They can be, but rats can have anesthesia issues if your vet isn’t experienced with them. Put them under too far and sometimes they don’t come out. There’s no real benefit to it either way, unless your male is aggressive. Neutering will stop most male aggression, but if you’re getting rats from breeders, aggression is pretty rare. It’s been about 7 years since the last time I was bitten.
Yup! Oddly enough, it’s mostly men who dislike rats, but it’s women who have the most severe phobia. Most women can get over the “cute hump” and learn to see them as cuddly animals. My mother was TERRIFIED of my first rat, but when I moved out of her house, I had to send a couple of babies from my next litter back to live with her because she missed them so much.
I would generally say that visiting with someone who has nice, tame, calm pet rats and gradually exposing yourself to them - being in the room and watching them do their own thing in their cage, being in the room while they run loose, touching them, allowing them to lick your fingers, allowing them to sit on your lap, sitting on a couch with them running around there - would probably be your best bet for desensitizing.
Yes and yes 
My rats often get people food - when I was still eating meat, they got all our carcass bones, because rats gnaw rather than chew, and won’t get bone splinters in their throats. Chocolate is actually good for them (in moderation) because it opens up bronchial passages.
In general, really sugary foods, really fatty foods, and anything that can mold or might be spoiled is bad for them, and of course, the bulk of their diet should be blocks. Moderation in everything!
Some people would tell you they can’t eat beans or carbonated soda, since they can’t burp or fart, but that’s a myth. I will tell you for sure that rats fart >.< Especially pregnant and nursing mommas! They can’t vomit though, so anything spoiled can cause gastroenteritis, since it’s there for the duration.
Not as common, but there are quite a few rescues who will neuter their rats before placing them out.
Personally, I like adopting to families with children, but not TO children, if you understand. Parents should always understand this is THEIR responsibility, not their child’s. I know that lots of small pets get neglected because mom and dad want to “teach junior a lesson” about responsibility, and small pets are seen as disposable.
I prefer to adopt to families whose children are 8 or 9 or older. Younger children have to be carefully supervised. And I would never recommend letting a child hold a baby rat - they are fragile, and they are FAST and can panic and just launch themselves out of a child’s hand.
Yes, ratting breeds can go crazy when in the house with rats. My mother had to stop owning rats because her Schipperkes go crazy. I had a pair of rats I adopted come back because the owner’s dachshund wouldn’t leave them alone. But it can come down to the individual dog, too - I had a beagle/dashshund mix who absolutely loved little rodents and was totally safe with them, and a cairn terrier mix who is terrified of them!
