Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am feeding my rats cheap dog food, good stuff or not is a debate for another post. I was wondering if anyone has ever used dispensers like they make for rabbits instead of the overhead hoppers. That way the rats could just take the food out and eat it as they wished instead of having to chew it through the hardware cloth. Small thing I know but, happy rats make more babies . I am talking about making a dispenser, sheet metal, hardware cloth, whatever, that would hang on side of bin and stick into the bin about 1 inch or so, not enough for them to sit on.

Couple of points:
1) Wouldn’t work for mice, they would just crap all over the food but would this happen with rats?
2) If the rats could just take it out would I end up with uneaten everywhere?

Thanks
Bruce

This is a sample of a store bought dispenser,if it works
Link

Sample of dispenser

Ever heard of a "Pack rat"? Well, actually, I believe that actually is a specific breed of rat, but even out cute little domestic rats play at it. They will empty that bin in no time flat, fill it with litter, sleep in the food bin and crap on the food that is mixed in the litter!

I make them eat through the wire. I figure this adds to the activity of the rats as they have to actually work at getting their food. Or, at least thats what I INTEND to do. I am having a hard time convincing my sister they are not pets (she is 48, you would think this would not be an issue!) and she insists on dropping "Feebies" into the litter every morning! Looks like they eat most of her "Freebies" though, so I don't throw a fit about it, I just piss and moan that she is spoiling my rats!

I feed out of bowls.. they don't empty them of food though thankfully.. They did at one point but gave up on it.. so now I don't go through quite so much. I feed them cheap dog food too.. (21% protein in the FMV brand $3.49 for 20#) plus I supplement that with cheap cereals (puffed rice, puffed wheat, etc) and sunflower seeds..And other goodies like leftover chicken.. veggies, fruits.. anything not quite fit for humans to eat anymore but still good for rats to eat...

>>I feed out of bowls.. they don't empty them of food though thankfully.. They did at one point but gave up on it.. so now I don't go through quite so much. I feed them cheap dog food too.. (21% protein in the FMV brand $3.49 for 20#) plus I supplement that with cheap cereals (puffed rice, puffed wheat, etc) and sunflower seeds..And other goodies like leftover chicken.. veggies, fruits.. anything not quite fit for humans to eat anymore but still good for rats to eat...

I use a beer mug (a very heavy bottomed mug). The mug holds the food. It is about 5 inches deep. It is too deep for the rats to dig everything out and also too uncomfortable and too small for them to sleep in there. But if they want to eat, it isn't too deep for them to stick their head in there and take the food.

It is heavy enough so that, if done right, it does not tip over EVER!!!. The only time it has tipped over was when I had set it on uneven bedding. (ONLY ONE TIME!!!!)

It works pretty well. Even when the food gets to the bottom, the rats are still able to stick their heads into the mug deep enough to get to the food.

The only rats taht are small enough to sleep in there were the babies that were about 3 to 4 weeks old. It was really cute: they would bunch up 4 to 5 in a pile and sleep in there. .

If you haven't tried a heavy bottomed beer mug that you can buy at yard sales for 5 cents, why not give it a try? You might like it. Look for them at your local yard sale. Offer them 5 cents and more often than not, the vendor will be willing to part with the mugs. This is because I think that most people at yard sales just want to get rid of their junk. They really don't care about making money
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Longtang. I like snakes and rats.

I may try that.. *chuckles* Right now I use those stainless steel bowls you can get to feed cats.. the small 4 inch diameter ones.. I generally feed every other day... the first day they sit and pick out all the good stuff around the dog food (Sunflower seeds, cracked corn, cereals, etc) and leave the dog food.. the second day though the dog food gets eaten so it works pretty well.. I have 2 large cages at the moment though that'll decrease for a little while since I'm moving at the beginning of October. I'm trying to raise all the feeders I can right now so I have stocks for my monitor during the move.