can rat eat cooked meal worms and crickets?

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bruxxy

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Joined
Nov 17, 2007
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668
Location
Toronto
I really want to give my rats meal worms and/or crickets. Both are high in protein and have alot of other nutrients as well. They are also a main source of food for wild rats.

If I bought worms and crickets from a safe source, would it be safe to give a some to rats occasionally?
 

Feeding rats live meal worms and crickets is no different to me than feeding a snake a live rat. It's simply not necessary.
 
hmm I guess I don't really see the similarity there. I also wouldn't feed them live...I would cook them first.
 
The similarity is that snake owners who feed live use the "that's what they eat in the wild" argument.

If you're gonna cook it you might as well give them chicken or tuna for their protein then.
 
I feel a lot worse for chickens and buying tuna supports commerical fishing which I am strongly against.
 
No I would make sure I wasn't supporting feeder breeders if I was to buy insects. I actually just watched a documentary on animal planet about the benefits of eating bugs...thats where I got the idea from.
 
bruxxy said:
I feel a lot worse for chickens and buying tuna supports commerical fishing which I am strongly against.


???? I don't get it. If you have ethical feelings about food sources why would feeding your rats meal worms and crickets even cross your mind?
 
Understandably live feeding is a touchy subject even when it comes to insects.
Just like how some people are vegetarians while others are vegans, I suppose there are some that don't put insects in the same category as animals.
 
Glad that we are not talking live feeding (don't believe in live feeding anything) !
but how would you humanely pts a cricket or mealworm before cooking it?
If you could, then raising meal worms in your own home might be a good alternative to people who like to eat meat .... they wouldn't take up much room and you would know that they were raised and killed humanely.
 
No, it wouldn't be bad for your rats, and feeding them raw would be fine as well. You would want to get the smaller meal worms, as the larger ones [I believe they're called wax worms?] are much larger and also have pincers. They can and will hurt you and your rats. So stick with the small variety. Crickets are about the same deal. Stick with the smaller versions.
 
Ummm...we used to feed meal worms and crickets to our lizards, but its still Ewwww in my books, all that ichor gushing out... :puke:

it ranks up there with pus in my books....blech.
 
If you are looking to feed mealworms, like javakitte said, stick to the small ones as they have some mean pinchers and can do some damage on the way down if the rat swallows them whole. Tip: cut off the heads they won't pinch on the way down.

SQ said:
Glad that we are not talking live feeding (don't believe in live feeding anything) !
but how would you humanely pts a cricket or mealworm before cooking it?
If you could, then raising meal worms in your own home might be a good alternative to people who like to eat meat .... they wouldn't take up much room and you would know that they were raised and killed humanely.

Mealworms can be put in a state of status. Put some of them in the fridge for a few minutes and they stop moving.

As for the protein thing, mealworms are an excellent source of highly packed protein for the rats.
 
mamarat2 said:
Mealworms can be put in a state of status. Put some of them in the fridge for a few minutes and they stop moving.

That would be live feeding :(

mamarat2 said:
As for the protein thing, mealworms are an excellent source of highly packed protein for the rats.

And for people ...

Since people are feeding lower protein lab blocks in order to feed less protein to their rats, it doesn't make sense to me ...
even if you don't mind live feeding.
 
SQ said:
Since people are feeding lower protein lab blocks in order to feed less protein to their rats, it doesn't make sense to me ...
even if you don't mind live feeding.

Not everyone is feeding lower protein blocks. I myself am not completely sold on the whole 'protein is eebil' thing. I have fed and continue to feed my rats a variety protein rich items with no ill effects. I personally don't care for feeding every rat 14% protein blocks, but I'm not going to tell anyone how they can feed their own rats.

Bruxxy, if you would like, I can PM you with how to kill the insects/larvae humanely.
 
javakittie said:
SQ said:
Since people are feeding lower protein lab blocks in order to feed less protein to their rats, it doesn't make sense to me ... even if you don't mind live feeding.
Not everyone is feeding lower protein blocks. I myself am not completely sold on the whole 'protein is eebil' thing. I have fed and continue to feed my rats a variety protein rich items with no ill effects. I personally don't care for feeding every rat 14% protein blocks, but I'm not going to tell anyone how they can feed their own rats. Bruxxy, if you would like, I can PM you with how to kill the insects/larvae humanely.
Ya that would be great since I don't want to live feed. Thanks Kat :)
 
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say high protein, SQ, I meant to say its a better quality of protein.

And a different quality of protein. Quality example, certaind dogs who are allergic to chicken/beef dog food are now being fed other proteins that do not cause the allergies, such as rabbit and duck.[/b]
 
I have never given crickets -- I don't trust the rats to get them before they leap out of the cage... and those cans of dead crickets cost a fortune. I have given mealworms in the past, though.

My previous rats would all go crazy over a treat of mealworms. (And yes, I feed them live.) They would get super excited and dance about with their worms and pounce them.

My current rats I tried mealworms with, they would pick up a mealworm and if it moved even slightly they would throw it back down. LOL They didn't like it. They are little princesses. heheh
 
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