Healthy Diet

A healthy diet; is important to maintain the health of your pet and to extend his life. Rodents use a lot of energy (compared to other animals), to maintain their body temperature and to go about daily activities. For this reason a supply of basic dry food and water should be available at all times. Food should be placed in a heavy ceramic bowl to avoid spillage.

The easiest way to provide all your rat's basic food requirements is with rat pellets which are designed for rats and mice (not other animals). Make sure they are fresh and have not been stored for a long time in the pet store.

The other basic food diet is a versatile seed mix. Guinea pig, rabbit and some bird mixes may be suitable or your pet shop may have seed mixes for rats.

Rats should have their basic diet made more interesting with additional foods such as fruit, vegetables, dog/cat biscuits, herbs, dairy products, cereals, cooked and dry pasta. They also enjoy nibbling on chickweed, clover and dandelions. Try not to feed foods with high fat/high protein such as nuts, sunflower seeds, meat as this can cause skin rashes.

Rats should be fed regularly at a certain time everyday. For rats, 1-2 feeds a day is normal. Feed at least one third a cup of basic food per feed in the evening (rats are mostly nocturnal). There should be some food left over by the time you feed the next time, if not increase the food. Rats will hoard food around the cage.

Water should be available at all times in a demand type bottle. These bottles keep water clean. These are usually labelled as bird or guinea pig bottles. It is best if only the nozzle enters the cage as rats may chew the water bottle (which is usually plastic).

Basic Feeding; The easiest way to fulfil all your pets food requirements is with rat/mouse pellets which have been designed to do this job. One advantage in using pellets is that the animal can't 'pick and choose' particular parts of the diet like they can with say a seed mix. The animal will thus get a balanced diet with all the dietary requirements. These pellets contain all the vitamins and trace elements a rat or mouse needs and the hardness of the pellets helps satisfy the animal's need to gnaw. Rat or mouse pellets can be obtained at your local pet store. They are also available in bulk supply, at a relatively cheap price.

The major problem with pellets as the only food source is they present a fairly boring food source. In fact some animals refuse to eat them (some are more tasty than others). One must consider the mental health of your pet as well and boredom can be a problem. As many of our pets are caged or enclosed for a good proportion of their lives a versatile food supply can also be a major source of entertainment. Therefore pellets are a suggested basic food source to which other 'more interesting' foods can be added.

The other well used basic food diet is a versatile seed mix. This is used particularly by many mice owners. These provide the animal with an interesting diet, but remember the animals will choose their favourite parts (often fatty seeds) and so may not get such a balanced diet. Therefore, when seed mix is the basic diet it is even more important to supplement with other food sources. Peters' Pure Animal Foods produce high quality seed mixes for Rats & Mice that are available at Woolworth's' Supermarkets, Franklin's Supermarkets and many Pet &Produce stores. Guinea pig and rabbit seed mixes may also be useful but remember that some parts of these diets will not be used by a rat or mouse (such as hay or hay pellets) so some wastage may occur. Some bird seed mixes may also be useful. Seeds which can be fed to both rats and mice are oat flakes (rolled oats), whole oats, crushed oats, wheat, wheat germ, barley, buckwheat, bran, rice (preferably brown), millet, canary seed, grass seed, sorghum, and safflower. Seeds such as sunflower, linseed and peanuts can be fed to both mice and rats, but remember that these should form only a small part of their diet (5% or less) as they are high in fat and protein. There is some controversy about corn (maize). Most people feed some to their animals, however, in Debbie Ducommun's "Rat Health Care" it is suggested compounds such as amines and nitrates, which are high in corn, combine in the stomach to make carcinogens (chemicals that cause cancer). She suggests only a small amount or no corn should be fed to animals. You can, of course, make your own seed mix up.

Many mouse fanciers also feed stale wholemeal bread as part of a basic diet. It must be allowed to dry out completely (with no mould). This may take a few days. The drying and staling destroys some proteins (called enzymes) in the bread which may cause food intolerance in some mice. The bread when dry is then soaked in water (sometimes with skim milk). The bread should be damp but not sloppy. You may buy bread or perhaps obtain 'old bread' from a bakery.

Treats

Treats are little bits of food given rarely and are more to say 'I love you" than to provide any nutrients. Examples are chocolate treats (designed for rodents), banana chips, chocolate dairy dessert (Yogo), jam sandwiches, human junk food, fatty table scraps such as bacon rind, popcorn, insects such as mealworms and crickets (available at pet stores as live food), treats for dogs and cats, and sweet breakfast cereals.