NUTRITION: Food/Diets/Treats/Etc.

Tue Dec 06, 2005 3:31 pm

Hey quick food question....smile

on a really hot day....i give my girls frozen fruit and vegies....and i mean still frozen....they seem to love it...

it wouldnt hurt to give them frozen stuff would it???

im sure they thaw it out in their mouth....they also have icecream occassionally

Deb

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Rosie Ginger Gypsy Bambie Beatrice Cassie Kira Shapelle Shelley kath Kim Corby Chloe kimmies bubs: Leelee Lilly Molly Morgan Jassie Jayjay Tess n Tammy
Roxy 30/06/2004 to 28/11/2005 Relaxing on the banks of the river at Rainbow Bridge

Tue Dec 06, 2005 8:48 pm

It's fine to do, read back through this sticky and you'll see that.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:00 am

I have been feeding my rats and mice Small World mouse and rat food. But since it has corn in it I think I should switch. And all the food at the pet store has corn it wtf

besides the lab blocks which seem kind of boring and not very tasty Confused

. So any suggestions on a food that would be suitable for mice and rats?

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:03 am

I feed my babies suebees supplemented w/ lab blocks. Here's the recipe: http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html

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*Oliver & Dodger*

Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:06 am

Are'nt you not supposed to feed your rat dried fruit though becuase they could choke on it. And how much do all the ingredients cost?

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Wed Dec 07, 2005 8:12 am

I've never heard of them choking on dried fruit but I'll check into that.

It depends on where you buy the ingredients but I think it was $10-$15. It makes a LOT of mix though - I don't have a big enough bowl so I mix it all in a garbage bag and then put it into bowls. It usually lasts almost a couple of months (depending on how many ratties you have).

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*Oliver & Dodger*

Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:06 am

I also feed my ratties Suebees. It is really not expensive and the good thing is that if you have a dollar store around where you live, some of the things can be bought there like the pasta and some of the cereal even some of the dried fruit. The great thing is you can make alittle or alot of it depending on how many ratties you have.

Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:39 am

I feed my girls lab blocks supplemented by fruits, carrots, and the occasional chicken bone with some meat left on it.

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-Ben
My rats: Squishy, Squee, and Nibbler
My dogs (at my mother's house): Lucy and Ricky
My cats (at my dad's house--in Florida!): Cleo (RIP) and Zima

Thu Dec 08, 2005 4:00 am

Okay you guys thank you! I think Ill make some Suebees's mix for them when I get the chance to go to the supermarket. It actaully sounds cheaper then the stuff that I am giving them now!

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:01 am

it is much cheaper, and much more healthy! My ratties love dried fruits! I have never had any of them choke.

Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:04 am

My rats get 95% lab blocks.

That is their staple diet. Then if we do have something in the house that we have we will get them a treat of veggies, pasta, etc.

But my rats are very happy eating just their lab blocks... and feeding them even though they may seem 'boring' is far more healthy that those seed mixes that they sell!!

(If you have the inclination to make the Suebees mix then go for it though, I just don't have the extra time or money to do that... and my ratties love their lab blocks.)

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Lise...

& Molly, Nora, and Tevy

Thu Dec 08, 2005 8:43 am

I think it's completely valid to feed only a high quality lab block (with fresh foods, of course). I feel like I feed them the grain mix for me. Of course, they love parts of it a lot, and it does give them variety, but they eat their blocks as fast as they eat the mix, so they're obviously happy with either one. But I really like making up their mix myself, and it makes me feel like I can control the quality of what they're eating.

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Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:50 am

Ok....just home from store.
I did find lab blocks. At the grocery store I got all kind of goodies

How many lab blocks does 1 rat eat per day?
How much mix do I offer? What types of food dishes?

ETA: Cool....I just realized I bought good lab blocks by Teklad

I hope their bedding is good....thats what I bought.

Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:12 am

"Sticky foods such as Peanut Butter, some Candy, and Dried Fruits - poses a choking hazard. Peanut butter can be "cut" with jam or honey to make it more liquid, and reduce the possibility of choking."

It says that dried fruits causes a choking hazard. Confused

Maybe ill just use dried bananas

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:42 am

High quality lab block (Harlan Teklad 2016 - 16% protein) - you can get it through a local rat group or purchase it directly from Kim's Ark or another rescue organization. Fresh fruits and veggies (as well as dried - all organic). Tonight the kids got pasta and momma's made from scratch spagetti sauce with broccoli, carrots, pears and some live-culture yogurt. Followed by stolen Cheez-Its from mom...again. Little brats. LOL

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Shadow Brook Rodentry

Bridge Ratties: Samson, Wraith, Aiko, Kasper - I <3 you & miss you.

Fri Dec 09, 2005 5:11 pm

just going back to the first post in this thread.....CORN

is there a problem feeding ratties corn???

my girls eat it all the time....corn on the cob....corn in rattie mix......frozen corn

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Rosie Ginger Gypsy Bambie Beatrice Cassie Kira Shapelle Shelley kath Kim Corby Chloe kimmies bubs: Leelee Lilly Molly Morgan Jassie Jayjay Tess n Tammy
Roxy 30/06/2004 to 28/11/2005 Relaxing on the banks of the river at Rainbow Bridge

Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:34 am

No lotsarats I was talking about dried corn... my ratties love corn on the cob to. Mr. Green

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2 rats ~Pheona~Clover~
4 Bunnies~Twinkletoes~Honeybee~Honeybunny~Marlo
2 Mice~Bovine~Roo~
2 Ducks~Hara~Bazil~

www.freewebs.com/ratsitter

Sat Dec 10, 2005 4:54 am

I had seven rats when I last had rats so I always had a big bucket in the kitchen. But when I first started keeping rats I never had over four at once. I never even premixed a mix then. I would take their bowls into the kitchen and just grab a bit of this, a bit of that. As long as you get sufficient variety in there and keep your mind toward generally hitting all nutritional points over all, there is no need to make sure that they get ALL of their nutrients EVERY night.

Besides, it was lots of fun, sharing my own meals with them! Mr. Green

Oh and in response to our Australian friend, I don't think there is anything explicitly wrong with corn, only that it is lower in nutrients than rice, and wheat and other grains. It's like a human eating squishy white wonder bread. It won't harm you, but it displaces more healthful things.

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Arvay and the Squirmin' Vermin

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'

--Erma Bombeck

Thu Dec 15, 2005 8:18 am

Off Topic: I just wanted to say that I went to get more supplies for Suebees mix and finally found unsalted, unroasted soy beans! yay! WooHoo!

But then i got home and realized I needed to roast them myself. Fine. But then I realized I had to soak them for 12 hours first. Fine. 2 over-flowing bowls later (they swell to about 3times their size) i pre-heated the oven only to realize that 2 of my 5 pans are too big for my oven! Shocked

So then I had to spread them out onto only three sheets (as IF i was going to do 3 or 4 bathches!!??) So for one hour the noxious smell of roasting soybeans Puke

(some of you may love it-to me it smelled nasty!) filled the apartment, only to be overwhelmed by the smell of smoke as the bottom beans burned and the top ones were still raw. Rant

So I removed the burnt beans, stirred them up and let them roast a bit longer. So now the 13 hour process (`12 hours soaking and 1 baking) turned into 14!!?? because my stupid layer of beans was 2" thick!! Evil or Very Mad

Finally, they were done (still not as crunchy as the store-bought flavored ones) but cooked nonetheless. So then an hour to cool. Fine. At least they like them!! i think next time though, I will buy the roasted ones with salt (I can't find unsalted roasted ones here in Vancouver, Canada) and just not give them as many.

The good thing is now I have a huge amount of raosted beans to add to my future Suebeee's mixes. To sum it up:
1) don't buy too many-the darn things swell to 3 x their size!
2) after 12 hours of soaking to get them to 3x their size, you bake them and they shrink back to 2x their size
3) put them in ONE layer on the baking sheet
4) open the windows
5) make sure your rats like them before doing all this! LOL

Thu Dec 15, 2005 11:35 am

As for corn, I know that dried corn is susceptable to mold, and that that is a concern with feeding dried corn. Rats have a lot of difficulty with mold, which is also why you cannot feed them moldy cheeses, etc.

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Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:46 am

Hey all,

My girlies have recently seemed bored with their lab block. They've been on the same formula, Harlan #8604, for probably a year now. At first, they were thrilled, but I guess if you ate the same thing for a year, you'd get sick of it, too.

Since I'm 15 and don't do the shopping for my family, I feel odd asking my mom to pick up a bunch of different cereals solely for rats when I can order lab block from Kim's Ark. She doesn't mind it (she likes to tell strangers about the rats and how she buys them granola and how they eat better than most people she knows), but I don't want to inconvenience her too much.

My question is, do you think that switching from the 8604 to the 2018 and a modified Suebees would help with the diminished rattie appitites? I just hate to see them not eating much, especially when they've always been so zealous about consumption.

Thanks in advance.

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Cera (Sarah) and The Girlies:
Grace and Lenore

Tue Dec 20, 2005 6:30 am

It could do - but also bear in mind that they might just be eating a bit less as they get older - full grown ratties aren't growing like weeds any more, and they often slow down a bit as well instead of constantly running round like maniacs - so they might be eating a little less because of that. However, if you want to vary their diet, you can stick with the lab blocks, as always, and simply offer them extended meals if you don't want to go on an all-out Suebee's mix. As long as they're getting a decent supply of lab blocks, then you can make some variations with the grain part - because you aren't as dependent on the grains etc to provide all of the nutrients to the rat as you are with a conventional Suebee's diet.

If they've suddenly stopped eating a lot, then it might be worth double checking there's not something else that's bothering them, or any health issues - but it could just be that they don't need as much energy as little rats (who seem to do nothing but sleep, eat, poop and popcorn).

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Tue Dec 20, 2005 4:32 pm

Thanks Andy, I think I'll probably go with a new block formula and modified Suebee's grain mix. Mr. Green

The girlies have been slowing down their eating for the last few months, so I really do think it must be their age. Heh, it's just startling going from rittens eating their weight and more in block to uninterested, sleepy adults. My girls are growing up fast.

I'm fairly certain nothing's bothering them except a lack of variety - I mixed some block in with cereals last night and that seemed to do the trick. They're just spoiled.

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Cera (Sarah) and The Girlies:
Grace and Lenore

Mon Jan 09, 2006 9:53 pm

The pet sroe i go to ( big rat lovers in there) saied dried rabbit food it better.and my rats are not complaining. it has a little bit of corn, pumpkin & sunflower seeds, little pieces of dry stuff, and a small amount of pellets. the rat food i used to give tehm, they didn't act like tehy really liked it, but they really like this stuff. I have been fedding them this for about a week now.
My Dry Rabit Food Has........
15% protein
4% Fat
15 % Fiber

Mon Jan 09, 2006 10:01 pm

opps srry for teh mis-type, but can rats eat oranges?

Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:54 am

Females rats can eat oranges and OJ fine, but with males it's a different story. There is d-limonene in the peel, which studies have shown increases the risk of cancer in male rats. So, no OJ and only give them pieces if you wash them very well beforehand, though I'm still cautious.

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Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:20 am

Aye - and the D-limonene is also found in other citrus fruit, so it's worth considering that when dealing with lemons, grapefruit etc.

Re: the rabbit food - alone, it's probably highly unsuitable, whether they like it or not. Rabbits are herbivores, for a start, while rats are omnivores. Although they can live on a balanced vegetarian diet, they're not designed to do so, and you have to ensure that they get all the relevant proteins. Rabbits, on the other hand, are designed to live on vegetable matter with no animal protein. It's not simply a case of the base figures either, but vitamins, minerals, the quality of the components and food sources and so on.

There are a few rabbit foods in the UK that can be used as part of a home-mixed diet, but certainly they're highly unlikely to provide proper nutrition without balancing that with other items, even if it is tasty. It would be like living on french fries and burgers.

If you still want to give them a mixed diet, then you can go for a staple block product (the good ones are balanced for rat nutritional needs and contain good food sources) and provide a mix of other grains and pasta, for example, to give some variety. Try to provide them with some fresh foods each day (be that cooked noodles, cooked chicken bones, a little meat or fish, bread, veg etc) for both variety and health.

There are a number of diets out there (including Debbie D's, the Shunamite diet, and a whole host of others listed on Ratguide.com) but the most popular diet seems to be one based around Suebee's - dog kibble/lab blocks + grain/pasta mix fed freely with fresh foods making up around 20% of the diet.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:03 am

I live in Canada so maybe I could recommend some food that is easy to find that I feed my rats

-LivingWorld Premium Nutriblocks..this is the main part of their diet..it comes in a small blue bag..PetValue carries it..most petstores do
-Puppy food..I ust Natural Choice Lamb Meal & Rice..but I don't give them too much..maybe 10 pieces
-Unsalted soybeans..I found these in the bulk section at Safeway..the rats love them..but again I only give them a few each
-Raisins..I give them 3 each
-Vitakraft Carrot Slims...they are fairly big so each rat gets only 1
-Vitakraft Yogurt Drops (the ones that say for hamsters) my rats like the strawberry ones but these are only treats..1 a day is enough..but sometimes they get more

*LivingWorld also makes these
-LivingWorld Triangles...i found these at Zellers for a reasonable price..they get 2 each..kinda similar to nutriblocks but not as much nutrients..but the rats love chewing them
-Seed mix...you can find this anywhere it has sunflower seeds,corn and some other seeds BUT you have to make sure to remove the corn..unless you can find a mix without it..dry corn is not good for rats because it can contain mold...I mix in some oats and Grape-Nuts cereal with the seed mix..but don't give them lots of the mix..I just give them a small handful

Also a nice piece of fresh fruit each day makes the rats happy..mine love bananas and apples

Wed Jan 18, 2006 2:27 am

Well I got a new food called Fiesta by KAYTEE and it is awsome ,here is some stuff about it!
Protein-15%
Fat-7%
Fiber-12%
It has pumpkin,sunflower seeds and some corn. de-hydrated soybean,banna,apple,papaya,sweet potatoes, caroots,oats,green split peas.
It is really awsome.
SO is this good or not? I don't really wnt to MAKE mixed food i just want to buy one and then maybe mix it with another good rattie food.

Wed Jan 18, 2006 2:30 am

Oh yeah this rat food also hase raisins.

Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:50 am

Well, as I'm sure many people will agree, Kaytee is crap(are we allowed to say that here?) There are lots of icky preservatives and it's totally non-nutritous. Unfortunetly, there aren't that many good store-bought mixes. If you really want a store-bought food, try Mazuri lab blocks with fresh veggies every day. Mr. Green

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Last edited by amazing_rat on Mon Jan 23, 2006 2:14 am; edited 1 time in total

Wed Jan 18, 2006 3:54 am

Ditto what Sara said, as I said in the PM it may look tasty and everything but it is much too sweet, and its very unhealthy.

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:27 pm

I'm just wondering what treats everyone gives their rats, and what seems to be their rat's favorites?

I went and bought some Yogies, and two of my rats like them (they grab them and run and hide in their house to eat them) but my other one is pretty indifferent...he'll take a couple bites and then get bored and drop it. But when I'm eating cereal and he's on my shoulder I have to watch out, because theres been a few times where he actually jumps onto the rim of my bowl (I'm waiting for the day where he actually falls in) trying to get a corn flake. (I hope its okay that I've given him cereal..I generally just eat cornflakes or honey bunches of oats, nothing sugery and I only give him a little flake or two).

I gave all three of them little peices of banana, and they sat there in an almost comatose state eating them. Then when one finished before the other, a fight ensued, so I'm going to assume thats one favorite.

What about everyone else?

Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:47 pm

Have a read back through this thread, there are tons of great treat ideas here.

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Kate & the M.O.U.S.
If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph the event ... what kind of film would you use?
~ Anonymous

Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:04 pm

Oh, I've started reading through this thread already...I wasnt really looking for ideas, just curious about different rats and their preferences...more of a rat personality question than looking for treat ideas. But thanks anyway, I'll keep reading through.

Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:42 am

My rats LOVE banana, tofu, yogies, and chicken noodle soup!! They also like cereal, especially Wheaties. So yeah, cereal is fine for them.

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EMILY-------------------------------------------------

Rest in peace, Violet and Isadora. <3

Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:08 pm

ok so the fiesta thingy u got its ok. We ran out of the Sue Bees mix one time rite before we went on vacation and we got that cause that was the most healthy thing we could find. But i noticed that all they ate was the little vegtable chips and the fruit but they didn't eat the seeds. So i just ignored it for a little while thinking they'll get used to it. Then my little Midnight started getting scabs on her shoulders form all the protein in the seeds. So i went cold turkey on that mix and now i'm feeding them Kaytee blocks ( i kno no betta than the other food but the scabs have gone away, well almost). So i would not reccemd the Fiesta mix.

Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:15 pm

I would not feed anything made by Kaytee. All of there foods are unbalanced, and full of icky preservatives. One of them, Ethoxyquin has been shown to increase the chance of getting tumors, and its use is regulated for human food. If you don't want to mix your own food, I reccomend ordering Harlan Teklad lab blocks from Kims Ark (http://kimsarkrescue.org/ under "Ark Store").

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Rosie

* * *

I miss you Tut, Goldy, and Raoul Angel rat

Thu Jan 26, 2006 9:57 pm

I'm *only* on page 9 of this thread, so I apologize if this has been asked/answered already... but concerning the Harlan Teklad: how much should I provide my two female 6-week old rats? Just fill the bowl when it's empty, or just give them a few blocks per day? We also give them fresh fruits/veggies daily, and will be providing some Suebee's soon. Will rats 'overeat' like dogs, meaning we have to meter out the food? They have been stashing and hiding the blocks thus far, so it's hard to tell what they've eaten and how much.

Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:13 pm

Welcome to RP.

Generally, yes - free feed the lab blocks so they're always available. After a little while, you will have figured out how much they eat in a day, and you can provide that much so that you are ensuring they get fresh blocks every day.

Rats generally will regulate themselves pretty well. If you provide a lot of high fat or sugary foods, then they will get fat, but on the whole, limiting their food isn't the best way of keeping them slim - just make sure they're getting healthy foods and - if you're using the Harlan blocks you can go for the 14% protein ones which are also lower in calories (I believe). However, most rats keep a decent weight if you free feed them.

There isn't a whole lot you can do to prevent them stashing - mine used to do that as well (they seem to have stopped for now Crossed Fingers

but generally if I go in and find that their bowl is empty, I check their stashing areas. As long as there is food there (and I check regularly so I know how long things have been stashed for) I can move it back to the bowl (which lets me also check it hasn't been peed all over!). I make sure that, whatever happens, they get fresh food in their bowl every day and anything stashed gets thrown out. But generally there's very little, if anything, left over now.

Hope that helps.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~

Mon Feb 13, 2006 1:20 pm

Regal Rat I use and LM animal farms classic for food.
For treats they get Baby carrots or Strawberries and watermelon(season wise) and some cereal.

Question:Are flavoured cereal(Neopets Islandberry Crunch) ok? I gave mine some and they seems to adore it but not sure on health wise

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Cats:5 Raistlin,Deanna,Itty-Bitty,Cat,Maxine
Rats:5 Inyuasha,Sesshomaru,Grisom,Sidle,Kikyo
New rats:2 Marowak and Mewtwo
R.I.P
Cat:Mousie
Rat:Vertalus,Mew,Porygon,Cubone

Mon Feb 13, 2006 3:53 pm

Unlikely to be a problem as a one off or a treat - I don't know that particular brand but you want to try and keep down fat, sugar, additives, artificial sweeteners/flavours etc, and reconstituted stuff (so puffed whole grains of rice are better than "rice pops" made out of reconstituted rice flour, salt, sugar etc). Just remember that sugar, salt, fat and artificial stuff do the same to rats as they do to humans - make them porky, rot your teeth, hurt your heart and blood vessels and generally aren't as healthy.

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Andy & The Rats

~ Darwin ~ Maisie ~ Ella ~ Zak ~

~ Finn ~ Malachi ~ Azrael ~ Newton ~ Charlie ~