Rat’s Diet
June 18, 2007 by Laura
I feed my rats on a diet based on the Shunamite diet, which was developed by rat breeder Alison Campbell. The Shunamite Diet.
It is a dry mix based on a base food of either rat or rabbit food with added dog kibble, wholewheat pasta and human grade cereals. This dry mix makes up 80% of an adult rat’s diet and is fed alongside fresh food made up of cooked carbohydrates, vegetables, fruit and protein. I vary my base mix and my cereals to add a bit of interest and I think the more variety in the diet, the greater the chance of ensuring all nutrient requirements are met. It is also more interesting for the rats. Currently my base mix is a 50/50 mix of ‘pets at home’ rat muesli and nuggets and my cereals are low salt rice cakes, Whole Earth organic cornflakes and Shredded Wheat. I occasionally use Alpha Herbal Deluxe rabbit food as a base and have used other cereals such as Weetabix and porridge oats.
For fresh food they have cooked carbohydrates such as pasta or potato and a fresh veg such as curly kale, broccoli or carrot every day. Kale is a particularly useful veg and has a high level of essential nutrients. It is especially important when feeding lactating and pregnant does and growing kittens when it should be fed in large quantities daily. Additions such as fish, peas, chicken bones, nuts, other cooked or uncooked veg, fruit or soft dog food such as Naturediet are also added once or twice a week. I also give them Dr Squiggles Daily Essentials which is a vitamin and mineral supplement in their water twice a week. This diet is a suitable diet for healthy adult rats. At the moment mine have high protein foods at least once a week as my youngest two are 4 months old and still growing. As they get older this will reduce until, at the age of six months, they will have very little high protein food.
Growing rats, old rats and sick rats will have different nutritional needs and the correct diet for your own rat is essential for it’s well-being.
An excellent book on Rat Nutrition and one I would recomend all rat owners get a copy of is The Scuttling Gourmet, which is written by Alison Campbell.
Written by Laura Young, 18th June 2007
