Fancy rat eating poop. Normal or not?
01.08.2023 · Emma Michendelis
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If you have just added fancy rats to your family, you might notice an interesting phenomenon: Your rats seem to happily bend down to their rear, and before you know it, a dropping has actually disappeared into their mouth.
This behavior might initially seem unusual and perhaps even a bit unpleasant to you. But don't worry: your fancy rats are merely practicing caecotrophy, which is eating their own cecal droppings.
This special feces is covered with a mucous layer. By ingesting and digesting it a second time, the rats can obtain valuable B vitamins and proteins that they might otherwise find harder to acquire.
As strange as it may seem, this behavior is not only typical for your rats but also plays an essential role in their nutrition.
Aside from these cecal droppings, there are also colon droppings, which pass through your rats' entire digestive tract.
Your fancy rats will normally not consume this type of feces.
So you don't need to worry if you observe your rats consuming their excretions. In fact, it is risky for your rat if it does not eat its droppings or cannot eat them for some reason, such as diarrhea. In such situations, you should take your rat to the vet immediately.
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