Fresh food for rats?

Question

What can they eat? I got some mango last night and my rat kept trying tio get at it. I was eating it while holding her. I am trying to find some new fruits and vegetables to give her. Are dried fruits okay to give to her? She also has a bit of red around her eye Anyone have any idea as to what it could be?

Right now she eats green pepper, lettuce, grapes, carrots, celery, apple, pear, a certain type of cracker (in very small amounts. She loves it). Plus she eats her food, dog treats as a snack.

I don't know what the red stuff is i noticed it early this morning while i was getting ready to walk out the door for work. I'm at work now but will check again when i get home.


My rat has also had a very little bit of chicken, and pork chop ( both plain). She Loves nuts and seeds as well.

The dried fruit I have doesn't have any extra sugar. They are homemade dried appricots.

Answer 1

Rats are omnivores, they eat just like we do, and then some. Most of the foods that you are giving your rat are fine. The more variety in your rat's diet, the healthier they will be. Just think about whatever is healthy and nutrititious that you would eat, and you can't go wrong.

We follow the rule of thumb that, "anything in moderation" is ok, including dried fruits, nuts, and meat. Some rats have even been known to like a mild curry and sushi :)

In moderation, chocolate is also safe for rats:
http://spazrats.tripod.com/chocolate.html

A few exceptions.
Dried fruit: A little is ok, but keep in mind that even your homemade dried fruit has a lot of it's own concentrated fruit sugar in it
Peanut Butter, Cream Cheese: both are a choking hazard
Iceberg lettuce: no nutritional value, use other greens instead
Dried corn: mold spores (found in commercial rat food)
Alfalfa pellets: Rats can't digest the concentrated alfalfa (found in commercial rat food)
Dog or cat treats: too fattening, bad ingredients
More forbidden foods:
http://www.petratscanada.com/forbidden_foods.htm

The majority of rat-keepers follow the guide-lines of the three following rat diets:
Rat Food for Thought, includes my own spazrats diet:
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/petrats/81615
The Debbie Ducummon diet:
http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html
The Suebee Diet:
http://www.ratsrule.com/diet.html
Most any search on the internet will show different varieties of these same diets and any of them are good.

Feeding your rats:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=feeding+your+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAqFmYLsucJ9Ju1A_wytuo5cazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjrR1DDgyctRMOV346dKZz4azKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=feeding+your+rats

And yes, rats really do pass wind.

In the way of fresh food, my rats eat: Apples, oranges, bananas, plums, grapes, avocados, kiwi, berries of all kinds, melons (water, cantaloupe, honeydew), potatoes, yams, all kinds of squash (all cooked), tomatoes, celery, spinach, a variety of greens, peas, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, sprouts (alfalfa, and bean), cooked beans, kale, carrots, rice milk, eggs, whole wheat bread, green peppers, nectarines, peaches, apricots, pears, pear/apples, tofu, frozen beans, Chinese cabbage, parsley, zuccini, cooked rice, all kinds of grains, coconut, and the list of foods just goes on and on.

For my old and sick rats I give them baby food in the same fruit and vegetable varieties.

Oh, and they don't like eggplant :P

The red around her eye is called porphyrin and should be taken seriously. A little means that something is irritating her in her cage, perhaps the bedding. The more porphyrin that is produced the more is means your rat is stressed about something. Stress leads to illness.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?search=porphyrin+in+rats&ei=UTF-8&fr=ks-ans&ico-yahoo-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAqFmYLsucJ9Ju1A_wytuo5cazKIX%2FSIG%3D111gjvvgj%2F*-http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.yahoo.com%2Fsearch&ico-wikipedia-search-value=http%3A%2F%2Frds.yahoo.com%2F_ylt%3DAjrR1DDgyctRMOV346dKZz4azKIX%2FSIG%3D11ia1qo58%2F**http%253a%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FSpecial%253aSearch&p=porphyrin+in+rats

Please, feel free to e-mail me anytime for your rat-care needs. My e-mail address is listed in my profile.

spazrats
"my life has gone to the rats"

Answer 2

My rats get some of what I'm eating for dinner everynight. Go easy on the seasonings and spices! Stick to fresh fruits and veggies as opposed to the dried ones. They don't need the extra sugar.
I use thawed frozen veggies and whatever fruit I have on hand. They don't seem to be so crazy about banana. Scrambled eggs are a huge hit!
Is the red stuff discharge or is it that her eye is irritated?

Answer 3

Dont worry about the red in the eyes, esp if it just happens every once in awhile. My vet explained it to me, and it has something to do with the fact that they have more blood vessels in their eyes or something. I am sorry I dont remember exactly what he said, its been a few years. But basically its nothing. My rats used to look like their eyes were bleeding sometimes, but it goes away and the vet said it doesnt hurt them.

PS. Rats are omnivores. That means you can pretty much feed them anything. I even gave mine small amounts of meat. Just introduce new foods in small amounts, they will let you know if they like it or not.

Answer 4

Rats can eat pretty much anything you can eat, with some exceptions. Don't feed them raw peanuts or seeds. Raw sweet potato can cause cyanide to build up in the stomach.
I add some hardboiled eggs and cooked bones (with a bit of meat left on) for my rats and they LOVE it. If you want some fun, try adding a hardboiled egg with the shell left on. Your rats will LOVE it!
One last thing.... rats can't burp... but they sure can FART! LOL!!

Answer 5

I give my rats bananna chips and dried pineapple. As for the red around her eye, she may have just scratched herself. also make sure you do not keep her too close to heat vents. I find if my rats are too close their little noses bleed a little from dry air. also if you are using pine shavings for litter this can irritate their noses and eyes. Try using aspen shavings instead.
My son likes to give his rat bread sticks and an occasional pretzil. They also like sunflower seeds out of the shell.

Answer 6

I used to give my rat everything except candy. Dried fruits are fine, in fact pet stores sell dried fruits and nuts packaged specifically for rats.

Answer 7

We have 3 pet rats also. You can pretty much give them anything you eat. Mine love cooked sweet potatoes, I read somewhere not to give them raw sweet potatoes. Avoid foods and drinks that cause gas (soda) as they can't fart and it will cause them to be uncomfortable. As for the red around her eyes, it's called porphyrin. It's kinda like watery eyes. Here is a little more info on that.
http://hometown.aol.com/RattLvrr/BleedingEyes.htm