# One of My Rats is Getting Fat



## Digits (Jan 8, 2009)

I have two rats, and one of them is the perfect male rat size (According to my vet) but my other has progressively been getting fatter and fatter. They both appear to eat the same amount of food, and I keep their diet as low cal as I can so he doesn't get fatter.

Basically their diet consists of Kayte Lab Blocks as their staple diet, they always have access to it, and than fresh fruits / veges at night. Once a week I give them some fish, a oyster each, or a small shrimp. I don't give them snacks of what I'm eating (unless its a very small amount of something healthy, for instance a small piece of a mini carrot) and I don't give them treats often, when I do, I give them cheerios. 

I'm confused why one is gaining weight to a noticable degree and the other stays trim, like I said, they eat the same amount of food. They generally don't like their lab blocks so they only eat them when hungry, so I don't think they're the problem. I don't feed them large amounts of veges / fruits, I give them enough to be considered their supper, with nothing left over. 

They have a large ferret nation which they run around in, so they are active, and I take them out for at LEAST 30 minutes each day (Normally 1 hour).

Maybe he has some type of condition? Diabetes? I have no idea.


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## ema-leigh (Jan 24, 2010)

It could be genetics... are they related? Where did you get them from? Could also be one boy is a bowl hog, or more lazy. 

Kaytee lab blocks are not considered a good quality block, if you can.. I would switch to Harlan, Mazuri or Hamsters Living World Extrusion. I would reduce the fish to more like once a month, as they are actually quite high in protien and not needed by full grown adult rats. 

I would cut out all treats except for lots of veggies each day, and fruit every few days.. as the fruit can be fattening. (Such as banana's) 

Also when they are out each day, what are they doing? Are they active? For overweight boys I encourage them to do a lap of the room for a healthy treat several times a day. 

Extra weight is not good for the rat at all, if you can I would have him looked at by a vet to rule out any medical conditions.


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## AMJ087 (Aug 27, 2008)

My rats were overwight too and my vet had me put them on a diet. I spent a few days averaging how many blocks they eat a day then I cut it by two blocks and thats all they get so they go without food for a few hours and they are doing great now.


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## margar (Apr 10, 2010)

Could it be megacolon? (I've seen the pics of rats with it and they get really fat in the belly).
How's the bowel movements?

I'd hope it's something simple like a diet issue, but if one is gaining a lot more weight then... well, you should look into that possibility.

Perhaps one rat is hoarding the food away from the other??

those are just ideas off the top of my head, but I am not a very experienced rat owner so don't panic over the megacolon suggestion. worth checking out though.


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## stephaniechung (Mar 9, 2010)

I've got a rat that poops anywhere and everywhere and he's still pretty hefty.


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