I really enjoy the nutrition videos. Rats are such fun it feels like the possibilities are endless when it comes to customizing a good diet for them, and there's always more to learn and improve upon. Looking forward to hearing more about produce in the future; we're big fans of bok choy and broccoli here!

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

Nutrition really is an exciting topic. If you've not discovered it yet check out the scuttling gourmet. There's a physical book or a series of ebooks if your not UK based. One of my fave ratty books shunamiterats.co.uk/rat-diet-ebooks/ Mine love both though we do get broccoli farts... Dandelion and kale address probably my faves though

@daikondam9293

4 жыл бұрын

​@@IsamuRatCare Yes! A year ago I found the 3rd edition second-hand (in the US) and I'm still pulling it out of my shelves a few times a week to reread some chapters. At this point I don't know what I'd do without it, it's such a handy guide.

The treat thing reminded me of something I was thinking about earlier. We tend to forget that our animals aren't people. Humans eat a lot of crap because escapism through food is basically a societal norm (in western cultures, I should say). We want to give our rats treats because we like treats ourselves. It's the same with fighting. Some people might get worried when they see rats play fighting because to our fragile human eyes, it looks really bad. But rats have tougher skin than we do, and play fighting is a necessary part of their lives. It's important not to ascribe a human lens to our rats.

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

Very much true

Love watching Chocobo happily munching away there 😆

I am researching rat before I get some in about 4-6 weeks, and your videos have really helped. I am now thinking about making my own food mix.

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

That is really exciting, I hope you enjoy keeping rats as much as I do

Thank you! This helped a lot, especially as someone who is researching rats before getting them!

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

I hope you really enjoy your rat’s when you get them

@user.3014

3 жыл бұрын

It's great that your putting in the effort on researching ect as some people don't. Keep going with your research even after you get them as well! Have fun with your ratties 👍💖🐀

I'm OBSESSED with your rat videos!!! They're so well made!! One question: could you add more pictures and videos of examples on your videos?? It would be really helpful to understand for people who don't have English as their first language! It would also be really helpful to maybe put a small summary at the end of the video or in the comment section, for those who struggle with keeping concentration for long! ❤️

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

I will try and get more examples where possible, a lot relies on the rats cooperating though lol, I do have a fair bit of stuffed stored for future use though if needed. A summary is a good idea, maybe even written with bullet points. I’ll have a think on how best to do it when I get into things again a bit more

I've found every time I've given my rats veg every day, they seem to almost have diarrhoea. I give them a large mix depending on what we have for the other animals. Fresh parsley, kale, foraged ingredients, leafy greens and such. I also have corn on the cob as a treat, they really love it!usually uncooked and fresh, but I have given them cooked before.. Came here for figure out how much I should feed my body of my rat food mix, thanks for the help 😊 I didnt think if actually giving the rats wet meals. Sometimes I have given them "spaghetti bolognese" in a way, with ingredients substitute . It looked like bolognese but it wasnt. I've given them rice and chicken. But I havent since they've gotten older as I dont want to give them too much protine, they still get rice at times.

I love that you do your videos during free range time. It’s funny hearing them in the background, and it’s so cute when they make an appearance 😍 I’m glad you said you can get fat rats by feeding too many vegetables. I was feeding my boys A LOT of veggies ( but didn’t realize it was a lot). I thought it would be okay because they’re vegetables, but when they started plumping up, I realized I needed to cut back.

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you. I mostly video when I free range as I feel pretty awkward when filming, even a year in lol. Having the rats there means that in my head more people will be looking at the rats than me which is much better lol. I've been there with veg too, it's easily done because you assume they are healthy and they are, but like everything in moderation.

Are dreamies cat treats ok for rats? Mine go absolutely crazy for them and they are the only thing they’ll be motivated enough for training 😂😂😂 I also make little mini meals of what I eat for dinner sometimes, so give them a little bowl of like chicken a broken up chip peas broccoli ect, is this ok for them rather than giving them their dry mix some days?

I have a question, how do you know that each rat is getting enough food and the others aren’t taking all the food? Also thank you for the valuable information!

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

You basically need to get hands on and feel them after they’ve been fed like this for a while (1-2 weeks gives a good idea), so you can feel if they are under or over weight and adjust to compensate

@audreyy42

4 жыл бұрын

Isamu Rat Care alright thank you so much

Rats like to be clean & I put a small bowl of water where they use it to wash faces..ect. My rats have a big cage but I leave the door to it open so they can come & go, free range, and I see they spend a lot of time on their own in it. I have trained my rats to sleep at night & play during the day.

@Jade-zu4ru

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, I know you commented this a year ago, but how did you manage to train your rats to play during the day and sleep during the night?

@sandraforeman620

2 жыл бұрын

@@Jade-zu4ru Hold & play with them Duning the day and they will sleep at night.

Thank you for doing these videos, they are so helpful! I have 2 boys who are rescue and have a current approx age of around 1years. I would feed them between 15-20g of ratrations Isa-mix 8 w. egg biscuit. One of them is chunkier than the other. Would I feed them that amount, with the fruit/veg a few times a week. What supplements would I use and how often? Thanks you :)

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

When you say chunkier is he chubby or just more solid? There's a video on weight in my condition playlist that might help. Suppliments you want to give around twice a week, something like daily essentials 1 and calcivet liquid in water or daily rat 3 on fresh foods or veg. I'd reduce the amount you feed a bit when you give veg

@cheLsiecss

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare He is more solid I would say! Maybe a little chubby because I didnt realise I was feeding them too much! Thankfully I came across this video. I've been on a spree and watched almost all of your videos and I love them. I can't stop recommending you to people lol Thank you so much for getting back to me I really appreciate it! X

Hello.Just picked up my first two boys yesterday. 4 weeks old babies. They are happy and healthy. :) I see you reply on comments, could I have a question please? Is there any way I can give my boys better water ? I live in Area where tap water isn't fluorided so much, BUT there is still some. Do you think that mineral water would be okay for them ? Cos to be honest I could not find no info. Thanks for advice

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

If your in an area with bad tap water then bottled (still) water is fine for them

Is there any way you could make a video doing a diet mix people in the US can make, maybe ingredients that can be found about anywhere like oats and dried fruits, would really appreciate it !

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

A could do a straight based mix using supermarket/health food shop type ingredients. It’ll need supplementing with vitamins but should be doable anywhere in the world

@TonantzinMoralest

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare What type of vegetables or fruits do you recommend for the homemade mix? I have oxbow as the base mix, millet as the protein but I'm not sure what else I should add or what measurements I could do. Thanks so much for answering my question! much appreciated

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

I tend to dry an assortment of dark green leafy stuff (like kale) then carrots, peppers, mushrooms and a few berries too. Just as a heads up millet won’t work as the protein element, it’s typically around 11% protein which is actually lower than the oxbow, you can use it as a small amount of the seeds. I’d look for a decent dog kibble for the protein element, or at a pinch dried shrimp and fish can work

@TonantzinMoralest

4 жыл бұрын

Isamu Rat Care okay thank you so much !

Hello! What veg are you feeding twice a week? I’m stuck on what veg they can have and how often they can have that veg sorry if that’s a silly question I’m getting three males also are you still feeding dry mix the days you feed veg x

How much should I feed each of my adult bucks using a homemade food mix based on the Shunamite diet??

How many grams of fresh veggies should they have?

Hold & play with them Durning the day, then they will learn to sleep at night.

theres so many people here from 3 years ago that are so excited to get pet rats. those rats are probably dead now and it makes me sad to think my rats will end up the same since as of now, Im getting rats in about 4 weeks. I suppose Ill see you in another 2-3 years haha

Hi I have a good routine with veg and have found an amount that works well for my dry mix but I was given a soakables mix from the breeder which I have been giving around every other day about 2tbs with milk. They are around 15 weeks. Do you think this is too much. They feel in good condition but my alpha is a bit chubby 😂 any advice

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

I'd probably cut back I bit on it now. Maybe do it once a week and cut the dry mix your offering when you do

@michellejuxon6918

4 жыл бұрын

Okay thank you 😊

Can someone answer this because I really don't know. But are pea flakes bad to feed daily in the home made mix? I keep hearing they are high in fat

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

They are fine as part of a well balanced mix

15 grams per rat or per 3 rats

Can you give a quick list of healthy treats?? I’ve heard something’s about the Gerber baby puffs being good treats. Are those healthy?

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

They aren’t awful but you can probably do better. They are 14% sugar so reasonably high. A lot of finding good treats is seeing what your rat likes. Many will be over the moon with say a rice crispy (go own brand, cheaper and lower sugar), others won’t be fussed by them. For me I tend to pick treats that suit them at a particular time, so for babies I go for higher protein treats like a bit of small bite kibble, for adults maybe some liver biscuit and for oldies glucosamine or linseed containing old dog treats

Does the amount of food also change based on whether they are young growing rats vs. fully grown? My breeder recommended Oxbow Adult Rat Food with some egg (extra protein to supplement the Oxbow) while they are still growing. My rats are male and will be 10 weeks old soon. I weighed them today and they were between 330g and 360g). The bag says to freely feed. When I tried to limit to 15-20g per rat per day, they seemed like they were starving and started fighting with each other over the food, and also started hoarding it. Once I freely gave it to them again, they relaxed.

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

Sometimes rats need a little more food when growing, but really the right amount does vary by rat’s. There isn’t a hard and fast rule, you need to judge it off there feel and how they are growing

@MK-ol9ib

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare Thanks for the quick reply! I've been learning so much from your videos.

hi, I was just wondering if it's a good idea to seperate the rats during feeding time? Do the rats eat all the food at once or will they take it to their nest? Does that mean that feeding them separatly is compelety useless? I really dont want my future rats to not get the same amount of food.. So what is the best tactic? to have separate bowls for each rat and hope that they take one for themselves instead of taking from eachothers or feeding them separatly? :)

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

I would recommend scatter feeding, individual rats will actually need different amounts of food based on genetics, health, sex, activity levels and even if they’ve been neutered or not, it’s very hard to get the exact amount of food per rat. If you scatter feed then too a point they regulate themselves. Sometimes you need to step in when someone is particularly fat or thin but most of them will sort themselves out

I will feed my rats pellets called Selective Rat instead of a dry mix to make sure that they dont pick out their favourites and leave the rest. does that mean that i should feed them vegetables more often, and often would that be?

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

I would personally recommend rethinking that s as whilst science selective isn’t bad and I do add a bit to my mix it’s not really a suitable diet for a creature that’s evolved as a scavenger and gets so much enrichment from a varied diet. Have you had a watch of this my video “Choosing the type of diet” in the feeding playlist. If fed properly a well balanced mix shouldn’t lead to selective eating. The keys are to only feed what they need for a particular day and scatter feed, not ad-lib bowl feed.

Hello! I’m not sure if you covered this or not in the video because I have horrible memory but how many times a day should I feed rats? I don’t have any yet but I’m probably going to get some soon, I’ve tried looking on KZread and other websites but I get mixed answers. Thanks!

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

There isn’t a right answer as such on this one, why places don’t agree lol, it’s about finding what works best for you and your rats. What I will say though is avoid feeding adlib (eg food always available). Most folk either feed once or twice a day. I feed once, Lovecraft (my partner eatery) feeds twice and neither is right as such

@annatoullie4914

3 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare okay, thanks! :)

Is there any types of meat rats shouldn't have? I have got two 10 month old boys at the moment, one is much chunkier than the other and is a natural forager (I do scatter feed) so I know he gets a decent amount but I'm worried the skinnier one either is not looking for food or maybe poor genetics (p@h rats I'm afraid) I think he may have a slightly square tail but I'm a first time rat owner so not very experienced with it first hand, so I'd quite like to bulk him up away from his brother, I give them an occasional treat of applaws cat foods but they are not that impressed by it. I do have wet dog food at my disposal - my dogs have a really high quality meat but it is meats like lamb, rabbit, venison, tripe etc - is this ok for them? Also how many times a week would be safe to feed this to him just to help him gain a little bit of weight, and will he ever lose the square tail? I really enjoyed your 12 days of enrichment videos looking forward to trying some soon :) Thanks

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

Generally any meat we can eat is fine for rats. I’d be careful with not too much red meat and avoid raw if it’s a meat that is prone to salmonella (like chicken) but otherwise it should go down well. Is your boy actually skinny or is he just slender build?

@Mysti84

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare I'm not sure, but he's sort of dips in slightly on his back end, as if he lacks good thigh muscles not sure how best to describe it, he's certainly not rounded on his back end. I can't see his hip bones but he does certainly feel more boney than his brother.

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

At 10 months that’s unusual. Have you tested his urine to see if there’s something else going on?

@Mysti84

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare no as he seems very happy and fine otherwise I just thought he might need a little extra food :( unfortunately I've not handled any other rats to compare what is a good shape I saw a picture on a rat group someone had shared of theirs since i posted on here and that rat looked the same on the back end so maybe his brother is actually overweight and I'm worrying about the wrong rat.... Im going to watch your video again on underweight vs overweight rats. I don't seem to be able to get mine in a good position for photos to ask anyones advice that way which is annoying, they don't to seem to like the camera and get all squirmy.

@Mysti84

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare I rewatched your video on rat weights, I managed to take some photos would you mind looking at them? hopefully the link below should work. I think he looks ok, but possibly his brother needs a slight diet? Hard to tell by the piccies but I think he looks fairly tubular, is it ok he feels slightly boney at this age as he's still growing? I do still think his tail is slightly square though :( beta.photobucket.com/u/mysti84/

i plan to give each of my male rats 17g of their food per day (to start with) but i want to feed them once in the morning and once during the evening. should i feed half of it in the morninga nd the other half during the evening then?

@IsamuRatCare

3 жыл бұрын

Yep that’s the simplest way to do he

How many tablespoons is 15 grams?

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

It depends what of. Because a tablespoon is a volume measurement the density comes into play. So a tablespoon of rice would weigh more than a tablespoon of rice crisps

How about protein like eggs

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

It needs to be in proportion to the amount of rat’s and generally if I’m giving extra protein I’ll reduce the amount of dry food I’m giving too. So say 1 boiled egg between 4-5 rats and half there dry mix. That is assuming they are a nice weight and maintaining it well

@sydmilky8016

4 жыл бұрын

@@IsamuRatCare once a week or once a month if the are healthy wieght?

@IsamuRatCare

4 жыл бұрын

Depends on the age, youngsters I would do up to once a week, oldies maybe once a month unless I was using it as part of bulk up food