Flux is getting fat on just Oxbox, cheerios and veggies

Alright. So Flux is HUGE. When they weighed Goliath at his exam to fix his leg up, he was 430grams. That puts Flux who is HUGE compared to him closer to 6 or 700 grams (Not kidding). He's HUGE and he eats like a horse.

Here's problem.

They only occasionally get yogies and cheerios (put those on their kabobs and it gives them something to do for an hour or three) and veggies. Green pepper, carrots, banana for Goliath so he gains s'more weight. Green beans, cucumber. Not anything overly unhealthy.

But Flux is still HUGE and getting bigger. He's going to turn into a very obese rat if I don't change things, I just don't know WHAT to change.

They are both on Oxbox Adult Rat food. Currently switching between green peppers and cucumbers for veggies(they are on sale at work ) and should be picking up some new stuff during grocery shopping today.

What can I do to make him STOP getting fatter? He eats his food faster than Goliath and his food is usually empty almost a full day before Goliath's is. He's my chunky little snowball.

Ibought a cat toy and put the oxbow in it so he had to roll around the ball to get the food that way he didn't just mow it down

You can restrict his Oxbow, like put a bowlful in the morning, remove what he doesn't eat within half hour and give it again at night and remove again after half hour. Stop the cheerios and find a very healthy treat like grapes or blueberries and incorporate exercise.
I've been restricting my rats' blocks and slowly but surely they are losing weight. Yay!

He hasn't been getting any cheerios actually a lot, occasionally once a week I'll put them on their kabobs with their wood chews.

They get their veggies every day and they still treat that as a treat. Lovin' it. I'm not sure how to incorporate exercise with it. Ideas?

Make them fish for the veggies? Or give them raw/hard rather than cooked? Or hang them somehow?

Take out the ladders in their cage if they have them, mine run around my apt for hours they love playing in the recycling boxes or they also love chasing a cat toy!

Some rats love chasing cat feathers. You could string up the veggies so they have to climb to get it or hide it around the cage. You could even hide the blocks so they can scavenge for them.

Before Chloe passed she started getting bigger. Eating wasn't the problem. It was that she was pretty inactive. She has always preferred cuddling to playing etc. Anyway we started bringing her across to the other side of their huge rat room and calling her over to us. We brought her sister Sativa with her and turned it into a game. We did at least 10 runs a night every night and Chloe started looking and acting a lot better.

Problem is that where we live now isn't rat-proof and with a kitten and a dog around as well, it's dangerous to have such a big free-roam like that.

I'm devising some different things to try for him. He didn't like wheels a long time ago, I'mma put in his saucer wheel thing again and see if he's interested in it now.

I also want to add, that I would not recommend a restrictive diet to older rats. Weight loss is not something you really want in an older rat unless it is very controlled and done very slow.

I'm not doing this to Goliath, he's my older rat. Flux is just around 7 months. Goliath gets extra things like banana and maybe another yogi over Flux when they get them.

Well... apparently the boys don't like green pepper anymore. Both picked all the green pepper pieces out of their veggie medley of can peas and carrots and fresh green pepper.

But! They like cucumber and blueberries seem to be a hit.

Goliath is still going to get extras and fattier foods for awhile until I'm comfortable with his physique, but Flux will be on straight veggies/fruits and Oxbow to see if he gets any bigger or if he's just going to be a big-boned rat. I can still see his legs and he's not OVERLY pudgy yet, but with Goliath weighing in at 430 when he went to the vet and Flux being HUGE compared to him both in size and weight (by feel anyway), I'd like to make sure he doesn't get obsessively obese.