Top 6 Maintenance Pelleted Diets for Rats and Mice in the UK — 2026 Guide
Published on Thursday, 26 February 2026
An adult pet rat or mouse on maintenance needs one complete food of roughly 14-16% crude protein and 3-6% fat, fed as a uniform pellet, nugget or block rather than a loose muesli. The format matters as much as the brand: given a mix, rats eat the fatty seeds and leave the fortified pellet, so the diet they actually take in bears little relation to the analysis printed on the bag. Rats and mice are omnivores, which is why rodent food is not interchangeable with rabbit or guinea pig pellets — those are high-fibre herbivore feeds, too low in protein for a rat, and guinea pig pellets carry added vitamin C that rats and mice synthesise for themselves. Breeder and growth rations run higher in protein again and are more than a settled adult needs. The six foods below are the complete options we would feed day to day in the UK, judged on published analytical constituents, pellet format and how easily you can keep buying them.
Top Picks Summary
Supreme Science Selective Rat Food
Supreme Science Selective Rat Food is a single extruded pellet from Supreme Petfoods, formulated for adult maintenance rather than growth. Every piece is identical, so there is nothing for a rat to sort through, and the protein and fat sit in the adult maintenance band rather than at breeder-ration levels. Against Burgess Excel it costs a little more per kilo; against Oxbow Essentials it is easier to buy in the UK and cheaper, while giving up little on formulation.
Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets
Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets earn a best-in-class spot because the extruded nugget format enforces a complete, non-selective diet at a lower price point, making it a practical choice for owners seeking consistent maintenance nutrition. Compared with Oxbow's premium pellets and Versele-Laga's convenient all-in-one format, Burgess balances cost and nutritional adequacy better than seed-heavy mixes like Mr Johnson's, reducing waste and veterinary risk from selective feeding.
Where to buy Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets in UK: the trusted retailers we track in this market, with the best price we have observed at each. Prices are checked regularly and can change, and the retailer confirms the final price at checkout.
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£4 – £10
Beaphar Care+ Rat Food
Beaphar Care+ Rat Food earns a market-leader spot by blending veterinary-backed fortification with approachable pricing for UK buyers, delivering extra micronutrients (notably vitamins and trace minerals) designed to target common gaps highlighted in this expert guide. It trades some of the premium processing of Burgess for greater micronutrient emphasis and wider European availability, offering a technically strong, mid-range alternative for owners who want fortified maintenance nutrition without premium-level costs.
Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food
Oxbow Essentials is positioned as a premium option for nutritional quality, offering grain-based (whole brown rice and oat groats) extruded pellets developed with exotics vets and nutritionists, with strict manufacturing controls that justify its higher price. Compared to Burgess and Versele-Laga, Oxbow emphasises research-backed formulation and prebiotic support for digestive health, while it avoids the selective-feeding downsides common to Mr Johnson's seed mixes.
Mr Johnson's Supreme Rat & Mouse Mix
Mr Johnson's Supreme Mix leads on palatability and variety, delivering a lower-cost, highly palatable seed-and-kibble blend that excels at enrichment and snack-style feeding. It outperforms pellet-only options on short-term appeal, but unlike Burgess, Oxbow and Versele-Laga its mix format risks selective feeding and uneven nutrient intake if not portion-controlled.
Versele-Laga Complete Rat & Mouse
Versele-Laga's Complete Rat & Mouse occupies the niche of convenience and shelf-stable completeness, offering an all-in-one extruded pellet bag that reduces mess and simplifies portioning. Financially it sits between premium brands and basic mixes, and technically it mitigates selective feeding better than loose seed mixes while not quite matching Oxbow's research-backed formulation or Burgess's low-cost nugget consistency.
How to read a rat or mouse food label
Every complete pet food sold in the UK prints its analytical constituents, so the numbers are directly comparable between brands. Three things settle whether a food will do for adult maintenance: the form (one uniform pellet, nugget or block versus a loose mix), the crude protein and fat figures, and whether the bag is sold for adult maintenance or for growth and breeding.
Form first: a mono-component pellet, nugget or block cannot be sorted, so what your rat eats matches what the bag claims. Muesli-style mixes let rats pick out the sunflower seeds and maize and leave the fortified pellet behind.
Adult maintenance sits around 14-16% crude protein: Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets and Beaphar Care+ are both 14%, Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat 15% minimum, Versele-Laga Complete 15%.
Fat is where mixes drift: the complete pellets here run roughly 3-6% oils and fats, while seed-heavy blends are considerably richer and put weight on a caged adult that cannot work it off.
Species is not interchangeable: rabbit, guinea pig and chinchilla pellets are high-fibre herbivore feeds and will not do as a rat or mouse diet, and the added vitamin C in guinea pig food is redundant for rodents that make their own.
Teeth: a rat's incisors grow continuously and hard food helps wear them, but the molars do not keep growing, and pellets alone will not correct malocclusion — supply wood or a mineral chew and have overgrown teeth checked by a vet.
Change foods over about a week, mixing an increasing share of the new food into the old, to avoid loose droppings.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which pellet is best for adult rats and mice?
Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets are a strong pick for adult rats because the extruded nugget format enforces a complete, non-selective diet; the published analysis is 14% crude protein, 4.55% oils and fats and 4.5% crude fibre, which is squarely in the adult maintenance band, and it holds a 4.7 average rating.
What specific feature helps prevent selective feeding?
Supreme Science Selective Rat Food is a single extruded pellet, so every piece is identical and there is nothing for a rat to pick around; that keeps daily intake consistent with the analysis on the bag. It has a 4.4 average rating.
How does Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets compare on price?
Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets typically sell in the £4-£10 range for a 1.5kg bag in the UK, which is mid-priced among complete pellets and cheaper per kilo than Oxbow Essentials. The product holds a 4.7 average rating.
Is Beaphar Care+ suitable as a complete maintenance diet?
Yes. Beaphar Care+ Rat is an extruded complete food, not a mix, so it cannot be sorted, and it is fortified with vitamins and trace elements. The published analysis is 14% crude protein with roughly 3.6% fat, which suits adult maintenance, and it has a 4.4 average rating.
Conclusion
For 2026, a complete pellet remains the sensible default for most adult rats and mice in the UK. The six options here are Supreme Science Selective Rat Food, Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets, Beaphar Care+ Rat Food, Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat Food, Mr Johnson's Supreme Rat & Mouse Mix and Versele-Laga Complete Rat & Mouse. Note that the Mr Johnson's blend is a seed-and-nugget mix rather than a complete pellet: it is listed because it is popular and palatable, but it needs measured portions or a complete pellet alongside it. On balance of ingredient transparency, published analysis and UK availability, Supreme Science Selective Rat Food is the pick, with Burgess Excel Rat Nuggets the better-value alternative. If you want to narrow things down, use the search to filter by brand, pellet size or pack size.