Asparagus

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I wouldn't. It'll make their pee stinky(er).
Not sure it's toxic though. It's pretty high in iron....maybe I'm thinking of rabbits....

I found 1 list of forbidden foods:

raw dry beans or peanuts—contains antinutrients that destroy vitamin A and enzymes needed to digest protein and starches, and causes red blood cells to clump
raw sweet potato—contains compounds that form cyanide in the stomach
green bananas—inhibits starch-digesting enzymes
green potato skin and eyes—contain solanine, a toxin
wild insects—can carry internal parasites and diseases
raw bulk tofu—can contain bacteria, packaged raw tofu is safe
orange juice—forbidden for male rats only, d-limonene in the skin oil, which gets into the orange juice during squeezing, can cause kidney damage and kidney cancer due to a protein that only male rats have in their kidneys. Pieces of the orange fruit are okay if you wash the orange-skin oil off of it after peeling it.

from ratfanclub.org
 
Here's what I found on RMCA:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/recipes1.htm

THE INCREDIBLE EDIBLE TOY
The only thing better than a toy is a toy you can eat once you're done playing with it. At least that's what my rat, Dottie, tells me. We discovered by accident that a lightly steamed asparagus spear makes a great toy if you wave the end of it in front of a rattie's nose. (The barely cooked spear has just enough wiggle in it!) It's quite tasty, too, once you catch it. We haven't tried this yet, but I suspect that lightly steamed spears of other vegetables, such as carrots and squash would also be good to play with and then eat.


But if I sure wouldn't want my rat's pee to be stinkier!!
 
Asparagus is the one vegetable I eat on a regular basis, and my rats always enjoy fighting over a stalk of asparagus. :)
 
Oh my girls just love asparagus. I have never noticed a difference in odour but I only give them little itty bitty peices.
 
Ok what about watermelon??

Watermelon is not safe for rats. They can't burp so you want to avoid sticky or watery foods so as to avoid suffocating or choking...the most minor problem they would have is a grumpy tummy :/ Some examples would be, yes, watermelon, peanut butter, ice cream (not just for the liquidy effect but moreso for the fact that rats are lactose intolerant, which means they will get very sick and possibly die if the diarrhea/sickness leads to severe dehydration...so those yogurt drops they love so much need to be given responsibly, same with cheese and other dairy products), pop, jello, etc. I find that it's a very slippery slope when people respond to food questions with something akin to "if it's safe for you then your rat can probably eat it". Some lady almost a decade ago posted that statement in a blog and now I feel like everyone gravitates to it even though it's so highly obsolete that the statement and the sentiment that it hauls along with it are very precarious, if not irresponsible to say to someone else.

People who are just above "super lazy" and fall in to just the "lazy" are going to see that statement and say "Oh! Sweeeeet! I love ice cream and potatoes and peanuts and watermelon...so that's awesome that I can feed my rats that! Oh, and poppy seed muffins!!". ALL of those things are bad for rats for one reason or another but yummy and good for us, right? And that's one drop in the bucket of food facts pertaining to what's good for rats. A lot of it is common sense but since a lot of people lack common sense, that's one more reason to refrain from making such generalized statement that could have a very serious, negative impact on little rat lives and their owners who love them.

My advice, to anyone asking questions, treat forums like this the same way you would advice from your friends : Listen to the advice, appreciate the advice, consider the advice when making your decision but remember that ultimately, you're the one responsible for the decision making and since you want to make the right decision, get ALL facts first. Go to .org websites, read research studies from respected and accredited colleges, museums and libraries.

This community is great and everyone seems very caring and thoughtful so please do not misread my intent with this email. I suppose that I just saw a few potential problems with some of the replies in here and I wanted to try and point out some things that perhaps some people may not always think about or remember, that's all :) I'm excited to "meet" all the rat lovers in here!!
 
Hi tiffmarie, your statement is pretty detailed and it would be good for you to tell us your experience and knowledge if you want us to take your post with some credibility.
I've given watermelon to my rats in the past and they did very well...in fact, they absolutely love it. It's a great way to hydrate them especially in the hot summer months. I do agree about the milk, the yogurt, the peanut butter... I've had rats since 2002 and have loved over 300 of them since. That's my experience.
 
'Rats can't burp' means you shouldn't feed them anything carbonated or something that would create a lot of gas. They can still fart supersonic rat farts though!
I don't know where you get your watermelons from, but mine are definitely not sticky like peanut butter, and they are a big treat.
I agree very sticky, dense foods increase the risk of choking, like peanut butter, mashed potatoes or dense bread, but I disagree that runny, liquidy foods will. Choking is when the food gets stuck in their esophagus. Runny foods that go down easily won't get stuck.
I also have to disagree with milk containing (lactose containing) foods causing a big problem. I have always given my rats yogurt and cheese as a treat, and have yet to see any diarrhea. And they keep coming back for more, which they wouldn't if it caused them pain or an upset belly.
And what's wrong with peanuts? Aye carumba!
 
I've found watermelon to be a real lifesaver when I had sick rats that weren't hydrating themselves properly. I had a PT boy who lost the ability to drink from a bottle and couldn't get the hang of a bowl. Watermelon and similar fruits kept him hydrated.

My kids love asparagus, but I limit it because it makes their pee stink something awful...
 
We too found watermelon, cantaloupe, and cucumbers to be a live savor when we had Finn (kidney disease) and he stopped drinking they kept him hydrated for months.

As for rat farts - Clark as a stinky case of those today... phew!
 
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I have fed my rats watermelon, as well and they do love it, especially in summer when it gets so hot! I've only had 5 years of experience with them, so I'm no expert but in my experience I've never had a rat have an issue with it. :)
 
As for rat farts - Clark as a stinky case of those today... phew!

Lol.
I had always heard that rats could fart, but never had the great joy of experiencing it until I adopted Moose last year. That boy is one big ball of gas. He has this problem where he gets excited and he just starts farting all over the place. Hilarious. :laugh4:
 
Lol.
I had always heard that rats could fart, but never had the great joy of experiencing it until I adopted Moose last year. That boy is one big ball of gas. He has this problem where he gets excited and he just starts farting all over the place. Hilarious. :laugh4:

Oh boy can my group of boys fart ... they can be quite stinky ... :sick2: :rofl2:
 
Can you actually hear it?!
I have had a couple of instances where I thought my new boy Albert pooped on me, but I couldn't find any poop. He must have farted! Stinky!

I heard it once (think it was Throttle) then I was hit with the smell ... But today it was the poop stink with no poop for a good portion of the day. I don't think he's had greens before or at least not kale and blackberries!
 
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