New Rat

[mickler]

I am so excited because yesterday I went into a pet store and they had this tank of rats for free, I know most people feed them to thier snakes but I thought one was beautiful so I brought her home. I am not sure what I should feed her and I thought I would ask on ideas.

Molly

[emroul]

Rats eat anything. But what you could feed her is plain old rodent food that you would buy for a hamster or mouse. Trust me, rats aren't picky about their food. :)

Good luck with her, and welcome to the forum by the way. :)
-Jennifer

[mickler]

Thanks for your reply,I did see somewhere that they eat anything so thats why I wasn't really worried when I got her, but do they really eat meat and everything?

[emroul]

I'm sure they would, but I wouldn't give them any, just to be on the safe side. Try to stick with veggies, and my little brother occasionally gives his rat a peice of bread of something, whether or not that's good for them, I don't know. But he's not dead so it can't be that harmful. :D

[Love Bird B]

Hi and welcome!

Emroul's correct, rats eat anything. Our little girl used to love bits of anything we were eating so we always shared our meals with her. She's been gone for several years but her little sweet spirit is with us in our hearts. We also got her as a "feeder" and saved her from that fate, LOL.

What color(s) is yours?

B

[mickler]

I have named her Snuggles and she is white and grey, she is beautiful. She is still pretty shy, I have taken her out a few times today to snuggle her and she goes right up to my shoulder first chance and seems to really love it there.

[Love Bird B]

Ahhh, those colors are wonderful. They're called "hooded" rats and that's what ours was too. Snuggles is a great name. I hope you all the best with her.

[Jenny]

It's true that rats WILL eat just about anything, but you still need to be sure that she's getting a balanced diet. Check out this great rat website: www.dapper.com.au These people seem to know a ton about the little guys! I've had a rat in the past and met alot of others, and they are such sweet, intelligent animals. Have fun with Snuggles!

[Jenny]

By the way, have you heard of Oxbow? Their website is www.oxbowhay.com and they have a great rat pelleted food called "Regal Rat". It may be easiest to see if an exotic vet clinic carries it, or have them order it for you.

[mickler]

Thank you for all the great information! I hadn't realized that she was called a hooded rat, thats pretty cool. I have dogs, cats, fish and hamsters but this is my first rat and I think she is really cool and very sweet!

[7trainrat]

A lot of people feed Oxbow's Regal Rat but I've heard a lot of people who have had problems with it. I feed a combination of Harlan Teklad lab blocks (the best lab block for rats) and Suebee's Rat Diet:

www.ratsrule.com/diet.html

You can buy Harlan Teklad through Kim's Ark Rodent Rescue. Even with shipping it's comparable, sometimes even cheaper, than what you'll find at the pet store - plus it's a much higher quality lab block.

www.kimsarkrescue.org - Go to the Ark Store section

It is true rats will eat anything but that doesn't mean everything is good for them! You can get a lot of good advice and ask questions here:

www.goosemoose.com/rfc

Hope that helps!

[Jenny]

Out of curiosity, what kind of problems have rats had who've been fed the Oxbow food?

[7trainrat]

For some reason so many people found that their rats LOVED it at first - like it was rat candy - but after awhile unexpectedly stopped eating it... it seems as if everyone has had much more consistant results with the Harlan Teklad... Here's the thread from the Rat Rules! message board:

http://www.goosemoose.com/rfc/index.php?topic=21454.0


JoAnna

Adopt a rat from Kim's Ark Rodent Rescue!
www.kimsarkrescue.org

[Jenny]

Huh, that's quite interesting. I haven't known of any rats here who've unexpectedly quit eating it, however I also don't call up the owners every other day to ask how the rats are enjoying it! :rolleyes:

[vetboy]

i have had two rats and i have one curently and all you need to do is either look or ask some one at your local pet store for a food made for rats you could use hamster or gerbal food but specialy made food for rats is better but rats will eat anything you put infront of them so you need to be careful what you put near thembut you can chop up fruits and vegies for them and they will be happy with that and you could give them a piece of meant every once in a great while when you are having some so in other words rats will eat anything but rat food from your local pet store would be best with chopped fruits and veggies


Have Fun with your New Rat,
Vetboy