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I know pig is very fatty and should be in moderation, but I have a half a boiled pig foot I was giving to my dog and he didn't really care for it, could my rat have some??

Molly
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1 Answers1

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I had rats for 11 years and yes, one of the best things about them is that they eat almost everything like we humans and it is tempting to give them different things.

But I've learned that we probably shouldn't. Rats love to eat, partly to kill boredom and partly because they love to eat or the instinct tells them to do so, so it is very easy to overfeed them. And a fat rat is like a fat human - more prone to many overweight-related diseases that shorten their already short life.

Similar to the human diet - big amounts of vegetables won't harm you - just the opposite, but you should always watch not to eat too much fat or carbohydrates.

I've learned that the best way to feed rats is to give them measured amounts of good pet food in pellets which has well-balanced amounts of nutrients - this gives you healthy, longer living rats.

But of course, if you'd give them a bit smaller portions per day than recommended there's a space for some treats - and I would treat everything besides the "professional" food as treat - so you can give them but in small controlled amounts.

So bones are OK to my knowledge but strip them of the fatty parts firsts. I occasionally gave my rats those bigger cooked bones from chicken wings and they had a lot of fun with them, but that was an occasional thing like once per month or two.

Also worth noting - when giving them human food do not use spices, or salt because that can harm them. They also cannot eat sour stuff like oranges etc. (Fruits also should be considered here as treats in my opinion because of a high sugar content.)

Picard
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