# Rats are not big fans of Fruit



## Adam (May 15, 2017)

Hi all,

Any ideas?

My three boys are not big fans of fruit. I've tried crasins, rasins, dried blueberries and dried papia. They don't eat much of it. They will eat very small about of fresh fruits like strawberries, apples and peaches, but it's not much.

I even tried to discise raisins by giving them yogot covered rasins. That was dumb, they just scrap off the part they want and I have a bunch of raisins laying around. Good thing I just give that as a treat. I think I'll eat the rest of the bag!

Any ideas on other things I can try?


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## nriii (Jun 28, 2017)

My girls love fresh blueberries and banana!


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## HobieFinchArthur (Jun 18, 2016)

My girls aren't particularly foody either, but they all go nuts for dried banana for some reason! I also used to have a mix that had some sort of dried pineapple and apple in it too and that seemed to be pretty popular, I've also tried coconut (like the little bits you get in trail mix) and apricot which they quite like. I wouldn't worry too much about fruit though, as long as they're getting a little bit of fresh every so often I think they should be fine. I don't give mine raisins and things except as a treat because they're really high in sugar. How are they with veggies? I've found that my girls tend to prefer stuff like broccoli and cucumber over most fruits, and they get given it more often. Out of their fresh food they'll get maybe 40% carbs (pasta, potato etc) 40% green veg and 20% fruit (ish!) But most of their diet is their dry mix.


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## Shadow <3 (Jan 25, 2017)

As others have said, its no biggy if they don't really like fruit. Fruit is kinda like natural candy, and most of it is very high in sugar and water content. Both are fine in small amounts, but they don't exactly make fruit the healthiest treat. My girls only get a bit of fruit maybe 2 times a week, and its always about the size of their paws. All my rats are particularly fond of golden apples, but one of my older girls goes absolutely CRAZY about banana!


If your set on fruit though, remember that domestic rats sometimes retain their wild instinct of being very careful of new foods, least they be poisoned. Rats can't vomit, so wild rats will take small bites of new food and then wait a few hours. If they aren't made ill, then they'll try the food again. With my new rats, I always aspire to offer any foods they "reject" 2-3 times, as they'll often change their mind once they realize the food is safe.


I've also found that rats will eat food that other rats in their group have nibbled on. If I want a new rat to try a new food and they don't seem super stoked about it, often giving it to another rat that actually enjoys the food or has no qualms eating new food and then giving the leftovers to the new rat works. Alternatively, you yourself can take a bit of or lick the new food. As gross as this sounds, I've had success getting picky ratties to try new foods if they smell my saliva on them (sounds gross and unhygienic, I know, but when you think about the fact that rats often consume their poop, its not so bad ).


As for raisins, I wouldn't feed them. Like Arthur said, they're full of sugar (as are grapes), and ontop of that, they're sticky. My girls adore raisins, but I limit their consumption to the rare occasions when I myself am snacking on them (which isn't often).


I'd try feeding some other varied treats, like various veggies, eggs, noodles, etc. as well. Rats can pretty much eat what we can, so if its healthy for you, chances are its healthy for them as well.


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## Adam (May 15, 2017)

Hi again
Thank you for clarifying your experience with fruit and your rats. That's what I was thinking but figured I'd ask.

So, my boys are major veggie nuts! They are great about that. Spaghetti squash is their FAV!! They also love things like meat and fish but I only feet it as an occasional treat.

And yes my guys do eat bananas.

Thank you all again!!


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

They much prefer fresh fruit. Mine don't like dried fruit either, besides dried fruit tends to have lots of added sugar.


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