Feeding the Rats?????

[Kathleen]

Hello fellow Rat lovers,

I and my daugher are now proud owners of two adorable rats. We only got them today. I read up a lot on the internet about the care of them etc. Unfortunately for every bit of advice I got there was plenty more that would be in conflict. I know I will have plenty of questions as the days go on but my biggest one for now is... The man at the shop said not to give them any meat or meat flavoured things. He maintains if they eat that kind of stuff they will grow up aggressive? I have to be honest I don;t want our wee boys to grow up like that, but I also dont want them to have a boring diet forced on them either. When we bought the rats there new Cage we removed the wire bottom as I had read that it was no good for their feet? the man at the shop had never heard of that and gave me that look as if I was potty..LOL.. So can someone please tell me what the truth is about Rats and their care?

[Jenny Kandal]

I give my ratties meat, both the males and females. I have not had a problem with aggressive behavior from it. I dont know why they would say that. You can even give them meat bones, inlcuding chicken bones. They love it. Just give them a variety of things so they dont get bored. We usually give them any leftovers from our meals unless its spicy. There is just such a big variety of foods you can give them. Think of their diet like a childs diet, nothing spicy or too sweet. That is how I can best describe it. Just dont give your males any citrus.

[Ruthie]

Ugh. I just lost my post. *sigh*

Okay, Jenny is right about the meat thing. It's totally false and untrue.

Bumblefoot is what you are refering to and they're like getting canker sores on your feet.

I feed my rats this: http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html.
It's healthy and my rats love it!

I also HIGHLY recommend purchasing Debbie D's Rat Health Care booklet and RATS: A Fun and Care book. You can get them via http://rat-alog.com and http://www.rat-store.com.

[katerobson2003]

Well i think meat is ok as in the dry food are dry meat bits. I give my rats big nuts, corn, chocolate button sweets from the pet shop, hone sticks, cucumber, dry food anything really. Yes it is best to keep the wire off as it aint too comftable for them. Just handle them everyday from when u get them if u want the to be friendly and not shy. This will give u a good relationship woth them. If the have bloody noses it isnt serious if it dosnt go away for days the see a vet. Feel for lumps as these are tumore and u need to see a vet about that. They catch colds quickly . Thats about it really.

[freya686]

As far as the wire cage bottom I use plastic canvas from the crafts store the small mesh lets pee go thrugh but hurts less and its easy to clean plus its really cheap so if they chew it up you can replase it.

[laurenk]

I give my girls chicken bones like every two weeks. They love them. When I got my first rat, the petstore people told me not to feed them meat because it would make them more aggressive. That is probably the most illogical thing I've ever heard. I hate petstore people! (especially petco.)