Ratties Not Eating Lab Blocks

My bunch don't care all that much for the HT blocks either although I keep giving them to the ratties. The boys will eat them a bit better than the girls. Are you using a good dog food to go along with the Suebee mix?

I give the HT, Nutro Natural dog food and my own variations of the Suebee mix along with fresh foods (fruits/veggies), bits of meat (chicken/tuna/fish), cooked pastas, rice and oatmeal, boiled eggs and other things.

Mine will eat the Harland Blocks (2014) now, but I did have some that used to hate them. We also feed our ratties the Nutro's natural LITE dog food (it has 14% protein and you don't want to go much higher than that!).

Suebee's is not an optimal staple, but enjoyable in addition to the blocks/dog kibble.

If your ratties are thin, I would definitely feed them more of what they like (junk food excluded). You might try the Nutro's LITE, it actually goes over very well at our house.

You might also try increasing the fresh veggies, fruit etc too. My little porkers LOVE cooked pasta, cooked sweet potatoes, frozen corn and peas, blueberries etc. Our elderly/sick ratties do quite well on babyfood, and A/D canned cat food. Ensure is also helpful for getting them a bit more calories and they love the taste.

You may want to try Oxbow's Regal rat lab blocks,from what I have heard they are good lab blocks,and since they are apple flavored I have even heard of picky rats eating themlol .
HTH
Devon(rat mommy to 3 )

Thanks guys. Well as soon as I can find the 2014 I will buy those as well as the regal rat food from Oxbow. They get about 5-6 lab blocks a day, some days they carry them away and stash them, other days they keep moving them from one bowl to the suebees dish. I couldn't find the recomended dog food the site suggests so I just found an all natural dog food with chicken and beef, they eat it but not that keen on it, I will try to find what you guys feed. They do get fruit and veg, maybe i should feed more? They both love various fruits and veg (I don't think they had ever had any before). Each evening before bed they get a small piece of fruit or veg and another small piece of food, sometimes tuna/meat then other nights cooked pasta, tiny bit of bread in oil etc.
When I got them they seemed all bones, they have gained a little weight but I am still worried about them. Also one still has the most foul smell (the nervous one), now she seems perfectly healthy apart from this, could it be the diet or that she is still smelly because she is scared? They are still in quarentine partly because our rabbit was recently spayed and I didn't want her to pick up anything they may carry but not be affected by but also because of the smell (My husband isn't that impressed with it), I know she needs to be around sounds and people to get used to us.

You might see if your vet can get you a sample of the Oxbow Regal Rat, before you buy a bag. My rats HATE the Oxbow. And to be honest, I haven't heard of many rats at all that liked it. This is sad, because it has perfect nutrion content and is very good for them. But mine toss it right of the cage on the floor in protest. Not to mention, it smells funny.

Sounds like your little girl is still fear pooping. But you may want to consider having your vet do a fecal test to see if she might be carrying any parasites. Antibiotics can help clear that right up.

I am not aware of anything a rat or rabbit can carry that would not be species specific. Therefore, I would not be concerned about QT unless you have other rats. Your ratties would not carry anything that could be passed along to a rabbit. Even mites/lice are species specific.

Rats are very much like us....when presented with yummy options, we might tend to eat that before the "good for you" stuff. But if you already have skinny ratties, I would be more concerned about getting some good weight on them too. Another good suppliment is Nutrical. It comes in a tube and can be mixed into babyfood.

I tend to have the opposite problem....my ratties are little fatties . Every night for dinner, they get a starch (cooked pasta, rice or sweet potato) several veggies (examples: peas, corn, broccoli, cooked green beans, canned cooked black or kidney beans, kale, cilantro) and a fruit (blueberries, banana, grapes, melon). We also give them soy yogurt, oatmilk or soy milk.

My husband tells people our animals eat better than he does....it's true! lol

Well from what you give them each night maybe I should feed a little more 'treats' at night, I guess I didn't want to introduce to many and to much new foods all at once incase of diarrhea. With the shy girl (I am yet to think of any names I think right) I just feel so bad for her. Lily her sister now loves cuddles and 'rough' play but I can hardly stroke the other. If i sit quietly in the bathroom after 10 mins or so she will come out and run all over me but as soon as I stroke her back gently shes away back to her cage. She has never tried to bite me but if I do pick her up (I have done this twice in 3 weeks)she just goes nuts and tries to run away. I feed her treats and she will come if she smells something nice) but thats it. I have no clue how to help her. Lily came around with food and patience.

Patience is definitely key. It can take a while to "trust train" a rattie that may not have had any prior socialization. At least Lily has realized you are "ok", so hopefully little "Bashful" will too.

You may want to check the articles here:

(broken link removed)

There should be one on trust training, as well as lots of old forum posts about socialization. The forums are closed now, but all the old posts are still there.

I have a few rescue ratties that love attention, treats and interaction with me. But the minute I pick them up, they are like "put me down"!! Some that weren't held from a youngster, are not very trusting of being held.

One thing we found that helps with getting them used to you (though, if she's still fear poo'ing, it might not be too fun for you) is to layer your clothing and put her in your shirt. Like a t-shirt with a fleece pull over or hoodie. The little one can feel safe, and also get used to your smell. It's really helped some of our more skittish ratties.

Ok so what other types of dog food can you feed other the the Nutro lite? Mine see to be pretty picky with that certain kind.