Is milk healthy for rats?
Milk is rich in vitamins A, D, and E. The high calcium content also makes this product healthy. But your tailed pet does not need milk in the daily menu. It (in large quantities) can contribute to digestive upset and, as a result, cause diarrhea. There should be fresh drinking water in the drinking bowl every day, but milk is already a complete food.
You can offer milk to your pet rats no more than 2-3 times a week.
How to prepare milk for rats?
In order for milk to benefit your pet and not harm its health, you need to boil this drink and cool it to room temperature. You should not give rats either cold or hot drinks, as this leads to gastric upsets.
Which milk is best for the diet?
Cow's milk is considered the most optimal for inclusion in the diet of rats. It is more balanced in fat content than sheep or goat.
What kind of milk is absolutely forbidden for rodents?
There are types of milk that should not be consumed by your pet as they may be harmful to them. These types of milk include:
- Soy milk, as it causes increased gas formation and bloating in your pets;
- Coconut milk. This exotic thing for our area can cause allergic reactions in your rat;
- Condensed milk is also prohibited. It contains a large amount of sugar, which is harmful to the well-being of tailed animals;
Drinks made from milk powder are also harmful to your pets.
Important! Some rats have their own individual characteristics and cannot tolerate lactose, which is found in milk. Remember to be careful when offering your pet a milk drink in small portions for the first time. Monitor his behavior, see if there are any allergic reactions to this dairy product.
Other products
Alcohol contains toxic substances, and rats get used to alcohol very quickly.
Carbonated drinks cause increased gas formation in the rodent's digestive system. Prohibited drinks also include freshly squeezed and canned juices.
Mushrooms are a difficult food for rodents to digest, and there is a risk of poisoning.
Sweets, candies, honey, sugar, jam, and chocolate should not be given to rats due to their high sugar content. As a treat, you can offer your pet a small piece of dark dark chocolate with a cocoa content of at least 80%.
Chips and store-bought crackers are not allowed, as they contain a lot of spices, salt and preservatives.
Dried fish is prohibited due to its high salt content, and smoked fish contains carcinogens.
Fresh pastries, bread, cookies are not allowed. You can occasionally treat your pet to a small amount of baked goods, only those that do not contain sugar, are not greasy and are slightly dried. For example, dried bread, zoological cookies or Maria.
Coffee contains a large amount of caffeine, dehydrates the body, and increases blood pressure.
It is not advisable to give tea to rats. You can offer your rodent a herbal infusion, but only in water; alcohol infusion is strictly contraindicated for pets.
Many rat breeders sometimes want to pamper their pet with fresh green grass. But not all grass can be fed to rats; some plants are poisonous to rodents. These are fern, azalea, lily of the valley, tulip, daffodil, tomato leaves, potato leaves and others. You should also not feed your rat indoor plants, since most of them are poisonous. An excellent option for green food are sprouted grains of wheat, oats or other cereals. We wrote about how to sprout wheat for pet food here.
Most importantly, you should not feed your rat fried, smoked, pickled, fatty, salty, sweet, or spicy foods. Spoiled, rotten or moldy foods are not suitable for rodent food.
Some rat owners are of the opinion that domestic rats can be fed everything indiscriminately and nothing will happen to them, because their wild relatives feed on various wastes. This approach to feeding rats is not at all true. Under natural conditions, rats reproduce very quickly and well, but their life expectancy is significantly shortened, in particular due to poor nutrition. Therefore, if you want your pet to live a long and happy life, then you need to organize the right diet for him and carefully study what you should not feed the rat and not feed the rodent prohibited foods.
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Cheese on the rodent menu
There is a persistent stereotype that all pet rats love to feast on cheese. It is believed that it is a delicacy for them. There is no doubt about it. But another thing is that it is not recommended to feed rats cheese often. This delicacy in excessive quantities leads to the development of obesity in the pet.
Due to the fact that hard cheese contains a large percentage of fat and salt, you are allowed to treat your pet with it no more than once every seven days.
Some types of cheese can cause allergies or food poisoning.
The following types of cheese products are completely prohibited:
- Feta or cheese;
- Suluguni;
- All types of smoked cheeses;
- Processed cheeses;
- Cheeses with mold;
- And types of cheese with a high fat content.
Important! If your animal has a gastrointestinal tract disorder or problems with the kidneys and liver, then it is better to avoid cheese in your ornamental animal’s diet.
Vegetables
Some vegetables should not be fed to pet rats.
Cabbage (white, red, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi) causes severe gas formation in the intestines of rodents, and is therefore prohibited for these pets.
Radishes, radishes, and turnips also increase gas formation and should not be fed to rats.
Beans, beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, soybeans and soy products increase gas formation. And dried peas, mung beans and chickpeas are allowed in limited quantities if the pet does not have problems with the digestive system.
Artichokes should not be given raw.
Raw eggplants contain solanine. If you want to treat your pet to such a vegetable, then first peel it and heat treat it.
Potatoes cannot be eaten raw - they contain a large amount of starch, and green potatoes - contain solanine, just like sprouts and tops. You can occasionally offer your pet a small piece of boiled potato.
Beets should be given to rodents in very limited quantities and not often.
Yogurt on the menu
Occasionally, you can replace kefir with yogurt in the rat menu. Just don’t give yogurt with preservatives, flavorings and sugar. Sweet store-bought yoghurts with berries and pieces of fruit are also not suitable for nutrition. They contain quite a lot of dyes and additives that are extremely unhealthful for your animals.
Important! Remember that your ornamental animal is different from its wild relative. If a wild one can eat everything that comes to him, then domestic pets will get sick from such a diet and may even die.
Therefore, the diet of a domestic rat should include vegetables and cereals. Dairy products are not the main food. They should be additional supplements to the diet.
Bones and seeds
When answering the question of what you shouldn’t feed rats, first of all it’s worth noting fruit seeds. The seeds and seeds of some fruits and citrus fruits are poisonous to rats because they contain the toxic substance amygdalin, the breakdown of which produces hydrocyanic acid. The amount of hydrocyanic acid from one bone will be enough to kill the animal. Therefore the bones:
- apricot,
- cherries,
- peach,
- plums,
- apple trees,
- pears,
- rowan,
- orange,
- lemon,
- lime,
- tangerine,
- persimmons,
- and almonds should not be fed to rats.
The seeds of crops such as mustard and rapeseed contain substances that are poisonous to rats, so they should not be fed either.
What should you not feed your pet rat and why?
The domestic rat is considered an omnivore. The general condition and life cycle of a rodent is influenced by the correct preparation of the menu. To save your pet from problems associated with the digestive system, you need to know what foods should not be given. Usually a rat can eat any food offered by its owner. However, not all food is allowed to be consumed. Fed foods high in harmful substances can cause serious poisoning.
What not to feed a rat
As you know, the domestic rat is an omnivorous rodent, but this does not mean that you can feed this pet everything. After all, such feeding can significantly undermine the pet’s health or even lead to death. To prevent this from happening, every pet owner should know what not to feed a rat. We will talk about this in detail in our article.
A rat can eat almost anything its owner offers it. And if the animal tastes food that is poisonous to rodents, then it will no longer be possible to save the rat. After all, these pets do not belch or gag reflex, so the rat will die, and the careless owner will not even know about it.
Fruits and berries
Citrus fruits are prohibited for consumption; they can cause an allergic reaction that can be fatal. The reason for this is increased acidity. In some cases, you can give a piece of ripe tangerine as a treat. It is not recommended to add grapes and pears to your pet's menu. They lead to digestive problems: increased gas formation or severe stomach upset. Apples and persimmons are a source of poisonous hydrocyanic acid and amygdalin glycoside.
Dried fruits are prohibited, because they cause fermentation in the intestines. Figs, cranberries, rowan berries, green bananas and pineapple should not be given. The rat should not eat plums due to the laxative effect. Chokeberry and bird chokeberry lead to constipation. Garden or forest berries are not produced depending on the acidity level. Melon and watermelon must be fed during the season, because... at this time the amount of nitrates decreases. Fruits and berries are not the main food of rodents. Their consumption on an empty stomach leads to digestive system disorders.
Features and diet
Before feeding rats, all food must be thoroughly washed and stored out of reach of wild rodents.
Milk can only be given boiled or pasteurized. Under no circumstances should rats be given expired milk.
validity! It is important to gradually accustom a pet to milk, otherwise it can lead to gastrointestinal upset.
Rodents need to be fed 2 times a day - morning and evening. But pregnant rats can be fed 4 times a day. The main time for eating is in the evening, since rats are nocturnal. The best time for feeding is 20-22 hours. Do not suddenly change your pet’s diet; all foods should be introduced gradually, accustoming the rodent.
If you want the animal to lead a predominantly diurnal lifestyle, then this is very easy to do. You just need to move your main meal from evening to morning. And in the evening, feed your pet as early as possible.
To create an animal’s diet, it is important to take into account its condition. For example, it is better to feed pregnant rats mainly protein foods and increase the amount of vitamins. Balanced foods are best. During this period, you need to add shell rock and chalk to your diet.
Favorite characters
According to another version, perhaps this image was simply well played out by animators and caricaturists who were able to perpetuate this myth for many years. Today it is much easier to imagine and draw a mouse with a delicious slice of cheddar than with a crust of bread and a few grains of rice.
The creators of the popular animated series “Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers” went even further. One of the rescuers is named Rocky, and his full name is Roquefort - in honor of the famous cheese. His father is Charlie Cheder and his mother is Katie Camembert. The main weakness of this daredevil is his incredible love for cheese; from the mere smell he falls into a trance and tries with all his might to get to the coveted piece. But the author’s idea hardly has any connection with reality. Rather, it is a fiction, nothing more.
Do rats eat cheese?
Cheese is considered one of the most popular derivatives of cow's milk; it is quite nutritious and also has a rich taste. That is why not only people, but also animals, including decorative rats, willingly feast on it. Rodents love it very much and often never refuse a small piece.
However, cheese has a high fat content, so it should be given to pets in small portions and no more than a few times a month. Otherwise, it can cause excessive weight and even obesity. In addition, not all cheeses are equally healthy; the safest for ornamental species is considered to be a product made from cow's milk.
It is strongly not recommended to give other varieties to a rodent. At the same time, veterinarians also identify some harmful varieties of cheese. Even a small piece of such a product can cause poisoning or a severe allergic reaction.
You should not give your rat the following cheeses:
- Suluguni;
- feta;
- feta cheese;
- so-called “mold”;
- smoked and melted.
Important! Cheese is prohibited for individuals with acute and chronic damage to the digestive organs, as well as various diseases of the liver and kidneys. In this case, the product not only burdens their work, but also contributes to the progression of the disease.
