{"topic_id":"exotic_nutrition_rat_mouse_chow","category":"exotic-pet-nutrition","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_nutrition_rat_mouse_chow\ncategory: exotic-pet-nutrition\ntitle: \"Rat, mouse, hamster and gerbil nutrition — rodent chow composition and treat limits (VIN Veterinary Partner)\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Veterinary Partner (VIN — Veterinary Information Network) — 'Nutrition for Small Mammals'\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/exotic-nutrition/vin_nutrition_small_mammals.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-29\ntokens_estimated: 350\nverified: true\nverification: c1_substring\nsource_document: \"Veterinary Partner (VIN) — Nutrition for Small Mammals\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"Veterinary Information Network — Veterinary Partner\"\n  title: \"Nutrition for Small Mammals\"\n  url: \"https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&catId=254109&id=4952897\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-29\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"official web page\"\n  needs_review: false\n---\n\n# Rat, mouse, hamster and gerbil nutrition — rodent chow composition and treat limits (VIN Veterinary Partner)\n\nVerbatim first-hand facts from VIN Veterinary Partner, 'Nutrition for Small Mammals' (veterinarian-authored client-education article). All bullets are exact substrings of the cited source file and C1-substring verified. 'This group' in the source text = rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils. Recommendations are for non-breeding, non-production pets.\n\n## Nutritional facts\n\n- Rats, mice, hamsters and gerbils have similar dietary requirements.\n- The basic diet for this group should consist of a good quality rodent chow or lab block.\n- Rodent chows should have a minimum of 16% protein and 4 to 5% fat content.\n- Good quality rodent chows are considered to be fairly complete diets for this group.\n- Other foods can be fed in addition to the commercial pellets but should not constitute more than 20% of the total diet.\n- Fruit and vegetables as described for the rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas can be offered at a rate of about 1 teaspoon/day.\n- A reasonable amount of nuts and or seeds would be a total of 1 teaspoon/day for rats and about ½ teaspoon for the other species.\n- Pelleted food should be purchased in amounts that will be used within three months to prevent spoilage.\n\nRelated: `exotic_nutrition_hamster`, `exotic_nutrition_gerbil`, `exotic_nutrition_guinea_pig_vitamin_c`.\n","sources":["exotic-pet-nutrition — Nutrition for Small Mammals (retrieved 2026-07-29)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-pet-nutrition","title":"Nutrition for Small Mammals","url":"https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&catId=254109&id=4952897","retrieved":"2026-07-29","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Veterinary Partner (VIN) — Nutrition for Small Mammals","verification_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-nutrition/vin_nutrition_small_mammals.txt"},"source_document":"Veterinary Partner (VIN) — Nutrition for Small Mammals","source_file":"pdf-raw/exotic-nutrition/vin_nutrition_small_mammals.txt","tokens_estimated":350,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}