[blackula19]

are there any special foods that'll help rats grow faster when they're young, or breed, or provide more nutrients to nursing young, or produce larger litters or anything? this one guy i bought some of my rats from told me that you should give milk to a nursing mother to benefit the babies, does anyone know of any other things like that?

 

[Dawn]

Hi....
I am no pro so maybe you dont want to try the way I feed.
I feed a SuBee's mix, yet I use more stuff.
I always give leftover chicken to my ratties, bones and all
about once a month.
I feed Harlan Teklad lab blocks.
I also give leftover hotdish whenever we have some....only about once every 2 months are there any leftovers since we have a huge family.
My 3 males are almost 1 1/2 yrs old and they are very trim and fit.
Not like some pics I see of huge fat overweight rats.
No offense anyone (sorry)
Their eyes are crystal clear and I am very happy with that and attribute to their diets.

 

[SugarLovesRats]

I feed basically the same things as Dawn. I am wondering though about the nature of your question. Are you planning to breed? Breeding is not something to take lightly. If you are in fact planning to breed I suggest you educate yourself as much as possible and give it some serious thought. Your rats should also have atleast a 3rd generation pedigree in order to be breeding quality and the breeder you bought them from should be willing to mentor you. Sorry if I am jumping the gun, I am just concerned about anyone going into breeding without being fully informed.

 

[blackula19]

trust me, pedigrees are of no concern, i'm feeding snakes, i just want the most possible babies of the largest size and the highest nutritional value, after that, i guess lowering the down time between litters would also be of benefit. thanks, though

 

[iravendarknessi]

not to snip or be mean, but perhaps a rat forum where people keep rats as pets isn't the BEST place to state that you're breeding for the purpose of feeding snakes. i don't have a lot of wiggle room to talk as I do have a snake myself, however, my two ratties are pets not food. i decided to join this forum because the people here consider rats pets - don't get me wrong, i love the herpers, but i like the rats just as much.
http://www.rcreptiles.com/forum/index.php is a great forum for all kinds of herps and many of the people there are commertial herp breeders who have large scale feeder breeding as well. They are concerned about the well-being of their rats and mice and will be more likely to share your opinions about rats being food rather than pets.