overweight rats

One of my male breeder rats is fat, too fat to breed it seems. I try to play with him every day to get him to work some of it off, but he's still packing on the grams... he's at around 500 grams now and probably about 6 months old. He's eating mazuri rodent breeder 6f. Is there anything else I can do?

Buy him a rat ball, and leave him out in it for 2 hours a day... It worked with my chubby... It lets them run free reign without being able to hide or be attacked and without the worry of their tail being caught in a hamster wheel.

Try also leaving less food in his bowl at a time, only enough to really get him through a day... Some rats will just eat and eat and eat...

how much are you feeding him? maybe that plays a part in it

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Originally Posted by AshleyB

how much are you feeding him? maybe that plays a part in it

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He's in a rack setup. He's in with a girl, so we really cant just limit the food supply. He doesn't understand the ball concept, he'll just sit in it. [plus, i heard they arent supposed to be put in balls because they will over heat quickly.]
Like I said, we do play with him a lot, he just keeps on getting fatter.

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Originally Posted by WickedWild

plus, i heard they arent supposed to be put in balls because they will over heat quickly.

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That depends on the type of ball you purchase. Some of them are perfect, and others are inproperly ventilated and don't allow for proper airflow.

If he won't use it, you could always put him into a weight loss challenge and slowly roll the ball so that he's forced to walk for slow periods of time.

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Originally Posted by WickedWild

He's in with a girl, so we really cant just limit the food supply.

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I would suggest enclosing him on his own. If he's over weight enough for you to be worried that he can't breed, he's overweight enough for it be a health concern for him as well.

Do you have any pictures?

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty006.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty005.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty004.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty003.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty002.jpg

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i2...tyratty001.jpg

Nice Siamese you've got there. We have a Siamese breeder male too and he's very big for age. I wonder if there's any connection to this color and size? Anyways, your male isn't grossly fat at 500 grams, just a bit of a chubbo male. You could seperate him from the female, cut back on his portions and get him out of the enclosure for some exercise (let him run loose with you in a closed bathroom or something of the sort for a bit of time everyday).

Male rats tend to be big anyways but will run to fat if you aren't careful.

awe, hes really cute! i love that coloration