What should I feed my 2 and a half year old rat?

Question

I adopted him from the animal shelter about 3 months ago and have been feeding him obviously rat food, including rat treats from the pet shop and occasionally a piece of apple. Today I let him out for a run in my room and noticed he had found a chocolate that had fallen out of my box of roses. It was the strawberry flavour one and he had eaten it all, luckily not along with the wrapper. Is this bad for him? Can it harm him in any way? What else can I feed him? He is quite chubby but very active and being 2 and a half years old he isnt very young and I would like to ensure he is healthy for the rest of his life. Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

first off you need to have his weight checked by your vet as being overweight can lead to the same health problems experienced by humans such as heart disease. There are many natural treats you can give such as banana, broccoli, cabbage, parsley grapes, swede, peas and apple. You can also as an occasional treat introduce a little bit of boiled egg and cooked chicken. Introduce new foods gradually to prevent tummy upsets and do not give too much green food as it can cause diarrhoea. You can also give live natural yogurt to boost calcium and an occasional capsule of cod liver oil and garlic oil capsule. Do not give too high in fat diet as a high fat diet has been found to cause tumours in rats. The occasional treat of sunflower seeds will give lots of b vitamins and you can also cook some pulses, pasta and brown rice. Do not allow him to eat human chocolates as the chemicals in chocolate can be poisonous to many animals. You can also try giving him dog biscuits to gnaw on for his teeth as well as the wood bars from pet shops as his teeth will keep growing. The 2 key words to remember are moderation and variety.

Answer 2

Was it a chocolate BAR or just one of those small chocolates? If it's fairly small, I'd say he'll be okay, although don't intentionally give him chocolate.

I'm guessing you already feed him lab blocks, so the best treats for rats are basically whatever is good for people! Fruits and veggies are the way to go when it comes to treats. My boys' personal favorites are string beans and bananas. Just try out different things and see what your guy likes. They also like uncooked/cooked noodles and nuts, although these are better only as an occasional treat.. weekly or so. The treat I give my guys when they do something good is Cheerios. They LOVE THEM. ;P

Basically, if you have a healthy dinner, you can give them their own little portions if you want. My little fellows are also very fond of chicken and pork chops. :]

Answer 3

good Q,...im so sorry idk!

EDIT: what i meant was i dont know if the chocolate can hurt him,...its probaably not good for him but i dont think it will kill him!

you can feed him,

cucumber

cheese

broccoli

cherrios

strawberries

grapes

and much more!

Answer 4

It really depends on what type of rat it is, since u got it at a shelter, it could be the type of rat that came from the wild ( the kind u want out of your attic) or it could be a Fancy Rat, the type u get at the pet store. if it starts getting sick or starts acting like not itself, call the vet and tell them what he/she ate and tell them the symptoms. If not, its fine and you should keep feeding him the usual. dont change his diet now, because that might make it worse. but like i said about types, the domestic type may have a little trouble digesting the chocolate while the wild rat is used to eating things like that, so its less likely to get sick. but if it does get sick, call the vet right away, because when rodents get sick, they can die quick ( like in 3 days).

Answer 5

It really depends on how big the chocolate was. it cant really hurt him but too much chocolate is never good for anyone.  The only thing im concerened about is the strawberry on the inside.  As you should know, rats cannot vomit, therefor they cant have anything sticky or gooy like jam, pennut butter, or certian types of yogurt.   If nothing happens in an hour or two then hes fime.  just give him a SMALL bit of WARM milk to wash anything down.  

   Some great food is "Fiesta" brand.  it can be found at your local pet store, it has fruits, veggies, grains, TONS of vitamins, and other important things that all rtats need.



   Hes going to be alright.  Some people say that small portions of chocolate every other day is infact GOOD for rats!!!    Hope my answer could help you...   Miley  <3

Answer 6

do not ever give animals chocolate, but those drops made for rodents should be fine in small amounts, maybe one twice a week. just keep feeding him the rat food but i would go for softer fruits and vegetables, like banana, melon, leafy greens, and raisins. it is ok to feed your rat those foods everyday, but also in small amounts. also i would feed him some protein like eggs, meat or beans everyday.

Answer 7

Chocolate in small amounts is ok for them, they aren't like dogs with chocolate.

Here is a site with foods you can give him http://ratfanclub.org/diet.html

Answer 8

if it was just a little piece then not much, but yes chocolate is bad for him just don't feed him chocolate anymore; it's too sweet same thing with grape, peanut butter, jam etc. those junk foods can cause disease like diabetes; it may not take his life away in a short period, but it can cause a great pain in his life time. rats eat grain, and seeds. and sometime you can also give him vegetables like carrot, cucumber, or lettuce.