Foods NOT to feed to your rat
• Alcohol – can be FATAL if given
• Bitter Almond – Bitter almonds may yield from 6 to 8% of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly substance.
• Blue Cheese – Contains Toxic Mold
• Chives – can destroy red blood cells and cause anemia
• Cat Food – too high in protein and fats
• Dog Kibble – as a staple it does not have the balanced nutrition a rat needs, a quality dog food can be used with special grain mixes to create a balanced staple diet.
• Egg (raw) – can contain salmonella
• Fats (from meats) – Rats do not have gall bladders and therefore they do not have the enzymes needed to digest the fat of meat (credit to spazrats).
• Garlic – can destroy red blood cells and cause anemia
• Green Bananas – Inhibits starch digestion
• Green Potato Skin and Eyes – Contains solanine, a toxin
• Leeks (raw) – can destroy red blood cells and cause anemia
• Licorice – Contains a suspected neurotoxin
• Onions – can destroy red blood cells and cause anemia
• Orange Juice – May contain d-limonene which can cause kidney cancer in male rats, but studies have shown that they would need to eat a lot of oranges to get enough d-limonene to cause these issues.
• Poppy Seeds – Can cause neurological damage, or may cause death.
• Raw Artichokes – Inhibits protein digestion
• Raw Bulk Tofu – May contain bacteria (packaged tofu is safe)
• Raw Dry Beans or Peanuts – Contain anti-nutrients, causes red blood cell clumping (note: the peanuts that you buy in stores are almost always roasted so are okay.
• Raw Onion – Can lead to anemia and an upset stomach
• Raw Red Cabbage and Brussel Sprouts – Contains an anti-nutrient that destroys thiamin
• Raw Sweet Potato – Contains cyanide-forming compounds
• Rhubarb – Contains high levels of oxalates which bind up calcium
• Wild Insects – May carry parasites
Foods to be used with caution when feeding to your rat
• Apples – Apples are fine, except for the seeds. Apple seeds contain a cyanide derivative that is deadly.
• Avocados – Avocados are high in fat and are a good treat to feed rats that need to gain weight quickly (make sure the fruit is ripe). However, the pit, rind, skin and leaves of avocados are toxic. The part of the fruit in contact with the pit has a higher concentration of toxins.
• Carbonated Drinks – Rats Can’t Burp (but they can fart) plus there is a lot of sugar and caffeine in these drinks.
• Chocolate – A very small bit of chocolate is okay and can actually temporarily alleviate respiratory distress, but only to be given during an attack, not on an ongoing basis as it will not prevent respiratory distress. This is only a short term solution until you are able to get to the vet for antibiotics.
• Dried Corn – Can have high levels of fungal contaminates which can toxic or lead to liver cancer. A little fresh corn is fine.
• Iceberg Lettuce – Full of water (which can be good), but has no nutritional value, plus may cause diarrhea.
• Peanut Butter – This can cause choking in rats. If you want to give your rats peanut butter, thin it out or mix it with something to make it less sticky.
• Bread/Crackers/Muffins – May cause choking in rats. These foods are often too dry on their own or become a solid mass while being chewed. It's advised to put something thin and liquidy on these items to prevent choking if you intend to feed them to your rats.
• Plums – The pit of the Plum has cyanogens in it, which are bound molecules of sugar and cyanide. When this bond is broken, the cyanide becomes free and able to act. The cyanogens don’t leak at all into the flesh of the fruit.
Final Words of Caution
• Mold Warning
Spoiled or moldy food can contain deadly toxins. Never give nuts, grains, vegies or other food that looks or smells odd or spoiled. Don’t buy too much food ahead. Molds can grow even in sealed plastic bags. When cutting up veggies, cut off the dried part that has been exposed from previous cutting and throw it away. If you see mold growing on a food, throw the whole thing away. Do not attempt to cut away the moldy section. Invisible mold filaments penetrate deep into the food.
• It's generally advised to remove the pit of any fruit that you are giving.
Rats can get lice and mites and you will need to treat them. It doesn't mean they live in dirty cages, or you are giving them bad care or you are a bad owner, it just means you were unlucky. These parasites will only affect your rats so you and your other animals are safe.
Rats get these ectoparasites (ecto meaning Out or External) from either another infested rat, or from fomites (infected bedding, toys, things that are paper or wood-based, even on us to carry it to them from another rat). The best way to not have these buggies invade your lives is prevention. Freezing any paper or wood-based bedding for 48 hours will kill off any stowaways, and if you handle other rats, make sure to wash your hands, and change your clothes before going near your own rats.
But now that you have these ectoparasites, lets figure out what they are and get rid of them!
The most common ectoparasites are lice and mites. Both of these buggies will only feed off your rats, not you or your other animals.
Mites : Almost all of them are microscopic and you won't be able to see them with the naked eye, you will only be able to see what they are doing to your rat. Mites love to start infesting your rat on the shoulders, neck, head and face. You can run your fingers backwards through their fur to feel for the little scabs on the skin, feel under their chin, their cheeks etc. If you think you feel scabs, you could always wet the area down a little to make sure. The fur will often thin from the incessant scratching and the coat can change.
Here are classic shoulder mites
and face
and here you can see how much can be hidden under their coat
and after she was wet down
Lice : Lice are visible, and you will see them moving slowly in your rats fur. They prefer the rump and back to start their invasion but like all parasites will move all over the body if its not treated. You can part the fur on the rump and stare at any specks to see if they are moving. Intact male rats often have buck grease (orangish sebum) that can flake up and make you think you have lice, but buck grease doesn't move no matter how much you stare at it. :giggle: Lice will die after 24-48 hours being off-host, so they say Lice are Nice, whereas Mites are a lot harder to kill.
Lice on the back
A closeup of a louse...if you see any red its the blood it just ingested after a meal from your rat.
Nits (lice eggs) on the rump and back
Here is a extremely infested rat. Bad infestations can cause anemia in rats and be dangerous, so its best not to wait to treat these types of rats as the parasites are sucking them dry.
The poor fellow had scratched and groomed off the fur from his legs :(
Treatments - There are only 2 recommended treatments for ectoparasites on rats, as store-bought treatments are unregulated and there are many horror stories out there of rats getting sick or even dying from a treatment because you are essentially using a poison. It's not advisable to treat baby rats if at all possible. If you must treat, use Revolution for the very young rats, especially since infestation of parasites can cause anemia and health issues.
Ivermectin
Oral Paste - comes in a tube for de-worming large livestock, you can get it at tack stores, feed stores, etc. For an adult rat the dose would be a piece the size of an uncooked grain of rice, once a week for 3 weeks as Ivermectin only kills hatched out adults and the buggies have 3 life cycles.
Injectable - can be used orally, topically, and injected (injections are not recommended as they are painful, often expensive and its found sometimes it doesn't work).
Topical treatment is putting the dosage on the rats coat so that they ingest it while grooming.
Note : Ivermectin should be used carefully as it is more toxic, so make sure you have your dose right before treating.
• Ivermectin horse paste is not recommended by vets. It's a use at your own risk over the counter medicine. Many people have had great success with the horse paste when used correctly.
• Chart on dosing as per weight using injectable topically at guinealynx.
After each treatment you will need to scrub your cage carefully, let it sit with a bleach and water solution on it for a few minutes, then carefully rinse and wash that off. You will need to freeze any wood or cardboard/paper toys, vacuum and clean around the cage area.
Revolution (Stronghold in the UK)
Revolution is a treatment you need to get from your vet. It is topical and all you do is open the tube (by pushing down on the cap until you hear a pop) and then part the fur to the skin, and put a single drop on that spot. Try to distract the rat for a minute while the Revolution absorbs through the skin into the blood stream. That's it, the Revolution stays effective for 30 days which is longer than the buggies life cycle. Easiest and safest treatment but can be harder to get than the Ivermectin for some people.
Please note that Kitten/Puppy, and Cat have a concentration of 60 mg/ml, and Dog is twice as strong at 120 mg/ml.
For the people who want to be accurate about your dosing the recommended dosage as per RatGuide is 6 mg/kg
This is Calla and she was fine one day, then she seemed floppy and uncoordinated the next. She shows us a lovely pictoral sequence of "failing the cheerio test" a test that is used to determine if a rat might have pituitary tumour.
When Calla arrived she was a very heavyset 515 grams, but with lots of exercise and good food she slimmed down to a lithe 390 grams. I have been watching her to see how she did without her cagemate who had passed recently from PT, and last night I got a “feeling” and offered her a multigrain cheerio. She only used one paw to try to eat it with, and when trying to hold on with 2 she had to rest them on the couch.
She also was not running and climbing like crazy, which is very un-Calla-like. She had an appointment for a tiny tumour to be removed on Friday and I cancelled it today and put the boys neuter in instead.
Tonight I pulled out Calla and within minutes, my heart sunk to the bottom. I did my standard tests and watched her behaviour. I guess she loved her “big sister” so much she had to emulate her. Same symptoms, and the same progression (fast!). I gave her the dex and baytril right after.
Noooooo!!! This is too soon after my Pea!!!
One good thing is that Calla gave me some good frame-by-frame pictoral of PT behaviours. They are sad though.
From this
To the wobblies and confused partially closed eyes
Attempting to eat the cheerio with one paw
Dropping the cheerio
Trying to use her body to get it back in her mouth
The clubbed forepaws shoved out front
Calla gets smart and takes little bites
I HATE PT, it happens so very very fast! I was looking forward to really getting to know her.
I do want to include this pic of her the next morning, after getting her dexamethasone injection. When a rat responds it can often be very fast and almost "miraculous". She was much brighter, agile and her fur was down. She continued to improve on steroid therapy which is why I always suggest trying it no matter what.
