Can rats eat chocolate? This is a question we hear a lot, both from in-person from new rat owners and even more often on rat forum boards.
Some people say rats can eat chocolate. Some people say rats can’t eat chocolate.
But what’s the real answer?
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Can rats eat chocolate?
If you just want a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, then the answer is…
Yes.
Rats can eat chocolate.
It’s not like with dogs where chocolate is toxic to them.
Chocolate is not toxic to rats and they can gladly eat it.
But the real question is…
Should rats eat chocolate?
Just because a food isn’t poisonous to an animal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for that animal to eat it.
Chocolate might not be toxic to rats but chocolate is still high in sugar and fat and often has a bunch of different chemicals, sweeteners, and fillers that are unhealthy for humans – let alone rats!
Feeding chocolate to your rats is likely to result in obesity (especially if you give them a lot). And an obese rat is more likely to get sick, develop tumours, and die early in a state of bad health.
Some say moderation is key and chocolate, just like other pet rat treats, is fine as long as you don’t give it to your rats all the time.
Some pet owners give their rats dark chocolate as a very rare treat and these owners are often very strongly opinionated on how it’s fine for the rats.
But we’re strongly opinionated the other way…
We personally never feed chocolate to our rats.
We do give our pet rats treats and we love spoiling them from time to time.
But we’ve always said chocolate (along with other forms of human junk food) is not something we’ll ever give our rats.
Our rats have always been super happy having some dried fruit, sunflower seeds, or vegetables as treats!
When your rats go crazier over green pepper and broccoli than they do over the super sugary store bought treats, you know there’s no point introducing human junk food to them.
Think about it in terms of children. If your child LOVED broccoli and wanted to eat it the way other kids ate crisps and candy, why would you force chocolate on them? Let them be happy and healthy.
That’s just our opinion though and it’s worked out very well for us.
So…
Can rats eat chocolate?
Yes.
Should rats eat chocolate?
That’s your call. But for our rats, we say no.
