# Whats the best food to give breeding rats?



## jo (Jun 29, 2006)

Ive got a few rats that im breeding for food and im currently using rat nuggets from pets at home but im going through loads & its costing a a fortune, so i was wondering what others feed their breeding stock?
Ive heard that some people use dry dog food and rabbit food? 
Is that true?
Any advice is welcome thanks


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## hermanlover (Jul 8, 2007)

well for my mice i feed them breeding pig pellets, it has exactly the same nutrition as the shop bought mouse food, but is a fraction of the price, i get 15kg for 10 quid. i would imagine this would be suitable for rats aswell.


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## jo (Jun 29, 2006)

californiankinglover said:


> well for my mice i feed them breeding pig pellets, it has exactly the same nutrition as the shop bought mouse food, but is a fraction of the price, i get 15kg for 10 quid. i would imagine this would be suitable for rats aswell.


If its ok for rats that would be great, the nuggets ive been using are £6.99 a bag and i go through 2 a week, costs a bomb so anything cheaper is better for me


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## hermanlover (Jul 8, 2007)

jo said:


> If its ok for rats that would be great, the nuggets ive been using are £6.99 a bag and i go through 2 a week, costs a bomb so anything cheaper is better for me


ye i know what you mean, cost me a fortune until i discovered this. and i buy in bulk so it is cheaper again! 

the best thing to do is compare the nutritional information on both the nuggets you feed, and say pig food, and see if they are similar, as long as they are similar i would imagine it is fine, but obviously they still need the fruit etc. 

lee


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## Schip (Mar 31, 2007)

Argo pellets or dried complete dog food at £9.99 per 15kg bag


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## jo (Jun 29, 2006)

thanks guys, so glad there was a alternative. ill have a look at what nutrition is in the nuggets and compare dog food, pig pellets etc.
They get lots of fruit and veg as well which doesnt cost as i nick it from my dads lol


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## roguez (Mar 19, 2007)

i feed my rats a homemade mix called the shunamite diet
Base mix 40-50%: 4-5 scoops/jugs/cups
Dog kibble 10%: 1 scoop/jug/cup
Dried pasta 10%: 1 scoop/jug/cup
Breakfast cereals 30-40%: 3-4 scoops/jugs/cups
for the base i use either wilkos rabbit mix or johnstons rabbit
the dog kibble i use vitalin gold, you can use the pets at home nuggets instead of the dog kibble and that will help make it last longer, as for the cerals and pasta i mainly use the stores home brand products, corn flakes and rice crispies go down a treat

i don't breed rats at all but imo if you feed them a good nutrional feed then surely it would be better for all the animals you can get more info here: Fancy Rats | Information | The Shunamite Diet


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## ladybird (Sep 9, 2006)

Where do you get argo pellets from?


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## SpoonGirl (Nov 16, 2007)

I used to keep rats - I don't know how much I'll help though, since I kept them as pets and not just for breeding. You can get away with regular hamster food etc, but a more varied diet is good - mine loved the rat nuggets, but I didn't feed them exclusively on those as it's not different enough.

Also, seaweed is brilliant for breeding does, so I'd highly reccomend you look up that as an addition to their diet when they're pregant.


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## Schip (Mar 31, 2007)

I feed working dog complete feed along with left overs from the table, well once the guinea pigs, dogs, cats and compost bin have been sorted lol! They do enjoy mealworms and the meaty marrow bones after the dogs have had a chew at them as they can get inside for the extra marrow!


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## Athravan (Dec 28, 2006)

I am using [email protected] nuggets at the moment too, another person recommended Wagg complete dog food to me but I found it gave them diahorrea.


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## bloodcorn (Jul 29, 2007)

hermanlover said:


> well for my mice i feed them breeding pig pellets, it has exactly the same nutrition as the shop bought mouse food, but is a fraction of the price, i get 15kg for 10 quid. i would imagine this would be suitable for rats aswell.


Where do you get the pig pellets from??

I've looked and can't find any :blush:


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

i make my own mix too, although it does require a bit of storage space!!

you will find most of this at your local feed merchants.. give the local horse/tack shop a calll, and ask them who are the feed merchants locally, they tend to know of the main ones..

or yellow pages it.. animal feed suppliers.. agricultural suppliers.. that sort of thing.. even something like hay and straw suppliers.. most of those boys would know where the local feed merchants are..

i use

rolled oats 2 parts
flaked maize 1 1/2 part
flaked pea/bean 1 part
barley 1 part
grass nuts 2 parts
mixed corn 1 part
"breeder pack" dog biscuit 1 part
rabbit food 3/4 part
pig pellet 1 part

i think the most expensive of that are things like flaked bean which is a tenner for a 15 or 20 kilo sack.. and rabbit food, which being already mixed always works out dearer. the dog food is about 6 quid for a 15 kilo sack.. the others range around 5-6 i guess.. most of the sacks are 20-25 kilo.. it makes about 4-5 dustbins of feed.. 

being me and being sad.. i even took a pic last time.. lol..

from the top row.. and left to right.. the green is flaked pea.. next is the rabbit food.. the yellow is the flaked maize. and the pellets on the end are the pig nuts, i use dobson and horrell sow and weaner nuts.

second row down.. left to right. the first is the barley, then next to that, the grainy yellowy mix is the mixed corn, the dark green pellets next are the grass nuts, and they smell lovely i think!. next to that is the dog breeder kibble..and lastly under that is are the rolled oats!










if you hunt down your local produce auctions, you can also do things like by a box of 6 cauli's for £1.50.. or a 10kilo box of brocoli for £4.. so they get that sort of thing too, as well as things like i cook up pasta for the rats.. (29p for 500g - sainsburys basics) and broth grains for the gerbils, mice and multis.. (cheap from aldi/lidl) 

i also buy up whatever is on the reduced counter in the supermarkets.. i know the times the stuff is knocked down at most of the local ones lol.. so they get anything from squid rings the other day.. to bread the week before.. tubs of sandwich spread are much liked too.. bags of salad.. overripe fruit.. all stuff i would not feed as staples, but as occasional foods it gives them something different and tasty from time to time.. the other night they all had pasta and brocoli, mixed with a small amount of rodent mix.. you would not have known i fed it the next day, all gone.. stashed in the food caches or eaten lol..

i think this lot, at the time, cost me under a fiver and kept us, the chickens and the rodents nicely happy 













N


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## pankthesnake (Sep 29, 2007)

At the moment we're using Wagg Bunny Brunch, £7.49 for 15KG from Jolleys Pet Food, along with various left-overs. One bag lasts us about ten days, but we're looking to expand our breeding colony, space permitting, so that will probably drop to about a week.


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## GECKO62 (Jun 12, 2008)

The shunamite diet is the best fancyrat site is the best place to get the nutritional value of it ,we feed our rats that diet but we have ours as pets couldn't breed for food .


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