Can Rats Eat It? Rat Food Game & Quiz

Updated 12 November 2026 · by Bruxlings, Lake District, Cumbria, UK

Safe or Not? deals you 12 foods, four from each list, and you sort each into every day, sometimes or never. After every answer you see the reason and a link to the full food page, and at the end you get your score and the foods worth a second look. Every card comes from the rat food chart below, built on RSPCA, PDSA and Burgess feeding advice.

How the game works

Each round draws four foods at random from each of the three lists on the chart, then shuffles them. Tap Every day, Sometimes or Never, or press 1, 2 or 3 on a keyboard. Get it right and your streak grows; get it wrong and the food goes on your list to look at again. Score 12 for full marks, 9 or more for snack boss, and 6 or more for a good start.

Every day means a complete rat food, fresh water and small portions of fresh veg, taken out of the daily allowance rather than added on top.
Sometimes means a small treat once or a few times a week: fruit is sugary, and seeds, nuts and dairy are fatty.
Never means leave it out. Where good sources disagree, we follow the more cautious advice.

Not sure about a food the game doesn't cover? Try the rat food checker. If a food isn't there, leave it out and ask a vet who treats rats.

The rat food chart

Every card in the game comes from this chart. Each food links to its full answer, with portion sizes. Print it and pin it near the cage.

Every day: small portions alongside a complete rat food

Food	Verdict	Why
Basil, parsley or coriander (cilantro)	Every day	Every day: these herbs are on the every-day list, in small amounts.
Broccoli	Every day	Yes, an everyday vegetable: a floret or two per rat a day, raw or lightly steamed. Stalks and leaves are fine.
Cauliflower	Every day	Yes, an everyday vegetable: a small floret per rat a day, raw or lightly steamed. Leaves and stalk are fine.
Complete rat pellets	Every day	Every day: the main meal. Each piece has the same nutrients, so rats cannot pick out only the tasty bits.
Cooked sweet potato	Every day	Every day in small portions, cooked.
Courgette (zucchini)	Every day	Yes. Courgette (zucchini) is a safe everyday vegetable for rats: a thin slice or small cube, raw or plain cooked, skin on.
Fresh water	Every day	Always. Bottles keep it clean, and a group needs more than one.
Green beans	Every day	Yes. Plain green beans are a good everyday vegetable for rats: a piece or two a day, lightly cooked to be on the safe side.
Kale	Every day	Yes, kale is one of the best everyday greens for rats: a small torn piece of leaf per rat as part of the daily fresh veg.
Pak choi (bok choy)	Every day	Yes: a washed leaf of pak choi (bok choy), raw or plain steamed and cooled, as part of the daily fresh-food allowance.
Peas	Every day	Yes. A few plain peas, fresh, thawed frozen or lightly cooked, are a good part of a rat's daily vegetables.

Sometimes: small treats, once or a few times a week

Food	Verdict	Why
Almonds	Sometimes	Yes, as a rare treat: one plain, unsalted sweet almond, chopped or in the shell, once or twice a week. Never give bitter almonds.
Apple (no pips)	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a small piece of washed apple flesh, core and seeds removed, a few times a week. Skin is fine.
Banana	Sometimes	Yes, ripe banana as a treat: a thin slice of about 1 to 2 g, about once a week. Avoid green banana.
Blueberries	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: two or three blueberries per rat, a few times a week, fresh or thawed.
Butternut squash	Sometimes	Yes: a cube of plain butternut squash, cooked or raw, a few times a week. Peel it and keep the fatty seeds as a rare extra.
Cabbage	Sometimes	Yes, in small amounts. Spring and savoy cabbage are best, white cabbage can cause gas, and red cabbage is best avoided.
Carrot	Sometimes	Yes: a small piece of washed carrot, raw or plain cooked and cooled, two or three times a week. Carrot tops are fine too.
Cat food	Sometimes	Only a bite now and then. Cat food is not toxic to rats, but it is far richer than they need, so never use it as their main food.
Celery	Sometimes	Yes. Celery leaves are the best part; a thin slice of stalk, strings removed, once or twice a week is plenty because it is mostly water.
Cheese	Sometimes	Only a pea-sized crumb of mild hard cheese, rarely. Never blue cheese. Most rats are better off with other treats.
Cherries (no stone)	Sometimes	Yes, the flesh only: half a stoned cherry per rat about once a week. Never the stone, stalk or leaves.
Cooked chicken	Sometimes	Sometimes: cooked lean meat such as chicken, as a tiny extra.
Cooked chickpeas	Sometimes	Sometimes: a tiny cooked extra, not a meal.
Cooked egg	Sometimes	Yes, cooked: half to one teaspoon of plain boiled or scrambled egg, once or twice a week.
Cooked lentils	Sometimes	Sometimes: a tiny cooked extra, not a meal.
Cooked salmon	Sometimes	Yes, as an occasional protein treat: a thumbnail-sized piece of plain cooked salmon, boneless, once a week. Never raw or smoked.
Cucumber	Sometimes	Yes, safe: three or four small cubes every few days. It is mostly water, so it is a refreshing extra, not a main vegetable.
Kiwi	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a peeled piece of ripe kiwi about the size of your rat's ear, a few times a week. The tiny black seeds are fine.
Mealworms	Sometimes	Yes, as a protein treat: one or two mealworms per rat, two or three times a week. Pet-grade only.
Melon	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a small piece of watermelon flesh a few times a week, hard seeds removed. Other melons get the same answer.
Mushrooms (shop-bought)	Sometimes	Shop-bought button or oyster mushrooms, plain, as an occasional treat. Never wild mushrooms.
Peach	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a small piece of ripe, washed peach flesh a few times a week. Always remove the stone, and skip tinned peaches in syrup.
Peanut butter	Sometimes	Only as a rare, very thin smear. It is not toxic, but a sticky lump of peanut butter is the food rats most often choke on.
Peanuts	Sometimes	Only roasted, unsalted peanuts: half to one per rat, once a week at most. Not raw, not salted.
Pear	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a piece of fresh pear the size of your rat's ear, a few times a week, with the core and pips cut out.
Plain cooked pasta	Sometimes	Sometimes: a tiny cooked extra, not a meal.
Plain cooked rice	Sometimes	Yes, plain cooked rice as a treat: about a teaspoon per rat once or twice a week. Skip fried or seasoned rice.
Plain popcorn	Sometimes	Yes, plain popcorn is a safe treat: two or three popped pieces with no salt, butter, sugar or oil, a couple of times a week.
Plain wholemeal bread	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a small piece of plain, dry or toasted wholemeal bread once a week at most. Never raisin, garlic, sweet or spoiled bread.
Plain yoghurt	Sometimes	Only a fingertip lick of plain, unsweetened yoghurt, now and then. Skip flavoured yoghurt and yoghurt drops.
Plum (no stone)	Sometimes	Yes, as an occasional treat: a piece of ripe plum the size of your rat's ear, stone removed. Never give the stone, and skip prunes.
Pumpkin seeds	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: plain pumpkin, sunflower, flax, hemp or sesame seeds, about a quarter teaspoon once or twice a week. Never apple pips or fruit stones.
Raspberries	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: one fresh raspberry per adult rat, or half for a young one, no more than once a week.
Romaine lettuce	Sometimes	Yes: a leaf or two of washed romaine or other dark lettuce, a few times a week. Vets advise skipping iceberg, and never add dressing.
Spinach	Sometimes	Yes, in small amounts: a leaf or two once or twice a week. Its oxalates mean kale or savoy cabbage make better everyday greens.
Strawberry	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a piece of washed strawberry about the size of your rat's ear, a few times a week.
Sunflower seeds	Sometimes	Yes, as a treat: a few plain, unsalted sunflower seeds once or twice a week. They are very fatty, so never make them the main food.
Sweet pepper	Sometimes	Yes, sweet (bell) peppers of any colour are safe: a small strip once or twice a week. Never chillies, jalapenos or spicy peppers.
Tomato (ripe)	Sometimes	Yes, ripe tomato in small pieces a few times a week. Never green tomatoes, leaves or stalks.
Weetabix	Sometimes	Yes, in small amounts: a fingernail-sized piece of plain Weetabix Original now and then. Skip chocolate versions, milk and toppings.

Never: leave it out

Food	Verdict	Why
Avocado	Never	No. Avocado is on vet and charity avoid lists, flesh included. Offer other foods instead.
Blue cheese	Never	Never: Burgess lists blue cheese among foods to avoid. If you give cheese at all, make it a crumb of mild hard cheese, rarely.
Chocolate	Never	No. The RSPCA lists chocolate as harmful to rats. Keep every kind away, and ring your vet if a rat eats more than a crumb.
Coffee	Never	Never: caffeine is one of the reasons chocolate is harmful to rats, so keep coffee and tea away too.
Garlic	Never	On the never list: leave it out.
Grapes	Never	No. The RSPCA and RSPCA Australia list grapes as harmful to rats, so leave out green, red and seedless grapes alike.
Guinea pig food as the main meal	Never	No, not as their regular food. The RSPCA says rats need food made for rats; a stolen nibble of guinea pig pellets is not an emergency.
Hamster food as the main meal	Never	No, not as their regular diet. The RSPCA says feed rats food made for rats; a stolen nibble of hamster food is not an emergency.
Lemon	Never	Never: citrus fruit is on the never list.
Mango	Never	No. Supreme Petfoods lists mango as never for rats and WebMD says to avoid it, so we would pick banana or blueberries instead.
Marshmallows	Never	No. Marshmallows are nearly two-thirds sugar and sticky, and RSPCA Australia warns against sticky foods that could choke a rat.
Onion	Never	On the never list: leave it out.
Orange	Never	No. The RSPCA lists citrus fruits among the foods that are harmful to rats, and Burgess agrees. Pick another fruit.
Rabbit food as the main meal	Never	No, not as their regular food. The RSPCA says rabbit pellets don't give rats what they need; a stolen nibble is not an emergency.
Raisins	Never	No. The RSPCA and RSPCA Australia list raisins as harmful to rats; sultanas and currants get the same answer.
Raw dry beans	Never	Never: raw dry beans are on the avoid list. Plain cooked lentils, beans and chickpeas are fine as a small treat.
Rhubarb	Never	On the never list: leave it out.
Walnuts	Never	On the never list: leave it out.
Yoghurt drops	Never	Leave them out: our yoghurt answer says skip yoghurt drops. A fingertip lick of plain yoghurt now and then is fine.

Share the chart or the game

Run a rat rescue, a club page or a blog? You are welcome to share the chart or the game. Copy the code below into your page; it links back here so your readers can find the full answers.

Rat food chart

Embed code for the rat food chart

<p>Rat food chart: what pet rats can eat every day, sometimes and never, from <a href="https://bruxlings.com/pages/rat-food-game">Bruxlings: Safe or Not? the rat food game and chart</a></p>

Safe or Not? game

Embed code for the safe or not? game

<p>Play <a href="https://bruxlings.com/pages/rat-food-game">Safe or Not? the rat food game</a> from Bruxlings</p>

Common questions

Can rats eat raisins?

No. The RSPCA lists raisins and grapes among foods that are harmful to rats, and Burgess says to avoid them too. Sultanas and currants get the same answer. If your rat eats some, take away what is left, note roughly how much is gone and ring your vet.

Can rats eat guinea pig or hamster food?

Not as their main food. The RSPCA says pellets made for rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters or other animals don't give rats the nutrients they need. A stolen nibble is not an emergency, but feed a complete food made for rats every day.

Can rats eat pak choi and lettuce?

Yes. Pak choi (bok choy) is a good everyday green, raw or plain steamed. Romaine and other dark lettuce are fine a few times a week, but skip iceberg and never add dressing. Offer both in small portions, as part of the daily allowance.

What fruit can rats eat?

As small treats: apple without pips, pear, ripe banana, strawberry, blueberries, melon, peach, kiwi and cherries with the stone out. Burgess suggests a piece about the size of your rat's ear. Never give citrus fruit, grapes or raisins.

Why are carrots and cucumber "sometimes" and not every day?

Both are safe, and our full answers give them two or three times a week rather than daily. Cucumber is mostly water, so it is a refreshing extra rather than a main vegetable. Greens such as kale, pak choi and broccoli make better everyday veg, with carrot and cucumber as regular extras.

Where do the answers come from?

From our rat food pages, which follow feeding advice from the RSPCA, PDSA and Burgess Pet Care, plus vet and charity guidance on each food. Where sources disagree, the chart takes the more cautious answer. If a rat has eaten something worrying, contact a vet promptly.

Can I share the chart or the game?

Yes. Copy the embed code above into your page, print the chart, or press "Share my score" at the end of a round to send a friend a link that challenges them to beat you.

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Rat Food Game: Safe or Not?

How the game works

The rat food chart

Every day: small portions alongside a complete rat food