

Also, if you cannot afford the food, will you be able to take them to the vet?

 

[zimmyzam]

Oh perfect. I was wondering whether Vitakraft was good or not.

Okay, corn=uselss.

Oh, you lukcy duck. I might have the teensiest buit of financial support from my brother (a softy for animals deep down, but looks nowhere near like it), i.e. he'll buy the hideyhouse or something, but other than that, my parents don't want to have to pay at all. They'll warm up to the ratties, though ^-^ It's obvious.

And I can't order anything online, seeing as it would take time to get here. I'm prolly getting the ratties REALLY SOON. As in maybe today.

And, right now I can physically hold about $26, although mom owes me $11.

Thank you for posting so fast!

(So Kaytee = baaaad, no touchy. Got it.)

 

[zimmyzam]

Yes, I just don't have money NOW. And chances are I'm getting them NOW. Along with everything BUT the cage, which I already have ^w^

I'm going to put some money away every month for me not to touch for the vet, and I'm pretty sure my parents will cave and help out with that sort of thing, especially if it's an emergency.

 

[cjshrader]

Well, I'll skip the obvious concerns of you not having enough money for proper veterinary attention before you get your rats.

I think you could easily make a batch of Suebee's for $26, and it'll last you a long long time. Since you won't have the time to get the Harlan Teklad lab blocks, you'll need to get one of the recommended dog foods and mix that in with the grain mix portion of the mix. 50% of each. Most of what you need you can get at a grocery store, and then the dog food can probably be found in most pet stores.

 

[zimmyzam]

I know, I know. Vet funds. And I'm furiously working on it. But I've told them time and time again, and they just nod, and it seems like if I give all my money towards it and actually make a huge effort in paying up, they can deal out a loan.

Untill I get my next 'paycheck', this Friday, I'm prolly gunna stick to things I can buy directly at the petstore and THEN get the fancy stuff.

They have something at Target, but I don't know anything about the brand (it looks really new, I haven't seen it there before) so I'm avoiding it untill I find out about it. But that would be nice, since I have a giftcard there :3

 

[splinter]

What brand is it? The target food, that is. And for vet care: Every time I get ANY kind of money, I take 10 percent and put it off in a little jar for vet funds. Even if it's a dollar, and I can only put off 10 cents.

 

[cjshrader]

If you must get a lab block from the pet store then go for Mazuri. Since you can't make the grain mix of Suebee's, there's no reason to get the dog food just now.

If you can't get Mazuri, then I'm not sure what to suggest. I'd have to go back to suggesting Suebee's.

 

[zimmyzam]

Okay, there's not much of a selection at Petco, other than Kaytee's. Every brand that looked better for them didn't have any rat food D= So I ended up getting a little bag of some seed mix, but the rat blocks at target seem better than these...

AND GUESS WHO GOT TWO PINK EYED WHITE BUNDLES OF JOOOOOOOY???!!!!

 

[DFW_Rat_Luvr]

awww congRATS!!!!!

I know how badly youve wanted them

Enjoy!

 

[zimmyzam]

XD Thank you!

Awww... They're labeled "small", and they ARE pretty small. One's smaller than the other, and the older one has this funny 'dent', or kink, or whatever, in her tail. The bigger one fear pooped about ten times over in the little box, but the smaller one didn't spill a drop of bodily fluid and is a bit more comfortable with me. Quite the cuties ;3 Too bad I can't get any pics of them yet.

They were in better living conditions than the ones at Petsmart-a bigger cage with a cagemate, little things to chew on, and something of a toy. And they didn't seem QUITE as scared as the two petsmart ones. I was hoping for one hooded or blue one, though, instead of two whites XP

Ah well. If we didn't go today, it wouldn't probably been another two weeks before we made any progress.

Their cage is rather bland, but it IS huge, and they seem so tiny in it. I'll have to make some stuff/get some more money (I still have a mini treasuretrove of quarters weighing down my purse o-o).

 

[justmudtrout]

Just wanted to make this note: "Small rats" are not small-rats. Rats are rats. Pet stores will label different age groups of rats as small, medium, and jumbo (or something to that effect) so that people looking for feeders know which size to purchase for their reptile. You might know that but I just wanted to make sure lol.

 

[Poppyseed]

Aww, I want a PEW someday ): And an agouti, and a black self and more black hoods for my collection >_> And a rex, and and an.... well I just love rats lol.

But seriously, there is something special about those rats without special markings that people tend to look over. I think a little top eared agouti boy would be absolutely adorable! I also would adore a PEW someday as the majority of people tend to view them as creepy and more food worthy ):

 

[simbakitten]

i dont understand wht people dont like PEW's i think there cute