I am a strong believer in feeding a Shunamite diet to my rats, and strongly recommend it to my pet homes – I will not home any rats to anybody that feeds any nuggets; the only exception being Science Selective as that’s the only half-decent one on the market.
The Shunamite diet is a diet designed by The Scuttling Gourmet, and I definitely recommend you pick up a copy of their book if you are serious about ratty diets. This diet is unique in that it goes off of volume rather than weight, and uses percentages to calculate the mix.
An example is my own mix;
25% Fruit & Nut Hamster Mix
25% Pellet Free Rabbit Mix
25% Low Sugar Cereals and processed grains (pasta, popcorn, noodles, oats, etc)
10% Skinners Field & Trial Salmon
5% Seed Mixture (Conditioning Bird Feed, Linseed, Hempseed, Pumpkins)
5% Dried Vegetables (Varies based on what’s in the store that I can dehydrate)
5% Dried Herbs (Typically Dandelion Salad from HomeBargains)
As you can see that in total makes 100%, and therefore a complete mixture. The general rule is;
50-60% Base Mix
25% Cereals & Processed Grains
5-10% Protein
5% Herbs
5% Dried Vegetables
5% Seed Mixture
Some base mixes I recommend are;
Allen & Page Stud & Youngstock
Allen & Page Green Pea Rabbit Mix
Dodson & Horrell Conditioning Mix
Fruit & Nut Hamster Food
Harrisons Banana Brunch
Fruity Rabbit Food Pellet Free
Red Mills Conditioning Mix
Spillers Stud & Youngstock
I typically mix two to three bases at a time but have used up to four in the past. I typically make a huge 140L box full of food, I’ve included a standard 2L bottle for size reference!
In regards to cereals & processed grains – it can vary based on what stores you have close to you. I personally have HomeBargains, B&M, Morrisons, Aldi and Asda all a stone’s throw from my home. As long as your cereals are under 5% sugar, they can go in your mix.
For the processed grains side – pasta shapes, egg noodles, rice noodles, brown rice, oat cakes, rice cakes, ryvitas, etc. There’s a lot of variety, but I typically stick to what I can find in Aldi as they’re often the cheapest, however, if you prefer to shop online some sites do now let you organise by sugar content – you ideally want it to be less than 5g sugar per 100 grams. You may need to look at the back of the box to find this value.
If you want to use popcorn – you will have to make it yourself, you can usually buy 500g of popping corn for a couple of pounds, and pop it yourself with a little oil and no salt or extras.
With protein its a bit simpler – try and choose a high-quality dog food that names what meat is used; for example, the one I feed, Skinners Field & Trial Salmon’s ingredient list is;
Whole rice (40%), salmon meal (17.5% dry weight), oats, peas, sunflower oil, whole linseed, beet pulp, vitamins and minerals.
You really want to avoid any protein sources that say “meat derivatives” or any unnamed protein such as “poultry”. Ideally, you do want food that just says the type of meat used, whilst “meal” foods are okay, they aren’t the highest quality. Other protein sources can be dried insects, fish, shrimp, red lentils, egg biscuits, and peas.
Herbs I think are the easiest part of the mix as they can be bought premixed – I primarily use Dandelion Salad from HomeBargains, but most prepackaged herb mixes aimed at rabbits are suitable. Typically I try and avoid horse herbs or human herbs as they tend to be too fine and/or powdery.
Dried vegetables are also easy to source or make yourself, Rat Rations sell a variety but it’s also worth looking online for raw-feeding websites that offer dried vegetables. I have found a kilo of dried veg to be about £10 from a raw feeding site. If you have a dehydrator, you can also buy any reduced veg you see and dehydrate it yourself.
Seeds are a vital part of the mix and provide a lot of essential oils that help your rats be as healthy as they can be; top favourites seem to be linseed, hempseed, pumpkin seed and milk thistle. I am also a fan of Wilko’s Conditioning Mix for caged birds.
Wet & Fresh Meals
Typically I like to offer my rats a “wet meal” at least once or twice a week, this is typically when I offer them their supplements and extra oils. There is usually a selection of what can be fed to them; including high-quality dog/cat meals, soakable foods from Rat Rations as well as lots of homemade tasty things for them.
I like to toss my lot a can of tinned fish (typically Sardines or Pilchards) once a week, just for convenience and because they go crazy for it. I usually mash in a dose of CaCuD3 by Rat Rations to ensure each group is getting their required minerals.
I will also sometimes boil up a carton of eggs and toss them at the rats (with a slight crack in) for them to eat.
My lot do also get a lot of “table scraps” which includes rice, pasta, meats, veggies, peelings as well as bones from whatever I have cooked. I do sometimes butcher my own venison so they often get the bones given to them for variety.
In summer I do like to blend them a mixture of Pilchards, Sardines, Fresh Veg, Seeds and Herbs and then freeze it for them to have fun with on hot days for added enrichment.