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Anonymous
Hi /an/, what bedding/feed do you use for your small animals? I'm getting rats at the end of this week and I want to know what the best brands are.
>> Anonymous
Whatever you choose, don't get anything made by Kaytee - and that's what you'll find composes 90% of most store's stocks.

Kaytee uses a preservative called Ethoxyquin all of their small animal food products, and it has been known to cause many issues.

However, I wrote them a nasty letter and they said they will be removing Ethoxyquin from all but a few of their products within the next few months.

I hear Reggie Rat is good :) I personally recommend lab block (harlan teklad is a good brand, as is mazuri), supplemented with some sort of seed mix for variety and interest.

Oh, and don't forgot your yogies ^_^!
>> Anonymous
>>309431
Oh okay, I was actually taking inventory of what I'm going to be bringing home the day I go get them, I had actually decided on the Kaytee lab block, but now that I know that I'll look for something else. Unfortunately though I can't recall seeing any other lab blocks.
>> Anonymous
Yeah, most stores only want to sell Kaytee, Kaytee, and more Kaytee. I'm so glad they've decided to remove Ethoxyquin in the future as it will make shopping a lot easier!

If the only lab block they have is Kaytee, why not get them a seed mix? I know Petco carries ReggieRat, it's good but expensive. I personally use LM Animal Farms, while it's not the best ever, it's not Kaytee either, lol.

I'm not 100% sure of the nutritional requirements of rats, but I know I use hamster food for my mice because it is low in protein (13%) and mouse food is usually too high, with like over 20% protein. And if I'm not mistaken, I think too much corn in the mix is bad for rats.
>> Anonymous
>>309439
Well, I've just read that rats tend to pick out their favorite seeds and not eat the rest, so their diet gets unbalanced, unless that's not as common of an issue.
>> Anonymous
I feed my boys Harlan Teklad 16% protein. When it runs out I'll go to 14% protein, by then they'll be over a year old. Mazuri rat/mouse diet is good too and easily available at pet shops, though its protein content is pretty high for anything but babies and pregnant/nursing moms. Avoid Nutriphase and Kaytee, they use a preservative that's all but banned for use in human food and has been linked to shortened lifespans in pets. Oxbow Regal Rat is also good (not Reggie Rat, it's not) but only available in bulk (33 pound bags). Stick with lab blocks, whichever brand you end up with.

For bedding, I use Yesterday's News cat litter. Well, more specifically I use flannel covers for the cage floors and put the litter in their litterbox, but it works well for bedding and is cheap.

Good luck with the rats! Nothing beats hearing the rapid clicking of them grinding their teeth happily as you pet them.
>> Anonymous
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I've kept both mice and rats--the previous owners of said mice kept them on cedar shavings. D:

I flipped out and started using Carefresh, but later switched to Yesterday's News because it's much less dusty. As for food, I feed my rats a Suebee's mix--dry pasta, puffed wheat and rice, soybeans, etc. mixed with a better quality dogfood like Nutro or Royal Canin. (I heard that those two brands were recently bought out and are changing their formulas though?) They also get lots of random treats of cooked noodles, meat scraps, boiled eggs, whole nuts once in a while too.

Here's a list of dangerous foods for rats:
http://www.petratscanada.com/forbidden_foods.htm

Not my rat, but FUCKING ADORABLE.
>> Anonymous
Carefresh.
>> Anonymous
Carefresh Ultra changed my life. Well, not really, but it's the best bedding I've tried for my rats. It's a little more expensive, but it's dust-free, and has no odor even if I forget to change their litter one week. They like to drag chunks of it into their hammocks and sleep on it, too. One big bag seems to last forever.

I buy Regal Rat rat food. My rats go apeshit for it, so it must taste good, but it's also one of the better rat foods you can buy. Harlan Teklad is supposed to be the best, but you can only find it online. I have found Regal Rat in pet stores on occasion, but I usually have to order it.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
>> Anonymous
I use oraganic, sterliized (baked/frozen) garden soil as a substrate for my mice once in awhile. They love tunneling in it and they keep themselves quite clean despite the fact they're playing in dirt. It also does an AMAZING job of neutralizing odor.
>> Anonymous
>>309462
op here again, now with a broken shift key...

ugh, it figures all our petsmart carries are both of those bad brands. i guess i'll have to check other pet stores or look into a seed mix. if i use a seed mix and supplement it with fresh fruits/veggies will that be a good balance or will that be too much.
>> tigerfeather !CrwtTbFNxQ
>>309469
Royal Canin was bought years ago, and Nutro was just recently bought. Both are now owned by M&Ms Mars, the same company that makes Pedigree, Cesar, and Whiskas. Yeah, the formulas are changing.
>> Anonymous
Bedding = napkins from takeout and fast food joins.
Feed = some of whatever you are eating.

Rat's aren't fragile little fairies that must have everything just so or they fade away. They are nature's fucking elite scavenger/survivers. They can and will eat anything. They will use anything you give them to the fullest extent they can. Got an old t-shirt? Lay it on top of their cage and go to a moive, see if they haven't shreaded it, pulled it inside, and made a sofa/love seat set out of it by the time you get back.

It's nice that you want the best for them, but don't buy any brand with stuff in it you couldn't make yourself if you had the time. All that crap they add is just to impress you, the human. If you really wanna buy them food they will actualy eat, try parrot mix. I found Rats will eat just about everything in it.

Enjoy your rats, they are awesome pets and you will love them.
>> Anonymous
>>309779
Wouldn't that shorten their lifespan? An diet of shit can't be that great.
>> Anonymous
I'd stay away from Reggie Rat. It's kinda like having lucky charms instead of cornflakes. (Sorry if that's a terrible way of explaining things, britfag, never had lucky charms but I get the jist.) Like>>309469I used suebee's, but I made it myself. Pretty sure there was a website that had all the incredients down somewhere? It was easy as pie to make though, 2 cups of pasta, 5 of cereal, 1 of dog bicuits, shake shake shake, done!

I used newspaper cat litter for the floor covering stuff, and newspaper under that to make it easy to clean out. Carefresh was too pricey in the long run, and just wasn't absorbant/didn't cover the bottom of the cage. Not to mention, I was having trouble breathing around it, so I imagine the rats weren't too well off! That completely cleared up after going onto the newspaper litter, lint free.

A note: Tshirts and stuff aren't the absolute best for bedding, they get pretty stinky quickly, also it's not unheard of rats getting thread caught in their stomach (can't vomit). Personally I just used shredded newspaper. :P
>> Anonymous
>>309872
Why couldn't you breathe around it? Did it smell that awful? I've never had a problem with it...
>> Anonymous
>>309779
This is idiotic, and you know it, so just shut up. Except for the t-shirt part... that is true.

If you really had pet rats, you'd know just how fragile they are.
>> Anonymous
>>309872
I think it's important to note that Carefresh and Carefresh Ultra are very different. Carefresh smells weird and is kind of dusty and smells even weirder after they've been peeing on it. Carefresh Ultra, the white stuff, is softer, has no scent, and no dust. If you can't find the Ultra stuff, I would go with something like Yesterday's News.
>> Anonymous
>>309779
Rats actually are rather fragile, with already-short life spans. I do agree with you on the bedding, it's why I just use the Yesterday's News cheap cat litter and made easily-cleanable cage covers. I give them half a roll of toilet paper a week to make nests out of.

A quality staple food has definitely been linked to healthier, longer-lived rats. Quality rat food wasn't made to impress pet owners, it was made to impress scientists who know a rat's nutritional needs and need them healthy so they can live through painful and stressful experimentation.

This is why I use Harlan Teklad.
>> Anonymous
I used shredded newspaper as well. You have to clean the cage more often, but keeps things clean. I use t shirts for bedding. It does tend to stink after awhile, but you can just throw the shirts in the washer. Also, they love places to hide, so get them some wooden boxes. If your going to petsmart, get the items out of the chinchilla and rabbits aisle. They blend in the rat stuff with the hamster and gerbil items, which in my opinion is to small for a rat. As for litter, I get them tidy cats small spaces and dust free litter. If you are getting a pet rat(s) I hope you have fun. They are very intellegent and some of the best pets I've ever had. The more interaction they receive the more good natured they become.
>> Anonymous
>>309920
qft
>> Anonymous
>>310142
OP here, I did notice that, either that or rats just get skipped over completely, there's only a few products in there that really caters to rats. I couldn't even find a rat cage until I dug around in the back of shelves.
>> Anonymous
i'm poor. so i shred up newspaper and use that

it works fairly well and does a surprisingly good job at keeping most of the stink when changed once or twice a week
>> Anonymous
>>310412
The Ferret Nation ferret cage is pretty much a favorite for rats, unless you have smallish females that can squeeze themselves through the bars.