# What do you feed your rats?



## MuddyRats (Jul 1, 2017)

I've been looking for a good quality pellet brand for awhile, and was wondering if you have any suggestions?

I've tried Science Selective and Beaphar Care Plus in the past, but my rats left the green Beaphar pellets and they won't eat the Science Selective at all. I've heard mixed reviews about Burgess Rat Royale.

On a daily basis I feed my rats fresh food and a ratrations mix, but I like to keep pellets on hand for if they have to stay over at the vets, or if someone else has to feed my rats (to make it simpler). I'd really like to have a good option available that they enjoy eating and is nutritious without added alfalfa or anything like that.

I'm thinking about switching to pellets and supplementing with fresh food, since my rats also won't eat the small pieces in the ratrations mixes. I tend to find the ratrations mix a bit... Dusty? It's very frustrating trying to get my rats to eat it, they just eat all the large pea flakes etc and leave everything else.


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## Torin. (May 18, 2014)

If you're finding your RR mixes too dusty, I advise letting them know this (they're very friendly!). They had a problem a couple of months back where the mixing of the ingredients had accidentally been set to double what it should have been, resulting in bits being broken into smaller pieces due to all the spinning. However this was only picked up when a customer let them know.

If you're used to highly processed commercial mixes it could also be that some of what you're reading as dust is either some of the powdered ingredients, or inedible husks from small grains and seeds.

Just generally, I'd recommend having a read of the diet section of this website
http://www.isamurats.co.uk/feeding-and-nutrition.html


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## Virgo66 (Jul 29, 2017)

MuddyRats said:


> I've been looking for a good quality pellet brand for awhile, and was wondering if you have any suggestions?
> 
> I've tried Science Selective and Beaphar Care Plus in the past, but my rats left the green Beaphar pellets and they won't eat the Science Selective at all. I've heard mixed reviews about Burgess Rat Royale.
> 
> ...


My brand is burgees which do nuggets which seems to be the best because they can't pick out their favourite pieces as it is all the same I mix dried mealworms in it too just so that they have something different


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

Virgo66 said:


> My brand is burgees which do nuggets which seems to be the best because they can't pick out their favourite pieces as it is all the same I mix dried mealworms in it too just so that they have something different


There is strong evidence to suggest that complete nuggets are a factor in the development of mammary tumours in rats, a much better option is a Shunamite type mix, these can be bought here:

http://www.ratrations.com/
They also sell copies of 'The Scuttling Gourmet' which is the definitive guide to rat nutrition.

This group is also worth joining:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RatCareUK/?fref=ts


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## TheWitcher (Aug 5, 2017)

Rat nuggets are good, my rats will eat anything so I tend to mix food up 1 bag of Nuggets with selective and other healthy dried food they eat, it seems to work for me. and has helped the picky eaters eat more. 

I also make my own using wheat based cereal such as cheerios and dried pasta etc that they seem to love


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

TheWitcher said:


> Rat nuggets are good, my rats will eat anything so I tend to mix food up 1* bag of Nuggets with selective* and other healthy dried food they eat, it seems to work for me. and has helped the picky eaters eat more.
> 
> I also make my own using wheat based cereal such as cheerios and dried pasta etc that they seem to love


If you mean Supreme Science Selective they are classed as nuggets, as it goes they are considered the better quality of all that type of food, but still not as good as a varied mix.

I would avoid Cheerios except as an occasional treat as they are high in sugar.


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## TheWitcher (Aug 5, 2017)

simplysardonic said:


> If you mean Supreme Science Selective they are classed as nuggets, as it goes they are considered the better quality of all that type of food, but still not as good as a varied mix.
> 
> I would avoid Cheerios except as an occasional treat as they are high in sugar.


Unfortunately my rats aren't keen on a varied mix, ( reggie rat etc) which is why I make my own mix of selective and nuggets.

I normally use wholewheat cheerios which have a decrease in sugar I've found. 
But I only use that in a treat mix which I'll add too their bowl around once every 2-3 months.

The rest of the time it's fresh fruit and veg given once every 1-2 weeks


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