A balanced diet for rats
It's easy to feed your rats a fresh, healthy and balanced diet by feeding them commercial food pellets. Always feed them food designed specifically for rats, rather than pellets for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters or other herbivores – these won't give rats the nutrients they need.
Remember:
- Give them some variety - rats are omnivores, so you can supplement their diet with small amounts of fruit, vegetables, cooked egg, grains and seeds. Give these as part of their daily food allowance, not in addition to it, or it could cause obesity or health problems.
- Avoid harmful foods such as onion, citrus fruits, walnuts, rhubarb, grapes, raisins and chocolate.
- Avoid sugars and high-fat foods such as dairy. Rats like sweet and fatty food, but it can cause health problems if they eat too much of it, so only use these as treats and rewards during training.
Feeding your rats
Rats feed mainly at dawn and dusk, and drink mostly during the night, so feed your rats twice a day – in the morning and evening. Remove any uneaten food, and change the amount so that they eat all of it and stay a healthy weight.
Give your rats their food in open ceramic bowls (not metal, as this creates ultrasound noise) - this allows them to carry food and handle or eat it wherever they want. It's a good idea to encourage natural foraging behaviour, as rats enjoy holding and manipulating food in their paws.
Remember, rats need to eat fresh faeces - it's natural behaviour that helps them absorb all the nutrients and minerals they need to stay healthy. Stopping this could cause nutritional deficiencies and health problems.
Drinking water
Give your rats a continuous supply of fresh, clean drinking water, in bottles rather than bowls to avoid contamination. Provide several bottles so that all your rats can drink at the same time. This means they won't be competing for water and won't be thirsty if one of the bottles gets blocked.
Check their water bottles morning and evening and refill them twice a day to ensure the rats are never thirsty. Clean them regularly to stop algae and bacteria build-up, and check them everyday for blockages and leaks.
Foraging behaviour
Foraging is a natural behaviour for rats. Encourage your rats to forage for food items including handling and manipulating their food.
- Give your rats a variety of appropriate food options, so that they have control over their own food choice. This is very important as rats often develop individual preferences for particular foods.
- Mix food items among fresh bedding during cage cleaning and scatter food items around their cage.
- Hide food items in safe places. Rats will happily dig in sand/gravel trays, or chew through cardboard tubes to find hidden favourite food items.
- Occasionally provide seeds (like sunflower seeds) and nuts (such as peanuts) to allow your rats to manipulate their food in their paws whilst they eat.
- Give your rats whole or intact food to help stimulate them. Try giving them a cooled, unpeeled boiled egg so they can work out how to break into it.
- Always provide food enrichment as part of their daily food allowance, and not in addition to it. Foods high in fat or sugar should only be used as occasional treats, or rewards for training, and should not be part of every meal.
- Always provide multiple food objects rather than just one for a group of rats, this will help to avoid competition.
Rat fact: rats show empathy with other rats
Rats remember if they've received help from another rat and will help others in the future. The more help they receive, the more they will help other rats.
They also share their food with others, and will give the biggest share to the hungriest rats. If they're given a choice between receiving their own treat and their companion rats also receiving a treat, they choose the option that ensures their friends also get a treat.
