Can Pet Rats Get Addicted to Human Junk Food
A study conducted by Scripps Research Institute in Juniper, Fla. Says, "Junk food elicits addictive behavior in rats similar to the behaviors of rats addicted to heroin, a new study finds. Pleasure centers in the brains of rats addicted to high-fat, high-calorie diets became less responsive as the binging wore on, making the rats consume more and more food."
Treats
Treats should be given when training a pet rat or occasionally when you want to give a reward to your rat. Treats and human junk foods should only be given in small quantities and only after your pet rat has eaten their daily food.
If you put the treats in the same bowl at the same time with the daily foods, they will pick out only the treats and eat only those leaving the foods they should be eating in the bowl. This can make your pet rat sick.
What kind of treats and when
Treats such as dry sugary cereal, ice cream, lettuce and anything sweet like cake should only be given in small quantities and only once a week or so. I do make exceptions for very old and sick pet rats. For very old rats that are at their last days on this earth, I give them anything they will eat, even if that means spooning out yogurt and ice cream to them. I figure anything that makes a sick or dying rat feel better can't be all that bad and they deserve all the good feelings they can get at that time in their life.
For the most part though, good treats for your pet rats are going to be sugar free dry cereal, small pieces of vegetables and fruits, boiled eggs and cooked pasta. Given in limited quantities once a week, these human foods make great treats for your pet rat.
Be sure to remove any uneaten perishable foods from your pet rat's cage at the end of the day. Spoiled foods can cause a rat to become sick and it makes the cage very messy.
Source:
http://news.discovery.com/animals/rats-junk-food.html
Published by Mary Kirkland
Mary is originally from Redondo Beach, California and now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband and daughter. Mary has had extensive experience with small animal care as well as rescuing and re-homing.... View profile
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3 Comments
Post a CommentGood info. Mary - sounds like they're a lot like us when it comes to junk food!
Very good article. Think I'll Twitter some of your animal-friendly links. Have favorited you.
Good article, very informative