My Top Ten Reasons Why Rats Make Fantastic Pets
What do you think of when you hear the word ‘rat’? You’re probably not thinking of cute little rodents are you? (Or maybe you come here often and that’s exactly what you’re thinking of!)
What if I told you that rats make fantastic pets? I’m talking of course about pet rats. Specifically, about fancy rats as pets. Check out the video below for my top ten reasons why rats make such great pets.
1. Clean
Firstly, rats are really clean animals! They spend a lot of time grooming themselves (and each other!)
Rats can carry diseases, but so can any pet. Like any other animal, rats are only as clean as their environment, so it’s up to you, as their owner, to keep their home clean.
2. Friendly
Rats are really friendly creatures. They’re inquisitive and enjoy both exploring their environment and spending time with their humans.
3. Interactive
Rats are interactive. They enjoy playing with, or even just being around their owners. This makes them great pets for people of all ages. If you have lots of time to give your rats, they’ll absolutely love it!
4. Form life-long bonds
Rats will form life-long bonds with their owners. They’re incredibly friendly and loving and you can have a real connection with them – much in the same way as you could with a dog or cat.
5. Relatively affordable
Rats are relatively affordable. Obviously, there are things you have to buy for them, but rats aren’t fussy – they’re as happy with a cardboard box as they are with store-bought toys. Maybe even more so! Some of my boys’ favourite toys are things that I’ve repurposed.
6. Smart
Rats are smart. You can see them working things out. Rats need mental stimulation and it can be lots of fun coming up with ways to help them to work their brains!
7. Easy to train
Rats are easy to train. A great way to give your rats some mental stimulation is to train them. This can be very rewarding for both the rats and you as an owner!
8. Empathetic
Rats are empathetic. There are even studies that have shown this! A study by University of Chicago neuroscientists does a good job of showing this.
Two rats were placed into a cage – one was held in a closed tube that could be nudged open from the outside, whilst the other was able to roam the cage freely. The free rat learned how to open the door and free its cage-mate. However, when a toy rat was placed in the container, the free rat didn’t open the door. Researchers conducted further experiments to test the motivations behind freeing the trapped cage-mate. They found that empathy made the most sense as to why the free rat would release its cage-mate.
If you’d like to read more about this study, these two links are a good place to start! https://news.uchicago.edu/story/helping-your-fellow-rat-rodents-show-empathy-driven-behavior
9. Low maintenance (when necessary!)
Rats are low maintenance pets (if they need to be!) It’s much better for them to get lots of interaction from their owners (like I mentioned in my third point) than none – but they can still do pretty well with less. They still require a minimum of one hour outside their cage everyday though.
10. Rats have their own little personalities
Rats have their own little personalities. No two rats are the same and your relationship with each rat will be unique.
These are my top ten reasons why rats make fantastic pets. I’d love to hear from you, why do you think rats make such great pets? Let me know in the comments.
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