what-can-rats-eat

A List Of Safe And Dangerous Food For Rats

Rats can eat lots of things that you can too. This isn’t a full list, but contains the most common food items that are safe for rats, and which should be avoided.

Vegetables that are safe

  • Carrots
  • Cauliflower
  • Celery
  • Choy
  • Corn
  • Cucumber
  • Broccoli
  • Butternut squash
  • Green beans
  • Kale
  • Mushrooms
  • Peas
  • Peppers
  • Potatoes (cooked)

can-rats-eat-broccoli

Fruit

  • Apple
  • Apricots
  • Banana
  • Blackberries
  • Blueberries
  • Cantaloupe
  • Cherries
  • Cranberries
  • Grapes
  • Kiwi
  • Melon
  • Peaches
  • Pears
  • Plums
  • Pumpkin
  • Raspberries
  • Strawberries

Other foods that are safe

  • Cereal
  • Cheese
  • Chicken
  • Chicken bones
  • Cottage cheese
  • Cooked egg (hard boiled, scrambled)
  • Mealworms
  • Dog biscuits
  • Ham
  • Oats
  • Pasta
  • Popcorn
  • Rice
  • Soy – soy nuts, soy milk, soy tofu, soy yoghurt are a few examples
  • Sunflower seeds
  • Turkey
  • Walnuts
  • Yoghurt drops
  • Chocolate drops

safe-food-for-rats

Harmful food

Not all food is safe for rats. The following should be avoided.

Harmful vegetables

  • Dried corn – contains fungal contaminants which can lead to liver cancer
  • Green potato skin and eyes – contains the toxin, solanine
  • Raw artichokes – it inhibits protein digestion
  • Raw brussels sprouts – can be fed if cooked
  • Raw red cabbage – can be fed once cooked
  • Raw sweet potato – can be fed once cooked
  • Raw onion – can cause stomach upset and anaemia
  • Rhubarb – contains high levels of oxalates which will bind up calcium

Harmful fruit

  • Apple seeds
  • Avocado skin
  • Green banana – inhibits starch digestion
  • Mango – shouldn’t be fed to male rats as it contains d-limonene and this can cause cancer
  • Oranges – the peel is harmful to males

Other foods that are harmful to rats

  • Blue cheese – contains toxic mould
  • Carbonated drinks – rats are unable to burp
  • Cuttlefish – high in calcium
  • Liquorice – contains a suspected neurotoxin
  • Peanut butter – rats can choke on this
  • Poppy seeds – unknown why, but can lead to death
  • Rawhide – rats can choke on it and it can cause obstructions internally
Check out these rat Mythbusters!

3 thoughts on “A List Of Safe And Dangerous Food For Rats”

  1. I’m making my own mouse food mix, and am
    trying to figure out if walnuts are safe for my mice. Some sites say absolutely not, others say black walnuts or not safe but English walnuts are. Please advise. Thanks

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