Can rats eat honey? There is no short answer to this question. While some rat owners think, that honey might be the healthy alternative to sugar, that must not always be true. However, in some cases feeding a bit of honey can be beneficial to the health of your pet. In this article, you will learn everything about rats and honey.
Before I start with the details you should know, that there is a variety of foods your rats can eat. Many fruits are delicious and sweet and offer a lot of vitamins and minerals as well. Try them out and offer a huge variety to see which one your little friends like most. You don’t rely on honey if you want to offer some sweet treats.
Is Honey Safe For Rats?
Most likely yes. Some rat owners say that honey is too sticky but I haven’t observed any issues till now. I think this is because honey dissolves quite fast compared to peanut butter. Peanut butter is often mentioned as an example of a slabby type of food rats can’t eat.
If your rats have problems with the stickiness of honey you can dissolve it in water before you add it to the food.
I’m more concerned about the number of carbohydrates than stickiness. Rats can get addicted to sugar quite quickly. A study shows that they even prefer sugar over cocaine. [1] You can look into the details by visiting my source.
Long story short, if you don’t want to have a fat rat you better be cautious with sweet treats and honey is no exception. But as you guess, honey can impact the health of rats also in a positive way. More about that in the next section.
Health Benefits Of Honey
Raw honey is known for its huge health benefits. It contains a lot of antioxidants, is antibacterial and antifungal and helps to heal wounds. [2] I don’t want to say that honey is a magic pill that solves all health issues, but many people swear by it.
Manuka honey from New Zealand should have even more benefits due to high MGO numbers. I don’t want to go into detail with this and everyone should do his own research. But I found a very interesting post on Reddit. A rat owner claims that this kind of honey has helped his rat with abscesses.
If you got inspired by the article and want to try honey for your rat I recommend this one. It is raw, certified and has a very high number of MGO.
Did you know that rats can have garlic as well? You can even combine the cloves with honey for even more positive effects.
How Much Honey Can Rats Eat?
As I mentioned before, honey is not something that you should feed every day nor weekly. Use it not as a treat but for the positive impact on the immune system. Put it on open wounds, even if your rat will lick it off it should help a lot or feed a little bit if your rat isn’t feeling well.
That said, honey should never replace the vet. Be a responsible pet owner and don’t neglect a special treatment by an expert for the info you read in this post.
Wrapping Things Up
Honey is safe for rats but due to the high amount of calories you should stay away from making it a treat. That doesn’t mean your rat can’t benefit from eating honey. Put your focus on the health benefits and buy high-quality raw honey if you consider trying a treatment. I recommend opting for manuka honey.
Rats need lots of fresh food in addition to balanced rat food to stay active and healthy. Honey should not be a foodstuff.
