Fat rat

[Wednesday]

Hello!
I have 4 male rats (about 2 years old). Three of them are normal weight. One of them is, shall we say, a bit on the chunky side. Okay, he's huge. Quite obese. I feed Oxbow Essentials Adult Rat food. The only treats they get are one nut (either a quarter of a walnut or an almond), or a few pumpkin seeds (about 3 or 4 each). Since Mr. Chunk has begun plumping up, I've been cutting back on his treat to a smaller piece of nut or just one or two pumpkin seeds.

I just can't explain his weight, particularly since his cage mates are normal. He is a rex. Do they have a predisposition to be "chonky" as the kids call him? Could he have a thyroid issue (do rats get thyroid issues)?

Thanks!

 

[lilspaz68]

Each rat can be very different in shape and weight. I assume he's not related to the others? You can have a large rat in a group with slim rats and they all eat the same thing. Exercise is best and watching everything they eat. For eg. Don't feed peas or corn or even carrots as they have a lot of natural sugars and starches in them. Have you ever tried him with a feather cat toy? They often become very predatory (they react like its a bird) and he might exercise a bit with your help. At that age though, usually there's not a lot you can do.

 

[Wednesday]

Thats a good idea! Thank you. I will try to play with him with a feather toy. Hopefully he will like it. They have a wheel, but only one of them ever uses it. He does get some exercise from going up and down in the cage. Its the 4 level critter nation cage.

They are not, as far as I know, related. I got them from a local shop that breeds them, so they could be, but I don't think so. He is the only rex. There's also a hairless and 2 regular ones. They are so cute! With or without extra padding around the middle.

Here are a few pics of Balrog (aka Mr. Chunk). Its difficult to appreciate his girth from the photos. I'm feeding less just in case he's helping himself to extra portions.

 

[Dena]

Omg he's huge! I love big fat squishy rats! I've had a couple of HUGE rats that were simply bigger than their litter mates. Their mom was tiny, and their dad was long and beefy.

 

[shaunavalon]

OMG he is so Chonk!

While cute, it is not good for him, so getting him to move and exercise in whatever way possible is probably a good idea. you can always separate food/water and sleeping to be as far apart as possible as then he needs to go on a journey to get some.

If he eats about the same amount of food as the other rats, it could just be in his old age that he is having metabolic and hormone problems, in which case a vet might be able to do something to help. At this age of 2 years though, he is definitely an older rat and so he might not always have the drive to play or exercise for longer periods of time.

I'd monitor his food intake closely and try to get him moving about as much as possible, it might very well help him. Get a good digital kitchen scale that measures in grams (ounces a bit big unless you can get one that will work ounces to 2 decimal points aka 25.62o or down to 1/16 ounces) and keep an eye on his weight and track it weekly to see if what you are doing is improving his weight.

 

[Big Schpog]

Wow, he is a big chonky chonk rat. I make homemade chase toys. I take a piece of dental floss and tie a small piece of really crunchy plastic bag to a chopstick. It makes tons of crunchy sounds that's rats love. At night when they wake up, I sit on the bed and use that toy to get them all excited and running around. I have an older female that's a bit chonky and I make sure she gets this exercise.