Is corn ever ok?

[amymckee]

I know that dried corn can contain that fungus. What about cooked corn that was dried? Like popcorn, corn chips, or polenta? I try to limit the corn that I give my rats, but I eat tons of corn and they want to share. (I'm allergic to wheat.)

Sesame or Won-Ton actually jumped up to my chair to try and get some of my dinner. Squishy boys never jump like that. I had to give them just a little bit of polenta, but I don't want to put them at risk.

[Poisonetta]

I am sure that popcorn is okay.

It seems like corn chips (in MODERATION) and polenta would be alright too. But, just to be sure, I wouldn't gorge them on it.

[rapforjane]

Generally, human grade corn is what you want to feed. My girls love FROZEN sweet corn. Little weirdos...

Always in moderation (hahaha I always think of Tony Sinclair in those gin commercials)

[Shar]

I always share corn on the cob with my crew.  The 10 girls get 1/4 of an ear and the 4 boys get half of that.  They start running around the cage like crazyrats when they hear me shucking it and snatch it out of my hands so fast I have to count fingers afterward.

I let them keep the cob to chew on, but it makes an awful mess so they only get it on cage cleaning day.

[amymckee]

I definitely don't worry about fresh or frozen corn. It's just the foods that come from dried corn that worry me. They love corn chips but I'll only give them one whole chip each.

[gem_max]

Omg yes the corn chips. My guys dont like yogies so corn chips or broken bits of taco shell have become my coaxing food. Hmm maybe I could make mini tacos for them...

I've heard popcorn is great... especially if you string it up in the cage to give them a game. Yet to try it!

[Kimmiekins]

Frozen, cooked corn... corn on the cob, taco shells, popcorn...

Nope, no worry about corn here.

[amymckee]

My guys dont like yogies so corn chips or broken bits of taco shell have become my coaxing food. Hmm maybe I could make mini tacos for them...

Don't... like... yogies? Huh? I'm shocked. Even my sick, dying, not eating rats have gone nuts for yogies. In fact, before Lucy died she really wouldn't eat anything- except for yogies and the occasional piece of dried dog food.

[scout]

A little corn is fine. Mine sure go nuts for it. High lysine corn is even better because the protein in it is a little more complete. Corn as a basis for a diet (as in some commercial pet foods, including rats) is pretty poor from a nutritional standpoint. That's why commercial diets based on corn have to have so many vitamins and amino acids put back in. But as an occasional treat, I think corn is far better than yogies  .

[amymckee]

What is high lysine corn? Is it fortified? Or do they grow it differently?


I always think of lysine as the stuff that they didn't give to the dinosaurs in Jurrasic Park so they couldn't grow, but they evolved around it. Ha. My rats are destructive as dinosaurs.

[scout]

High lysine corn

[JR1030]

My guys dont like yogies so corn chips or broken bits of taco shell have become my coaxing food. Hmm maybe I could make mini tacos for them...

Don't... like... yogies? Huh? I'm shocked. Even my sick, dying, not eating rats have gone nuts for yogies. In fact, before Lucy died she really wouldn't eat anything- except for yogies and the occasional piece of dried dog food.

Mine don't like yogies either...I thought I was getting them a great treat, and they didn't even want them!  I'll try taco shells.  Yummy.

[1lila1]

My boys love frozen corn.  I put a little in their veggie mix for them.  And they love to "fish" for corn instead of peas.

[WS]

A study came out stating that dried corn stored in huge grain silos contains a type of fungus that can be carcinogenic in very large quantities - how large those quantities might be is unknown.

Personally, I don't think much of this Corn Controversy and I don't really even worry about dried corn as an ingredient (although it is used as a bulk main ingredient in some inexpensive and nutritionally suspect rodent blocks -- which I don't buy) --   human grade corn is fine for rats IMO.  Fresh corn, frozen, corn masa, corn cereal, the odd corn chip.  Corn is a food that is very high in natural sugars and I try to limit the quantity of such foods for my rats (foods higher on the glycemic index) but all my little squeakers LOVE rat-sized portions of corn on the cob!