Rat diet sheet?

[Bhl1994]

Hey everyone!

I’ve had my boys for a few months now and I was wondering if anyone had designed or made a daily/weekly diet sheet to follow? A diet sheet with weights of different food types etc. I was going to try make my own but there is a lot of information out there about their diet and I’m pretty new to being a rat owner any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you!!

[ScissorCrow]

Hi, I haven't seen a weekly guide like you're asking for but Isamu Rat care has a lot of information, both on the website and on the youtube channel.

I would also recommend reading The Scuttling Gourmet if you are interested in rat nutrition.

What sort of dry food are you feeding at the moment?

[Bhl1994]

Hey! Thank you, yeah I’ve had a look at the isamurat site and it’s a great help! I’m just wondering like how much fresh food/ protein etc they should get a day, in weight. And dry food wise they’re on a nugget diet. I did read that feeding them muesli allows them to favour some food items? So I went for nugget as their dry but want them to have a much varied diet. But don’t want to feed them too much or too little of a certain item etc. Would be good to follow something like on Monday they get 25g nugget, 5g leafy green for example.

[cyber ratty]

Nuggets are bad for rats both nutritionally (rubbish ingredients) and in terms of enrichment (very boring) - they are omnivores like us and have evolved to take great pleasure in varied tastes and textures.

A good mix should be given, and scatter fed, i.e. a set amount daily scattered over their floor so it mixes with their loose substrate, and then they have to forage for it. This is a great activity for them, and removes the opportunity to selectively feed or overeat as they eat what they find and stop when they are full.

You will surely have seen that advice on the Isamu sites?

If you feed a Rat Rations mix, they will need roughly 15g each per day (adjust it depending on their condition). Along with that, give fresh veg about 3 times a week, and if you wish to give a fresh meal then miss out the mix on that day. It may also help to not feed on the day before clean out, so they will root out the very last of their scattered food if there is any.