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DANGEROUS FOODS

An incomplete list of potentially dangerous and highly dangerous foods and plants.


There are many foods that rats CAN eat but are a potential chocking hazard, such as sticky foods( peanut butter for examples) or very stringy foods. Make sure to dilute sticky foods and chop up stringy foods into finer bits. As scavengers, rats can eat most things. This doesn't mean everything they can have is healthy. When giving your rats foods, be mindful of the sugar and salt content.

HAZARDOUS COMMON FOODS

Many foods that are completely safe for humans, can be very harmful to our pets, not only rats.


Alcohol

This should be a no brained as it is bad for us humans too. Do not let your rat interact with beer bottles etc for a cute picture either. Alcohol is known to cause high blood pressure, digestive issues, strokes and contribute to the likely hood of developing numerous cancers.


Apple seeds, Cherry pits, Apricot leaves, stems & pits

All of these contain cyanide. Cyanide is a rapidly acting, potentially deadly( in certain amounts) toxin. Cyanide prevents the cells of the body from using oxygen. When this happens, those cells die.


Bay leaves

Popular ingredient in home made rat poisons


Green potatoes and eyes

Green potatoes. contain high levels of solanine, a toxin which causes nausea and neurological problems. Potato eyes contain high levels of glycoalkaloids, which cause digestive issues.


Caffeinated drinks (MOST TEAS ARE NOT CAFFEIN FREE)

Raises blood pressure and causes cardiac arrhythmias, which can be dangerous for pets, especially small pets as they already have a very rapid heart rate.


Carbonated drinks

Extremely high in sugars and unhealthy. This also includes diet drinks as these include xylitol, which is known to cause problems with small animals. Problems such as liver issues, sugar level fluctuation, interference with the blood's ability to clot. Even ones that are very low in sugar still contain a lot of unhealthy ingredients. Any carbonated drinks should not be given as the carbonation itself can make your animal feel unwell as well.


Candy

unhealthy and a potential chocking hazard.


dried corn (in USA, not in Europe)

The way corn is dried in America doesn't make it safe for animal consumption. Dried corn in America has a higher risk of aflatoxins, which are a family of toxins produces by certain fungi found in crop such as maze aka corn. These toxins are known to be carcinogenic.


Licorice

Evidence shows that licorice is suspected to cause neurological poisoning in rats.


Mouldy foods

Mouldy foods can make your rats extremely sick just like they can make you very sick.

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poppy seeds

Poppy seeds contain opium alkaloids (morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine, and papaverine). These are safe for humans to consume to due to the low levels, but are known to make rats unwell.


rhubarb

Rhubarb greens contain a compound known as oxalic acid (a poisonous crystalline acid) that can cause kidney failure and can even be fatal for small animals.

HAZARDOUS PLANTS

The plants in this list contain a variety of poisons that cause different symptoms, which can include skin rashes, drooling, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, depression, tremors, and kidney damage. Some can even be fatal, like wolf's bane that can even kill a human. Many of us enjoy having house plants, so it is important to know what's safe to have within reach of our pets.

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  • Agave

  • Almond leaves

  • Aloe vera

  • Amaryllis

  • Anenome (wildflower)

  • Angel Trumpet Tree

  • Apple seeds

  • Apricot leaves, stems & pits

  • Autumn crocus

  • Azalea

  • Baneberry

  • Barilla

  • Begonia, sand

  • Belladona

  • Bindweed

  • Bird of Paradise

  • Bitter almond pits

  • Black locust seeds

  • Black nightshade berry

  • Bleeding heart

  • Bloodroot

  • Bluebell

  • Bluebonnet

  • Bottlebrush

  • Boxwood

  • Bracken fern

  • Buckeye seeds

  • Buckthorne berries

  • Buddist pine

  • Buttercup

  • Butterfly weed

  • Caladium

  • Calamondin orange tree

  • Calla lily

  • Carnation

  • Carolina jessamine

  • Castor bean

  • Catnip

  • Celladine

  • Ceriman

  • Cherry leaves, twigs & pits

  • Chinaberry tree

  • Chokecherry

  • Christmas cherry

  • Christmas rose

  • Cineraria

  • Clematis

  • Cockebur

  • Columbine

  • Cone flower

  • Cordatum

  • Cornstalk plant

  • Croton

  • Crown of thorns

  • Cuban laurel

  • Cycads

  • Cyclamen

  • Cypress surge

  • Daffodil

  • Daisy

  • Daphne

  • Delphinium

  • Dianthus

  • Diffenbachia (Dumbcane)

  • Dragon tree

  • Dutchman’s breeches

  • Eggplant foliage

  • Elaine

  • Elder

  • Elderberry

  • Elephant ears

  • Emerald feather

  • Ergot

  • Eucalyptus

  • European bittersweet

  • Eyebane

  • Fiddle-leaf fig

  • Firecracker

  • Florida beauty

  • Flowering tobacco

  • Four O’clock

  • Foxglove

  • Fruit salad plant

  • Geranium

  • Golden chain

  • Halogeton

  • Hemlock

  • Holly

  • Horse nettle

  • Horsechestnut

  • Hurricane plant

  • Hyacinth

  • Hydrandea

  • Indian rubber plant

  • Iris

  • Ivy

  • Jack-in-the-pulpit

  • Japanese Plum

  • Jequirity bean

  • Jerusalem cherry

  • Jimson weed

  • Jonquil

  • Juniper

  • Lantana

  • Larkspur

  • Laurel

  • Lily of the valley

  • Lobelia

  • Locoweed

  • Lupine

  • Marble queen

  • Mayapple

  • Mexican breadfruit

  • Milkweed

  • Mistletoe

  • Monkshood

  • Morning glory

  • Mother-in-law’s tongue

  • Narcissus

  • Nephytis

  • Nicotiana

  • Nightshade

  • Oak leaves

  • Oleander

  • Oxallis

  • Peach leaves & pits

  • Pencil cactus

  • Peony

  • Periwinkle

  • Philodendron

  • Pigweed

  • Pinks

  • Plumosa fern

  • Podocarpus

  • Pointsettia

  • Poison ivy

  • Poison oak

  • Poison sumac

  • Poke weed

  • Poppy (all but California)

  • Potato plant & sprouts

  • Pothos

  • Precatory bean

  • Primrose

  • Privet

  • Pyrocantha

  • Ranunculus

  • Red emerald

  • Red maple

  • Red princess

  • Rhododendron

  • Rhubarb

  • Ribbon plant

  • Rosary pea

  • Sago palm

  • Scotch broom

  • Skunk cabbage

  • Snow on the mountain

  • Spathe flower

  • Star of Bethlehem

  • String of pearls

  • Sweet William

  • Sweet pea

  • Swiss cheese plant

  • Tansy

  • Taro vine

  • Thorn apple

  • Tobacco

  • Tomato leaves

  • Trumpet Vine

  • Tulip

  • Violet seeds

  • Virginia creeper berries

  • Weeping fig

  • Western false hellebore

  • White snake root

  • Wild carrots

  • Wild cucumber

  • Wild parsip

  • Wild peas

  • Wisteria

  • Wolf's bane

  • Yew tree

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