Concerns!

Question
My rat Albireo ate a moldy strawberry! There was no visible mold on it but it was sitting in a container with other moldy strawberries and smelled like it was going bad. Is he going to be okay?

Answer

He should be fine.  Rats know whats bad for them by sense of smell. Its programmed into their DNA, so to speak. They know they cant vomit so they are pretty selective about their food.  Many shy rats  wont even take food from their owner until they learn to trust them for fear they are being poisoned!

Also, if you think about what wild rats eat from the streets and from garbage, and their bodies are not made any different than our domestic rats with the exception of more slanted eyes, a longer tail and more narrow snout....alot of times the enzymes in the stomach will destroy benign bacteria and there is no side effects. Look how many of our rats probably hide fresh food that we give them and we think they ate it right away. Instead it is hidden somewhere in a corner and go back for it days later after it has sat and decayed for a few days.  Yuck! I am sure that food was in worse shape than a newly gone bad strawberry your rat just ate.

Anyhow, just Keep an eye out for loose stools, but truthfully, he should be just fine.