Weighing Time

[Lithade72]

Well, this is my first official weighing of the girls. I figured it would be a good thing to start since we've run into our first tumor. (Tuesday is removal day) I can more easily track how much it's growing, and also watch the other girls to make sure they aren't gaining or losing weight too much.

As it stands:
Rosie: 327 g
Lena: 335 g
Bear: 302 g
Penny: 232 g
Pancake: 264 g
Flower: 278 g

My not so little Lena is quite the chunk! :wink2: I had been feeding my four primary girls Carefresh Complete Mouse and Rat formula (picking out all the dried corn), until I ran into some problems with it. The girls liked it, but I kept finding LIVE bugs in it, three out of seven bags, and that was it. Since then I have been feeding them Blue Buffalo Senior Diet dog food. Before I get in trouble, I understand the "they're not dogs, so why would you feed them dog food?" question, and I do agree. Please understand that before I started giving this to my girls, I did a good bit of research on rat foods in general. (Through all that, I'm surprised I never fell onto this site...) Anyway, this specific type of dog food was recommended because of the low fats, and low protein levels, and was actually lower in protein than any locally available rat foods (which were mostly just trash mixes with lots of fillers and dried corn). The girls were all over this stuff! I did the slow transition between the foods, along with some acidophilus (a pro-biotic), but the girls weren't having any of that. They never touched that rat food again. :roll:

Thankfully, though, I have been looking over this site, and have found a possible improvement on the food front. About a week ago I ordered 10 lbs. of Harlan Teklad 2014 lab blocks. I have no doubt of it being more healthy for my brood, I'm just hoping they like the taste of it as well. Worse comes to worse, would it be okay for me to put a few drops of tuna water on top? Not enough to make them soft, just enough to mostly just change the smell... Hopefully it won't come to that though. We'll see how things turn out over the weekend, as the food should be here Friday. Thanks for looking, all! :mrgreen:

 

[jorats]

Do keep in mind though that with dog food, not only the low level protein and low level fat is extremely important but also the main ingredients for rats should be all grains... rats get their energy source from carbohydrates and not proteins or fat like dogs do. If the first few ingredients are meats, then the food is not energy dense enough for the rats.

 

[Kriix]

Lithade72-
As it stands:
Rosie: 327 g
Lena: 335 g
Bear: 302 g
Penny: 232 g
Pancake: 264 g
Flower: 278 g
*****

You are so lucky! All my girls are so tiny. Most of them weigh closer to your smallest of 232g and one finally got up close to your scond smallest.
The mom was a fancy rat, and the dad was a huge feeder rat - so I would have expected them to be much larger. How did you manage to get yours so chubby?
Mine weigh:
Kona: 241g
Sora: 269g
Zeesi: 212g
Sones: 227oz
Mama: 241oz

I recently switched to lab blocks a couple months ago, and these weights are from AFTER they gained weight. They all used to range from 198g to the largest being 241g. I just recently had to move them all back to their starter cage so that I could mesh in their new larger one - even chicken wire was too wide and om of the girls could squeeze through. These are all full grown 9 month old rats, and mamas even older since she is after all the mama... They have an unlimited supply of food in their cage at all times, and I add seeds, veggie mixes, baby foods, pasta, oatmeal, etc to their food but their still so tiny.

Any tips for fattening up tiny rats? :?

 

You are so lucky! All my girls are so tiny. Most of them weigh closer to your smallest of 232g and one finally got up close to your scond smallest.
The mom was a fancy rat, and the dad was a huge feeder rat - so I would have expected them to be much larger. How did you manage to get yours so chubby?
Mine weigh:
Kona: 241g
Sora: 269g
Zeesi: 212g
Sones: 227oz
Mama: 241oz

I recently switched to lab blocks a couple months ago, and these weights are from AFTER they gained weight. They all used to range from 198g to the largest being 241g. I just recently had to move them all back to their starter cage so that I could mesh in their new larger one - even chicken wire was too wide and om of the girls could squeeze through. These are all full grown 9 month old rats, and mamas even older since she is after all the mama... They have an unlimited supply of food in their cage at all times, and I add seeds, veggie mixes, baby foods, pasta, oatmeal, etc to their food but their still so tiny.

Any tips for fattening up tiny rats? :?

What did you used to feed them? Seed mixes are not good for ratties. How much protein is in your lab blocks? How much veggies do you feed them, how about fruit? Do you give them any pet store treats> if so what?

chubby is not always good, we should aim to keep our rats trim & slim. I have mine one a mixture of 3 different rat foods (no seed mixes). They get no sugar/no salt. Each group gets about ½ cup of veggies a day. (1/2 between 4 ratties), They usually get one piece of fruit a day … one of the following: half a red grape, a few blueberries, a piece of cantaloupe or honey due or a small piece of banana (ripe, not green & not too much). They have puffed rice or wheat for treats, The occasional bit of cooked or dry oatmeal. Veggies include tomato, spring mix, spinach, frozen peas, shredded carrot, frozen broccoli & cauliflower.

You should not feed your rats pasta, as it has no nutrition for them and it fills them up.
Always have your rat food available for them.


I weighed mine yesterday:

Girls
Momma Ratty (1 year, 4 months) – 275
Sophie (9 months) – 335
Bella (8 months) – 288
Hannah (1 year or so) – 375

Boys
Oscar – 635
Teddy – 600
Bruno – 580
Toby – 500
Hunter - 499

I use

Oxbow Regal Rat (Can be bought at vet clinics and online, some stores are starting to carry them)

Oxbow Regal Rat is a low-fat, nutritionally-balanced food that improves the quality of life for adult pet rats without causing life-threatening obesity. The complete, stabilized kibble contains 100% of a rat’s daily essential nutrients and prevents selective feeding, common with seed and fruit-based diets. Regal Rat was formulated by a team of professionals in the laboratory animal science, zoo nutrition and wildlife nutrition fields.

Whole Brown Rice, Oat Groats, Wheat Bran, Wheat, Soybean Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Soybean Hulls, Monocalcium Phosphate, Flax Seed Meal, (Linseed), Brewers Yeast, Calcium Carbonate, Wheat Germ Meal, Methionine DL, Salt, Yeast Culture (Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement (tocopherol), Vitamin C Supplement (Ascorbic Acid), Colloidal Silica, Riboflavin, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine, Choline Chloride, DL-Methionine, Pyrodoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Magnesium Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Manganese Oxide, Zinc Oxide, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Mineral Oil, Calcium Iodate, Potassium Chloride, Natural Flavorings
Guaranteed Analysis

And

Living World Extrusion (Can be found at Pet Valu and Petsmart in Ontario, some Zellers and some Walmarts)

Ingredients: ground corn, ground wheat, soybean meal, wheat middlings, yeast culture, dehydrated alfalfa meal, dried beet pulp, lecithin, dried corn fermentation, soluble product, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, salt, clcium propionate (preservative) DL-methionine, choline chloride, dried Saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation extract, rosemary extract, L-lysine, yucca schidigera extract, cobalt sulfate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide sodium selenite, vitamin E supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, folic acid, niacin, calcium pantothenate, vitamin Z supplement, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of vitamin K) calcium iodate, vitamin D3 supplement.

protein: 16%
Fat: 4%
Fiber: 4.5%

And

Martins Rat & Mouse Ration

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS
Crude Protein (min.) 20.0%
Crude Fat (min.) 7.0%
Crude Fibre (min.) 4.0%
Sodium (actual) 0.20%
Calcium (actual) 0.9%
Phosphorus (act) 0.65%
Vitamin A (min) 17,600 I.U./kg
Vitamin D3 (min) 2,200 I.U./kg
Vitamin E (min) 55 I.U./kg


INGREDIENTS

Ground corn, ground wheat, soybeans, poultry meal, beet pulp, herring meal, brewers dried yeast, poultry fat, molasses, ground oats, Mono-calcium Di-calcium phosphate, limestone, ammonium lignosulfonate, salt, L-lysine, DL-methionine, Mannan OligoSaccharide, yucca shidigera extract, Vitamin C phosphate, rice hulls, choline chloride, iron sulfate, zinc oxide, manganese sulfate, Vitamin E, Niacin, copper sulfate, folic acid, Calcium d-pantothenate, Vitamin B12, Vitamin A, Biotin, sodium selenite, menadione sodium bisulphite complex, riboflavin, Vitamin D3, pyridoxine, thiamine mononitrate, calcium iodate, cobalt sulfate.


*Although the protein is too high in this one, that's why I mix it with the other two, so they don't eat has much, and also veggies lower protien.

 

[sprite71]

Hey
What kind of scales and where can I get one???? With all my rescues I am starting to feel a need to get one.

 

I use a food scale, I bought at Candian Tire. It measures in grams, punds and ounces

 

[sprite71]

hehe I didnt even think of that.... I am visiting Canadian Tire today then..

 

 

[Kriix]

Ratty Momma:

What did you used to feed them? Seed mixes are not good for ratties. How much protein is in your lab blocks? How much veggies do you feed them, how about fruit? Do you give them any pet store treats> if so what?

chubby is not always good, we should aim to keep our rats trim & slim. I have mine one a mixture of 3 different rat foods (no seed mixes). They get no sugar/no salt. Each group gets about ½ cup of veggies a day. (1/2 between 4 ratties), They usually get one piece of fruit a day … one of the following: half a red grape, a few blueberries, a piece of cantaloupe or honey due or a small piece of banana (ripe, not green & not too much). They have puffed rice or wheat for treats, The occasional bit of cooked or dry oatmeal. Veggies include tomato, spring mix, spinach, frozen peas, shredded carrot, frozen broccoli & cauliflower.

You should not feed your rats pasta, as it has no nutrition for them and it fills them up.
Always have your rat food available for them.

I used to feed them a seed mix, which I learned was not good for them and that is why I switched to blocks. I currently feed them the extrusion blocks, as it is all I have been able to find.

All the veggies they get are blended and frozen into muffin tins, then thaw - I used to feed these along with my dogs raw diet but stopped and decided to feed the remaining to the ratties. It is all just very common veggies (peas, carrots, spincach, etc) and has a few fruits added in as well (blueberry, raspberry, apple, etc). they get once block to share between the 5 of them every other day.

They are given no store bought treats at all. I will stop with the pasta if it is really that bad. I have only been giving one piece of pasta each week as a 'treat'. They love knawing on them and it keeps them entertained for a while. On top of that they are occasionally given bits of dried oatmel and cooked cream of wheat. They also started stealing little bits of cooked rice while i'm eating it.

I am not really aiming for chubby, just not as tiny as they are, since they are able to fit through very very small spaces, which makes it easier for them to escape. I used to have their cage covered in chicken wire type wiring, but gave it away and yesterday switched to mesh (like on a door) because the smallest ones were still able to squeeze through. They may also be smaller because they get so much exercise. They have 3 large wheels in their cage, and their cage is large enough to hold up to 12 rats, so they have lots of levels to climb. They also get 5 hours of free roam time each day, which they do not waste and zoom all around the room climbing , running and hoarding food. Basically just acting like regular female ratties. :heart:

Sprite: I purchased mine at Zellers for under $15. It also measures in pounds, ounces and grams and has a bowl top.

 

[Lithade72]

To be quite honest, I'm not sure what I did to make my girls plump... I would make a guess as to Lena being so heavy though. I had a 15'' chinspin wheel in their cage for a few months, and she LOVED it! She wouldn't hardly get off of it. This was before I got Flower and Pancake, so I'm not sure as to how they'd take to a wheel, but the rest of my girls really liked it. They would take turns running on it, and Lena even taught them how to run in pairs on it. Maybe she just got chunky from working out?... I took the wheel out of their cage because they kept using the bathroom in it, and it was becoming impossible to keep clean. I am now working on getting them a flying saucer wheel, as I think the construction of it will prevent poo buildup. :roll Also free roam time helps build muscles I'm sure.

As far as treats, I give my girls cheerio's (plain), as well as a breakfast of half a blueberry apiece. I also give them frozen peas, broccoli, and a tiny bit of sandwich meat once a week. I have been considering meal worms, but I'm not too sure of their nutritional value.
Staple diet is changing as of today! I got my new lab blocks in. The girls seem to really like them. Here's what's in them:

Harlan Teklad 2014:
Wheat middlings, ground wheat, ground corn, corn gluten meal, calcium carbonate, soybean oil, dicalcium phosphate, iodized salt, L-lysine, DL-methionine, choline chloride, niacin, vitamin A acetate, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, calcium pantothenate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium oxide, manganous oxide, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, calcium iodate, cobalt carbonate, chromium potassium sulfate
Crude Protein : 14%
Crude Fat: 3.5%
Crude Fiber 5.5%

Also, I just use a digital postal scale I got at Walmart for about $10.
Thanks for all the helpful info all!

 

[lilratsy43]

Harlan is a great rat block, many of us use them here!

From what I have heard extrusion is pretty good as well.

Pasta as a treat will not hurt your rat, just like with everything else, moderation is always good.

I tried Oxbow, but my rats were actually losing weight on it LOL.

Finally, a girl over 300g is good. Well at least I think so, I do like my rats slightly on the plump side but not overly obese (ok so Gunther may be a little fat, but he eats just the same as everyone else and there is nothing I can do to fix that..LOL) Most of my girls have been rather tiny, ranging between 250-300, I think a few broke the 300 mark but not very often.

 

[sprite71]

Well I bought a digital scale at Zellers.. its neat to play with

I have a bag of oxbow regal rat and my ratties will not eat it at all.. thank goodness its a small size bag so not a lot to waste..

 

Mine love oxbow, out of all three foods, they eat this one first

 

[ryelle]

you find female rats can weigh between -200g to 400g+, it just depends on their genetic make-up, whether their parents were larger (not fat) or small built. I have an athletic girl who weighs at the top end of 300g. They were really well fed when they were babies though and weighed 215g by the time they were 6weeks old and ready to come home

 

[Lithade72]

Okay, so it's cage cleaning day, and Rosie is feeling much better. That means we get to see how much change the girls have went through since surgery/new food.

Before: 2/9/10 After: 2/19/10

Rosie: 327 g - 296 g
Lena: 335 g - 337 g
Bear: 302 g - 288 g
Penny: 232 g - 228 g
Pancake: 264 g - 265 g
Flower: 278 g - 287 g

Not too much of a change in ten days, except in Rosie's case. By the time the tumor was actually removed, it was almost twice the size as when I weighed her the first time. Glad that's taken care of! And she seems to feel so much better now too. :mrgreen:

Also, to promote good health, I just picked up one of the large flying saucer exercise wheels. So far no one has figured out what to do with it, but I'm sure either it will come with time, or I may be able to show them.

 

Let us know about the lying saucer lol, I want to buy one ..but only if it will be used

 

[Lithade72]

Understood, and will do! :wink2:

 

Did they use the saucer yet? lol

 

[Lithade72]

Well, sure! They use it for all kinds of things, sleeping, peeing, eating, chewing... Everything but running. LOL Not the best investment, but they did LOVE their chinspin, but it was a nightmare to keep clean for my girls. :roll:

 

lol thanks for the update! I think I will skip on buying one.