I've been doing  alot of research on rat diets, but I hear so many different opinions. There's Debbie Ducommun's diet, which I was thinking of trying, but seems a little more involved, there's the Suebee Diet, which a lot of people seem to use, plus there are commercial diets and combinations. I want to make sure my ratties are getting all their nutrition. I feed them a combination of Harlan Teklad blocks slowly weaning them off Nutro Lite. They get Suebees mix as well, but they seem to pick at it (they all have their favorite peices and the bowl empties usually by the next feeding). They get two fresh veggies and a fruit per day (things like carrots, green beans, cucumber, corn on the cob, apple, grapes, broccoli ect) I try to vary it with what we have on hand. Also they get a peice of hard boiled egg twice a week, sometimes they get bits of wheat toast or oatmeal for breakfast. I bought some babyfood and soy yogurt to hide their echnaicea drops in. Also they get small animal vitamins sprinkled on thier fresh food so I make sure it is eaten. I gave them a chicken wing bone once and they seemed to really love it, but I only do that once in a while because of protien. They sometimes don't eat as much of the lab blocks though and eat more of the Suebee mix and fresh food and the dog food that I'm trying to wean them off of. If they do really like the dog food should I stick with it? I was thinking of trying wellness dog food though because that is what my dog is on. Wow, so many questions and rambling on, well, I was just looking to see how my rats' diets compare to others, and also looking for ideas on thier diet. Also, they are almost three months old now, should I free feed them or regulate their food? I don't want them to get fat, but they do seem to have hearty appitites(they eat the fresh food first then go to the Suebee mix/ dog food and if nothing else is left they'll eat the blocks but there usually is food always there) Ok, enough rambling now.  

Fish is ok, they like chicken bones, scrambled or hard-boiled egg. Are your rats still on Kaytee? I would change them off it asap, Kaytee isn't a good brand of rat food, not a lot of them are.

My rats eat Mazuri lab blocks, a seed mix, starfruit, mango, bananas, peaches, pears, kiwi, grapes, oranges (females only), walnuts, almonds, pistachios, oatmeal, Gerber Banana Cereal Snackin' Squares, Gerber baby food, yougurt, graham crackers, strawberries, blueberries, Eukanuba and Innova dog food (dry and wet), cooked and uncooked pasta, canteloupe, watermelon, carrots, cucumbers, pumpkin (when in season), mealworms, waxworms, nightcrawlers, chicken, liver, beef, duck, venison, scrambled eggs, steak, turkey, cornbread, cheerios, nutra puffs, yogies, yougurt drops, chew biscuits, and I know there is more, but I can't remember all of it....this is when you know your rats are too spoiled.  

My own variation of Suebee's mix with Harlan blocks.  Fresh fruit about twice a week, veggies every other day.  And a wet blend I make myself.  Wet mix is spinach, lentils, barley, oatmeal, peas, black beans, and tomatoes.  

I keep the dry mix in a big ol plastic container with seal.  The wet mix gets made about once every other month and frozen in plastic baggies.  Just defrost a baggie in the fridge overnight.  One baggie will last at least three days.  Fruits and veggies are usually whatever we're eating at the time.  Plus they get the occassional naughty treat, chips, ice cream, whatever I'm snacking on.

harlan 2018, nutro natural lite, and a grain mix. plus whatever i've got in the house (fruits, veggies, baked goods, pasta, etc etc). i rarely eat meat and when i do it's usually out at a restaurant, so they don't get much meat meat but i figure they get all that from the nutro.

oh, and yogurt. they get plain yogurt regularly.

I feed a mix with reggie rat food as a base and I mix dried cereals (cheerios, shreddies, shredded wheat) and dried pasta and sunflower seeds in with it.

For dinner they get table scraps of whatever I had: chicken, potatos, salads etc

Lab blocks aren't freely available here

Ahh  my favorit topic... animal foods!  

I too have my own specific diet, though I do not market it on here, it's just something I do for my boys, and I gladly give out the recipies to those whom have asked, many of the other diets out there that other members came up with are great diets as well! I just like to prepair food for my boys so I came out with my own alteration.

Right now, my boys get...

- L/M Lab Blocks (comparible to HT blocks and better then Kaytee/Sunseed).
- Sensible Choice - Reduced Calorie Dog Kibble
- Rat Balls (similar to Suebee's Mix, and grounded up into a powder form then shaped into balls, this is their daily grain mix + olive oil)
- Veggie Blobs (all sorts of good fresh veggies blended together to a liquidy substance, shaped like a blob)
- Fruit Cubes (different kinds of fruit blended and formed into a cube)

They often will get a little bit of left overs of whatever I have for supper provided that it's not posionous to them. And they have several chews, denta bone, n-bone, edible nylabones, rawhide, cooked chicken bones, greenies, etc etc.

I think a largely varied diet is very important for rats, it is exciting and nutritious for them, and helps stave off them getting bored from eating the same thing over and over all day, and eventually stop eating it.

Is there a website where I'd be able to order Harlan 2018?

I've had a few different brands of food in my house due to L/M blocks not being available to me anymore (they were Reeses's staple). First, I bought 2 pounds of an unknown brand of lab block from my vet. Then, because I wasn't sure how long they would last, I ordered 5 pounds of Harlan Teklad 2018 from The Rat Store. After that, I received a rather large sample of Oxbow's Regal Rat (I've still got some... it's a lot for one rat). Now, because my dad does some work on the database of a research facility, I can obtain a HUGE amount of Harlan Teklad for an extremely low price, so I got a gigantic bag of HT 8604. I'm trying to use up all these brands of food that I have. Once they're all gone, I'm going to feed HT 8604 as the staple.

I supplement Reeses's diet with whatever fresh fruits and veggies I have on hand daily, and she also gets Cheerios daily and a yogie weekly. Sometimes I'll give her a bit of what I'm eating (yogurt or ice cream in most cases). She also gets 1/2 tsp. of barley green daily.

One thing Reeses gets every day is carrots, but she's stopped eating them, which I find worrisome.

Wow really?  Thank you for telling me that!!

My hubby and I just got a two lovely lady rats.  We've fed them vegetable leftovers from a frozen vegetable mix, but my husband does not believe in vegetables without margarine.

I know that's bad in the long run.  Would defrosted frozen vegetable mix from the grocery store be a good supplement?  Is there anything, like lima beans or green beans, we should stay away from?

Thanks,
Brandy

Actually, alot of foods have ethoxyquin. I work at a pet store and have gone through the brands, only to learn that ALOT of pet food contains it. LaFuerbers for birds, which is supposed to be a REALLY good brand uses it. Science Diet uses it in their treats, not the food though. The only two that I have noticed that don't use it, are "sun-seed", "vita-kraft", and "8 in 1" - Just letting you know, it's everywhere, always try to check the ingredients before buying.  

note = kims ark is in new england , NOT tennessee!

and our website is in my signature....and the rat store is currently closed but will be reopening. in CA, rattie ratz now sells harlan as well.