# When/how much to feed breeder rats



## kaosNW (Nov 18, 2010)

I have set up my rat rack and am using underbed storage boxes with mesh lids.

So I know I put the food on the mesh and they pull it through but i cant work out how much and when to feed them?

do most people through a load on once a day? make sure its always full? feed less than every day? multiple smaller feeds a day?

If I put loads of food on top I get the feeling that the rats are just eating and eating until its all gone! are they likely to overeat just because its there? (the males especially look fat!) 

Does it sound ok to put about a tin can worth of pellets on the mesh along with fruit/veg every day? Should the mesh ever be empty?


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## Repidge (Jun 17, 2010)

kaosNW said:


> I have set up my rat rack and am using underbed storage boxes with mesh lids.
> 
> So I know I put the food on the mesh and they pull it through but i cant work out how much and when to feed them?
> 
> ...


 I feed about 4 hand fulls in mine then wait for them to finish it all off before i refill it so that they dont just eat the fresh stuff. I feed mine as much as they will eat especially the females as they are regularly reproducing. Its all down to the quality of food that you feed them too, the higher quality the less they will need to eat. If you feed them cheaper lower quality food their bodies will need more of it until they get the nutrients they need, so it will probably end up costing you more in the end. As for fruit and veg i just give them a mix evey other day. :2thumb:


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## kaosNW (Nov 18, 2010)

cheers mate

So do you refill the screen as soon as they have eaten everything thats on it? or do you prefer never to let it get empty?


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## oakelm (Jan 14, 2009)

Mine have hoppers on them so I fill it up 2-3 times a week, it never runs out. I never keep my males more than a couple of breeding cycles so they don't really get chance to get fat with all them females to see to.
I always have food and water available at all times for all rodents, you will find once they get over the initial gorging they tend to slow down once they know they are guaranteed to have food all the time. I got out of rats and then back into them, the ones I acquired went through twice as much food as they do now in the first week.


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## eddygecko (Feb 14, 2007)

kaosNW said:


> Does it sound ok to put about a tin can worth of pellets on the mesh along with fruit/veg every day? Should the mesh ever be empty?


Are you feeding them a main diet of fruit and veg lol? That is terrible, nutritionally for your snakes they will just be fatty and not a lot of goodness. The rats will get hugely obese too. 

On the mesh the best option is a cheap wholesale dogfood as it is very nutricious, cheap and easy to get hold of in bulk. You can add other stuff to this but the pellets are enough for them just dry on the mesh. You could add fruit/scraps but i see no point in it really. Some people put in sunflower seeds/carrot/orange ect as they are all high in vitamins if you wanted to be picky about it.


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## kaosNW (Nov 18, 2010)

cheers for your replies!

No mate I am feeding them a high protein dry dog food mix! I throw on the old veg/fruit and carrot cuttings etc just for variety, sometimes a bit of old bread etc, but the bulk of the diet is made up of dog food


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## eddygecko (Feb 14, 2007)

kaosNW said:


> cheers for your replies!
> 
> No mate I am feeding them a high protein dry dog food mix! I throw on the old veg/fruit and carrot cuttings etc just for variety, sometimes a bit of old bread etc, but the bulk of the diet is made up of dog food


Oh alright then, well just pile it in all the time


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## Repidge (Jun 17, 2010)

kaosNW said:


> cheers mate
> 
> So do you refill the screen as soon as they have eaten everything thats on it? or do you prefer never to let it get empty?


 I let them eat everything 1st. Im a bit obsessed and check on them twice a day though so i can do that, but if you just check on them every few days just wait for it to get low then top it up. i only do this so they eat the old food 1st because with food like dry dog food they can start selective eating (They only eat the stuff they like and leave the rest) by letting them eat all of it before toping up your making sure they get all the nutrition out of ALL the food :2thumb:


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

I use argo rat & mouse cubes and just fill their lab cage hoppers up so they always have it available.


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## kaosNW (Nov 18, 2010)

thanks for all the info, any chance anyone has any pics of there hoppers? did you build them? or buy them?


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## JamesJ (Apr 12, 2008)

The lab cages have them built in to the lids, you could make your own I guess if you got some suitably sized wire mesh?


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## kaosNW (Nov 18, 2010)

ill look into that tonight after work! 
I have quite abit of mesh left, one small holes and the other quite big (like chicken wire)


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