# EAT YER GREENS! (or, my rat won't eat any veggies)



## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

I have three rats. Two are veggie fans. They have eaten any vegetable I have given to them. One refuses to eat vegetables. She once ate a grape, but only because I ripped it open and stuck her mouth on it for a moment so that she could tell it was sweet. She will not eat carrots, grapes, broccoli, peas, apple, and tomato, all of which the other rats adore. They are around the age of four months and should start eating vegetables, but Flaxie won't. She'll eat seeds and raisins and things. She had no problem transferring from a seed mixture to lab blocks. I did get her to chew on a bit of carrot earlier today, but it was the size and shape of a sunflower seed and she didn't finish it, and then she wouldn't eat any more.<br><br>Do I have a picky eater on my hands? What should I do about this? She can't go her whole life not eating vegetables.


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## zurfaces (Jan 16, 2013)

Are you putting them in the cage or feeding to her outside the cage? maybe try them cooked. Make sure they're very very clean. Maybe she smells the pesticides on them or something? try baby food to ease her into fresh

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## WinonaGun42 (Feb 2, 2013)

I know this might sound odd, but is your picky eater a "rodentist"? (Meaning, does the picky rat like to look in your mouth a lot?) My boy is a rodentist and I find that if I eat something, then show him my teeth, he will start eating it. Same thing with my girl rodentist. Doesn't mean they will always continue to eat what I give them, but at least they try it.
Baby food is another good idea too. 

If she isn't a rodentist, maybe you could try cutting away the outer part and just giving the insides as bite sized treats, like you did with the carrot. Try feeding veggies outside the cage as part of playtime. I usually leave a bowl of little carrot bites and other veggie bits when I let them free range. They tend to try more things when it's a part of "play time", than when I just give them a bowl in their cages.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

Some rats are picky eaters. my boys absolutely Hate carrots, only one who would eat Apples was Storm (I'm So hoping he passed that on to the babies, if not that's sad cause I love apples)

Try baby food, even though my boys hate carrots they'll eat carrot baby food.

Have you tried other vegetables?

Also lucky you for having a rat that likes raisins, my boys think Raisins (and really any dried fruit) is evil and can't be eaten.  (Kind of proves that different rats like different things)


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## madisonsale (Feb 9, 2013)

i've been trying all sorts with my girls recently, and the only thing they will continually go back to are peas and chunks of baby corn. they'll nibble on broccolli, cauliflower, carrots, grapes, cabbage, cucumber, strawberries, apples and spinach but it just gets left


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## Hephaestion (Jan 27, 2013)

Mine eat both raw and cooked vegetables but their favourite is cooked. Lightly steamed broccoli goes down well but honey roasted carrots seasoned with cinnamon gets a big thumbs up! Also, roast sweet potato. Peas are never turned down and for some reason I cannot fathom, raw kale. Do you do all of your feeding in one go as in once a day they get their dry mix and salad at the same time? If so, alternating times might be worth a try. By that I mean, enough dry mix in the morning to keep them going for a few hours and then their salad in the evening. Vegetable baby food is a good alternative if nothing else works.


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## bbrats (Jan 21, 2013)

My rats are also the pickiest eaters EVER!! I've tried feeding them every type of fruit and vegetable there is and they don't touch them. The only vegetables they eat (and they absolutely love them) are corn and kale. I''ve even tried putting fruit in their yogurt to see if they''ll eat it and they always pick them out  Mine even refuse to eat baby food! Next attempt it going to be frittata, they love eats so we''ll see if that works


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

It's normal for some rat to refuse foods they haven't seen repetitively That's how wild rats avoid getting poisoned. Let your rats feast on veggies together and eventually your hold out will give in when she sees everyone else eating them.

My part wild rat needed and engraved invitation to try any new food, including cakes and cupcakes. She would take a tiny nibble of a chocolate cup cake and not eat any more until the next day. But if you gave her a different brand of chocolate cup cake or a vanilla cup cake, the procedure started all over.

When we had both rats at the park, naturally my part wild walked right over the poison mushrooms whereas my eat-anything rat got poisoned and nearly died. Keep offering the same viggies prepared exactly the same way for a few days and see if that helps.


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## Dinoclor (Mar 2, 2013)

I thought I would give an update to this post.

My rat isn't a rodentist, but I tried putting the food in the cage. I put in a piece of tomato. At first it was keep-away with Snowball and Caramel. But then they got tired of that, and they let it be, so Flaxie went and ate it. Even though she has never, ever, seen tomato before.

Today I put in an assortment of raw vegetable bits (yellow pepper, broccoli, carrot) from cooking, and they are ALL OVER them. Rats eating are cute! :3


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