# What to feed my rats?



## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

Hi everyone, 
i currently feed them a rat food mix from the petshop with rat nuggets from pets at home and fresh fruit and veg, but i read a thread and said none of this is anygood. But then museli mixes cause rats to pick out the bits they like and leave the bits they dont, i want them to have a healthy, tasty and balanced diet.
Can someone please point me in the right direction.
Kindest regards x x


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

I feed a similar mix to this, they seem to be thiving on it.
Shunamite Rats


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

Do your ratties leave alot hun? 
I have my old boy reggie roo hes 3, my 11 week old boy morty and my two girlies at 13 weeks belle and delilah.. 
i want it to be suitable for all four, i really dont care what it takes money, time, so be it. They are very healthy roos and i want to keep that going.


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## Argent (Oct 18, 2009)

Most rats will generally eat everything in the shunamite mix, at least mine did when I used it.


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## thedogsmother (Aug 28, 2008)

Argent said:


> Most rats will generally eat everything in the shunamite mix, at least mine did when I used it.


Yes mine do too Argent, they eat the lot and they seem to enjoy it all too.


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

hi everyone, 
can someone tell me a supermarket that does one of the base food please?

* Burgess Supa Fruiti Rabbit
* Harrisonï¿½s Banana Rabbit Brunch

# Burgess Supa Natural
# Mr Johnson's Supreme Rabbit Mix (with fruit)


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## siberiankiss (Sep 24, 2010)

I feed a home made mix based on the principles of 'straights' (minimally processed grains) because I hate the extruded biscuits you find in commercial foods. I would say that the original Shunamite mix is a good starting block, though. 

If you wanted to carry on feeding a 'ready to go' commercial mix - Xtravital is supposedly the best one to use.


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## spoiled_rat (Mar 24, 2008)

I would avoid Pets @ Home and Burgess nuggets like the plague though....as they seem to be a common factor in causing lumps in both sexes quite a lot of us have noticed, most likely due to the cheap chicken 'extrusions' etc.


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

oh dear :O is burgess still a trustworthy brand even though there nuggets arent good?



spoiled_rat said:


> I would avoid Pets @ Home and Burgess nuggets like the plague though....as they seem to be a common factor in causing lumps in both sexes quite a lot of us have noticed, most likely due to the cheap chicken 'extrusions' etc.


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## lil muppet (Apr 4, 2008)

i feed mine the shunamite diet! they LOVE IT and not a scrap is left!!

really glossy coats and healthy! also you can adapt it to what you need! for instance my boys where getting fattus rattus! so i cut out the pasta and they slimmed down slowly but are still great! 

i use any base mix as long as it does not have pellets in it! mine get guinea pig food as their base mix with some tropical bunny


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

so would 
burgess supa rabbit
dog kibble,
shredded wheat, 
pasta, 
be ok? or does this sound pretty boring? what more can i add that is keeping the mix healthy?


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## siberiankiss (Sep 24, 2010)

I would add a greater variety of cereals. 

Also worth noting that the cheap own brand cereals generally have less salt and sugar in than the branded ones. 

Egg noodles are also a good alternative to pasta - which is high in fat and not really the best option for boys, especially tubby ones. 

Might be nice to add some seeds in there too, and maybe some herbs.


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

which seeds and herbs could i add hun?


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## siberiankiss (Sep 24, 2010)

Seed-wise, I would make them only about 5% of the overall mix. Stay away from sunflower seeds. I give linseeds, hemp seeds, safflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

If you're interested, my mix is:

*Base - 65%*
Flaked Barley 
Paddy Rice 
Flaked Corn 
Whole Corn 
Flaked Peas
Buckwheat 
Millet

*Cereals - 5%*
Flaked rice 
Puffed grains
Cornflakes

*Veg & Herbs - 10%*
Dried beetroot
Dried green pepper
Dried red pepper
Dried tomato
Dried carrot
Lemon balm
Spearmint
Dandelion
Raspberry leaves
Dried mixed herbs
White nettle leaf
Echinea
Marigold flowers

*Pulses - 5%*
Blended peas
Chickpeas 
Lentils

*Protein - 10%*
Dog kibble 
EMP
Fish
Bugs/insects 
Soya

*Seeds, nuts, fruit - 5%*
Locust bean pieces
Currants 
Berries (vary) 
Linseed 
Hemp 
Pumpkin seed
Safflower seed 
Dried apple

Note that if you wanted to try a straights-based mix like mine, you'd need to supplement the rats with Dr Squiggles and Calivet.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

A good site to get most of what you need to make your own mix
ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs


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## princesslea (Jul 6, 2010)

Kazzii-Loves-Ratties said:


> so would
> burgess supa rabbit
> dog kibble,
> shredded wheat,
> ...


I also feed my own version of the shunamite diet but I mix mine from scratch, a lot of it is personal preference when it comes to variety. If your really interested you could get a copy of "The scuttling Gourmet" by Alison Campbell. I'm interested in feeding for health and condition and found this book to be really helpfull. It can become a real mine field when choosing the correct base mixes, cereals, seeds e.t.c but this book has helped me put together an excellent mix, ensuring that my gorgeous fuzzies get all the vitamins and nutrition they need.

If your using a rabbit food as a base I have found a lot of them (the recommended ones) can only be sourced on the internet, I've yet to find Harrisons Banana Brunch in the shops. Pets at home do the Burgess fruit mix though.


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

princesslea said:


> I also feed my own version of the shunamite diet but I mix mine from scratch, a lot of it is personal preference when it comes to variety. If your really interested you could get a copy of "The scuttling Gourmet" by Alison Campbell. I'm interested in feeding for health and condition and found this book to be really helpfull. It can become a real mine field when choosing the correct base mixes, cereals, seeds e.t.c but this book has helped me put together an excellent mix, ensuring that my gorgeous fuzzies get all the vitamins and nutrition they need.
> 
> If your using a rabbit food as a base I have found a lot of them (the recommended ones) can only be sourced on the internet, I've yet to find Harrisons Banana Brunch in the shops. Pets at home do the Burgess fruit mix though.


I second this, The Scuttling Gourmet is a good read


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## magpie (Jan 3, 2009)

If you want to go down the 'straights' route, you may find this thread from the fancy rats forum a useful read: Fancy Rats • View topic - The simplest/easiest straights based diet?. It basically gives a really simple recipe and tells you exactly what to buy and in what quantities to make your own mix at home.

And I second simplysardonics suggestion of the ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs site; they sell practically everything you could ever want and always post deliveries out really quickly :thumbup:


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

Hun would you mind telling me how much of each ingredient you add please?



siberiankiss said:


> Seed-wise, I would make them only about 5% of the overall mix. Stay away from sunflower seeds. I give linseeds, hemp seeds, safflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.
> 
> If you're interested, my mix is:
> 
> ...


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## Kazzii-Loves-Ratties (Feb 10, 2011)

this is an amazing site thanks for the link, iv ordered .



simplysardonic said:


> A good site to get most of what you need to make your own mix
> ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs


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## manic rose (Mar 12, 2011)

simplysardonic said:


> A good site to get most of what you need to make your own mix
> ratRations.com, Rat food, base mixes and herbs


looks a useful site, thanks :thumbup:


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## princesslea (Jul 6, 2010)

Kazzii-Loves-Ratties said:


> Hun would you mind telling me how much of each ingredient you add please?


I use a mug to measure all my ingredients which I class as 10% so for example if your measuring out your base mix and your need 60% I would use 6 mugs, 10% = 1 cup and 5%= 1/2 a cup e.t.c

I normally make up a few batches of food using different cereals, grains each time, this provides a good variety of food....they get better fed than I do!!


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