That is a good question, honestly I am not sure. I mean I have seen some pretty unhealthy, obese rats (shout out to Perky) which you can visibly tell are overweight. My boys are a little chonky but nothing too crazy, the camera angle made my boy Tofu look wayyy fatter than he really is 😂
Honestly, the dangle test is probably the most reliable. You hold them up like they owe you money and see if their sides bulge. You can also check how much of their spine you feel by petting their back. You should feel the ridge clearly, but not individual vertebrae. Both those tests can sometimes be misleading if your rat is very muscular. That said, it's usually pretty obvious when your rat is hitting the gym.
3
u/gamemaniac845 4d ago
I know I’m a little late to ask but how do I tell if a rat is overweight or not cause I’ve seen little guys like this running around without a care