Fattie Ratties!!

[DannyOD]

Anyone else have this problem? My dd's rats are adorable but they are both getting a bit podgy -one in particular. She gets them out to play every day and they have a wheel and a large enough cage to clambour about in but they are both greedy and irresistable so I think they are given more treats than they should. Has anyone put their rats on a diet?

Rats are so irresistable! Are they boys or girls and what are they fed on? In my experience, boys tend to fill out a bit as they get older - it's just a boy thing. The Scuttling Gourmet (www.ratrations.com/the-scuttling-gourmet-4th-edition-p-1577.html) is a really good book on rat nutrition, and I followed an earlier version to feed all my rats.

If you're really concerned, a vet check-up never hurts. They might be able to give you some good advice too.

Also, pictures please :) Oh and just to give you an idea of the size of boys, just in case you don't know, here is one of the ones I used to have. Meet a slightly blurry Remy.

They are boys and day to day are fed on Rat Nuggets from Pets at Home, they like dog biscuits as treats but will grab anything the girls happen to be eating. Prawn Crackers are a particular favourite!! Thanks so much for the link - will check it out.

I have added some photos (I hope!!) Tickles is the grey rat, Nibbler is the Black and White Hooded Dumbo rat.

Aww pictures!! Thank you! They look adorable :) Tickles does look a little bit ch.unky, but they both look like decent size boys to me. I had a Nibbles who was black and white funnily enough. He wasn't a dumbo though. In my experience dumbos tend to be a bit chubbier as well. Remy doesn't look it in that photo but he was a bit chubby - he loved his food! (He had friends, I should point out, I just happened to find a pic of him on his own.)

The PaH Rat Nuggets are pretty decent. It's good that you're not feeding them the crappy hamster-type mix foods that some companies market as suitable for rats. Rats will eat pretty much anything, as you know! Frozen peas in a bowl of water on a hot summer day is still one of my most favourite things to watch when given to rats. Do you give them much veg at all? It could be something to introduce to try to watch their weight a bit maybe, if you don't already of course. Nothing wrong with prawn crackers and dog biscuits but they will most likely go equally crazy for their favourite veg if you find out what they like. Peas seem to be pretty universal. My lot were divided on carrots and sweetcorn goes down fairly well too. I can't remember what else - it's been a good few years since I lost my last one, sorry.

They like banana, tomato, salad leaves, and frozen peas and carrots in summer. Tried them on apple and monkey nuts but they weren't crazy on those. Yes, I was told the nuggsts are best as they tend to pick and choose from the mix type stuff and don't get a balanced diet. Thanks for all your tips x

A couple of my girls are fat, we've found that making them climb to get into hammocks has helped, only food and litter goes on the floor at the moment and free ranging later at night when they are more active. Our girls were bred from very big rats though so we expected as much!

I make mine a food mix that is tailored to them, they all eat a bit of everything. The shop muesli mixes are quite shit though. My mix is based on the scuttling gourmet book and I use it often for reference! It really is a great book!

When free ranging them try to encourage them to run more, playing chase works with our fatties! And training them more consistently has helped too I think.