Over the centuries, rats have acquired a nasty reputation as aggressive, disease carrying, destructive rodents. In reality, these labels are only somewhat true and only for wild rats; rats are responsible for great economic damage to crops and buildings, but their diseases are mostly a result of the parasites that they carry. Domesticated rats, on the other hand, are neither aggressive, destructive nor diseased, and they make very good pets. When rats are properly cared for, the risk of disease transmission to humans is very low.

Domestic rats, those bred and raised in captivity, are the best of all caged rodents. They are extremely sociable and curious, and they love human contact. Their cousins, hamsters, gerbils and mice, are very popular pets, but tend to be more aggressive and less responsive than pet rats. Gerbils very often hate to be handled by humans, and hamsters have a tendency to bite. Keeping in mind that these animals are often kept by children, rats offer a far more pleasant experience for an inexperienced handler.

Rats love to be outside of their cages and join in household activities. Many rats like to hang out on their handler’s shoulders while they move about. Affectionate animals, rats like to groom and lick their favorite human companions, and they can easily differentiate between different people. Rats enjoy sharing meals with people and even washing up afterwards.

Rats are also more intelligent than other rodents that are commonly kept as pets. They are fast learners and very agile. Rats can easily be taught to perform tricks such as sitting on their haunches on command, retrieving objects and coming when called. The most common tricks that rat fanciers teach their rats are to maneuver quickly through mazes and agility courses.

Despite their reputation as dirty animals, rats are extremely clean. They bath themselves very frequently, much like a cat does. They also prefer to keep their cage as clean as possible. A healthy rat will use any available material, such as newspaper or cedar chips, to construct a large rat’s nest for sleeping in. Inside the nest, they rarely ever defecate or urinate, reserving a specific area of their cage for these functions. In fact, this instinctive behavior can work to your advantage if you provide a litter box, which makes cage cleaning easier.

Whenever possible, pet rats should be kept in at least pairs. When space permits, rats happily follow “the more the merrier” rule of thumb. However, unless you desire and are able to provide for many rats, make sure that your pet rats are of the same sex, since they are profuse and successful breeders. If you are only able to care for one rat, it is important to spend a great deal of time with your pet to maintain its quality of life.

The only downside to having rats as pets is that they age very quickly. The average lifespan of a pet rat is only two years. Because of their charming temperament, having a pet rat for only two years can be a painful loss for anyone who has become attached.