"Toothless", left, was born without teeth so can't chew tubers. She licks the rice-cereal "dough" here to get her nutrition.Our 63 naked mole rats love pizza--but only if made from tubers similar to those found in their native East African habitat. Lead Animal Caretaker Lauren Bloomenthal handcrafted this lunch for our furless friends by slicing a sweet potato for the crust, shredding carrots and parsnips for topping and mixing powdered rice cereal and rat chow (ground grains) with a little water.
Unlike humans, naked mole rats are adapted to extremely arid conditions and get all the liquid they need from their food. Also unlike humans, they're really good about self-regulating portion control! Lauren feeds the colony once a day, 350 grams of food, and our hairless friends seem to eat what they need to stay healthy and no more, so there's enough to go around.
Humans, unlike naked mole rats, sometimes struggle with portion control. Visit Wellbody Academy's Cafédium for a fun way to explore portion control through the interactive Burger Planet (pretend you're working behind a fast-food counter!), Portion Distortion and Portion Practice.
And if watching naked mole rats eat pizza is making you hungry, check out this recipe for pizza made with cauliflower crust on Eat. Drink. Smile. It's kid-approved, delicious and healthy!
