There are many reasons to get a pet rat.

Pet Rat Pro’s

There are some of the good reason for keeping a rat as a pet.

1/ Pet Rats are a cheap pet to look after. Rat food is not expensive as they can petty much eat everything that humans eat with some exceptions. See article on Rat Diet.

2/ They enjoy the company of humans and other rats.

3/ It not hard to give them the attention that they need every day. On average they need about an hour of attention each day from their human family outside of their cage where and when it is safe for them to run around in.  This attention could just be them running around your room, while you’re doing something else. For example, homework, watching television, playing video games.

4/ They pose no major known health threats to humans or other animals if looked after properly.  (When you first get a pet rat, it properly a good idea to get them a health check to be on the safe side, but this is something you should do with all new pets. Like all animals, there are some health problems that can be transferred to humans, but the chance of this is no worst then for any other pet)

5/ Pet rats do keep themselves well groomed. They do shed hair but do not require any additional special grooming except maybe a bath occasionally (use warm water and a towel to dry them with).

6/ Rats can be trained to do a range of tricks. Best way to train them is to use food as a reward.  Showing off your pet rat tricks to your friends can be enjoyable. See the article on Rat Training.

7/ They do not take up a lot of room compared to other pets, but this does depend on the size of your rat cage.

8/ They came in a varies of breeds and colors.

9/ They do not have a long life span compared to some other pets. This could be a pro or a con.

10/ They do not judge you and they do not answer back to you. Plus, they will listen to you when you talk to them. Like all good pets.

11/ Pet rat cages can be used for other pets. For example, Guinea Pigs.

Pet Rat Con’s

There are some of the good reasons for not keeping a rat as a pet.

1/ The biggest problem I can see, is the reputation that pet rats have, as this put a lot of people of them without even given them a fair chance.

2/ Finding somewhere to put their cage. But this problem should be sorted out prior to getting your pet.

3/ Finding someone to look after them when you are on vacation.

4/ They do not have a long life span compared to some other pets. This could be a pro or a con.

Overall there are more reasons why rats make a great pet than a bad pet.

Rats have an interesting history with humans, some good and some not so good.

Rats have a very long history. It is believed that first group of rats, the Norvegicus Rats (Known as the brown Rats) origins go back to China and Mongolia, original call the Asia plains, where their ancestors used to live in burrows over 160 hundred thousand years ago. This group of rats revolved from the Anagalids. Some wild rats still live there today.

The rats that we are most formally with are called Rattus, they evolved around 4.5 million years ago in the Mediterranean countries.  They split into two different groups around 2.5 million years ago.  From there they have into over 51 different species groups

They connected with humans as our race was developing, over several thousand years ago. From this and with properly some unknown help from humans they work their way around the globe.  Rats were possibly used as a source of food at that time too. I know some countries today still have rats on the menu.  These are normality undeveloped countries where rats are a free source of food.

Rats got a bad reputation for being thought responsible for the Black Death plague through the middle ages killing millions of people, however, they may not off been responsible. See articles in national geographic – https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-black-death-humans-lice-health-science/.  This is properly why humans do not like rats too much, and it properly not even their fault.

Using Rats to torture people in the seventeenth century would not of help their reputation either. This is where a person place on a bench then tie to it.  Then a cage of Rats is put on their stomachs and then the rats would eat the person. Not a good way to die.

Rats started to become more popular as pets around the start of the nineteenth century.

But the truth is us humans should be grateful to our Rats friends as they have helped us in a lot of different areas in research, especially in the medical research area which is still happening today.  Today any rat keep for research purposes is a lot better look after then it was in years gone by. They are properly even having a better life than most rats on the street.  However, this research has also been a help to the rats too. It has helped work out what is a good rat diet for them, what rat cages are best for them.  A good example of this is in the book, The China Study by T. Colin and Thomas Campbell, which refer to research done in regard to Rat’s diet. It brings up the research where rat fed on a high protein diet versus rats fed on a low protein diet.  The rats feed on the high protein diets did not survive as well as the one on the low protein diet. This was a big test study in relation to tumors and cancer research. With the results from the study, being helpful to both the human race and pet rats.

Pet Rat Breeds

Pet rats come in a vary of colors and breeds. Currently, there are over 70 recognized rat breeds.

The main recognize breeds of rats are:

Standard – which has short hair with a nice glossy finish. Female rat’s hair tends to be softer than male rats.

Hairless – the name said

it all, no hair and pink thin skin. Great for people who are allergic to pet hair.  But with no fur coat, need to careful of it in cold weather and when it outside on a sunny day (could get sunburn very easily).

Tailness (Manx) – No tail or may still have a small furry stub or very small tail.

Dumbo – Again as the name implies it is normally slightly bigger than other rat breeds and their ears are a little bit bigger and rounder and are situated a little bit lower than other rat ears. This breed can also come in a vary of colors.

Other Rat breeds varieties.

Marked -This breed comes in normally two colors that form a set pattern. The National Fancy Rat Society has recognized 12 marked varieties. One example of a marked Rat breed is Capped – Mostly white with color on its head only.

Other marked varieties are Berkshire, Badger, Hooked, Irish, Variegated, Essex, Blazed Essex, Chinchilla, Squirrel, Roan, and Striped Roan.

Self Varieties – These breeds tend to be of one color. For example, Pink Eyed White – White color rat with pink eyes. Other Self Varieties are Champagne, Buff, Platinum, Quicksilver, British Blue, Black, Chocolate, Mink and Ivory.

Other breeds that I would like to mention are:

Siamese – very similar to the Siamese cat coloring.

Rex – Evenly curled dense coat.  Plus, will have curly whiskers.

Reminder Rats can come in a vary of colors. Personally, I like the Ivory rat breed.

For more information on Rat Breeds visit www.nfrs.org.

Pet Rats and other Pets

Rats are actually very good with other pets, provided they are socialized well and kept healthy. More often than not, it’s how the other pets socialize with the rats which determine whether you as the owner can let them play together.

Rats and More Rats

Having two rats is better than one. It keeps them socialized and happy. The main point of concern is introducing the two animals since they can be territorial. For this reason, it is important to introduce them in neutral territory so that one does not feel it has to defend its territory against the other.

Rats and Cats

Cats can be either really good or really bad with rats. My sister has a cat that always tried to get into the rat cage and therefore had to be kept separate (and eventually gave away the rat). I have also heard other cases where the cat and the rat got on amazingly, however it is still important to always monitor the two when they are together since there is always that off chance that the cat may try to be a little too aggressive, even if it was only playing.

Rats and Dogs

Dogs are similar to cats in the threat they potentially pose. Always be careful when introducing the two since that will determine the beginning of the relationship. If the two are friendly that is great, the only concern that you may have is that if it’s a big dog it could crush the small rat by accident. So like the cat, always monitor the two together.

Rats and other small animals

Rats get along well with most small animals. It’s similar to the rat-on-rat relationship in the way that one is not huge compared to the other, like a dog or cat. I have even heard of people keeping rats and guinea pigs in the same cage (which I do not recommend personally).

Rats are social animals and the best animal companions you can give them is yourself and other rats. If they do not get along with your cat/dog you may need to keep them separate but this is, of course, a case by case basis. Good luck!

For more information on how to train a rat Click Here,

And for more articles related to this one check out: Dog behavior small pets pet rat tips and Do rats get along with other pets – YouTube video