# can rats eat dragonfruit?



## Reitanna (Jan 8, 2016)

I've looked everywhere, and I can't find anything that says if dragonfruit is good or bad for rats. I have this huge one, and I wanted to share it with my Jerry, but you know... just because they CAN eat something, doesn't mean they should.


----------



## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

I don't see why not, there is research of diabetic rats benefiting from dragon fruit aka pitaya juice and extract. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3140125/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24919841 There seems to be no knowing if there are long term negative effects from rats eating it because you're right there doesn't seem to be any talk about it out there besides those couple studies. The skin should be washed if eaten as dragon fruit from the grocery store tends to have the usual pesticides accumulated on it.


----------



## Reitanna (Jan 8, 2016)

I know that the skin is not meant to be eaten. when I click on that link, it says page not found.


----------



## Coffeebean (Jan 6, 2017)

Sorry, I think my two links got smooshed together by mistake. ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3140125/ ) ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24919841 )


----------



## Ratdad23 (May 24, 2020)

Coffeebean said:


> Sorry, I think my two links got smooshed together by mistake. ( Effect of dragon fruit extract on oxidative stress and aortic stiffness in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats ) ( Effects of Red Pitaya Juice Supplementation on Cardiovascular and Hepatic Changes in High-Carbohydrate, High-Fat Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Rats - PubMed )


Thank you so much for these links. It’s not often you see people linking actual scientific studies in their posts.


----------

