Ensure

RattusNorvegicus · Mar 1, 2012

I have a few questions about Ensure.

Does it need to be refrigerated? It only says to serve cold. Is there a specific kind they shouldn't have? And is it okay to give it to them often?

jorats · Mar 1, 2012

Ensure has a lot of sugar so I would keep that for babies or sick older rats. It needs to be refrigerated once opened and discarded after 48 hours. The best kind to buy would be the Glucerna made by the same company, it has less sugar. My guys prefer vanilla. Some others say their rats like the strawberry.

rhapsody · Mar 1, 2012

Mine go gaga over the strawberry flavored one.

Ensure tends to be really expensive though, so its quite the waste when you have to throw out the unused portion after a couple days. I happen to like the stuff though, so its a win-win for me - I just finish whatever is left over.

lilspaz68 · Mar 1, 2012

rhapsody said:
Mine go gaga over the strawberry flavored one.

Ensure tends to be really expensive though, so its quite the waste when you have to throw out the unused portion after a couple days. I happen to like the stuff though, so its a win-win for me - I just finish whatever is left over.

I go through it so my bottles never go bad LOL BUT you can try to freeze it. the only problem is that its sooo sugary that it doesn't freeze well, and you may need to scrape it out of the ice cube trays. I wonder if you added water to it if it might freeze better? Hmmm.

Petunia · Mar 1, 2012

the vanilla flavor also comes as a powder, so you just mix up as much as you can use

the only thing with that is, you need to use the canister within a month, so if you don't have a lot of rats who need it, again, you'd have a lot of waste

maybe though, if you lived near someone else who needed some, you could split a canister of the powder?

jorats · Mar 1, 2012

You can also find store brand names that might be cheaper. Look for something meal supplement for diabetics.

Dazzle87 · Mar 1, 2012

LOL I just drink the leftover! It is pricey though.

RattusNorvegicus · Mar 1, 2012

I saw that sugar was the second ingredient and wondered about that.. I bought a pack of six, but I don't mind drinking most of it. :lol: I just bought it as another playtime treat, nobody really needs much fattening up at the moment. I will keep everyone's suggestions in mind though if I get more.