How long can a rat live with just water?

Food and water are two of the essential factors you need to take care of when you bring any pet home. You should know about the pet’s eating & drinking habits, so that you can provide a safe environment for the animal. Some pets drink a lot of water, while some can go without water for a long time. If you plan to bring home rats as pets, you should know the answer to the question, how long can a rat go without water.

There are many species of rats available in the world, and each one has different water-drinking habits. However, in this article, we will give you a general overview of how long rats can survive without drinking water. This information will stand you in good stead for a long time.

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• How long can a rat go without water – the expert opinion
  • Direct and indirect water sources
  • Is this the same for all types of rats?
  • Survival of rats without water
  • Quantity of water consumption
  • Survival of Gerbil rats without water

How long can a rat go without water – the expert opinion

The straightforward answer to the question, how long can a rat go without water, is about 3 to 4 days. Despite the long breaks, these animals don’t get dehydrated. Have you ever wondered why? This is because rats get their daily dose of moisture content from the foods they eat. So, as long as you give them foods rich in water content, rats can go without water for 3 to 4 days.

However, some pest experts believe that a different theory exists to the question, how long can a rat go without water. They believe that rats can go without food for about 2 to 4 days, but they can survive even longer periods without water. Mice and other species of rats keep eating food at regular intervals. Therefore, they get their moisture content from their food sources. Another factor that works in favor of rats is that their metabolism rate is very fast.

Direct and indirect water sources

Rats get their water requirement from two main sources – direct and indirect. The direct source refers to the water you feed them. In the wild, these direct sources can be rivers, streams, rainwater collected at various places, and any other natural water sources.

The indirect sources are the foods that the rats eat. If the moisture they get from these indirect food sources is enough for them, rats can go without drinking water from direct sources for even a month. It is quite surprising to know that an animal can survive without water for such a long period, isn’t it?

Regardless of the type of food you feed them, ratsare known to extract water or moisture content from them. Thus, they keep themselves hydrated always. Even if they live without consuming water for a long time, they don’t get dehydrated at all. Rats are one of the few animals that are blessed with exceptional adaptation features.

Irrespective of the place they live in and the type of food they get, they can easily adapt to those conditions. Even the foods that are too dry for humans can give enough moisture content for rats. When it comes to food and water, we can safely state that rats are low-maintenance pets, indeed!

Is this the same for all types of rats?

No, as we already explained to you, not all species of rates can go without water for the same time. Some can survive without water for only 2 days, whereas some can survive without water for about 4 to 5 days. The brown rat, that we see commonly on the streets, is also different from other types of mice. Do you know how long can a brown rat live without water? It is about 3 to 5 days, but a maximum of 1 week.

Survival of rats without water

Most rats, including mice and brown rats can go without water for more than 1 week, but less than 2 weeks. All rats can store food in their bodies. So, they can survive without water for a long time, because they keep drawing up moisture from their food, until the last reserve is exhausted.

When you are looking to answer the question, how long can a brown rat live without water, you will come up with an interesting fact. Though these rats can live without water for a long time, they are known as water rats, because they mostly live near water sources. These brown rats like to live in damp areas. The answer to the questions, how long can a rat go without water, and how long can brown rats survive without water is almost the same, according to pet experts.

Quantity of water consumption

To know how long can a rat go without water, you must know how much water a rat would drink in a day. Even in extremely hot climate conditions, an adult rat drinks just about 30ml of water per day. These rats drink about 10ml of water for every 1oogm of their body weight. This makes it easy for you to calculate how much water your pet rat would need.

Survival of Gerbil rats without water

Now that you know how long can a brown rat live without water, let us move on to the next type of rat – the Gerbil rats.  When you search for “the top 10 facts about Gerbil facts you didn’t know” on Google, you will definitely come across the strange diet pattern of these rats.

According to rat experts, Gerbil rats do not drink more than one teaspoon of water per day. When you want to care for a Gerbil at home, you should know that this rat drinks water very rarely. However, you must keep some sources of water near the animal 24/7, so that it can drink water whenever it needs. This rule should be followed, regardless of the type of rat, you bring home as a pet.

Always do considerable research on the topic, how long can a rat go without water, before caring for rats. This way, you don’t have to worry when your pets don’t drink water for many days. After that reading this article, you would have understood how long can a rat go without water. Please arrange for water bottles or water bowls near your rat pets nearby, even though they drink very little water. Usually, mice and rats love to drink clean water from bottles, even if it is in small quantities.

Known Pets

The guy behind Known Pets is a very simple guy with a passion for helping pets parents and inspiring them to care about their pets. Because we care, we share.

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