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Like Chocolate For Ratties

© Jane Adamo

If I tell you chocolate is good for rats, I know I have to define "good". Not nutritious. The sugar isn't helping you or them and neither is the caffeine or the fat. But yes -- I believe that chocolate is the ratkeeper's friend.

First, rats aren't allergic to chocolate. You're thinking of dogs. Chocolate and rock-and-roll in moderation won't hurt your rat. Believe me, the rats have outlined this to me on paper many, many times and if you ask them, yours will, too.

Most MOST (but not all ALL) rats ABSOLUTELY ADORE CHOCOLATE. So it's a very nice treat for them and makes life a little happier. And remember, as Granny always used to say: happy rats is myco-free rats. Do not OVERchocolate them: remember, they are small animals. Anne Harper says give a piece half the size of their little hand: a little vermin-sized Hershey bar.

They love chocolate and therein lies many beneficial possibilities. For instance -- my Rattus girls are free all night but I put them in jail in the morning. They know it's coming and they hate it. So if they also know that they are going to get a little piece of chocolate when they get put in the cage, it makes the whole situation go much smoother. It's a nice little reward they can look forward to before they go to bed. So you can use their chocolate treat creatively in ways like this to cut stress and avoid that annoying whining.

The last time I went to the vet, the intern asked how I was treating Nomar's mild wheeziness. I answered seriously, "With chocolate." Chocolate will dilate the respiratory passages and make breathing a little easier. So when one of my rats is a little wheezy, I hand him a larger-than-usual piece of chocolate and do it more regularly than usual.

Chocolate is a good way to find out if a rat may not be feeling well. It's actually my acid test. If I hand out chocolate and someone doesn't eat it, it is usually a very bad sign. I mean it: my rats living with myco will still excitedly enjoy their chocolate. When they don't, it really means they are sliding downhill. A Ratlister noted that when one of her rats refused chocolate, it was the only way should could tell he wasn't well because he wasn't showing any other symptoms. She took him to the vet and was successfully able to nip the condition in the bud.

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