Feeding Rats?

[childreni_440]

Apart from rat pellets what do you guys feed your rats? Is it ok to give them vegies and stuff like that or not? What about bread?

Im asking this because a friend of mine owns a bakery and he gets left over bread both normal and grain stuff, and he said to me if i want it for my rats.

 

[ad]

Hey 440
I feed mine the odd bit of pumpkin - they go crazy for it.
I also feed occassionally sunflower seeds which also fattens them up.
Too many vegies make them smell too much, and messes their substrate quicker.
Never tried bread but there isnt much they won;t eat, I wouldnt use it as their primary diet though.
Cheers
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[africancichlidau]

Yeah, not too sure about bread either. Don't think I would use it personally, JMO though.

 

[childreni_440]

Thanks ad. When you say makes them smell in what way? I use hay for substrate and i have trialed the vegies and they seem to eat 99% and dont leave anything behind.

 

[ad]

No worries 440, their crap is definitely smellier on the vegies v the pellets.
Quite noticeable on a large collection.
I have found different food sources effect the breeding potential, some brands of pellets (hobby pellets and pony pellets) should never be used. Monitor their breeding to make sure they are falling pregnant on time and having a good qty of young and not eating them etc.
Keeping a colony on non-breeding rodents is a real mug's game! lol
Cheers
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[rodentrancher]

Hey guys, we feed our growout ratties heaps of vegies, and yeah it does make for a very smelly lot of woodshavings/sawdust. But its worth it to see that they get lots of good tucker besides the rodent pellets we buy in by the tonne. They also get a lot of fruit as well, the occasional bowl of wheat and also lots of adlib water in bowls. Makes em grow a lot faster than just the water out of the nipple waterers. They love it the little buggas, even go for a swim in their water bowls now and again. Yes they can swim!

 

[childreni_440]

So rodent rancher you say feed the ones Im growing up fruit and vegies and pellets for breeders is this right? Also whats your opinion on bread?

 

[dobermanmick]

Mine get bread just leftovers from the kids lunches and stale stuff They are still alive

 

[herptrader]

Our rodents go ape (figure of speach) over crusts of my home made bread which is very high in grains. They are pretty impressed with crusts of multigrain also. I would not feed them your average white bread... actually I would not feed this to anybody, particularly my family.

The other thing they really go for is bones such as chop and steak bones. They gnaw them down to nothing which I am sure is good for them.

They also get left over vegies and the like.

Their bedding etc. including what is left of any bones goes into the compost heap. They are pretty efficient at breaking down stuff that cannot be added to the compost heap directly.

 

[childreni_440]

would it matter if the bones where raw?

 

[junglemad]

I get old bread for the bakery for $2 a big bread roll bag and i feed my rats and mice on it as well as pellets it is available for them all the time.
I give them a handful of seed when i feed the birds and a handful of guinea pig mix when i feed the guinea pigs.
Fruit shops sell offcuts from vegies and leaves from cabbage and lettuces cheaply near where i live so they get this too, but you have to change the substrate more often as it gets soiled quicker than with just a dry pellet or bread diet.
Bread will keep them alive, but they won't breed as regularly as when you mix things up and vary their diet.

 

[dobermanmick]

I should clarify that bread is just a extra food source for them other then this they get pellets vegies fruit and most scraps from the table .

 

[spooky]

We give ours bread for treats, when we get them our of their tubs to clean, there is some bread for them in the container we put them in, so they look forward to being picked up and placed into another tub, so they are all nice natured.

 

[herptrader]

Re: RE: Feeding Rats?

would it matter if the bones where raw?

I don't but I suspect it would be ok. Mice and Rats will "clean up" the carcases for fallen commrades which is basically fresh meat and bones so I guess there would not be a problem.