Happens all the time - that's not an issue. And don't worry about a couple pieces of aspen or substrate getting in there. Their digestive system can handle feathers, bones, beaks, etc...a couple small pieces of substrate isn't going to hurt anything (what isn't digested will pass through their system just fine). As long as the feeding went well, you shouldn't worry. Now I've had a piece get caught in their mouth before, and I just carefully pull it out for them with some tweezers or the tongs. But if he ate his meal just fine, I'm sure he's fine.
It's hard to say about the size of food without pics. But at 6 months old and 1.5 feet long, he should likely be past rat "pups" and into weaned rats at least. I'm guessing the rat pups are much smaller than the widest part of his body, yes?
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