# Tea and Rats?



## Munchie (Mar 13, 2012)

So Aliss upholds the English tradition of being a yellow toothed, tea addict.
I didn't purposefully let her have the tea, oh no, she was free-ranging and decided to dunk her face in my mug, I didn't even notice her approaching until it was too late and angrily shooed her off, no-one steals my tea!
But ever since then if I have a cuppa, Aliss is there, franticly trying to grab the top of my mug and pull it down to her, and trying to lick dregs off my fingers if it spills.

So here's my question, is tea okay for rats? I have milk in mine but nothing else, I heard that rats are not supposed to have lactose but that some people feed them tiny amounts of yoghurt (which was a massive hit, I now know how I will get antibiotics down all of them should the need arise.) but I wasn't sure if the milk would be harmful or the tea itself??
She's only managed to get a small amount off my fingers so far, but if it is okay then maybe she could have a tiny amount as an occasional treat? 
I honestly have no idea if it is okay so I've been trying to keep it away from her, which judging by the depressed expressions I get displeases her greatly :')


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## Sidurah (Sep 28, 2011)

Haha, mine and my roomates' rats adore tea. I put cream & sugar in mine, and since they only get tiny amounts, I think it's fine. As long as the tea doesn't contain anything bad for them, of course.


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## shawnalaufer (Aug 21, 2011)

Could caffine be an issue?


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## Maiden (Mar 9, 2012)

My worry is the type of tea.

Lets not forget tea is made of leaves from plants. Some leaves might not be rat friendly, so I would watch what kind of tea.


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## ratjes (Mar 26, 2011)

shawnalaufer said:


> Could caffine be an issue?


One of the already hyper girls always tried to sneak in a sip of my coffee. I never saw anything bad as a result. She might have had trouble falling asleep though....


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Maiden said:


> My worry is the type of tea.
> 
> Lets not forget tea is made of leaves from plants. Some leaves might not be rat friendly, so I would watch what kind of tea.


Yes, this. ^

If it's tea from tea leaves, I don't believe that those are on the no-no list, but there are lots of other teas out there. Just be sure to read labels carefully to see if there are any other plants in the blend.


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## Babs (Jan 26, 2012)

My girl Jess absolutely LOVES tea. Whenever she's wandering around the house you always have to mind your tea, because she WILL steal it! I've tons of pictures of her doing it, and a video of her caught in the act here 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6XH1wg_yzE&feature=plcp


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## jenn1c (May 6, 2012)

OMG she is adorable!!! Love the video Babs


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