Rat's weight? and feeding?

Question

I have two female eight week old rats that I've had for three weeks and i was just wondering what is a healthy weight for them to be at this age. Also how much should we be feeding them and how often and what foods are healthy and stuff :) thanks

Answer 1

Make sure the rats have a full bowl of food mine love rat muesli and rat nuggets from pet at home. My rats have fresh water everyday and their food bowl is always full and I also feed mine treats from pets at home and also left over dinner and veg the love grated carrot and I give them cheese as a treat 3 days a week along with salad.

Rats love any food but don't give them food containing fresh milk cause it not good for them only soya milk.

Their weight should be under a pound but 1 of my boys Stuart whom sadly died 2 week ago was over a pound like his dead dad and they had no problem only repertoire infection which was not curable which many rats can get.

Answer 2

Your rats sound really sweet !!

Fresh food should always be available (the same with water) get a good sized bowl, and when it becomes empty simply refill it. (change it every other day, to give them fresh pickings.) also put some of their favourite treats in there.

Types of food:

Packaged mixed grain diets (that can be purchased at your local Pet Store) are generally not recommended since they often contain too high a corn or seed content, and can be nutritionally incomplete. These types of diets all too often have the rat picking out only the pieces that they prefer to eat, leaving food not eaten as well as an under nourished rat.

If you intend to use this type of base for your rat’s diet try to stick with a mix that is higher in soy than corn and that contains essential fatty acids. Do check your rat’s bowl to be sure that food is actually being consumed. Do not top off dishes if it appears that there is a small amount of food left as it may be only seed shells. Doing so may result in starvation.

Types of recommended diets:

Lab blocks are considered to be one of the most nutritious sources of staple or base diet to feed your rat, along with veggies, fruits, some nuts, and a few choice table scraps.

Another good block food that meets a rat’s nutritional requirements is made by Mazui, and which can also be purchased in bulk at the Mazuri website: (http://mazuri.com/.)

There are also rat diets that you can make yourself. It is difficult to determine if a home made diet is supplying all of the nutrients (particularly vitamins and minerals). For this reason it is safer to add some lab block to the home made diet.

With these types of diets it is important to check the dishes to be sure that your rats are actually eating all of what is placed in the dish and not just picking out the foods that they like best.

Again as with any of the prepackaged mix diets, or lab blocks, when making up the diet yourself be sure to offer fresh fruits and veggies at the very least three times a week.

Rats love treats. Supplementing the staple diet with healthy foods will be enjoyable and healthy for them. (When feeding your rat give only what can be consumed in a 24 hour period.)

Note: On the subject of fruit, there has been some discussion regarding oranges causing cancer in male rats. It is the d-limonene in orange rind and commercial orange juice that they are referring to. The actual meat of the orange is not a problem.

A few examples of treats that rats may enjoy in moderation are: plain popped popcorn, chicken or beef bones (cooked or boiled), chew biscuits, Nutra*Puffs, and Nylabones for chewing.

a rat may weigh up to a pound !!! (this is not good)

Just give them plenty of exersise, toys and things to do and they should lead perfectly happy. healthy long lifes.

Hope i helped and good luck.