Food and Treats

You will need a water bottle. If you have a wire cage you can hang it outside the cage and eliminate chewing problems. Make sure you wash it well at least once a week. Some people recommend replacing it every 6 months due to algae build up. Kind of like a toothbrush.

There are a few choices for food. Lab blocks, Rat Food, or rodent mixes. You can also make your own mixtures. What ever you choose, supplement with fresh veggies, fruit and treats.Our rats favorites are reggie rat and Rat menu by vitakraft.

Some of Our rats’ favorites:

Broccoli

Pasta cooked or raw, with or without sauce

Scrambled eggs with or without cheese

Yogurt drops

 

Strawberries

Any melon

Cheese crackers...made by Vita Kraft for Rats

Ice cream...In tiny amounts

Any bones

Coffee (tiny amounts)

Beer (a few drops)

And Derby’s absolute favorite thing in the world....Whipped Cream. Derby has no concept of control around whipped cream. He has been known to nose dive into strawberry shortcake just to get as much as possible, as quick as possible.

 

(Gig's 1st birthday)

Most rats will eat anything, so it’s up to us to limit sweets and proteins. Protein in excessive amounts can cause skin problems and itchy rats. Sweets can make them pudgy

Other people have recommended....

Yogurt

Unsweetened Juice. No orange juice for male rats!!! Read note below

Carrots

My basic thoughts on diet are, they have a very short life span. And if the occasional treat won't shorten that, they ought to have it!

Things they NEVER should have:

*Raw onion

*Uncooked beans

*Soda

Cigarettes

(Derby and Darwin loves to steal them.... Ugh)

Orange juice for male rats (Only male rats, it's okay for females.) There are some substances in Oj, which male rats are unable to get out of their systems, they build up and concentrate to dangerous levels in some organs and can cause cancer. (Thanks to bclee’s rat page for this info! http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bclee/rats.html

I’m not sure why, But every place I’ve checked has these 3*items on their Toxic list. Id rather be safe than sorry. The cigarettes I know are killing me. So I assume Derby and Darwin shouldn’t be chewing on them...Yeah, yeah I’m quitting again.