# Is it ok to feed rats bones?



## dynea (Jun 19, 2006)

I was thinking about giving my rats and mice some chicken bones after dinner. Dose any one think that this could be bad? I thought maybe that the grissel and marrow might be a nice treat.


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## waruikazi (Jun 19, 2006)

we used to have a pet rat and we gave him bones all the time. Never had a problem.


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## rodentrancher (Jun 19, 2006)

I feed my rats lamb bones(from the shank), and they have a great time gnawing away on the gristle and the marrow. Keeps em occupied for hours. Chicken bones or others now and again in moderation wouldn't hurt them surely. I heard that it is not good to feed them too much bread for some reason or other though. Would that be because of the preservatives in bread??


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## JasonL (Jun 19, 2006)

Feeding rodents bones is very good for their teeth as they need to wear them down as they don't stop growing, and left with nothing to gnaw on, they will grow through the opposite jaw, this is why rats / mice ect. gnaw on anything. Bread is a poor food in general, is known to cause problems in marsupials, but haven't heard any problems in rodents but it would not suprise me.


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## Retic (Jun 19, 2006)

I have heard from a reputable source that you shouldn't feed anything with a 'meat' content as it makes them more prone to cannabalism. I have never experimented with this theory so can't confirm or deny.


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## CodeRed (Jun 19, 2006)

meat in their diet make the rats smell even worse


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## Glimmerman (Jun 19, 2006)

*Re: RE: Is it ok to feed rats bones?*



boa said:


> I have heard from a reputable source that you shouldn't feed anything with a 'meat' content as it makes them more prone to cannabalism. I have never experimented with this theory so can't confirm or deny.



I don't know if this is a mere coincidence, however I used to feed mine high protien "working dog" pellets which of course contained meat. I had quite a few die via the aid of another rodents mouth. I now use rodent pellets (grain based) and not one has been eaten by a Rodent.

For gnawing, I usually give them stale roll (compliments of bakers delight) and carrots. I can pick up older carrots (sold as Horse feeders) for approx 50c / kilo. Mine also love raw corn.


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## Retic (Jun 19, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Is it ok to feed rats bones?*

I don't think it was a mere coincidence at all to be honest. If an animal that is naturally omnivorous starts to get too much meat in it's diet then it might sway it more towards the carnivorous way of life.


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## dynea (Jun 19, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Is it ok to feed rats bones?*

That was what i was wondering, if it mite "blood" them or something, I guess the best option would be to continue with the pellets, fruit and vege scraps, and some sticks for them to chew. Thanks guys.


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## AntaresiaLady (Jun 19, 2006)

*RE: Re: RE: Is it ok to feed rats bones?*

I don't see how cooked bones would cause any problems.


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## junglemad (Jun 19, 2006)

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boa said:


> I don't think it was a mere coincidence at all to be honest. If an animal that is naturally omnivorous starts to get too much meat in it's diet then it might sway it more towards the carnivorous way of life.



I think i saw this dvd the other day. It was called 'Madagascar'


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## AntaresiaLady (Jun 19, 2006)

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LOL Jungle!


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## timmy (Jun 19, 2006)

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I think that they are more likely to bit you if you feed them meat.


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## AntaresiaLady (Jun 19, 2006)

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There's a great deal of difference between RAW meat and cooked meat. Cooked meat will NOT result in cannibilism, bitiness or any other problem (except for obesity if they eat too much of it LOL). 

It is recommended that you give your rats a little cooked meat now and then.


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## Stevethepom (Jun 19, 2006)

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i read a while ago...or somebody told me...cant remember exactly, that bread fed to any animal with the teeth(forget the word for it) of a marsupial or rodent ie 2-4 main front teeth, then a gap to the back molar teeth can cause problems because it sticks in this gap and causes tooth or gum decay....unsure how accurate that is, but remember reading somewhere else that you should only feed stale crusty bread to rats/mice....once again, unsure of the exact source...

all in all i`m rambling......and you should probably pay no attention whatsoever to this...hmmm

cheers
STP


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## Glimmerman (Jun 19, 2006)

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And how long would this teeth deformity take to have any effect on the rodent? I rotate my females every 6 - 8 months.


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## Rosemary (Jun 20, 2006)

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The rat pellets we feed now contain animal matter. Did some research into it through dept of Ag and University and the animal matter should increase fertility. I think by the smell of the pellets tho, it is mainly somesort of fish additive. I cant see why bones would hurt them. so long as the being fed is of high quality, as if you dont feed your rats and mice well, you wont have healthy snakes
Rosemary


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## dynea (Jun 22, 2006)

I give them a varied diet of big rat and mouse pellets from the pet shop, green rabbit pellets smells like hay, dog biscuits, vege scraps, big insects that i come across, and freshly pulled out grass they seem to like the roots.
I just thought that bones might be something nutritious with the marrow.


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## dynea (Jun 22, 2006)

occasionaly i throw in one of Masons (my staffie) Eukanuba treats. They like that.


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## staffsrule (Jun 22, 2006)

Give my rats cooked bones quite often, they love the bones from pork chops the most. In fact they get all the scraps from tea.


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## cris (Jun 23, 2006)

I have always given my rats (usually cooked) chicken and t-bones and my male rat is atleast 2.5 yo now so it cant be too bad. As mentioned it allows them to wear their teeth back and gives them protein(making them less likely to eat their young) and calcium(good for a strong healthy snake).

I would avoid large bits of meat though, dunno exactly why but i think its bad.


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## FAY (Jun 23, 2006)

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We give ours bread.....but as a treat only!!! Everyone comments on how calm our rats are when we clean them out every Saturday.....they know that they will get a bread treat on that day. Garth also cooks vanilla cakes for them....once again a treat only....puts extra eggs and skim milk into it. There main diet is the rat and mouse cubes that you buy from the stock food place.
We haven't fed them bones so I wouldn't know how that would go!!


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## kwaka_80 (Jun 23, 2006)

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chuck in some corn... then you will be feeding your snakes corn fed rats... ahh corn fed way of the future


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## kwaka_80 (Jun 23, 2006)

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me and the misses do that we get lazy with the mice and just chuck in a knob of corn


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