Is a rat, the right pet for me?

[SweetCookie]

I've done alot of research, but I've come to ask the experts. 

  I've always admired rats.

I'd love a small animal a good compainon i can handle out the cage, and they can have fun in a cage too!

could anyone tell me what owning a rat is like and how easy they are too handle?

[PirateCaptainLoo]

I think having rats as a part of the family is like no other member of our family. They are fearless (unless our cats), they are snuggly (unlike our snakie), and they LOVE out-of-cage time. They run to the door like puppies every single time I come near their cage. They like marking me, which is interesting. They love fresh fruit (and me too! ), a ceral mix (which I eat as a snack occassionally  ), and ATTENTION. From reading so much on the forums here, I'd never have a lone rattie, unless it was a specific case where the rattie prefered to be alone, which seems to be a rare occassion. I find that sometimes it's difficult to have all the girls out at once, depending on where I want to let them out, because our livingroom isn't rattie-proof.

The girls aren't really the "let's lay and just cuddle!" type (but not hard to handle), I don't know about anyone else, though. If you're looking for a small animal that is all snuggly-wuggly, and can be by themselves, I'd suggest a bunny or a guinea pig maybe, even a ferret, though I've heard from several people that ferrets do better with cage mates as well.

[KoalaLou2]

Rats definitely prefer to be with you.  So you need to be dedicated to spending at least an hour a day interacting with them outside of the cage.  They are very smart so they need you to stimulate them and provide fun places to play.  Boys tend to cuddle more if that is something you're looking for. 

Also, the vet can present a problem.  It can be difficult in some areas to find a good exotics vet with experience treating rats.  And the vet bills are usually more expensive than dogs/cats because they are exotic animals and cannot be treated by just anyone.  You definitely need to be prepared for vet bills, particularly as your ratties age. 

And they must be kept in at least pairs.  Usually three is a good number so that the two are not constantly bugging each other (like siblings, they get on each other's nerves) and they will still have a companion if one dies sooner than the others.  There is a lot of information here.  Reading the stickied topics (at the top of each sections) will give you a much better idea on the needs and pros/cons of being owned by rats.

[Summer_Rat]

On the note that girls aren't snuggly I have to completely disagree all four of my girls love to snuggly accept for the odd time that they do want to run around and play.

Rats defiantly make great pets and many people find that once given the chance rats are the perfect pet!

[MomRushlau]

If you're looking for a small animal that is all snuggly-wuggly, and can be by themselves, I'd suggest a bunny or a guinea pig maybe, even a ferret, though I've heard from several people that ferrets do better with cage mates as well.

I believe bunnies and guinea pigs do best with a companion as well.

[Kimmiekins]

If you're looking for a small animal that is all snuggly-wuggly, and can be by themselves, I'd suggest a bunny or a guinea pig maybe, even a ferret, though I've heard from several people that ferrets do better with cage mates as well.

Glad it was already brought up, as I also wanted to point out that, at least guinea pigs are herd animals that really aren't so happy alone. They can be, but they're much happier with others. They also require a different sort of care than rats, with things they must eat to stay healthy and alive. Also, some/many cavies are NOT snuggly! I believe buns do best with friends, though can go either way, and ferrets do best with friends as well. Your best bet for a small animal that can be alone is a Syrian hamster or a male (not female) mouse. Most other small animals do MUCH better in pairs or more.

As far as handling rats, it really depends on many factors. There are cuddly rats, and not-so-cuddly rats. There are those who enjoy being handled, and those that don't. They vary so much in all ways, so it's hard to say. *However*, for most rats, hand-taming goes over very well. If you want very hand-tame younger rats, your best best is a rescue or breeder. Pet store rats, while some do defy this, are often not handled much (if at all), and will need to be worked with at first. Most rats can become quite cuddly, if you work with them daily.

[Braomius]

On the note that girls aren't snuggly I have to completely disagree all four of my girls love to snuggly accept for the odd time that they do want to run around and play.

Rats defiantly make great pets and many people find that once given the chance rats are the perfect pet!

I agree I take my girls out to play on my countertop near my pc, after awhile they come to me and want to lay down on me

[Punkygirl0101]

Yepp, the rabbit guinea pig information was false. Guinea pigs are EXTREMELY social, much more than rats in my opinion. They are herd animals.

Also guinea pigs and rabbits are not usually snuggly wuggly.

[RatAttack59]

A single rabbit that's never bonded is OK alone as long as you play with it a lot.

Note that rabbits SHED - tiny silky little hairs all over the place, all year 'round. 

I much prefer my rats to my rabbit (but maybe that's just this rabbit.  He's the last of three and commonly called the Nasty Bunny)

[Bathos]

Rats aren't as messy as guinea pigs and rabbits (or at least, it's easier to get them not to be messy)  I have found that they don't shed as much and are happier to be picked up and less fearful about exploring than guinea pigs.  My female rats (I've had 4 pairs of girls over the years) were always super-inquisitive and wouldn't sit still for long.  They loved going on "rides" throughout the house on my shoulder and seeing new rat playgrounds.  In an unfamiliar environment they would follow me and some would climb up my body to my shoulder when they felt uneasy.  If I let them out on my desk and wasn't paying enough attention to them, my rats would let me know by tugging gently on my clothes.  I have heard that male rats are more snuggly, but I have only had them a short while so I will let someone with mature boys talk about the guys.

My guinea pigs (I had 10) are very snuggly but hate to be picked up.  They enjoy watching TV with me, sleeping, and eating.  They enjoy time spent out of the cage, but don't run around as much as my rats generally do.  As has been mentioned, guinea pigs are very social little guys.  Hamsters are not social creatures and live alone in the wild.  If you want just one, hamsters are a good way to go.  I would recommend against dwarf hamsters as a pet due to their tendency to bite.

Allergies are another factor in choosing a pet.  If you or anyone in your household has allergies I would recommend getting tested before purchasing a pet both for allergies to the pet, their food, or their bedding.  For instance, guinea pigs eat lots of hay.  It would be a shame to get a guinea pig if someone in the house were allergic either to the guinea pigs or their hay.

[PirateCaptainLoo]

I take it back! lol I don't know much about other small animals, all I know is that the guinea pig I had when I was little was *extremely* snuggly, and when we tried to into her to a friend, she hated her guts, so we had to give the new girl back to the shelter. The bunny I had was also really comfortable with me, she loved to snuggle and get comfy next to me, but she too didn't like other bunny friends. I guess I just ended up having strange experiences lol

[LOTR_Ratties]

I currently have 2 male guinea pigs, and they have been cagemates for the entire 6 years I have had them. They interact with eachother constantly, very social indeed. One plus to having guinea pigs as opposed to rats is that they live much longer, typically 5-8 years, where as a rat only lives usually about 2, MAYBE 3 years. Guinea pigs are quite messy and not to mention high maintenance, plus they need a lot of space. So you need to really do your research and know what you're committing to before getting a piggy. (If interested in gp's, go to guineapigcages.com, and visit the boards there.) Of course you need to do your research before getting any new animal, so I applaud you for being here and asking questions beforehand. I have had my rats for 4 months now, 3 males, and they are wonderful, but have very different personalities. Two out of the three are very friendly and come out and give me kisses, and Gandalf enjoys "riding" around on me, lol, but Frodo, despite my interacting constantly with him, remains quite anti-social toward me. He gets along great with the other ratties, though. I guess some are just that way. Any way, one thing you might do, is go to the main ratsrule.com homepage, and read through the pages there, which should answer many of your questions. I know they helped me immensely when I was considering rats. Lots of luck, I hope you find a pet that suits you!

[KLS05]

Well, here's my experience with a wide array of critters. 

As a kid, I owned countless gerbils.  Who knows why that was my preferred pet of choice but I loved them dearly and always had them.  However, I remember getting bored with them because nearly all of them but one didn't like to be held and they really couldn't be trusted to free-range in my room (major pee-er's, chewers, and generally hard to catch).  Still, they lived, on average, three to four years-which is longer than a rat from what I understand.

In more recent years, I had two hamsters, which I had always heard bite but found that they were much cuddlier than my gerbils.  Still, they seemed pretty un-interested in human interaction and the kinds of hamster that I had (a male honeybear and later a male Syrian) had to be caged alone since they are so aggressive...which has to make you really think about your ability to be committed to interacting with them.  They also both passed away in very short times, which I am speculating may be connected to the petstore.

Later, I had a rabbit.  I've heard that rabbits are cuddly but my own experience was that she was very timid and detested being held.  Is that every rabbit?  Of course not.  But we were never really able to get her out of that and she had to be put to sleep three years later when she got kidney stones that the vet deemed to be risky to operate on.  Again though, rabbits generally live much longer than rats and this is something to consider.  If you would get a rabbit, however, I would be very conscientious of your cage size.  Looking back, my girl didn't have enough room and I'm sure it's what led her, at least in part, to health problems at such a young age.

SO finally, my two rats.  I am a *new* rattie owner of about three weeks but here's what I've seen.  I am amazed at how social these girls are.  I need only walk across the room and they are at the cage door standing on their hind legs as if they are begging to come out.  Even though they're not big on being held, they are always on my lap or shoulder when they're in my room free-ranging.  I don't have them potty-trained completely yet but they are showing great strides with it after only a week or so.  I've been trying to teach them their names but haven't had too much luck yet.  Still, I have never had a bite or any hint that there is an aggressive bone in their bodies.  The only ones they're rough with are each other.    As great as they're doing, I am incredibly nervous about their health because I have read about URIs and my girls are sneezing mysteriously.  So you do need to be aware that these guys are not the kind of small animal that will never go to the vet.  Mine already have after just three weeks.  I am also very torn with the idea that these girls won't have a long lifespan (2-3 years?).  I am sooo attached already.  Still, I love them and do not regret getting them at all!


I was like you for a long time and on the fence about rats.  I'd alway see them at the petstore but couldn't quite bring myself to commit.  Unfortunately, rats have gotten a terrible rap.  Look for a pet that best meets your lifestyle *and* budget/time constraints.  Good luck!

[RavenNC]

We've had rats, guinea pigs, a ferret, dogs, cats, a snake (on loan), birds, and legions of fish.

Rats are by far my favorite pet of them all.  They are much more companion than pet - ours tend to be like small children with ADHD, although that may be our hyper house influence!

Guinea pigs are great, and very social - but social in a different way.  They need interaction in order to be social with people, and they aren't natural climbers so a lot of them don't like to be picked up.  Usually even the ones who don't like to be picked up still really love being held and talked to and played with, as long as they've been socialized.  They are definitely herd animals though, and the fastest way to get a boring guinea pig is to only have one.  Guinea pigs are almost human in their ability to become couch potatoes without at least one friend to play with.  A furry critter that just lays there is not much fun, but ones that run around and play and popcorn and talk to you is lots of fun.  The other consideration with guinea pigs is that they do need quite a lot of room, and since they don't climb much (unlike rats), it's a pretty big area usually.

Ferrets are interesting.  The only one we ever had was "special."  She'd been kept in a small wire cage for the entire first year of her life, so she was completely clueless about what to do outside the cage.  Coupled with that was the fact that, bless her heart, she was really really dim.  We loved her, but even our vet commented that she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.  She was a lot of fun though, and she was a very accomplished couch terrorist...able to leap out at unsuspecting dogs from under the couch in a single bound!  The smell, even having been de-scented, was a little stronger than I would have liked, but we loved her.

If you can, I would recommend you do what we did.  We found some people in our area who have rats, and met up with them to play with their rats - that's to make sure you don't discover a previously unknown phobia for rats!  Then, when no phobia showed up, we found a nice rat rescue in our area and started fostering rats.  It was a great way to find out if we liked having them in our home (because rats are like kids - sometimes they're more attractive when they belong to someone else and go home!).  It also let us find out if we could give them the kind of time and attention they needed, BEFORE we took the big leap into ownership!

Good Luck!

[sbdirham]

I've had gerbils, Guinea Pigs, hamsters, a bunny and rats.
The gerbils did not like to be held.  However, they did not smell at all.
The guinea pigs were really my daughters, and were very sweet and cuddleable.  Their only negative point wa that they learned that food came from the fridge and bags.  Open either one of those and you were assulted by shrill whistles.
Hamsters....  not sweet, very smelly and short lives.
My bunny, Blackberry, was a mini rex.  He loved to be held, was totally potty trained and loved to play with me during his out of cage time.  We would play fetch or chase around the house and he even learned to play hide and seek.  Male bunnies do have a smell, but I didn't think it was gross.... kind of musky.
My rats are my babies.  They all love their time with me, whether we're playing, exploring or if they are just laying on my lap hanging out.  Male rats smell more than females (in my esperiance), but again I don't think it is nasty.  Kind of a combination between musk and cornchips.  They need a nice big cage and lots of places to hide/snuggle/play.