Rat ate poisonous plant

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oasisandbambi

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
48
Location
Portugal
One of my rats ate a bit of a viburnum lantana (I think) leaf about twenty minutes ago. I read it is poisonous for rabbits so I think it might be poisonous for rats too. She's doing well so far, playing and running around, eating and drinking. Should I do something? And what do I do if she has a bad reaction to it? Its past midnight here.
 
From what I’m seeing from a google search, this seems to be a plant with berries, right? If it is the same plant, one of the websites I saw said that it causes stomach upset when eaten in large amounts but is not harmful in small amounts. Definitely keep an eye on your little girl, but it sounds like she should be fine. Also keep in mind that “toxic” doesn’t necessarily mean that it will kill an animal, like how chocolate is “toxic” to dogs but eating it will not them, just affect their blood long term. Rabbits also have very different systems than rats but the plants that are poisonous to them may not harm rats at all. This is just my opinion of course, hopefully someone else will have more experience with this plant. I hope your girl keeps doing well!
 
From what I’m seeing from a google search, this seems to be a plant with berries, right? If it is the same plant, one of the websites I saw said that it causes stomach upset when eaten in large amounts but is not harmful in small amounts. Definitely keep an eye on your little girl, but it sounds like she should be fine. Also keep in mind that “toxic” doesn’t necessarily mean that it will kill an animal, like how chocolate is “toxic” to dogs but eating it will not them, just affect their blood long term. Rabbits also have very different systems than rats but the plants that are poisonous to them may not harm rats at all. This is just my opinion of course, hopefully someone else will have more experience with this plant. I hope your girl keeps doing well!
Oh that's a relief! Yes it has berries and pretty flowers ahah. I will keep an eye on her but she does seem to be doing fine and it has been about half an hour since she ate it. I'm not sure what a large amount is for a rat but she ate half a leaf before I pulled it out of her hands. She got very upset lmao. Thanks for the info!
(Just adding a photo cuz shes adorable and I like to show her off)
 

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I don’t think you should ever have to explain adding a photo haha. She’s a beautiful little girl! I think I was specifically reading about the toxicity of the berries but I would assume that those would be the most toxic part. It’s interesting because rats tend not to eat too much of anything new because they can’t vomit if it upsets them but your little girl just went right for it. I’m thinking that half a leaf isn’t a large amount, even for such a small animal.
 
I don’t think you should ever have to explain adding a photo haha. She’s a beautiful little girl! I think I was specifically reading about the toxicity of the berries but I would assume that those would be the most toxic part. It’s interesting because rats tend not to eat too much of anything new because they can’t vomit if it upsets them but your little girl just went right for it. I’m thinking that half a leaf isn’t a large amount, even for such a small animal.
Oh I never knew that! Both my rats eat a lot of the new things I give them when they like it!
 
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