Hey Jem-Scout, we have 3 rats and mix Mazuri Rodent Blocks (30-40 lb back for $11) with Ol' Roy dog food and the large parrot food you find at the feed store. We mix all of that together and it keeps them very healthy. This is what a breeder told me to do. You can feed the breeder rats whole grains such as wheat bread, pasta. I really recommend you to not feed the gerbil and guinea pig foods as there is just alot of waste with the small seeds and alfalfa. Rats cannot digest alfalfa and may actually get impacted. You can also give the mom rats yogurt and and fresh fruit(in small quantities as it may cause diarrhea) and fresh veggies such as carrots, potato. No lettuce, or at most a tiny fingernail sized piece, because it will cause stinky diarrhea. Eww.
You can also give ice cream(small quantities) for calcium and the cuttlebone as said above. Rats can have chocolate and it actually boosts their immune system, just don't give them a whole bar of chocolate
Just so you're not keeping the rats on pine or cedar, all should go great. I keep mine on aspen and they do awesome. It's so much cheaper than the recycled paper junk or other substrates. As with keeping them in tanks, that's what I keep ours in. The wire cages are not good as it can give them bumblefoot. I know I certainly wouldn't want to walk on wire all the time. We have 2 male rats in a wire cage at my school (I'm a vet tech) and that cage is the biggest pain in the arse, especially where the bottom ladder touches the bottom of the cage pan. That's where they mostly go to the bathroom and the wire is actually rusting because you can't get at it to clean it.
Well anyway, I hope everything goes well with mom and the babies... And feeding them off...
EEKKKK!!!
