# My rat eats so much!



## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

One of my rats, Doxy, eats ALL THE TIME! She goes to sleep then wakes up and boom, right to the food, and she'll sleep by the food too. I know rats have fast metabolisms but she eats so much more then my other rats! I don't know if i should limit her or not


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## Famous Amos (May 23, 2013)

Is her weight right? It's not the amount of times she eats that matters but her weight and metabolism. Other factors are involved like if she's a runner. And at a healthy weight. It's hard to limit one rats food in a colony also. You can starve the others who need more.


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

We don't have a scale but she's just a little chubbier then my others and gets around fine. I don't have a wheel in there but when she's out for play time she does run and jump around. 


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Id invest in a small digital scale. I got 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003E7AZQA/ref=ya_aw_oh_pii

I put a small bin on top of it and press tare which resets the weight to zero then I put the ratty in the bin and it tells me the weight. It has oz g and other measurements.


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## cagedbirdsinging (May 28, 2012)

Rats can and will eat from boredom or emotions, just like humans. It isn't healthy or natural.

Take what your rats eat in a day given the choice and then cut that back by 80% or so. There should ideally be 4-6 hours during their most active period of the day where they do not have access to food.

Also, when one rat tends to hog food, a good practice is to spread food throughout the entire cage come feeding time.


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## hayls94 (Apr 17, 2013)

I just got my girls yesterday and they eat and eat and eat. They are young and growing though. I'm going to monitor their weight and let them be for now. If it becomes a problem maybe just take out the food for periods of the day (not too long). Not sure what other options there would be.


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Haha can't help but to note that hayls94 has a rat named Arya too!!!

Did you get her from a rescue or from a pet store recently?
Some animals will eat a lot if they have been starved at any point in time of their life if they are unsure when they will be fed again. But then usually those kind of animals become aggressive over their food.
Or if you got her from a pet store recently there is the possibility of pregnancy?
Those are the only two things I could think of that hasn't already been mentioned


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

She isn't preggers, but i got her from a pet store maybe 3 months ago and have been spoiling her lol, she knows she'll have food. Im going to let the bowl be empty more and not keep it full, i have one rat the hoards, and the other stuffs her face then one who eats normal lol xD


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## Famous Amos (May 23, 2013)

Always keep a wheel in a rats cage. Specially females as they tend to run and run. 


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## hayls94 (Apr 17, 2013)

haha yes voltage! I got my ratties from a rat owner who's rat accidentally got pregnant (patientzero). Arya was already named and I recently started watching game of thrones and decided to keep the name also there is another show I watch witha girl named arya, very cute name.


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## Voltage (May 15, 2013)

Me and my boyfriend are huge game of thrones fans and Arya is his rat and he got to name her so he named her after the game of thrones Arya. I like food names so I named my two after food and my boyfriend's mom named hers after food as well to go with Toast!
But it definitely is a lovely name.

But back on topic. I presume just like people some rats like food more than others. Even with dogs there are some who will eat and eat and others will only eat when they have to. She could just really like food, might even be stockpiling. My rats do that. I hadn't attached the litter box to the cage bars for one week and the food was emptying really fast and I kept filling it really confused til the next week when cleaning time arrived. Discovered there was a huge stash of food behind the litter box. I attached the litter box after that and haven't had a problem since. As far as I know. I'll find out Tuesday xD


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## Limouri (Apr 19, 2013)

We just got our rat a wheel today! And all 3 of my rats have no clue what to do with it >.<


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## Famous Amos (May 23, 2013)

They will learn. Some people don't try long enough but with in a year they will get the idea.

I am glad you got one!


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## jimmyb2nd (5 mo ago)

Voltage said:


> Me and my boyfriend are huge game of thrones fans and Arya is his rat and he got to name her so he named her after the game of thrones Arya. I like food names so I named my two after food and my boyfriend's mom named hers after food as well to go with Toast!
> But it definitely is a lovely name.
> 
> But back on topic. I presume just like people some rats like food more than others. Even with dogs there are some who will eat and eat and others will only eat when they have to. She could just really like food, might even be stockpiling. My rats do that. I hadn't attached the litter box to the cage bars for one week and the food was emptying really fast and I kept filling it really confused til the next week when cleaning time arrived. Discovered there was a huge stash of food behind the litter box. I attached the litter box after that and haven't had a problem since. As far as I know. I'll find out Tuesday xD


Hello I don't know if this is too old or not but I've seen two things on here I want to ask about my rat I got as food for my snake I have a ball python but it was too large so my wife kept it as a pet and now it is it is three times the size it was it each constantly we feed it anything and everything as a pet but it has turned mean you can't handle it but we still keep it and feed it it eats all the time every time we get around it it wants to eat but I noticed on here you was talking about a litter box can you train it like a cat I've only had it a few months but I'm curious about the litter box thing any help on that would be greatly appreciated


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