Okay, I’m officially sick of the boring fish. I want a fuzzy pet, but the landlords only allow pets that can be kept in tanks/little cages. I can’t afford a hedgehog at the moment, so I’m thinking a pet rat would be an idea. Anyone who can tell me about pet rats, how to care for one, cost, etc.?
Good lord, you have the whole internet at your command and you come here looking for info on rats? Sheesh, show a little initiative. Google is your friend!
That said, I am the world’s biggest fan of rats as pets. They are cheap, easy to care for, enjoy human company, and can be trained to do cute stuff. But like most pets, you get back what you put in to them – if you put them in a cage all day and throw food at them occasionally, they aren’t much entertainment. If you handle them a lot, let them ride around in your shirt pocket, share food with them, and introduce them to all your friends, play with and talk to them, then you have a great little buddy who will even come when you call – like a tiny dog!
I’ll bet there are a lot of Doper rat-fans who will tell you more, but also… Google!
Beats rats as freinds.
Just be ready to clean the cage often. You can let the fish go a bit longer.
The one downside to rats is that they only have a 24 - 30 month life expectancy. (Some live longer, but few.) If you are the sort who might get really attached to your pets, that is a pretty high cycle rate.
They are also susceptible to pneumonia (which is nearly always fatal). And I do not know whether it is rats, in general, or if we have simply stumbled into a cluster of rats with a predisposition, but ours seem to develop a lot of tumors. So you need to be prepared to euthanize your pets when they get too far along (either personally, or expensively through the vet).*
I agree that they are good pets, clean with a lot of personality. When you are picking them out, I would suggest a breeder over a pet store, although we had one rat from a breeder who was overly aggressive and one rat we bought as snake food who has turned into a great pet. They are social creatures, so you should probably get more than one. (Keep to the same sex unless you intend to breed them. Even then, you will need more than one so that they can have companions when you are not actively breeding them.)
- (The web has a few sites on building your own CO[sub]2[/sub] euthanizing setup.)
Rats are indeed great pets, but as has been mentioned, prone to tumors. If you get one (two’s better) make sure you can give them lots of attention.
Rat’s are extremely easy to keep. They do fine in old aquaiums or wire cages. Just remember, they can chew through 3/4" board in one night and escape from a 1" square hole. They’ll eat commercial rodent food, dogfood, fruit and veggies and yard greens, especially dandelions. Fresh water can be provided in a hanging bottle.
I’ve got a stack of rats myself, including a wild Norway rat and a Norway/Domestic cross. I’m also in charge of the rats at work. Smart little beggers! In fact, one of the things students at the zoo’s adult training centre have to do is train a rat to perform a trick. I’ll be teaching my little crossbreed to turn on a tape player.
I find rats on the whole to be less likely to bite than hamsters or gerbils. They do go through a “teenage” period where they might be hard to handle but it’s rare to find a really vicious one. Mostly the youngsters just don’t want to stay still! They calm down with age.
One final thing. I’ve had bad luck with the sort of exercise wheel that comes on a metal stand and sits on the floor of the cage. Animals can get their necks snapped in the side supports. Get the kind that has a solid back and clamps on to the bars of the cage. If you can’t find one of those, hanging the wheel from the roof of the cage, upside down, seems a little safer. The type of mouse wheel that attaches to glass cages with a suction cup probably won’t hold the weight of a rat. I’ve seen one big boy get up over a pound!
Enjoy your new pets! (Do get one. You’ll love it.)
As has been said by others, rats make wonderful pets. Both of my kids have had a pet female rat when they were younger, one unfortunately developed a tumour but the other died from old age.
Don’t get a rat if you intend to leave it in a small cage or aquarium most of the time. If you are going to buy two, get them at the same time from the same litter as I tried introducing a new rat of similar age a couple of days after the first, and instantly the new rat killed the existing one. Another plus, I found they didn’t do droppings when being handled unlike mice, they saved that for the cage or when they were running around outside. They do like a private area in their cage where they can hide and sleep.
My mother keeps rats and swears by the forums on www.ratpalace.com for information on keeping them. Be warned that “fanatical” doesn’t go far enough to describe their affection for the critters but they will supply solid and helpful information to any of your questions.
The thing that surprised me most about Mum’s rats is how intelligent they are. They’re almost like minatures dogs. They are so responsive to human contact and have clear preferences for humans they know over humans they don’t. They play games, can be trained to use kitty litter and in short are so much more intelligent than I could have imagined, especially when compared to the mice we used to keep.
I’ve never had a pet rat but working at a vet clinic I will echo what’s being said by many of the rat owners. They are smart, good pets and less prone to biting. However, they do have a short life span (about 3 years), which is common with most of your rodents. I think there is a particular breed that may live a little longer, not sure which breed though. They are also prone to tumors.
I have heard of males being neutered, they are quite um … well-endowed, so it’s not that difficult a surgery to perform, but I have not heard of females being spayed (abdominal surgery would be more difficult). Neutering might make the males a bit calmer.
If you’re not dead set on a rat, what about a chinchilla? They’re more expensive than rats, but odourless, IMO much cuter, and have a longer lifespan - the average is 15 years but I’ve heard of ones living up to 20 and 25. They’re also nocturnal, so you don’t need to worry about them getting lonely while you’re at work.
I’d own a chinchilla in a heartbeat, but unfortunately they’re illegal to import into Australia. 
Just make sure that whatever rat you get isn’t a wizard that’s been staying in that form for the last decade.
I’ll echo the sentiment here! They are great pets, very affectionate, if handled from day one, and unlike the hubby’s lizard, full of personality. I had one that would climb all over the bed, computer desk, try to help me with my jigsaw puzzle and raid my sunflower seeds.
The down side is their short life span and they do seem prone to tumors. I haven’t had any in several years, I just didn’t have the heart for it after my Sam, my female who would ride on my shoulder and chatter in my ear, hung herself trying to get out of her cage! Her buddy Stripe was so traumatized by the event, she wouldn’t let any touch her and died of a tumor a couple months later.
Everyspring when the dandelions come out, I missed my rats and rabbits that have passed on! 
As long as they don’t come to the studio with you…
Robin
We’ve had gerbils for years and have only had one incident with a gerbil bite–and that was after a severe trauma.
Hamsters, on the other hand, are vicious! I’ve had many hamster bites.
Rats make good pets. I’ve never had one, but I have only heard good things.
Gerbs are my favorite rodents. They are very active and curious, quite gentle, and even good parents (if you have any interest in breeding). They are smaller than rats and really do need to be in pairs, at least. They can get depressed if left alone. They can also be prone to tumors.
Rats are hands down the best of the pocket pets. They are clean, friendly, smart little critters. Two things, get at least two, and keep them on paper-based or aspen bedding. Never never keep them on pine or cedar, as both have toxic tocopherols which will extremely exacerbate their tendancy to come down with myco and tumors. The “pneumonia” that rats get, by the way, is really mycoplasmosis, or myco, which it’s sort of accepted that all rats have but not all rats will come down with. Good nutrition, paper or aspen bedding, and buying from a hobby breeder rather than feeder rats will really, really increase your rat’s life expectancy. I used to breed fancy rats and had several who lived upwards of five years. My rexes and dumbos tended to live longest, the blues and tailless not so long, but all were above the average.
By the way, there are a huge number of colors, coat types, and body styles available, if you dig that sort of thing. The American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association is a fun site to learn more, with some really good articles.
Good luck, I’m a huge fan 
I’ve found that alfafa pellet bedding is effective, and much cheaper than commercial small animal bedding (try $8/40lbs for alfafa vs. 4-5 times that for Yesterday’s News or equivalent). Available at feed stores.
Anyway, I think the main - and perhaps the only - problem with rats is that they smell. Well, the rats themselves don’t smell unpleasant, but they piss all over their cage (territorial marking and just common or garden pissing) which soon leads to aromatic joys. I have 2 rats in a large cage (3’x2’x3’) and I need to give it a full wash down / scrub once per week to keep things just about acceptable.
Having said that, if you can afford the time to keep 'em clean and interact often with them, they are very good pets. Mine have some interesting behaviours, such as cleaning my teeth. A strange sensation, but actually not unpleasant.
Many people allow them free range time. This is a good idea, but you need to ratproof any rooms where they have free access, else you’ll have tunnels through your furniture and small food caches in the most unexpected places…
Don’t bring them downstairs when your parents are having a cocktail party.
I caused a near riot when I was 12 and showed off little Lucretia. I couldn’t understand why people were screaming, spilling drinks on the floor, and running away.
I loved my rats. We even bred them for a while. They’re affectionate, cuddly, and they can do tricks. I trained one of them to ring a little replica Liberty Bell when she was hungry. Really cute! The females are more docile than the males, and they don’t smell as bad, and the males have huge bollocks at the base of their tails, which is rather disturbing.
Hey, whatever works as long as it’s not pine or cedar 
You want a fuzzy pet that can be kept in a cage?
Allow me to introduce Grammastola rosea.
GAAAH.
My god, man. Put a warning label on those things.