SRMM feeding

I keep getting asked what I feed. Please note that I am answering that question, but I am not one of the people that believes how I do it is the only good way. I do believe that like humans, rats need a variety of food and feeding the same food all the time isn’t healthy. I feed blocks and have them available all the time. Then I use the Shunamite diet and feed them at least once a day with that with about 10 grams for each rat. I also provide fresh veggies with occasional treats. (Treats usually include some eggs and various fruits.) Note: babies and pregnant mothers should have about 15% protein and older adults should have closer to 12% protein. All the foods in the recipe are salt and sugar free.

Below is what I feed my rats that are not pregnant are not babies and are not older (i.e. healthy rats that do not require a special diet between the ages of 3 months and 18 months.)

Blocks

• I rotate them. However, like people rats will have preferences and some rats like some more than others. If they are hungry, they have something they can eat all the time.
  • Kaytee (not as often)
  • Mazuri
  • Kalmbach
    
    

Shunamite Diet

• I try to change it up but some things end up in most of my blends because they are easy to come by where I live. I studied this quite a bit before adding it to my staple diet. Most people that choose to only feed the Shunamite Diet keep it to around 15 grams per rat. However, since I have blocks, I do 10 grams.
  • Base – 5 cups
    • Pure rat food
    • Science selective rat food
    • Oxbow rat food
    • 6 or more grains (who barley, buckwheat, wild rice, pearled barley, millet, popcorn kernels, split peas, flaked rice, flaked corn, course bulgar)
  • Grains – 2 ½ cups
    • Cereals (shredded wheat, Cheerios, puffed rice, corn, rice Chex, corn flakes)
    • Dried pasta
    • Brown rice
  • Protein – 1 cup
    • Grain free, high quality fish dog food (20-24% protein)
    • Insects (fly larva, mealworms)
    • Roasted soy nuts
  • Seeds – ½ cup
    • Linseed
    • Flax
    • Hemp
    • Pumpkin
    • Millet
    • Quinoa
    • Chia
    • Squash
    • Sunflower (I limit a bit but always have some on hand)
  • Extras ½ cup
    • Banana chips
    • Kelp
    • Goji berries
    • Carob chips
    • Flaked coconut
    • Nuts
    • Dried flowers
    • Dried herbs
  • - I don’t because I do fresh but if you don’t want to do fresh veggies then add dry veggies - 1 cup
    • Dehydrated veggies

Fresh foods

• This will not be a complete list. I used to make little salads all the time, but it wasted a lot of food and therefore I now do not. However, if you want to and only have a few rats, it is the way to go.
  • Veggies - lots
    • Carrots, parsnips, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, peas, green beans, bean sprouts, dandelion greens, collard greens, parsley, asparagus, clover
  • Fruits - occasional
    • Apples, bananas, berries, melons, peaches, pears, grapes, papaya
  • Protein - occasional
    • (cooked) eggs, chicken, turkey, tofu