rats and rabbits

Question
lastnight I saw a rat go into my rabbit house and steal my bunnies apple piece.  My bunnys just sat there and didn't care. The rat left with all the food.  I think it's a rat. it was dark so I am not sure.  My question is Are my rabbits safe or could they get a disease off the visitor?  Why did they not fight for their food?  

Answer
Dear Tracey,

Rabbits are not like dogs, and they will not usually fight and growl over food.  After all, they evolved to use a food source (plants) that was not limited, and didn't need to be hunted--so fighting over food would not be an adaptive behavior for them.  They are peaceful eaters.  :)

We have rats who occasionally come and steal our bunnies' food, too.  They are very gentle, and will even snatch a cracker out of a bunny's mouth without hurting the bunny.  The ones we have are Black Rats (Rattus rattus), which are generally gentle and sweet-natured.  They have very long, slender tails, white bellies, and big, dark eyes and very pointy noses.  

Less appealing is the Norway Rat (Rattus norvegicus), which can be aggressive.  They are heavier, have shorter tails and darker undersides.  I would try to trap and remove the rats if they are R. norvegicus, but wouldn't worry too much about R. rattus.

There are few parasites that would be easily transmitted between the rats and mites, though there are some mites that might reside on both.  If you are concerned, talk to your trusted rabbit vet:

www.rabbit.org/vets

to see if s/he wants to do a check for any parasites that might have been shared. But so far we have seen no problems in our rabbits who occasionally share a snack with the wee ratties living in the Big Ficus Tree by the hay racks.  :)

To compare the appearance of the two rat species and identify what you have, here are a couple of pics:

R. rattus:
http://wfcb.ucdavis.edu/www/Faculty/desley/rat1.jpg

R. norvegicus:
http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb424/students/cth5/images/Rattus_no...

Hope that helps.

Dana