Can rats eat blueberries? Are these perennial flowering plants good for your rat? Blueberries have multiple health benefits when consumed by humans. They are good for the eyes, aid with your weight loss struggle, and they have anticancer properties among others. When consumed daily, they have an incredible effect over your health.
Moreover, studies conducted on different animals have proven that blueberries are good for the memory, improving the ability to remember things.
Can Rats Eat Blueberries? How Much?
Yes, blueberries are allowed for a rat. Their multiple benefits also apply on animals. Feeding your rat blueberries can actually help it remember things easily and can prevent different types of cancer.
Allowing your rat to eat vegetables and fruits on a regular basis is very important for its diet. In order to be healthy, it needs these two types of foods incorporated in its eating plan. Keep in mind that only 20% of its diet should be consistent in fruits and veggies. It also needs dry food, such as lab-blocks, food especially made for it. Do not feed it dog or cat kibbles, they can be harmful for it. Rabbit or hamster food is also not beneficial. So why should you feed your rat anything else but the food especially made for it?
Also, please stay away from the commercial rat food. Usually, that food is high in chemicals and additives very harmful for your pet. Some of them may contain proteins and fats which are also dangerous for your rat. By keeping it natural, you can assure you your rat’s health.
At the same time, keep a balance between the watery foods (eg: tomatoes) and the dry ones. Too much water in their system can cause them diarrhea.
How To Feed My Rat?
Place a bowl of water and a bowl of food in your rat’s cage. Make sure they are both fresh. Refill both of the bowls a few times a day. If your rat has left any food in the bowl, make sure to clean it out and put new food in it. Spoiled food may cause a diarrhea and stomach ache. While they might sense it is spoiled, when hungry, rats will still eat it.
Check out these ready-made blueberry treats for rats:
Rats are not over eaters. In other words, do not get frightened by the thought that your rat will get fat if you provide it fresh food at all times. In fact, rats will eat as much as they need and then stay away from the food bowl until they get hungry again. They also might start snacking when bored but will not eat too much.
What actually can fatten your rat is the food you are giving to it. So, avoid any foods high in fat or sugar.
What Should I Do When My Rat Has Gained Too Much Weight?
First of all, you need to stop feeding it all sorts of unhealthy food. Print out a list with allowed foods and diversify it every day. Give your rat lab-blocks and fruits one day, the next day switch to vegetables, etc.
Second of all, make sure your rat exercises. Buy a steering wheel, some tiny ropes and things it can climb on. Place them in its cage. If it does not want to run or climb on things, get it out of the cage and let him explore. This way, it will burn some fat. You can turn this into an everyday activity, until you start noticing that your rat is losing weight. At the same time, introduce it to water. Sparkle some water on it or place your rat into a small bowl with water in it and see if it likes it. If the rat is not afraid of the water, let it play with it. With time, you can take a bigger bowl and let it swim a bit. If you see him getting tired or going into a corner, get him out of the water.
Get your rat a companion, another rat to play with. It will engage him in different things and situations. Rats tend to get lonely and depressed when left alone. If you can’t stay at home all the time to take care of it, it is best to buy another rat. This way, they will both have companionship and never get bored by staying alone.
Over time, your rat will lose weight. From now on, your most important job is to keep it on a balanced sugar- and fat-free diet. He might not like the change at first, but rats are very curious animals and will get on board with the new food. The secret is to not force it to consume anything he doesn’t want to.
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References:
http://www.sandyscrittercity.com/ratsandahealthydiet.htm
“Sugar-free fat-free diet” Cardboard, got it.