Ten Reasons why Rats make better Pets than Mice

Dorothy Rat Facts, Rat Training May 29, 2023

Ten good reasons why rats make better pets than mice

It can be a difficult choice when selecting a new pet as everyone has their own individual requirements as to what pet would suit them better. Here at Rats 4 Pets, we prefer rats but here are ten good reasons to help people understand why rats make better pets than mice:

Social nature: Rats are known for their sociability and enjoy being around humans and having fun with them. They can form strong bonds with their owners and are often more inclined to engage in playing games and interactive activities. According to the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA), rats can enjoy companionship and can also form deep bonds with their owners, making them more engaging and interactive pets compared to mice.
Intelligence: Rats are highly intelligent creatures, very capable of learning new tricks and solving puzzles. Their intelligence allows for more varied and engaging interactions, making them more interesting companion. This is good for both humans and rats, as you are less likely to get bored with them if you can do something together.
Trainability: Due to their intelligence, rats can be trained to perform various tasks and tricks. They can train to respond to their names, come when called, and even navigate obstacle courses. They possess a greater capability than mice, as noted by a study published in the journal Animal Cognition . This intelligence makes rats more trainable and capable of learning complex tasks and tricks and again, more fun to be with.
Size and Handling: The larger size of rats, compared to mice, makes them easier to handle and interact with (and harder to lose). Their size allows for more physical interaction and cuddling if they are comfortable with it. The Humane Society of the United States recommends rats over mice for just this reason for those seeking a pet, a rat is easier to be held and cuddled more comfortably.
Longer Lifespan: Rats generally live longer than mice. The University of Michigan’s Animal Diversity Website states that rats typically have a lifespan of two to three years, while mice usually live for only one to two years. A longer lifespan can provide more time for building a personal bond with your pet, as well as an opportunity to teach them some tricks. Not having the life span of a Dog or Cat, you know that if your life changes, you will still be able to look after them for their lifespan. This is also what makes them great pets for children who tend to want a pet but get bored with them after a small period of time. It means you will not be left with a pet that going to be around long after the children have gone or lost interest in it, and you still get to have some fun with it.
Playfulness: Rats are often described as playful pets. They enjoy exploring their surroundings, playing with toys, and engaging in interactive games and interactions with their humans. Their playful nature can provide hours of entertainment for everybody.
Cleanliness and Litter Training: Rats are generally cleaner animals than mice. They are known for their cleanliness and grooming habits. They are more meticulous about grooming themselves and can be litter-trained more easily. This makes looking after their living space and hygiene routines a lot easier to manage.
Adaptability: Rats are adaptable to various living environments. They can adjust well to different types of cages, and their flexible diet allows for a wide range of feeding options. This adaptability can make rat ownership more convenient, especially for living in smaller places like an apartment.
Personality: Rats are known for their individual personalities and unique traits. Some rats may be more active and energetic, while others may be more laid-back and cuddlier making each pet unique just like other well-known pets. This diversity in personalities can make rat ownership more engaging and rewarding.
Health benefits: Interacting with pets such as rats, has been associated with several health benefits. Spending time with rats can help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and provide emotional support. Rats may also provide a sense of companionship and alleviate feelings of loneliness, contributing to improved overall well-being.

Remember, both rats and mice can make wonderful pets, and the choice ultimately depends on your personal preferences and lifestyle. Some things to take into consideration when choosing any pet are:

How long would you like a pet?
The cost of looking after it
What space do you have available
How much time do you have to devote to it
Will it fit in with your lifestyle?

Good luck with your search for your perfect pet, regardless of what pet you choose.

Rats as Pets Pro and Cons

Dorothy Rat Facts May 23, 2019May 22, 2023

There are many reasons to get a pet rat.

Pet Rat Pro’s

There are some good reasons for keeping a rat as a pet.

1/ Pet Rats are cheap pets 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 is 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, and 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 than 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. The 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 variety 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 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 off them without even giving 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.

A Short History about Rats

Dorothy Rat Facts May 7, 2019May 23, 2023

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

Rats have a very long history. It is believed that the 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 around 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 throughout the middle ages killing millions of people, however, they may not of 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 benchon their stomach and then tie to it. Then put in the cage with the Rats 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 we humans should be grateful to our Rats friends as they have helped us in a lot of different areas of 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 than 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, and 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 refers to research done in regard to Rat’s diet. It brings up the research where rats fed on a high protein diet versus rats fed on a low protein diet. The rats fed on the high protein diets did not survive as well as the ones on the low protein diet. This was a big test study in relation to tumors and cancer research. The results from the study, are helpful to both the human race and pet rats.

Feeding Your Pet Rat

Dorothy Rat Diet June 5, 2018May 23, 2023

Feeding Pet Rats

Rats are omnivores and need to eat both meat and vegetables. They require a diet that has variety. They can be fussy eaters. A pet rat’s diet should consist mostly of fruit, vegetables, and a small amount of cooked lean meat. Rat pellets are available at Pet Stores and can be used to substitute parts of their diet. The pellets can help provide a better-balanced diet for rats.

Food That Is Suitable For Pet Rats

Pet Rat Diet

A rat’s diet should consist mostly of the following:

Cooked lean meat, chicken bones, apples, pear, bananas, grapes, strawberries and other berries, cherries, stone and citrus fruits, broccoli, cooked sweet potatoes, cabbage (but not red cabbage) cucumbers, carrots, boy choy and other Asian greens, celery, parsley, peas and corn (in small quantities only), wholegrain wheat pasta and bread.

Other Dietary Considerations For Your Pet Rat

Whenever possible, all fruit and vegetables should be washed and peeled to get rid of any residual pesticides on the skin.

Rat diets should be a combination of foods that comes from the following three primary food groups:

Complex carbohydrates
Good proteins and
Healthy fats.

Foods That Are Unsuitable For Pet Rats

Avoid foods that are high in sugars or simple carbohydrates as these can possibly lead to the rat developing tumors and cancers. (Sound a little bit like a human diet.)

Avoid These Foods if possible:

Raw peanuts, green potatoes skins, licorice, orange juice, mango, raw artichokes, raw dried beans, raw red cabbage, raw brussel sprouts, raw sweet potatoes, avocado, lollies/candy, and seaweed.

Danger Foods for Pet Rats:

These foods are highly toxic to rats.

Bay leaves, pepper, peppermint, blue cheese, poppy seeds, bitter almonds, green potatoes, rhubarb leaves and stems, moldy food, and fruit that has d-limonene, for example, mango and orange juice.

Pet Rat Feeding Hints And Tips

How Often to Feed Your Pet Rat

As a guide, rats tend to eat around 8% to 22% of their body weight each day. More frequent, smaller meals are better than one big meal each day as rats have small stomachs. They will, therefore, need to have access to food at least every six hours. This is important as otherwise, they run the risk of starvation and gastric complications.

How To Give Your Pet Rat The Right Amount Of Food (How To Tell If Your Pet Rat Is Overweight)

The best way to monitor food quantities is to observe your rat (including physical activity) and watch their weight by actually weighing them on kitchen scales. After weighing your rat several times, you will get an idea of your rat’s normal weight for that breed (different breeds have different average weights). Rats don’t tend to become overweight unless they are overfed on excessively fatty or sugary foods or do not get regular, stimulating exercise.

Food Games To Play With Your Pet Rat

Rats are very smart and can be quite playful. They will love playing hide and seek with their food. Start by hiding a small amount of their food around a sealed room safe for them to run around in (that is, no cat or dog waiting for their opportunity to also get in on the act). It is important that they (or you) have found the food as rotting food not only smells (especially to us humans), it could also cause intestinal problems for any animals (rat, cat, dog or child) that may track down rotting food later (not to mention potentially attract uninvited vermin).

Bonding With Your Pet Rat

Whilst your rat is out of their cage with you, it is also a great opportunity to bond personally with your rat and even teach it a few tricks (for food-motivated rats, of course). This will go a long way to cementing a long and loving relationship with your lovable pet rat.

When, where, how, and what you feed your pet rat is important. With a little bit of planning, you can make this a fun time and training opportunity with your pet.

Pet Rat Breeds

Dorothy Rat Facts March 27, 2018May 23, 2023

Pet Rat Breeds

Pet rats come in a variety 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 rats’ 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 be careful of it in cold weather and when it is outside on a sunny day (could get sunburned 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 variety 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 – A 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 variety of colors. Personally, I like the Ivory rat breed.

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

Pet Rats With Other Pets

Dorothy Rat Facts March 8, 2018May 23, 2023

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 determines 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 are 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

How to Train a Rat

Dorothy Rat Training March 8, 2018May 23, 2023

Rats are great pets for training. They respond well to positive reinforcement, much like dogs, and can be trained to do a large variety of tricks. The main part of this training is rewarding behaviour that you want to encourage with both food and/or verbal praise. Training has the added benefit of socialising your rat and building a bond with you.

When it comes to teaching the rat their name for example, hold out some food and call its name. Repeat as many times as you need to until the rat as associated the reward with its name, and will now be more responsive to you. This also works for other types of training, you encourage the rat to perform the behaviour that you want and then reward it. This type of training is all about consistency, repetition and patience.

The first two “tricks” that I found helpful for my rat were the “come here” command, and litterbox training. This way I know that he will run back to me when I let him out of his cage and the litter training helps to keep the rat cage clean and makes it easier to maintain a high level of cleanliness.

Here are my 3 main tips when it comes to rat training:

You must remain consistent, since inconsistency will confuse the rat and make the training take longer
With this consistency is repetition which is the main way that a rat will learn its tricks. You are aiming to encourage certain behaviour again and again so it becomes more habitual.
And lastly you must have patience. This consistency and repetition can feel boring at times, but you must keep up with it and have patience with your rat’s development as that is what is going to help the succeed in the end.

Hope these tips help you as they helped me. Just remember that all rats will learn at a different pace to try to stick with it and you will be rewarded in the end.

Here are some other resources for rat training:

http://ratguide.com/care/behavior/training_playtime.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPMXo9eyi7U