ran out of food at a bad time

Question
QUESTION: Hi, i have 2 male rats, and blue and a dumbo. i have only about 3 days worth of food right now and theres no way i can make a trip to the nearest pet for atleast a week. Is there a simple diet i can give them for a week that it easy to prepare (fruits, deli meat, rice, etc)? thankyou

ANSWER: Hi Darik


What is your normal rat diet consist of?

Check out my website in the diet section for ideas. I usually suggest making your own food anyhow since most pet store mixes are garbage loaded with too much fats and proteins.

I would skip the deli meat and sub that with scrambled eggs minus using milk.  Can you get to the grocery store?
You can give them a large variety of sugarfree cereals such as puffed rich and puffed wheat, dry oatmeal flakes, total cereal or even special k, cheerios, rice chex (not sugar coated though)

You can give them semi cooked brown rice but if all you have is white rice, that is fine, too.
Veggies are best such as canned or frozen or even fresh carrots, peas, corn is ok too, even corn on cob.
Just a list from my site:
Strawberries
Melons of all kinds
Blueberries
Raspberries
Plums
Apples and applesauce
Bananas
Grapes
Broccoli
Squash

What do you have in the pantry and fridge?

Here is my site for more info on diet:

http://www.freewebs.com/crittercity/ratsandahealthydiet.htm

There is also a list of what foods to AVOID feeding your rat as well on my site.  






---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: thanks for the quick answer. my normal rat diet is 8in1 rat/mouse blocks aswell as baby carrots and sometimes fresh fruit. I have all these food you named in my fridge so thanks for the list. However i have some follow up questions.  
My blue rat has a scab on his hind leg, should i be worried?
I see that there are dramatic bite marks on the food bowl, what is going on? am i feeding them to little?
is cheese really any good for rats to eat?
and lastly...
How do i harness train my rats? they havent got enough excersize lately and a harness seemed like the best choice, but they always just take it off when i hook it on them.  Is there a better choice for rat fitness?
thankyou.

Answer
Hi Darik

They should have food at all times, never let the bowl empty.

As for the scab on his leg, is there a lump under it?  My rats get scabs and werid stuff all the time. As long as there is no swelling etc...or excessive itching and scratching, I wouldnt worry about it much.

Also no, cheese, believe it or not, is not always a hit with rats contrary to popular belief (mouse and cheese in trap etc...) they say rats are lactose intolerant as well so its best to avoid dairy.

As for rat fitness, you can let them run away and play and explore in a homemade rat pen.  I do not suggest a harness because they dont like to be confined like that. Plus, if you take them outside there are alot of dangers for them, namely, the large birds that swoop down out of the sky and grab small animals, even little dogs.  This is very true and has happened too many times to even think about ......its such a tragic thing to have happen.  

Check out my site and the page GETTING STARTED. There is a really easy idea to construct a cardboard play area for them. You can hook it from one side of the cage to the other and make it as big as you want using cardboard.  Make it 3 feet high so they cant leap over it and put some toys in there during their play time and take them out once a day for an hour or twice a day for 30 mins. and let them just roam around the pen. You can take this time to sit in there with them and let them crawl all over you. You will be like a jungle gym  to them!!  

Hope this helps!