New Diet

Question
I have two female rats - Clairwick (age 18 mos) and Osa (age 2 mos.) For a long time I kept them on a diet of puffed wheat, puffed rice, Total, oats, granola, wheat pasta, tricolor pasta and dog kibble. I'm afraid I'm not giving them enough fresh food in their diet. So I bought them a new food dish for fresh food. I give them carrots, strawberries and bananas (which you said were ok on your site) but there are some other foods I want to include which weren't on your site. I was wondering if I could give them like a teaspoon of tuna salad (made with tuna fish, a little mayo, celery and green onions), some cut up lunch meats (turkey and chicken), bell peppers or tangerines.  Would any of those be harmful to my girls?

Answer
Forget the tuna salad....the mayo is high in fat, the celery  should not be given to rats and same goes for the onion. Raw onion can lead to anemia and also causes upset stomach in rats and celery is high in nitrates which can lead to problems as well.
Try offering peans and carrots to the girls. My boys LOVE peas and carrots and I buy canned.  I rinse them well to remove all the junk they use in the packing fluid and I can proudly say many of my rats have lived to be over 3, some close to 4 years old, with my oldest boy actually  living 3 weeks past his 4th birthday.

Oh, the turkey and chicken can be given but remember that lunch meat is super high in fats and sodium. The tangerine is fine too but male rats should never be fed citrus. The bell peppers are also fine to give too.

Also what type of dog food do you use and do you know the protein content of it?

On a final note, be sure the foods your using are not sticky or real chewy as this could present a serious choking hazard, esp since our rats cannot vomit.