Do you find rats to be fun pets?

Hey guys, I have my three snakes right now and i feed them F/T. But ive always wondered what the rats would be like as pets. Are they entertaining? I know that are really smart, do they ever learn to recognize their owner? Do they run around in their cage and play?

that seems kind of morbid to think about.

How is that morbid to think about?

contrary to popular belief, rats are EXCELLENT pets(andfood).

They are extremely smart and when raised well are very interactive and social. They each have their own personalities. I have heard that males are more snuggly than females, who would rather roam and explore but i've never owned males (only a pair of females a few years ago). If you want to raise them as pets, i suggest getting some weaned pups and going slow. Rats do well in groups and are social animals, get a pair or a trio of the same sex. Rats will squabble for dominance but once hierarchy is figured out there will not be fighting (even between males).

I used to have rats as pets. They do make really good pets if you give them attention. Yes they run around their cage and play and they do recognize you...

Thanks guys. I think i might get two males. They seem like awsome pets.

Rats are *awesome* pets. My sister has a pair of females. They're friendly, super curious, and surprisingly smart. She litter box trained them in approx 3 days. She lets them roam around her room in the evening.. they will actually retreat to their cage to do their bathroom business. They even tease the small dog by chasing her around on the bed. (We don't let the rats and snake play together :P)

Not only has she trained them to use a litter box, she has managed to teach them to do tricks using treats as rewards. Here's one of her super short videos... Its adorable, enjoy :P

YouTube - Rat Dance

They are actually great pets. Mine respond to their names, beg for treats, and play-wrestle with each other. They are pretty interesting to watch interacting with each other. And the males are a bit more snuggly than the females. Best advice I can give you is to try to find a breeder. If you get feeder rats as pets they are usually not as healthy.

i have two pet rats murphy and chowder they are awesome there both are dumbos but i think chowder may be a dumbo rex cant tell yet but murphy is a licker ill hold him and hell lick my fingers and run up and down my arm or just sit on my shoulder he doesnt poop or piss all over me its just a pain to clean his cage since its three levels chowder is a baby that my wife decided to save ( i got him as a feeder) here is a pic of both

heres is a pic of chowder
http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/a...DSCN1705-1.jpg
and heres murphy
http://i856.photobucket.com/albums/a...ies/murphy.jpg

I allowed my children to talk me into keeping to rats. They are good girls and we love them but of course I clean up after them as well as all the other pets in the house. If you wanna clean up after more animals go for it. :rofl:

They make fun pets :) I keep my male breeders as pets (they stay in the rat room though, because lordy do they stink!). I like them to be tame since they get handled more. When they're on break and another male is breeding they like to hang out on my shoulders. They even take food from my hand when I open the tubs.

Yeah, rats do make good pets. :gj:

One of my ex-breeder females is still around, a really sweet albino girl. I'll say hello to her daily and hold her every couple of days. Females are more active usually but I find this girl will settle down for a petting session once she gets her running around out. Best rat I've ever had, I love it when she licks my hand lol, never had a rat do that before!

And they do recognize their owners. Blondie is perfectly tamed for me, but she has nipped other people who have let her sniff them (I'm the only person she "knows"). She nipped my sisters boyfriend, much to my delight :D

im not gonna lie i bought a few small weaned rats and one out of the 4 happened to be one with a blue head with a broken blue line down its back. Not sure of the type but i fell in love with it and have been taking care of it ever since. Will not feed this rat to any of my snakes. This one will be kept as a pet. Ill upload a picture of the little bugger tomorrow.

I have 3 pet rats all males. I let them out every day on the bed and let them roam the room for a hour or so. To get them back to me just call each of their names and they stand up and come to me. But VERY smart these 3 are.

The kids talked me into keeping one of the Blue Males as a pet...He's actually kinda cute and behaves really well...He's in a cage upstairs that we call the "love shack" because he still needs to help the feeding population by spreading his love to the ladies...

be careful with blues and high white rats, especially large blaze-faces. they can be carriers of a condition called mega colon. its very sad. :( a lot of breeders dont breed high whites because of the frequency in which MC occurs in them. Keep this in mind if you're using a high white as a breeder (not an albino). i found this to be a very informative website concerning the issue http://www.spoiledratten.com/medicalcontent.html

Oh yea!! they are great pets. i have a rat that was going to be a feeder but ended up being extremely nice. her name is Arby :P. she is just an albino rat that i got from the local reptile store. she does recognize me by my smell i believe, if someone else is holding her and i put my hand out she comes running over to me. but if i have her and try to give her to someone else she does not want to go, but yes they are great pets and easy to take care of.

Dan

As many people have already mentioned, they make great pets. My first breeder male was a dumbo black hooded named Monk. Sweetest boy ever! We also had an agouti hooded female named Cinnamon. She technically belonged to our now ex-roommate. She was a shoulder rat. She loved getting up on your shoulder and we would take her to Petsmart and she never once bit anyone or tried to run away. Awesome rat! I can't wait to get some babies once I start breeding next month so I can raise some babies up as pets. :D

Since I can't have a Ferret in CA, the next best thing is a RAT! They are super good pets!!!!
YouTube - Rats Having Fun With Peanut Butter

As everyone else has mentioned, rats can make super pets. You can try searching for a rat rescue near you. A lot of times people will get a pregnant rat at a pet store and then surrender the babies to a rescue. I've owned rats for 8 years as pets, and I'm expecting my first litter of feeders to be born soon. I've never raised them as feeders and this is a "trial" run to see if I have the guts to actually let them be food.

Oh! The ONLY drawback I know of pet rats, is that you grow so attached to them and then they die. The short lifespan is a bummer.