Goosemoose Pet Portal

I was looking at this: http://www.ratfanclub.org/nutreq.html

Am I looking at this wrong or does it say adult rats need five percent fat and five percent protein and young and breeding rats need five percent fat and fifteen percent protein? I knew lower protein was cited as better for adult rats but I had no idea it was supposed to be that low. I mean the lowest I've seen I think is Regal Rat and Teklad's 14%

hmmm that doesnt seem right to me, Harlan (who makes excelent rat food) has their protein level at about 18% (for product 2018, 24% for 8604, and 14% for 2014) and fat at about 4 or 5%

were you looking for a new diet for your rats? you can get harlan from kim's ark for a more than reasonable price

I'm not looking for a new diet so much as learning and trying to do some research.

oh ok, hope i was able to answer your question anyway!   :wink5:

Somewhere in here there is a post from someone who called/wrote the rat nutritionist at Harlan/Teklad. He explained that their foods are designed for rats involved in experiments and may not be the ideal for pet rats. He gave a lot of good information about rat nutrition, protein and fat requirements. His recommendation was for lower protein (in the 5% range), and suggested that the 2014 would be the most appropriate HT for pets. Wish I had that post bookmarked...

Here it is: Linky (http://www.goosemoose.com/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,118/forum,rat/topic,4005264.msg4106211/,#msg4106211).  His recommendation was actually for protein in about the 9% range, not 5%. 

I feed my adults 2014, but I also feed them fruit and vegies on a daily basis, so overall, their daily protein intake would be less that 14%. :)

Yep, the chart's correct.  It would be tough to get a diet quite that low.  Even making one would be difficult, as it would require more fiber content from ingredients that might cause gas (broccoli, etc.).  The information is per this chart: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=0309051266&page=13.  Other sites claim to be getting their information from there, but most of them arbitrarily put something higher for the protein.

I see, thank you very much :3

Thank you! I had no idea it was supposed to be that low.

Awesome, thanks. You mean it would be less because they are eating fruits and veggies as well and thus not as many blocks?

Okay, I know I just posted a question about this but this time I'm attempting to compile information so that I might link this post in my website for others to read. And further educate myself :3

If I could have links to actual research, opinions, a copy paste of that Harlan Teklad response, etc. I'd appreciate it. I think it'd be nice to compile all we know in one place anyway.

I've merged these two topic, to prevent confusion, as they are the same.  Please do not post multiple posts on the same topic.

Ah, I apologize. I figured since one was a question about the percentages on a website and the other was a request for compiling all the information we know on proper protein and fat requirements they were different enough.

Nope, same basic topic. 

Apparently :3.