Avocados are one of those foods that humans love, but most animals find the food toxic. Not every animal has adverse reactions when eating an avocado. For example, rats can eat parts of the avocado, but not all.
More specifically, rats can enjoy the green fleshy part of the avocado, but the pit (seed) and skin are toxic. Even the green part of the avocado is really high in fat, which means rats can only eat the green part in moderation.
To learn how to feed avocado to your rats safely, keep reading.
Can I Feed My Pet Rat Avocado?
If you take the time to remove the skin and pit of the avocado, you can feed the green fleshy part to your rat. Your rat will likely enjoy chowing down on the avocado since rats often enjoy its flavor.
You should toss out the skin and seed just as you would when eating an avocado for yourself. Since humans only eat the fleshy part of the avocado, you probably won’t find pit and skin removal to be an annoyance when feeding avocado to your rat.
Is Avocado Good for Rats?
If rats can eat avocado and if avocado is good for rats are two separate questions. Luckily, the answer to both questions is the same – yes. Avocado is perfectly safe for rats to eat in moderation, and avocado offers quite a few nutrients that are great for your rat’s health.
Avocado is high in some important vitamins, such as vitamin C and vitamin K. Shockingly, avocados almost provide a full range of B vitamins as well. All these vitamins are healthy for humans and rats alike.
In terms of minerals, avocado is a rich source. It is especially high in magnesium and potassium, both of which support several health processes in your rat.
How to Feed Your Rat Avocado
Feeding avocado to your rat is relatively simple, but there are a few things you need to do if you want to incorporate avocado into your rat’s diet.
Picking the Right Avocado
If you plan on feeding avocado to your rat, you want to pick an organic variety. Even though regular avocados are likely not to do anything bad to your rat, pesticides and other additives can be harmful if there are still too many on or in the plant.
Even though getting an organic avocado may be slightly more expensive, rats don’t eat enough avocado for it to make a huge difference on your grocery budget, which is a plus.
Preparation
As we discussed above, you must remove the pit and skin of the avocado before serving it to your rat. The easiest way to do this is to slice an avocado down the middle then cut vertically and horizontally along the avocado’s flesh while it is still in the skin.
Grab a spoon and scoop the remaining avocado out. Since you cut the avocado while it was still in a skin, it should be ready to serve to your rat. There should be small cubes that you can easily feed in moderation.
Never feed your rat avocado that has been processed or mixed with other foods. For example, don’t give your rat fried avocado, guacamole, or anything else similar. Regular, raw avocado is it.
Frequency
Even though avocados come with a lot of healthy antioxidants, fatty acids, and nutrients, the high amount of fat in avocados can be very dangerous to small rats. As a result, you need to be very careful about how frequently you feed this plant to your pets.
We recommend only feeding avocados to your rat as a treat. So, you should not go out of your way to get your rat avocados. Instead, buy avocados when you want to eat them for yourself, but there is no danger in feeding a small piece to your rat while you are slicing the fruit up.
What Should I Feed My Rat?
Even though a lot of people imagine rats as eating garbage and a bunch of junk, these animals need a really delicious and nutritious diet. They need fruits, vegetables, pellets, and water.
Most of your rat’s diet should come from pellets made specially for rats. Look for mixes that do not have too much seed or grain. These mixes are often high in fat and sugar, leading to obesity and malnourishment in rats.
Throughout the day, you also want to feed fruits and vegetables to ensure your rat gets the nutrients it needs. Some great fresh foods to feed your rat include apples, bananas, broccoli, carrot, bok choy, celery, berries, and parsley. Every day, provide your rat a fresh source of water.
What Foods Are Dangerous to Rats?
Even though rats aren’t as sensitive to certain food types as other animals, there are foods you should avoid feeding to them because the foods are dangerous. Here are some examples of foods you should not feed your rat:
This is not a comprehensive list of foods you should avoid feeding your rats, but it can give you a place to start. Before feeding your rat any new type of fruit or vegetable, make sure to research whether it is safe for rats to consume.
Conclusion
Although the skin and pit are not safe for rats to eat, you can feed the green, fleshy parts of an avocado to your rat in moderation. Once again, be careful about how much you feed to your rat because it can become dangerous if fed frequently. If your rat is begging next time you are slicing up an avocado, though, there’s no harm in giving it a small piece.
