NOTE: Commercial hamster mix is neither adequate nor suitable for rats! The basic diet should be rat blocks (preferred) which should be available at your local pet shop (Avi-products manufacture such a product). Try to avoid too much corn and protein in your rat’s diet as this can cause allergic skin reactions.
Supplement your rat’s diet with fresh foods like fruits, cooked sweet potato and beans, broccoli, tomato, live-culture yogurt, and as a treat you can give your pet rat MUNCHEEZ which should also be available at your local pet shop (Parrot Puffs are the same thing). Peel or wash or fruits and vegetables very carefully before feeding it to your rat.
Rats love seed and chewy things so a mixture of sunflower seeds (not too many as it’s high in protein), or chew-safe woodblocks (check the parrot section as well in a petshop), or mini rawhide chews are a fun way for your rat to keep his/her teeth in good shape.
The following is a diet that’s been specifically designed for a rat’s daily requirements (do not mix this mix with milk when feeding…it may look like your breakfast cereal, but its just their normal food). Store in an airtight container:
• 200g Puffed Rice
Preferably Health Connection Wholefoods brand, but any brand with the least sodium and sugar content works.• 200g Rolled Oats
Preferably Health Connection Wholefoods Oats or another brand with no added sodium or sugar.• 225g Tri-Coloured Pasta (raw)
Try get the natural flavoured ones (made from tomato, spinach and pumpkin) rather than the artificially coloured ones. Crush them slightly before adding for better mixing.• 150g Sunflower Seeds
Preferably in the shell. Remember, too much protein can cause itchiness.• 125g Puffed Wheat
Bokomo Plain Puffed Wheat; do not get the sugar-coated or flavoured ones.• 100g Special K Flakes (or next available option with lowest sodium & sugar content)
This can be found in in most cereal isles at your local Pick ‘n Pay/Checkers/etc branch.
Fresh fruit and veg should be removed after a few hours in the cage. Never leave perishables uneaten in the cage for more than a few hours or it can go mouldy, attract bugs and cause illness should it spoil and then be consumed.
Find a dry dog food (pellet form) which has no more than 15% protein in it (10%-13% is best – the younger rats have more protein and the older ones less). Add a handful of dog pellets to the home mix.
Check out this PDF document, Dieatry Chart, for a breakdown of the nutritional information on our RN Mix and Hills dog food. Thanks Viia!
roasted soya beans
How to roast your own beans:
Rinse 2 handfuls, then soak for 8 hours, drain and place onto baking tray. Place in preheated oven at 180 degrees Celcius and bake for 15 min. Toss beans, then bake for 5 minute increments until golden brown (it’s easy to char them, so keep an eye out!). Leave to cool, then store in an airtight container close to your rats home.
Can you leave the dog food out and instead give them a bit of chicken once in a while?
I guess you could (I do this myself) but you have to be more vigilent on the amount of protein they’re getting. Remember, younger rats need more protein and older rats can have less 🙂
So how much could you give 2 1 yr old rats and 1 2 yr old rat need? I mean they live together but wouldn’t the older rat (Zooty) try and steal from the other 2 (Squiggle and Hoppsie)?
Yea you would need to feed the older one separately when feeding the extra protein. Best to ask these questions on our forums @ http://forums.www.ratanooga.co.za 🙂
Is the above mentioned home made diet still the best for rats? I have been battling to find a well balanced diet for my ratties and do not think the muesli style ones found in the pet stores such as Reggie Rat are sufficient. My other options are the Burgess Suparat Rat Royale or Supreme Science Selective Rat
Hi I still feed my rats this very mix 🙂
Hi there…
Compared to the Homemade mix on this page..http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html her mix recommendation is at the bottom of the page.
Do you think your mix is adequate and nutritional enough or should we add some more ingredients?
Thank you…
We used information based off the Scuttling Gourmet for this recipe. I agree while it might not give everything, it is a good starting point for rats here in South Africa, where a lot of what we would like to include is not available locally.
This homemade mix does NOT supply all the nutrition rats need. If you want to see a homemade diet that does meet their nutritional needs, see mine at http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html. You’ll see that it includes a lot more than some grains and seeds, and dog food, although it provides protein, it does not have the right balance of vitamins and minerals. Instead I recommend a commercial rat diet supplemented with a wide variety of fruits and veggies.
Hi Debbie
I consider it an honour that you visited my site 🙂 We used information based off the Scuttling Gourmet for this recipe. I agree while it might not give everything, it is a good starting point for rats here in South Africa, where a lot of what we would like to include is not available locally.
Hi there,
Which dog food is best? Let’s say from the hills range… The adult dog food or the puppy?
Also, I mix all my stuff with the Reggie rat food. Is this bad? I don’t know where to find any others.
If I were to use Hills for the dog food, is adult or puppy better? I assume in adult it would just be the advanced fitness?
Thanks 🙂
Best would be to check the ingredients and daily allowances and then pick the one that is better for the rats (lower protein, lower sodium, etc).