Keeping rats as pets has seen a slight increase in popularity recently and we have seen more and more people reaching out with a number of questions about their pet rats health and diet.
One of the more common questions that we have seen people asking recently is if rats can eat pumpkin seeds or not.
With so many people who keep pet rats asking about integrating pumpkin seeds into their diet recently as well as there being some incorrect information on social media about giving pumpkin seeds to your rats to eat, we decided to publish this article.
Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers as possible understand how, when, and why they should be adding pumpkin seeds to their rat’s diet.
There are actually some commercial rat food products that include pumpkin seeds as one of their core ingredients now.
With the popularity of pumpkin seeds as a rat treat taking off recently, there are also a number of pumpkin seed rat treats on the market that rats really do seem to enjoy eating.
If you don’t have the time available to correctly prep pumpkin seeds for your rats then picking up a commercial pumpkin seed rat treat is well worth the couple of dollars it costs you.
Can Rats Eat Pumpkin Seeds?
Rats can eat pumpkin seeds with them making a healthy, nutritious treat that most rats love to eat.
Just make sure that the pumpkin seeds are plain as many of the pumpkin seed products on the market for people have additional flavorings on them that may cause issues with rats.
As we touched on above though, due to the popularity of using pumpkin seeds as a rat treat as well as the number of health benefits that pumpkin seeds offer rats when used as a part of their diet, there are some great pumpkin seed rat treats on the market.
You are also able to use any type of plain pumpkin seed product for humans for your rats too.
Just keep in mind that if you do start to give your rats pumpkin seed treats, they may start to show little to no interest in some of the other treats on the market.
The majority of rats do tend to really enjoy eating pumpkin seeds and with the various viral videos on social media, more and more people started to add pumpkin seeds to their own rat’s diets and thus, we have the popularity of pumpkin seeds as a rat treat that we have today.
Are Pumpkin Seeds Good For Rats?
Pumpkin seeds are a great treat for rats that are highly nutritious. Not only are they an excellent plant-based protein source for rats, they are also high in potassium, magnesium, vitamin K, and fibre too.
This can make pumpkin seeds a great option for anyone whose pet rat is having issues with intestinal blockages due to a lack of fibre.
Another great thing about using pumpkin seeds as a treat food for your rats is that they are scentless and won’t cause any problems with respiratory problems in your pet rats like some other popular treats can.
Our article going over a number of other unique rat treat food options goes into this in more detail as well as offering additional rat treat food ideas that your rats will love.
Although the vitamin and mineral content of pumpkin seeds is a great addition to any rats diet, the high fibre is one of the better benefits that the offer for rats.
Even some reputable, commercially products rat foods can be low in fibre and cause problems with your rats digestive system so ensuring that your pet rat is getting all the fibre it needs is always helpful.
How Do You Prepare Pumpkin Seeds For Rats?
Preparing pumpkin seeds for rats is surprisingly quick and easy with the majority of the work being based around scraping the pumpkin seeds out of the pumpkin. Once you have the actual seeds, you can offer them to your rats raw or bake them but both options are fine.
Don’t add any flavours or spices to any pumpkin seeds that you are preparing for your rats! We know that this is commonly done for pumpkin seeds for people but it doesn’t take much to set off respiratory problems in your pet rats that can result in additional problems.
Now, to be clear, plain pumpkin seeds do not have any risk to your rat’s respiratory system, it is only when you add additional herbs and spices to them that they may end up presenting a problem.
For the most part though, due to the hassle of actually prepping the seeds for your rats, most people just choose to use store bought pumpkin seeds as they are so cheap.
Can Rats Eat Store-Bought Pumpkin Seeds?
Rats can eat store-bought pumpkin seeds provided they are plain and have had no additional flavors added to them.
Due to the popularity of plain pumpkin seeds, they are still very easy to find in regular stores but always check the label for any potential herbs and spices that may have been added.
There are plenty of plain pumpkin seed options on the market that are perfectly fine for your pet rats though.
There are also a number of pumpkin seed rat treats that you can use too if you want but they tend to be pretty much the same thing just with a vastly different price tag.
We have seen some reports from people who have given their pet rats flavoured pumpkin seeds from the store without issue and although this is the more likely outcome if you do give them flavoured pumpkin seeds, we would still not recommend it.
We just don’t think that the potential risk is worth the reward when plain pumpkin seeds pose no threat to your rats respiratory system and are also usually cheaper than the flavoured pumpkin seeds anyway.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over if rats can eat pumpkin seeds to an end. We hope that we have been able to help you understand the various benefits of giving your pet rats pumpkin seeds as well as why the various flavoured pumpkin seed options on the market should be avoided if possible. Other than that though, pumpkin seeds really do offer an excellent option for a treat food for rats and the vast majority of rats absolutely love them too!
