12/03/2024
The importance of fresh food in a rat's diet : 🥕🥬🫐
Fresh food consists of varied vegetables, fruits, sprouts, and fresh herbs/plants. Sometimes, soaked and cooked grains and legumes as well.
A rat's natural diet in nature would consist of what they might find while foraging, and this excludes human stored foods and scraps. Rats living independently from humans would have a diet rich in plants, flowers, berries, grass seeds, root vegetables, vegetables, fruit, fungi, algae, shoots and insects (though rats have been known to hunt and may consume smaller animals.)
Their ideal diet would not be grain heavy, and although the right grains and starches may be beneficial in our domesticated rats, it should not make up the majority of their diet or be the only thing that they eat. A well formulated Dry Mix is a piece of a complete and balanced diet, rats need a minimum of 20% fresh food in their diet.
We personally recommend feeding up to 50% fresh food; fresh food should be offered daily. It can be given raw or lightly cooked either by being steamed or boiled for a few minutes. (Some vegetables may need to be cooked before being offered.)
Benefits of feeding varied fresh food :
Rats require a significant amount of enrichment and stimulation, fresh food provides a variety of different tastes, textures and allows them to participate in expression of natural behaviors such as foraging and self selection. Fresh food also provides a variety of nutrients and minerals that are more easily accessible and digestible for the body.
Much like us, rats have preferences, likes and dislikes when it comes to food; it's important to allow them to experience different flavours. They enjoy food just as much as we do!
Fresh food contains antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, varied fibres and other much needed components in order to maintain the health of their gut microbiome and immune system. It can be highly beneficial against inflammation and disease.
A diet high in fresh food can lead to softer stool, this is normal but it's an adjustment rat owners might need to get used to. It should however not cause diarrhea; rats that have not been fed fresh food or have not had much fresh food in their diet may develop slight diarrhea for a short period of time while their body adjusts, it's important to monitor every aspect of your rat's health.
It also takes time for them to learn about fresh food, taste, texture and what they enjoy and don't enjoy. The more variety they're offered the more adventurous they become.
Our rats always finish their bowl of fresh food, they sn**ch up their favorite pieces and then come back for the rest later, but the bowl is always licked clean! 🐭🌿
Being the curious creatures that they are, it usually doesn't take long for them to start trying out different things and enjoying their fresh food.
