Rats are the greatest rodent pets ever! They are clean, gentle, smart, playful, and inquisitive. Not to mention very pretty.

I have always kept two(or more) females together and used the largest cage I had room for:





Girls tend to be more active than males and can get feistier, but they stay smaller than males and don't really smell at all. My favorite rat ever was my dear Amber - a golden Aguti:


She was my shoulder rat, and loved just riding around as I went about the apartment. She took grapes and other small fruit pieces right from my fingers and was the best pet.

I've kept or cared for most rodent pet types, including hamsters, mice, rabbits(I know, not rodents), guinea pigs, chinchillas, and gerbils. Rats are right up there near the top for best pet (I prefer chinchillas, personally).

Cons of rat keeping include needing a good sized cage (not those tiny things they claim are for rats in the pet stores), keeping that cage clean all the time since rats can be prone to respiratory and skin problems, making sure you offer some fresh foods each day but not overfeeding them, the rare bite can really hurt, all the explaining you have to do to others who see your pets and don't understand, and... hmm, can't think of anything else.