Rat Diet: The Good and Bad

This post is an informational post about what a rat can/should eat and what a rat can not/should not eat.

 Main Diet

A rat should have a nutritional, balanced diet. Their staple food should NEVER be a seed mix. Pet stores and even some grocery stores sell a variety of rat/small animal seed mixes. Definitely avoid these mixes! They do not provide rats with what they need to remain healthy throughout their lives. Instead, choose to feed your rats rat (lab) blocks (you can sometimes find a very good quality rat food at a pet store). They contain all the nutrients your rat needs. I feed all my ratties a mix of rat blocks, dog food and peanuts (raw peanuts are not good for them). It keeps them at a very healthy weight!

Treats

Rats do enjoy eating treats. Generally, most rat treats sold at pet stores are not very healthy. The absolute worst treat to give your rat is yogies. They are pure sugar! Rats definitely have a sweet tooth and can very easily become addicted to sugary treats. In fact, they can become so picky that they will not eat fruits and veggies. A better option is to give your rats small bits of fruits and veggies, scrambled eggs, unsalted and unbuttered popcorn, cheerios, chicken bones, a small amount of yogurt and even an occasional dog or kitty treat. Out of all of the treats I listed, chicken bones definitely rank number one with my rats!

Fruits and veggies

Most rats do love fruits and veggies. I listed the ones that are good for them below.


Fruits:

Apples
Bananas
Blueberries
Grapes
Peaches
Pears
Kiwi


Vegetables:

Broccoli
Carrots
Cucumbers
Peas
Romaine lettuce
Corn (my rats like them straight from a can)
Green, red, or yellow peppers

Foods rats should NEVER eat

Apple seeds
Green bananas
Mango
Oranges
Orange juice
Raw brussel sprouts- fine after cooking
Green potato skin and eyes
Raw artichokes
Raw onion
Raw red cabbage- fine after cooking
Raw sweet potato- fine after cooking
Rhubarb
Blue cheese
Licorice
Poppy seeds
Raw bulk tofu


I hope this post was helpful! You may want to do some research of your own. Even though I listed many 'good' and 'bad' foods for rats, there is a lot of additional information on the internet! I really do attempt to feed my rats healthy food, but I simply can not resist giving them a little bit of junk food every now and then. ;-)



Here is a picture of some of my boys eating yogurt. As you can see, they were loving it!