Rats can make wonderful pets, partly because they are so easy to look after! Rats are designed to eat plants, eg seeds, roots, nuts and fruit.

The cheek teeth of the rat are more like our own than the teeth of rabbit or guinea pigs. They don't keep growing throughout the animal's life, but like ours, they erupt when the animal is young and have to last it all its life. The incisors are constantly growing and wearing against each other to form the characteristic chisel shape. Rats like to gnaw to keep their teeth in trim and because their natural diet would demand it; do not chop or grate vegetables too finely but let them gnaw pieces off themselves.