One of the most important things in proper rat care is a good staple diet.  Here are some basics.  Head to the link above for more nutritional information.

WATER - should be filtered or bottled.  Not tap.  

Cereals/Grains:

• Anything without a lot of sugar.
• NO BHT or BHA!! It causes cancer in rats.
• Mix the grains (e.g. oatmeal with kashi).
• Whole Wheat Pasta preferred…may have normal white flour pasta (both cooked and uncooked).
• Rice (cooked) is good too….wild and brown preferred over white.
• Couscous. rat care, proper rat care, care for your rat

Fruit:

• Avoid Oranges (male rats) – There is one little nutrient in orange peels that may cause cancer in male rats.
• All other fruits are okay, remember to wash well if you don’t get organic…they are covered with pesticides.

Vegetables/Legumes/tubers:

• No Raw Beans: "Raw kidney beans at a level as low as 1% of diet can cause death in rats in two weeks."
• All other veggies are okay. Don’t feed one vegetable in large quantities, mix lots of veggies to get adequate nutritional needs.
• Sweet Potatoes (vs white potatoes) are best as they are highest in protein…please cook, more appetizing for rats.

Protein:

• All proteins are okay.
• Be sure to limit protein to only 15% of you rats’ diet per day. THEY NEED NO MORE THAN 15%.
• May include bones, rats’ teeth easily grind the bone when they eat them.

Dairy:

• Cottage cheese and yogurt are good. They contain probiotics for digestion.
• Be wary of cow cheese and milk…some rats are lactose intolerant…watch for soften stools or diarrhea.
• Soy, Oat, Almond, etc., milks…highly recommended.

Chocolate:rat care, proper rat care, care for your rat

May be given to rats in small quantities. Does not effect rats the same as dogs.

Rat Pellets:

If you opt to give your rat commercially prepared rat/mouse food/pellets, please be sure to read the ingredients.

WHAT NOT TO FEED YOUR RATS

Avocado:

• Do not feed your rats avocado seeds, branches, leaves or rhine....some contain toxins; rather safe than sorry.   "Cases of avocado poisoning are seen periodically in Los Angeles County animals. Commercial production of avocados is located primarily in southern California and Florida. Two types of avocados are grown in California (Mexican and Guatemalan) and toxicity varies. Toxicity may also vary depending upon the time of year and other factors that are poorly understood. Various species of animals are susceptible to avocado poisoning. Dried avocado seed can kill mice." http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/html/pages/petownerinfo/Poisons.htm.   The Guatemalan variety is involved in most of the reports of poisoning.  Haas avocados are not Guatemalan, they are a Mexican variety.