~ September Skies ~  

What I feed my rats and mice

These are the recipes I use to make my rats and mouse foods, which I feel are pretty well balanced, nutritionally speaking, and they seem to enjoy the taste as well :-)

Dry Food

This is the recipe for the dry food that I make up. I buy all the ingredients from a good health food wholesaler - it generally costs me about $10 a month for my 6 rats, and I can buy whatever quantities I wish. I mix it all up in a plastic bag or bucket, and store it in glass jars. In an emergency I have bought a packet of muesli and a packet of parrot seed, and mixed these, but this is not nutritious and can only be fed for a short while.

For an idea of the proportions: for every 1 cup from the first list, I would add about half a cup from the second list, and about an eighth of a cup from the third list.

rolled oats

rolled rye

rolled barley

These three grains form the base of the mix, so they are in slightly larger proportions to the remainder.

wheat flakes

corn flakes

rice bran straws

buckwheat

whole barley

whole wheat grain

The bulk of the mix is made up of all of the above, with the ingredients below being in very small proportions.

sesame seeds

sunflower seeds

pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

broken-up banana chips

linseeds

split peas

These foods are rich in nutrients (except maybe the banana chips!) and therefore also best in smaller amounts. For example, sunflower seeds are rich in important natural oils, and are therefore also fattening. Sesame seeds are very rich in calcium and iron, as are pepitas. Linseeds are rich in natural oils which help give the coat a lovely glossy sheen, but should only be eaten in moderation. Other things I add if my rats aren't too hefty (and the budget allows!) includes slivered almonds and shredded coconut.

Cooked Food

I make a mix of pulses (beans) and grains to try and provide a "complete protein" meal. Since I'm vegetarian, my rats don't get many meat scraps, so I take good care to see that they eat balanced proteins. This means providing them with foods from all the main plant protein groups : pulses, grains, nuts and seeds, as well as fruit and vegetables. I also give them small amounts of yoghurt, egg, and soymilk at least twice a week. They also eat small amounts of human food, and fresh fruit and veggies each day. 

brown rice

brown lentils

black eyed beans

mung beans

split yellow or green peas

barley

soy grits (broken pieces of soy bean)

All these ingredients take about 40 minutes to cook at a gentle simmer on the stovetop, in a covered plan, with plenty of water. Always discard all the water they were cooked in, as it contains small amounts of damaging compounds that are removed by the cooking process. 

For six rats, I cook only about 1/2 to one cup. It usually swells up to three times the dry size, and you can always cook more if you run out, rather than waste a lot of good food by cooking too much in the first place.. Make sure it's really cool before you give it to your rats, as they can really get hurt by a hot bean stuck in their mouth (and believe me, beans hold their heat well). Best to taste it first yourself. It's not that bad actually, and the rats hoe into it with relish! I often add a touch of salt if they're not getting much human food, just in case they need it. It keeps in an airtight container for up to a week, just remember you shouldn't feed them anything you wouldn't eat yourself, so if it smells funny, ditch it  :-)

                                    Created on the 13th Feb 2004.      Last updated 10/4/05.