What is some good rat food i can buy at pet stores?

Question

ive heard those "lab blocks" are good like that oxbow regal rat...can you buy those in pet stores?

Answer 1

We get whatever brand of rat blocks is cheapest and a bag of rat seeds and stuff.  But we mostly feed them dog food and table scraps.  The "rat lady" at the local pet store said she never buys rat food.  All she does is feed them leftovers and hers are quite healthy.

Answer 2

If you are just raising a quantity for resale the cheapest way to feed them is go to the local feed store and buy bulk feed.  I used to buy what ever they had the cheapest that day: hog feed, horse feed, cracked corn, chicken feed, etc.  Also ask if they have any broken bags.  Often they will sell those to you at their cost to elliminate sending them back.  Then just mix together what ever you get and feed it that way.  Another source is grocery stores.  Check with the produce department for damaged fruits and vegetables that they are going to throw away.  Rats love all that too.  Only thing with the fresh produce is "wet food produces wet dropings", so requires more frequent cage cleaning.  

Answer 3

Lab blocks ARE a good choice they're are different choices that may be better(rodents prefer to have a variety of foods) but yes lab blocks should be sold at pet stores...so every oce and a while give your rats a treat. hope i helped!

Answer 4

for some odd reason they like parrot food.its weird you would think they like rat food but they dont

Answer 5

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I...

Answer 6

Pellets

Answer 7

harlan teklad are good but you cant buy them in stores. oxbox regal rat is awesome and available in stores. you can also feed a good dog food . look for protein as the first ingredient. 95 percent of lab blocks you see in petstores are c**p loaded with fillers. rats can not digest corn so make sure thats not in there . i'd just suggest staying away from those all together [unless its regal rat.]

although harlan teklad and regal rat are good diets, rats really don't like eating the same thing all the time. and to get all the nutrition you need you should make Suebees, a cereal mix. here is the website on how to make Suebees and the information on providing your rat with a complete diet. this will elongate the life span of your rat and keep them happy and healthy.

http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html

good luck.. email me if you have any more questions

[e-mail]

Answer 8

Yes, Oxbow regal rat and lab blocks are a good choice. Rats will tend to not get a balanced nutrition from rat mixes as they will tend to pick out the bits they want.

Lab blocks are good, but most rats will get very bored of them. Especially eating them day after day. If you decide to feed your rats lab blocks, the best brand would hat to be Harlan Teklad. You may also consider feeding them with a good quality rat mix to give a bit more variety or even with a homemade mix. Don`t try making your own mix as it is hard to judge wether it is sutible and will provide all the nutrients for your rat. If you choose to feed homemade food check out Suebee`s or Debbie Ducommuns homemade rat diet. Debbie Duccomuns homemade rat diet looks rather quite complicated and probably will cost a lot, but if you have the time, money and are really concious of what you feed your rat, I do not see why not.

Suebee`s:

http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html

Debbie Ducommun`s:

http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html

But over all Oxbow Regal rat is probably the best food on the market, in my opinion. They ingredients are excellent and will definetly provide a healthy, balanced diet. This product contains NO corn or alfalfa and has soybean meal. Soybean meal has said to reduce the risk of tumours.

"Oxbow Regal Rat" ingredients and guaranteed analysis:

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein (min) 14.00%

Crude Fat (min) 4.00%

Crude Fiber (max) 7.50%

Moisture (max) 10.00%

Calcium (min) 0.75%

Calcium (max) 1.20%

Phosphorus (min) 0.65%

Ingredients:

Whole Brown Rice, Oat Groats, Wheat Bran, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Soybean Hulls, Monocalcium Phosphate, Flax Seed Meal, (Linseed), Brewers Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Germ Meal, DL-Methionine, Salt, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement (topopherol), Vitamin C Supplement (Asorbic Acid), Colloidal Silica, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyrodoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Magnesium Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Manganese Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Mineral Oil, Calcium Iodate, Potassium Chloride, Natural Flavorings

Oxbow is avaliable from pet stores. I am no too sure if Harlan Teklad is avaliable at pet stores. The person before me said that you could only order them online, so maybe he`s right.

Here is what my rats` (Lilo & Stitch) staple diet consits of:

Rat & mouse mix

Rat & mouse blocks

Sue Bee`s rat diet (fed some days)

Metobilise - Smart Choice Breakfast Blend (fed some days)

Good luck. Feeding a balanced diet for your rat isn`t always easy!

Answer 9

because they will eat anything go with the lab blocks mine are pretty picky and stash the blocks and pick everything but the bird seed looking stuff out of their food I also buy parrot food and mix it with their food but they eat pretty much anything I will eat with exceptions of citrus, avocados, but like dry toast, fruit and veggies, mostly fresh corn on the cob they love it and broccoli.