# Can you feed rats guinea pig food?



## Animal-Encounters

Asking as i have been doing some internet research on rat diets and wondered if i can use guinea pig food as a base? I then plan on adding cereals, herbs and fresh food.


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## KathyM

Yes you can add guinea pig food as a base. Same as rabbit food. It depends on the brand though - obviously you can't use the complete pellet type diets. If you're making a mix like you describe, you will want to check you feed adequate protein and copper, something that can be got from adding a good low protein dog food to the mix too. :no1:


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## Animal-Encounters

sorry me being dumb but why cant you use the complete pellet type? I use wagg optimum pellets for the base of my guinea pigs diet... so is this a no go for the rat food base? im just over run with so many different animal food bins was hoping to save buying another bin which takes up room!


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## fenwoman

Animal-Encounters said:


> sorry me being dumb but why cant you use the complete pellet type? I use wagg optimum pellets for the base of my guinea pigs diet... so is this a no go for the rat food base? im just over run with so many different animal food bins was hoping to save buying another bin which takes up room!


 HAve you got rabbits? I feed my rats a rabbit mix, plus I add dog kibble and sunflower seeds. I mean, what do wild rats eat? Anything and everything.My lot get the mix as a base and any table scraps, the occasional pouch of cat food, stale bread, and biscuits which went soggy, the bones from the joint, chop bones and anything else besides. Yesterday the one cage got to clean my pyrex dish for me which had the remains of a bread and butter pudding in it stuck to the sides. They make excellent pre-washers to get hardened and burnt on food off things before they go in the dishwasher.:lol2:


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## LisaLQ

I think you *could* use the nuggets theoretically (eg it wouldn't do them any harm), but a mix is better as it gives them more variety and interest.


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## Animal-Encounters

that would be good. the nuggets already have a mix of the flaked food in for variety for the pigs so was gonna use this and add cheerios cereal and some dog food and fresh food daily.


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## mattm

A rabbit food or guinea pig mix is much better than a pellet as a base for rat food. A pellet means they are forced to eat everything whereas the mix allows them to avoid the bits that, as a species they wouldn't really eat as much as rabbits or pigs would.

My main concern would be that guinea pig food is usually much higher in Vitamin C than rabbit food.


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## cpiggott22

mattm said:


> My main concern would be that guinea pig food is usually much higher in Vitamin C than rabbit food.


I read this thread earlier this morning and have been mulling this one over myself. I honestly don't know if high levels of vitamin C can cause health issues in rats but am I right in thinking it has been linked to health issues in humans?? I would be wary purely because I worry about all long term foods which go into my animals. I wouldn't worry too much in the short term but I'd be inclined to use a rabbit food as a more permenant base instead just to be sure really. Alternatively, you can buy a grain mix as a base, there are websites where you can buy it all ready mixed up for you.

.....of course, if high vit C levels aren't a problem then just ignore me entirely!

ETA: I'd avoid cheerios as the main cereal, they're very high in sugar. The low sugar cereals I use are tesco's own cornflakes and rice crispies, weetabix, ryvita, zero salt rice cakes and Jumbo oats (I think they're Quakers). There is a full list of 'safe' cereals available on another forum so I'll try and dg it out if you like?


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## fenwoman

mattm said:


> A rabbit food or guinea pig mix is much better than a pellet as a base for rat food. A pellet means they are forced to eat everything whereas the mix allows them to avoid the bits that, as a species they wouldn't really eat as much as rabbits or pigs would.
> 
> My main concern would be that guinea pig food is usually much higher in Vitamin C than rabbit food.


 Matt it's impossible to overdose on vitaminC as it is soluble. Anything the body doesn't need simply gets peed out. Goes for humans as well as animals.


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## fenwoman

cpiggott22 said:


> I read this thread earlier this morning and have been mulling this one over myself. I honestly don't know if high levels of vitamin C can cause health issues in rats but am I right in thinking it has been linked to health issues in humans??


 Quite the opposite actually. Vitamin C has been linked to helping alleviate all kinds of diseases. For years I took mega high vitaminC (more than 1000mg per day) and I believe it's one of the reasons I'm never ill.


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## cpiggott22

fenwoman said:


> Quite the opposite actually. Vitamin C has been linked to helping alleviate all kinds of diseases. For years I took mega high vitaminC (more than 1000mg per day) and I believe it's one of the reasons I'm never ill.


Ah well, there you go, I do indeed take it all back! I wonder which vitamin it was that I was told was dangerous at consistently high levels?? Prob none of them, I'm not exactly known for my retention of random (but useful) information. I know that giraffes can lick their own ears but I'm pretty sure that's never gonna be useful to me for day-to-day living.


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## LisaLQ

The vitamin c is not a problem for rats anyway.


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## fenwoman

cpiggott22 said:


> Ah well, there you go, I do indeed take it all back! I wonder which vitamin it was that I was told was dangerous at consistently high levels?? Prob none of them, I'm not exactly known for my retention of random (but useful) information. I know that giraffes can lick their own ears but I'm pretty sure that's never gonna be useful to me for day-to-day living.


 Vitamin A can be and also vitamin D I think. Definately the former can prove toxic. There were some arctic explorers once who ate polar bear liver and ended up dying from vitamin A poisoning.


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## mattm

In that case FW it isn't a problem, just thought I better mention it.


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## Animal-Encounters

cheers for help. so with the vit c thing delt with we can assume that as i have been told to feed rabbit food then i can just as easily use guinea pig food? just want to double double check as its hard sometimes getting told loads of different things x


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## fenwoman

Animal-Encounters said:


> cheers for help. so with the vit c thing delt with we can assume that as i have been told to feed rabbit food then i can just as easily use guinea pig food? just want to double double check as its hard sometimes getting told loads of different things x


 guinea pig food is fine. Personally I never buy the stuff. I buy a fruity rabbit mix and supply the vitamin C either in the water, or by giving them fresh fruit and veg daily. You pay VAT on guinea pig food but not on rabbit food.
useless bit of info. Guinea pigs, monkeys and man are the only animals which cannot synthesise their own vitamin C but have to eat foods containing it.


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## mattm

I've heard that too but what exactly is the reason for that?? (VAT on GP food but not rabbit??)


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## fenwoman

mattm said:


> I've heard that too but what exactly is the reason for that?? (VAT on GP food but not rabbit??)


 Because all pet stuff has VAT added as it's considered not a necessity. Rabbits are considered to belivestock and all livestock feed has no VAT.


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## Animal-Encounters

i never knew that! wondered why mine was so expensive! glad i now know about the peeing out excess vit c as i always worry they could be getting too much as they get it in nugget food, fresh veg 4 times a day and i also put the stuff in the water every few days!


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