what is not ok for rats to eat?

Question

i know that rats eat almost everything humans do, but i was just wondering if there is specific things that they shouldnt eat

Answer 1

raw dry beans or peanuts—contains antinutrients that destroy vitamin A and enzymes needed to digest protein and starches, and causes red blood cells to clump
raw sweet potato—contains compounds that form cyanide in the stomach
green bananas—inhibits starch-digesting enzymes
green potato skin and eyes—contain solanine, a toxin
wild insects—can carry internal parasites and diseases
raw bulk tofu—can contain bacteria, packaged raw tofu is safe
orange juice—forbidden for male rats only, d-limonene in the skin oil, which gets into the orange juice during squeezing, can cause kidney damage and kidney cancer due to a protein that only male rats have in their kidneys. Pieces of the orange fruit are okay if you wash the orange-skin oil off of it after peeling it.

I've heard that onion, almonds, and raw beans are bad too. Chocolate can help prevent diseases and is safe in verrry small quantities, but too much all at once can poison a rat.

Answer 2

Please don't take the advice of just rat food.

To be 100% safe, stay away from spicy (inc onions garlic), citrus and unripe. the sweet potato thing is also true. Fatty foods (inc chocolate) will make your rat fat very quick. A "sweet" treat can be a plain biscuit, bread stick or similar. My ratty also gets a small amount (1 tsp) of yoghurt a week.. which he loves!

Generally, I'd say normal rat food, plus lettuce + cabbage (not too much), cucumber, carrot, apple, pear and such, cooked peas, runner beans, brussels, spaghetti (or other pasta), cooked meat, egg.. all is good. My rat also gets grass and dandelion leaves (washed) sometimes. In truth, he generally gets whatever is going.

There's a diet called the shunamite diet, for rats - http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.html - it's designed to give them all they need, so everything else is a treat.

Safe foods list: http://www.freewebs.com/rattyrescue/azratsafefoods.htm

Good luck! :)

Answer 3

To those saying chocolate is ok - only dog chocolate is safe for rats/pets, or chocolate drops sold for rodents.

Human chocolate is not safe, it contains theobromine which is toxic to animals and can cause epileptic fits, heart attacks, internal bleeding and even death if fed a lot.

It may be safe in absolutely tiny amounts, but is it worth risking it if you can get pet chocolate that is perfectly safe and just as yummy for them? :-)

I've found this site to be an excellent source of advice for rats - check out their diet section for safe foods:
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/community/index.php

Also for more nutritional information - and info on the most suitable diet for your pet rat - check out this site:
http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.html

That is a UK based site, so some of the products recommended wont be applicable overseas. However, this is another good site based in the US:
http://www.ratfanclub.org/diet.html

Also this one:
http://www.spoiledratten.com/feeding.html

Answer 4

Don't give your little ones blue cheese.
Actually, I wouldn't give them too much dairy @ all. Maybe a bit of 'active' yogurt occasionally.
I've heard contradicting things about spinach so I don't give that to my guys to be on the safe side.
A *tiny* bit of chocolate (esp. dark chocolate) once in awhile is ok & they *love* it.
Sodas or anything carbonated is a bad idea.
If you give them packaged food, look for mixes that don't have artificial preservatives or colorings.

Answer 5

Rat Poision.

Answer 6

Well considering they eat garbage in the wild I'd say sky's the limit

Answer 7

well if i was u i would simply stick to feeding it rats food lol.
but you can also feed it pieces of cut up apple.

good luck.

Answer 8

My dinner...at least, not until I've had my fill!

Answer 9

chocolate, onions, garlic and YOU ! lol