The Spruce Pets / Lecia Landis
Rats can be picky eaters who will opt for a fatty meal when they can get it, so developing a healthy and well-balanced diet is necessary to avoid your rat becoming malnourished or obese. To find the best foods for your pet rat, we evaluated the major rat food brands, ranging from hearty pellet diets to leaner seed mixes. Most of our favorite options are uniform pellets, which professionals generally consider the best option for rat diets.
“Feeding a pelleted diet keeps the rats from being able to pick and choose what they want to eat, which could keep them from getting all the nutrients needed to stay their healthiest,” Amanda Auxier, co-owner of the North Carolina rodentry Rocky Point Rattery, told The Spruce Pets.
The best rat pellet for most pet rats is Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food, a nutritious and fortifying kibble that cuts out unhealthy ingredients while satisfying a rat’s omnivorous palate.
Our Top Picks
Best Overall
Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food
Wide mix of ingredients
Hearty but healthy
Uniform kibble
Value for money
It’s a good food—we have no complaints
Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food is a well-balanced dry food option that suits the needs of most pet rats. Like all of the Omaha-based company’s products, this diet is nutritious and hearty while also being lean on fat. Consisting of both animal and plant elements, the mix provides the range of ingredients that rats are predisposed to favor.
Unlike some of our other recommendations, Oxbow Essentials is formulated for adults, which means it has less fat to discourage obesity and a better balance of nutrients suitable for a fully-grown pet rat.
Its primary ingredient is brown rice, which is a healthy but energizing grain option, with soybeans also featured as protein sources. Other ingredients include oats, wheat, soy, and fish meal. The combination provides robust fiber and protein.
One major advantage of Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food is that its nutritional balance precludes the need for portion control. An adult rat with a healthy weight can be given unrestricted access to Oxbow food, particularly in combination with grass hay. The kibble is fully uniform to prevent rats from picking and choosing ingredients, thus guaranteeing a balanced meal at every meal time.
A major bonus perk with Oxbow’s product is its heavy prebiotic and antioxidant content, which will help fortify your rat’s immune system.
Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food is available in 3-pound and 20-pound quantities.
Key Ingredients: Whole brown rice, oat groats, wheat bran, wheat, soybean meal, menhaden fish meal, calcium carbonate Size: 3 or 20 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: Unlimited
A Premium Alternative
Supreme Petfoods Science Selective Rat Food
Vegetarian ingredients
Promotes healthy skin & coat
High in the good kinds of fat
Includes dried fruits that are rich in vitamins
Only available in one package size
Imported from the U.K., this rat food has premium, vegetarian ingredients. Science Selective incorporates dried fruit—apples and blackcurrants—for vitamins and antioxidants. It’s also formulated for circulatory health, with a high ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids (that’s the good kind) vs. saturated fat and cholesterol.
Both Science Selective and Oxbow’s rat food offer a complete diet, with very similar nutritional profiles, though Oxbow’s pellets have slightly more protein and fat. Oxbow has brown rice as its primary ingredient, while Science Selective uses wheat as its base.
Despite its higher price, Science Selective may be worth considering over our favorite if you’re concerned about ingredients derived from animals (Oxbow’s rat food includes Menhaden fish meal), or if your rats have been rejecting other foods.
Key Ingredients: Wheat, soybean meal, barley, oats, soya oil, dried apples, dried blackcurrants, wheat feed, limestone flour, vitamin A 15,000 IU, vitamin D3 1,500 IU Size: 4.4 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: 20-25 grams
Best Budget
Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health Mouse, Rat & Hamster Food
Includes probiotics
Low in fat, high in protein and fiber
Costs about half as much as our favorite
More crumbly pellets
High-carb, high-sugar ingredients like molasses
Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health rat food costs about half as much per pound as our favorite from Oxbow. It has more protein, fiber, and moisture too. Plus, it contains probiotics to aid in digestion. However, this nutritional density also means being a little more precise about portions.
The tradeoff is some lower-quality ingredients, like sugary molasses. The pellets can get a little crumbly too, and tend to break up in the bag.
Kaytee Forti-Diet Pro Health rat food is available in 3 and 25-pound bags.
Key Ingredients: Dehulled soybean meal, ground corn, ground wheat, ground oats, sun-cured alfalfa meal, ground peanuts, ground flax seed, dried cane molasses, dried bacillus licheniformis fermentation product, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation product Size: 3 or 25 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: 1 tablespoon
Best Forage Blend
Vitakraft Vita Smart Natural Forage Blend Rat, Mouse & Gerbil Food
High in protein
All-natural ingredients
Immune system support
Not a uniform pellet
Rats may pick through it
Non-uniform seed, nut, and grain diets are not our default first choice for pet rats, due to the fact that some rats will pick through the mixes selectively and receive unbalanced nutrition. Additionally, they do not always provide a full meal’s worth of protein, especially for larger rats.
However, Vitakraft’s Rat and Mouse Food brand strikes the best balance of any forage mix we evaluated. The product uses a nutrient-rich grain-based ingredient list to boost the protein level per serving and offers a comprehensive spread of essential vitamins and minerals.
Vitakraft’s mix—called Premium Fortified Blend—includes a spread of fruit and vegetable ingredients to promote a healthier immune system. The vitamins and minerals in the grains are also intended to foster skin and coat health and improve digestion.
If you’re concerned with choosing an entirely natural option for your rat, the Vitakraft mix has no artificial ingredients whatsoever. This excellent mealtime option can bring out your pet rat’s innate foraging tendencies while still guaranteeing a balanced diet and providing growing rats with the energy they need.
Key Ingredients: Wheat, oat groats, puffed wheat, dehydrated alfalfa meal, flaked corn, flaked peas Size: 2 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: 3-4 tablespoons
Best Budget Blend
Kaytee Supreme Mouse And Rat Food
Higher in protein than most other mix options
Natural ingredients
Rich in vitamins
Seed mixes not a good fit for some rats
Requires portion control
This pocketbook-friendly diet from Kaytee is one of the most popular seed mix diets for rats. Consisting of all-natural seeds, grains, and pellets, it is higher in protein than most other mix options and fortified with extra minerals and vitamins (vitamins A, B12, E, and D3).
Since Kaytee’s Supreme Mouse & Rat Food is a seed mix rather than a uniform pellet, rat owners need to be a little more attuned to portion control. Rats often pick their favorites out of food mixes that combine multiple seeds, throwing off their balanced diet.
The Kaytee mix is uniform enough that many rats will not sift through selectively and eat the proper balance of foods, but it is nevertheless worth keeping a close eye on your rat's feeding behavior when introducing a seed mix. Many rat owners find that mixed-ingredient foods are better reserved for snacks and treats rather than as dietary staples.
With its low price tag, all-natural content, and wide nutritional coverage, this is a great pick if you're looking for a seed mix.
Key Ingredients: Rolled corn, rolled oat groats, rolled barley, de-hulled soybean meal, sunflower, peanuts Size: 4 or 20 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: 3 to 4 tablespoons
Best Blocks
Mazuri Vegetarian Rat and Mouse Diet
Rich in vegetable-based protein
Good for dental health
Good value
Need to control portion size
Gets dustier
Mazuri’s popular pellet diet is vegetable-based and is one of the more protein-rich options for rat diets. However, it’s also a little higher in fat, so you’ll need to control portions if your rat is at risk of obesity.
But the real appeal of Mazuri over other rat food options is its immense pellet size—it’s a full inch long (dimensions: ⅜ x ⅝ x 1 inch). This alternative to the kibble shape found in our other favorites can be better for their teeth since your rat has to gnaw the block down. However, the blocks get dustier and are likely to shed more crumbs. Both pellets and blocks can be an excellent diet for your rat.
Key Ingredients: De-hulled soybean meal, ground corn, ground wheat, soybean oil, cane molasses, ground oats, dried beet pulp Size: 2 or 25 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: 16-25 grams
Best for Young Rats
Oxbow Essentials Mouse Food/Young Rat Food
Supports the developmental needs of young rats
Uniform kibble
Rich in calcium and vitamins
Not for rats older than 6 months
Oxbow’s primary rat food options are geared toward more mature rats, but they also have a complementary pellet diet designed for rats under 6 months old.
“Higher protein [diets] are a good idea for younger rats, especially when they are still growing,” Auxier told The Spruce Pets.
The kibble is protein-rich (18 percent) and stabilized calcium designed to support muscle and bone development. It is also rich in vitamins that build up young rats' immune systems and promote comprehensive good health.
Baby rat owners can feed their little ones as much of this uniform kibble as they need to feel nourished on a given day. The price tag is reasonable, and like Oxbow’s dry food options for older rats, it is a consumer and veterinarian favorite.
Key Ingredients: Ground corn, soybean meal, wheat middlings, soybean hulls, dried whey, cane molasses, soybean oil, sunflower meal, alfalfa meal, limestone, flax seed Size: 2.5 or 25 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: Unlimited
What the Lab Rats Eat
Envigo Rat Food Diet
Developed from detailed scientific research
Rich in vitamins, minerals, and amino acids
Customized for different types of rats
Promotes healthy growth and reproduction
Created for lab rats
More expensive than other brands
To conscientious pet owners who want healthy and robust diets with maximum nutritional value, a block diet may be an appealing option. Created with lab rats in mind, these premium, exhaustively researched and customized diets contain all the desired minerals, vitamins, amino acids, and more that your rat needs—and in many cases, they can be found in versions tailor-made to your rat’s size and specific needs.
Envigo—formerly known as Teklad—is our pick for an excellent block brand. There are three major diet options designed by the company; we recommend whichever one fits the profile of your rat.
The 8604 diet is perfect for rats who can benefit from a hefty protein dosage in their daily meals. At 24 percent, it is good for stimulating reproduction and growth in young rats.
For slightly older rats—or pregnant rats—Envigo recommends the 2018 diet (with 18 percent protein). The 2014 diet is a “maintenance formula” for adult rats, most recommended for rats suffering from weight issues or aging rats (14 percent protein).
All of the Envigo diets are kibble consisting of top-of-the-line ingredients designed not only to benefit rats’ nutritional profile—and reduce ingredients that have the potential to be overly fatty or have adverse effects—but to promote health across the board. The low-fat formulas Envigo meals have been demonstrated to have a variety of positive effects on rat health.
Key Ingredients: Soybean meal, corn flakes, wheat middlings, ground corn, fish meal, dried molasses, dried whey, soybean oil, dried brewers yeast, vitamins, minerals Size: 5 pounds Recommended Daily Serving: Undefined
Final Verdict
If your rat is a healthy adult (over the age of 6 months) and doesn’t require a carefully customized diet, it is hard to argue with Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food as the go-to choice for your rat’s principal food source. This rat food has an appealingly diverse ingredients list and uniform kibble presentation, making it hard to shy away from. For an alternative to a small pellet diet, check out Mazuri Vegetarian Rat and Mouse Diet, which uses much larger pellets—or “blocks”—so that your rat has to gnaw more, aiding in the maintenance of their rodent teeth.
What to Look for in Pet Rat Food
Ingredients
Rats are omnivores, and a balanced diet for your rat generally requires a blend of plant and animal-based food sources. Rats tend to favor protein-heavy food sources, so to avoid obesity or other health issues, it’s important to be cognizant of the sources of protein in your rat diet of choice.
“Poor diets are usually high in fat, making rats more likely to gain weight,” Auxier told The Spruce Pets. “This is especially true for male rats, who tend to be a lot less active than female rats. High protein levels in some diets have been reported to cause plaque buildup on the skin of rats that have the Harley gene.”
Complex carbohydrates are ideal because they are high in protein but low in fat. Since rats are prone to obesity, especially in the first year of their life, it is crucial to monitor their fat consumption. Sugars should generally be avoided, so if the rat food option you’re eyeing includes added sugar sources on the ingredient list, steer clear.
Specialized Diets
It’s important to be aware that, like most animals, rats have distinct dietary requirements at different stages of their lives. Rats’ other health idiosyncrasies, including obesity, may determine which diet option works best for them. While food sources like our favorite on the list—Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food—are excellent default options at the pet food store, you may want to switch to a fully vegetarian food, a seed mix, or even consider carefully customized diets like those given to lab rats.
Snacks and Treats
There are plenty of all-natural human snacks you can give to your rat. Lots of online resources can be helpful when determining whether a specific morsel of human food is acceptable for your rat to nibble on, but veggies, fruits, and some types of nuts are particularly beneficial. (Beware sweet potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and mangoes, however!) It is important to make sure that the snacks and treats you give your rat complement the makeup of their proper meals, however—to avoid overloading them with protein or fat, especially.
Auxier notes that snacks are not always essential for a rat’s diet, but can be highly beneficial in other, more subjective ways. “I do think [snacks] are a good idea for bonding with your pet,” she explains. “They remember who gives them their favorite treat. It's also helpful if you want to teach any tricks.” She often favors peanuts and sunflower seeds as a special reward for her rats.
Feeding
Rat diets specify a variety of serving sizes on the package. Be cognizant of your rat’s weight and potential problem areas health-wise; this can help you determine how to apportion their meals. It’s generally recommended to spread their daily serving size across morning and evening feedings.
- How much food should I feed my pet rat?
All rats are different, and there are no specific guidelines for how much to feed them. Usually, the package of the food you choose will recommend portion size by taking the target age of the rat and the ingredient list into account; it depends on how high the protein and fat content is. Some experts recommend feeding them roughly 10 percent of their body weight within a given day—spread across two meals.
Of course, this should be monitored if it seems to be leading to unhealthy weight gain or other side effects. If your rat seems to be picking through the diet you are feeding them, change their diet or make sure that they eat more to avoid malnourishment.
Is cat food or dog food good for pet rats?No, rats’ dietary requirements are specific, and cat and dog food usually are high in ingredients that are potentially hazardous for rats. This includes protein content that is far over the ideal percentage for rats. Wet food is significantly worse than dry food, being that it doesn’t contain any vitamins and minerals that are helpful for rats and is protein-heavy.
Is it safe for rats to eat fruits and vegetables?Fruits and vegetables can be a healthy part of a rat's omnivore diet and can be safely consumed in small amounts daily. Some examples include apples (seeds removed), broccoli, zucchini, carrots, and peas. However, some produce contains toxic compounds and should be avoided completely, including avocado (skin and pit), grapes, onion, and rhubarb.
Which foods are toxic for rats?Avocado, chocolate, grapes, onion, rhubarb, and dried beans are among the top foods toxic to rats. Avocado (in particular the skin and pit), contains a compound that can cause respiratory distress and fluid buildup. Chocolate can cause vomiting and seizures, while grapes (and raisins) can lead to kidney failure.
Why Trust The Spruce Pets?
This roundup was written by Andrew Whalen, a senior editor for The Spruce Pets. In addition to in-depth research and input from experts, Andrew has conducted hands-on tests of hundreds of pet products.
For this roundup we spoke with Amanda Auxier, co-owner of the North Carolina rodentry Rocky Point Rattery.
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