What are they about?
Rats make wonderful pets for children and adults alike! They are very intelligent, sociable and enjoy being handled by humans. They all have their own personalities which make them great friends. Their intelligence makes them really good for training (if you want to teach them tricks) and they will give back all the love you give to them.

How Many?
They enjoy a human's company but this does not mean you should get only one. Get at least 2 rats as they do need company of their own kind. They will not live as long if they are on their own and will have a pretty boring and miserable existance when you're not there to play with them. Just think, they need friends similar to them the same way you do!


Play?
Rats are ready to play whenever you are! They are generally nocturnal but will happily fit into your daily routine. They can sleep most of the day, so if you are at school or work they won't mind, and they will be ready to play when you come home. If you want to play with them in the day and leave them at night then that's also fine. Although they defently like to party hard at night and will be a lot more active and responsive!

They do need a lot of playtime (where they are let out of their cage) especially if the cage is quite small. About an hour a day is sufficient but if you can send more time it's even better. They don't need to be played with in one 1 hour session as they can get very tired. Short and frequent 15 minutes sessions are better and will break up their day more.

Are they expensive?
They are very cheap to feed and have a similar diet to humans (not to much fatty food, lots of veg etc). They need dried food everyday and veg or fruit every other day. Read more in the Food section about what to give them.

They are also fairly cheap to house and clean out. It depends on the bedding you decide to use. See the Housing section for more info.

The cost only rises if you decide to spend lots of money on them on toys and playthings. You can also make these which will keep the cost down.



Lifespan
Sadly, Rats only live 2-3 years (they can live longer if very well cared for) so you do have to accept that they won't be about forever.