1. Blood pressure, bodyweight, saline preference and mortality rate were examined in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) of the Okamoto strain and normotensive control Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats maintained on low (0.1% NaCl w/w), control (0.8% w/w) and high (3% w/w) salt diets from weaning until 6 months of age. 2. The growth rate of SHR on high salt diet was not significantly different from that on control diet but SHR maintained on a low salt diet exhibited a markedly reduced growth rate. While the growth rate of WKY on low salt diet was not significantly different from that on control diet, the bodyweights of WKY on high salt diet were significantly greater than those of animals on control diet. 3. While low salt diet markedly attenuated the development of hypertension in the SHR, high salt diet significantly exacerbated the blood pressure of this strain. Neither high nor low salt diet altered the blood pressure of WKY. 4. SHR on high and low salt diets had an increased mortality rate compared with SHR on control salt diet but these differences were of slight statistical significance. Conversely, WKY on all three diets exhibited similar mortalities over the 6-month observation period. There were no significant differences in mortalities between SHR and WKY on any diet. 5. The preference for 0.9% saline, when offered as a choice with water, was not significantly different between SHR on the different diets. WKY on high salt diet, however, exhibited a significantly reduced preference for saline over the 10-day test period compared with animals on control or low salt diet. 6. Thus dietary salt modulates the hypertension of SHR but not the blood pressure of WKY. SHR would appear to require more dietary sodium for normal growth and perhaps full expression of its hypertension. The higher and lower blood pressures of the SHR on high and low salt diet, respectively, were associated with increased mortality, which was a trend not seen in the WKY.