Yummy, food! Rats are pretty cheap to feed. The dry food only costs a £1-2 and will last a few months per bag usually. They always need food in their bowl, in the way you always need foo in your fridge.

Rats are omnivorous. They will always need a dry food mix. This can be either as nuggets or a muesli style mix. Nuggets can be better because they can't be selective. It's best to check what they have been fed on wherever you bought them from.

As well as a dry mix some fruit or veg every few days can be good. Even a little bit of meat can be a good change. Broccoli, carrot and corn on the cob are good. Cooked rice and pasta are popular, as well as grapes and watermelon. Just remember that they don't need much or they'll end up with diareha.

Don't give them citris fruits, pineapple, onion, brussels, chocolate and sugary or junky food.

You can also buy seed sticks, which hang in the cage, and are healthy for them and give them a workout to get their food.

When you want to reward or treat them you can give them various 'drops' or 'treats' in various flavours. Milk and youghurt flavoured are always popular. These are good to coax them in to doing tricks, as they follow the treat. Don't give them too many though!

They always need a fresh supply of water avaliable.