The Shunamite Diet

Feeding your rats

There are many successful ways of feeding a rat, and all rats are individuals with specific needs depending on their genetic background, age, sex, health, environment and activity levels. There is no “one-size-fits-all” prescription for rat diet and all diets need to be adapted and modified to suit the needs of the individual. What follows are general guidelines based on my own experience and research.

Why not just feed a generic rat food/pellet?
There are a number of generic rat mixes and pellets available in the UK. However, these tend to suffer from one or more common problems which mean that there are generally better ways to feed a rat.

Unsuitable ingredient - many of these mixes contain alfalfa and other hay or straw pellets, which are indigestible to rats and almost always rejected. Other unsuitable ingredients include sugar, very small whole grains (often refused), sunflower seeds (allergenic to some rats) and nuts (high protein/fat and best kept as a treat).

Poor quality ingredients – a particular problem where low quality ‘meat’ is used such as chicken derivatives. Issues relate not only to the suitability of the animal parts as a nutritional source, but also to the ethical considerations for the welfare of the animals that provide the meat. Vegetable derivatives are also sometimes used. These tend to be plant parts that are surplus to requirement in other industries, and will vary within a particular feed according to what is available. It is preferable to use a feed that lists specific vegetables.

Inaccessible vitamins and minerals – Vitamins A, C, D and E and copper are often supplemented in generic mixes but in some cases are added to the pellet in the mix. If the rat then rejects these, the supplements are wasted.

Colourings and flavourings - may be added to make the mix look (to humans) and taste more palatable. Flavourings often add sugar to the mix, while many artificial colorants are linked to behavioural changes and possible tumours.

Nutritional suitability – there are a few generic mixes that don’t even match the basic requirements of a rat, being well above the recommended 4% fat and 12-14% protein levels. Some are also high in fibre, often through including ingredients that rats reject.

Artificial preservatives – these are common ingredients in any rodent nugget or mix containing animal protein. Where manufacturers don’t add these to feeds themselves they do not always appear on the list of ingredients, but may still be included as the preservative for any ‘bought-in’ animal fat. Preservatives like Ethoxyquin, BHA and BHT are known carcinogens (promote cancer).

Boredom - complete pellet diets are favoured by some, but these are a long way from the rat's natural highly varied diet as an opportunitic omnivore. Rats derive a lot of pleasure from food and a varied diet is interesting and can be used to help stimulate foraging behaviours. It is also more likely that a highly varied diet will provide better nutrition than a complete processed pellet.

However, some rat foods and also some rabbit foods make a suitable base for a mix to which you can add other ingredients.

The Shunamite diet
The Shunamite diet is a living, evolving diet which works according to the following principles:

1. Take a suitable base food.
2. Add carefully chosen human cereal
3. Add seeds, vegetables and herbs for variation and interest
4. Add a source of protein.

Choosing a base mix
All diets tend to have staple foods which form a regular and substantial part of the whole. I call these base foods. Generally (for rats) base foods should be grain based and include a good proportion of minimally processed grains. My preferred choice of base food is a mixture of straight grains which are purchased individually and then combined. I feel this gives maximum flexibility for creating a mix that is ideally adapted to the needs of the rat, and also removes the negative aspects of generic mixes. However, there are many other suitable alternatives and I have included a list of some of these at the end of the article. The base food would make up approximately 50-60% of your mix.

Human cereals
These are extremely useful for adding variety, reducing phosphate levels, reducing anti-nutrients (these occur naturally in unprocessed grains and prevent the nutrients from being fully utilised) and adding vitamins and minerals (most human cereals are fortified). A list of human cereals along with their suitability in terms of feeding rats can be found here. Human cereals would make up approximately 20 - 25% of your mix.

Seeds, vegetables and herbs
These add interest, good oils, vitamins and minerals to your mix. Hemp seeds are very popular but many other seeds can be used as well, and some seeds have specific medicinal properties. Pumpkin seeds are preferable to sunflower, which cause allergies and skin reactions in some rats. Dried carrots, peppers, leeks and other vegetables are generally well received. Bunny herbs such as dandelion, plantain, meadow mixes and herb mixes are excellent and I try to put a reasonable volume of these into my mix. Kelp and garlic are also useful additions with medicinal properties. Seeds, vegetables and herbs would make up 10-15% of your mix.

Protein source
This can be anything from soya flakes, chick peas, peas and other legumes, (preferably soaked and roasted as these also contain anti-nutrients when raw, which make the nutrients in them less available), to a quality dog kibble (like Burns) or freeze dried fish and insects. The amount you need to add will depend on the amount of protein in what you are offering. For instance you would need to add more in terms of legumes or dog kibble to deliver the same amount of protein as dried river shrimps. The protein would make up 5-10% of your mix.

Treat ingredients
Nuts, dried fruit and other treats can be added to a mix in very small amounts. Some people prefer to hand feed these individually to rats.

Sourcing ingredients
Here are some useful websites for sourcing ingredients for rat mixes. All are tried and trusted.
The Rat Warehouse
Jungle Gold
Bunny Bazaar
Haiths
Nature’s Grub
Spiceworld(useful for a variety of medicinal herbs and seeds)
Burns

Straight grains
These include barley flakes, rolled oats, oat groats, oats, paddy rice, wild rice, brown rice, wheat, wheat groats, wheat flakes, rye flakes, whole corn, corn grits, corn flakes, whole buckwheat, millet, sorghum (milo), quinoa, spelt. Most of these are available from Jungle Gold (above) or a good health food store. For larger quantities try Millbry Hill

Example of a base food made from straight grains
3 cups micronized barley flakes
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup paddy rice (in hull as sold for birds)
1 cup brown rice
1 cup wheat groats (groats are grains without the inedible chaff/husk)
1 cup whole corn,
1 cup micronized corn flakes
1 cup buckwheat (in hull as sold for birds)
2 cups mixed millet

NB Many other combinations are possible, but the skew towards barley, rice and corn rather than wheat and rye in the mix above is intentional and designed to promote long term kidney health. Buckwheat is not wheat, or even a true grain; it is more akin to a fruit seed. Millet is an excellent grain source and not high in fat as is often assumed.

Other base foods
Xtra Vital Super Supreme Rat Food
PAH Rat Muesli
PAH Rat Nuggets
Harrison’s Banana Rabbit Brunch
Mr Johnson’s Supreme Rabbit Mix
Mr Johnson’s Supreme With Fruit Rabbit Mix
Mr Johnson’s Clover Country Crunch Rabbit Mix
Supa Natural Deluxe Rabbit Food
Supa Fruiti Rabit Food
Supa Deluxe Rabbit Food

NB Other generic mixes may be suitable. Inclusion does not constitute a recommendation by the author. If using any generic mix as a base food I would recommend mixing at least two together for greater variety. I have not included Alpha Herbal Rabbit Food because recent changes may make it less appropriate than many of the other foods listed.

If you are using a base food that contains animal protein, the separate protein addition to the mix should be reduced accordingly, but because of the other ‘dilutions’ extra protein sources can still be added sparingly.

Converting percentages for your mix
The easiest way to do this is to use a cup or a scoop to measure out the mix. Each cup/scoop would equal 10%, so if you want 25% you would add 2 and a half cups of that element of the mix. Precise measurements are not important so long as plenty of variety is included, and once you become familiar with rough proportions you may feel comfortable about just mixing by eye.