Rat Rations!

[ShannonEmily]

Hello everyone I am new to this forum and to owning rats in general so I was just looking for advice.
My boys are 3 months old and I have been feeding them Rat and Mouse muesli from PAH. Today I have changed to Rat Rations though
I have some confusion after reading things on fb groups about how to make your mix.
I bought No 11A and Daily Rat 3 for my ratties but have read a lot of people suggest adding to the mix.
The two things I see added to the mix mainly is the HBB mix and the Seed mix. Most people work there mixes out by percentages but I am honestly rubbish at maths and this is where I am getting confused as well as working out the percentage to feed the rats.
I am also wondering how to administer the Daily Rat 3 supplement.

I have ordered 2 kg of No11 but was also wondering what amount is best to buy to last longer as the postage is quite expensive.
Any help will be massively appreciated, thank you!

[bazu]

I'd definitely recommend adding more bits to the base mixes, from a nutrition perspective (the base mix alone probably won't meet all their dietary needs, even with supplements) and from an "interest" perspective for the rats (it gets boring eating the same thing all day every day!) As an example, I've got my mix below, which is a 'wide range' mix since I've got a mix of ages and boys and girls - one "part" can be a measuring scoop, a set weight or whatever works for you. I mix this up in a tub, and it last me about 3 weeks:

4 parts Rat Rations #2 base mix
2 parts Rat Rations mixed cereals
1.5 parts seed mix (see below)
0.5 parts pasta
0.25 parts mixed seacreatures
1 part "other"

My seed mix is 250g hemp, 250g linseed, 100g pumpkin seed, 50g dill seed, 50g safflower, 50g sesame seed, 50g aniseed and 50g fennel seed - mix all together in a bag/tub, then 1.5 parts of this!

The "other" is assorted dried fruits etc - this is where they get the tastiest flavours in the mix. A few examples are apple, carrot, cranberries, raisins, blueberries, coconut, dandelion, banana chips, carob pieces, various nuts... I pick 3-4 of these to put into the '1 part' and change the selection round each time I make a batch up.

This isn't an absolute rule by any means - there will be others on here that have other ideas/suggestions for what to put in a mix, there's a lot of room for discussion on the topic! - but hopefully it gives you some idea of where to start I know rat nutrition can be daunting to begin with! (If you want a good book on the topic, The Scuttling Gourmet is worth a read and available from Rat Rations IIRC!)

In addition to the above, I use supplements (I prefer Dr Squiggles) and feed veg peelings, chicken bones, cooked pasta/rice, egg etc to change it up and provide extra nutrition.

Edit: Forgot to add; for what it's worth, I generally order the 5kg bag of base mix, but you're probably best off experimenting to see what works for you!

[cyber ratty]

Bazu, #11 is a complete mix, and has far more ingredients than yours, so they don't get bored.

The reason that a lot of people like to add the extras (HBB, seeds, barley rings) is to reduce the cost and to reduce the amount of supplements required.
Barley rings act as an additional supplement due to their high copper content, so if you have 2kg of #11, then add in 200g of barley rings.
If you wish to add the rest, then buy 2kg HBB, another 200g barley rings, and about 300g of seed mix (barley rings are much lighter than seed mix, so those quantities will work out at roughly the same volume), and mix everything together.

If feeding just #11, then either give calcivet and Dr. Squiggles twice a week, or give daily rat 3 about 4 or 5 times a week.
If adding in HBB etc., then you can halve the frequency of supplements.

The general advice is to buy about 3 months food at once, so that it doesn't sit around for too long - the amount will depend on how many rats you have - calculate based on 15g per rat per day. The postage can be reduced if you are able to share a delivery with someone else nearby, or make it go further by buying other items like substrate from RR too.

[ShannonEmily]

Thank you both! I have 3 bucks aged 3 months so I should be feeding 45g of food daily?
Can I still give them scrambled egg, chicken or veg twice a week?
How much of the Daily Rat 3 should i be using for 3 bucks?
It says administer once a week so as I am just using no11 atm, should I administer a couple time a week? Also how much do you fill the scoop it comes with?

Sorry if i sound really silly, I just want to make sure the boys are having everything they need even while I'm getting used to the mixes and supplements etc.

[cyber ratty]

The DR scoop is enough for 3 rats, so use 1 scoop - I would give it 3 or 4 times a week though.

Yes, 45g per day - they won't need the fresh protein (eggs, chicken) as extras now they are no longer babies, but if you wish to give them some once a week, then cut back (or miss out) on their dry mix that day. Make sure you give them fresh veg, especially leafy greens like Kale, several times a week - that should be part of their standard diet.

Don't worry about asking - it's important to make sure you understand, and we're happy to help.

[ShannonEmily]

If I give them eggs or chicken I use either/or not both as I don't want to overdo it on the protein. As it is the veg I mainly give them are green beans, sweetcorn, carrots, peppers, peas and brocolli. I didnt realise they needed kale so often, what can I add along with the kale for variety for them?
Thanks again

[cyber ratty]

The veggies you're giving are fine too - I just mentioned kale as an example, broccoli is very similar in nutrition. I would limit the peas and sweetcorn though, as they are high in protein and sugar respectively.