Anyone know about pet rats?

jcm

jcm

Cathlete
My 8 yr. old desperately wants a pet. We lost our dog 2 years ago and I'm just not ready to commit to that level of work right now. We've done fish - yuck and smelly. I keep reading pet rats are actually great - smart, bonding, friendly ... but someone said they're really messy and smelly if you don't clean their cage every 2-4 days. Anyway, just looking for anybody with experience!

Jenny
 
i have a friend that has rats and just loves them. im amazed by it.
she has 3 young sons and they just love them too.
no experience myself but she is truly in love.
 
Has she mentioned if they are messy? I also have 3 kids and I really don't need another thing to deal with.
 
All I know about pet rats is that my daughter's kindergarten class had one and....it bit me! All I can say is yuck!!!...the thought have having a rodent in my house by choice is not for me.
 
Rats can be really great pets. Get them young and handle them often. They are very intelligent and do bond well with people. As for cleaning, yes, you really should clean them every couple days. They can be set up in housing that makes that easy and fairly efficient to use. If you search on line you should be able to find a lot of information on housing to help you decide if it's something you can deal with or not. My experience with 8 yo's is that in general the adult ends up taking care of the pet for the most part, but there are also kids that age that are totally dedicated to their pets and take excellent care of them. Do you have 4-H groups in your area? They are really good for getting kids to be responsible for their own animals.
 
I don't know that much about them, but here is a story from long ago. In the 7th grade I was in charge of taking care of the two rats in in our home-room in middle school. At the end of the year, our teacher kindly allowed me to take the little fellows home in two black cages.

Somehow, they got loose in our large two story house, and made a home (somewhere) in our old basement. My father was none two happy, and it took him some time to get rid of them. Fortunately both were males, or else they would have multiplied.

If you keep rats, keep them secure!
-- David
 
I don't know if this helps, but my sis in-law had a pet rat for years (actually a few). Everytime I would go over, she would have her out of the cage and she was holding her and petting her like a kitten. She was very affectionate and friendly. I think she did mention that the gender of the rat determined if it would interact better with people (girl being the better choice). Also, she had a beautiful lizard which is very low maintenance but I don't think as friendly. She did have to feed her insects a few times/week (live crickets). If you are unsure as to whether this kind of animal would suit your family, you can ask the pet store as they are pretty knowledgeable.
 
At this point I can't believe I'm even considering willingly bringing rodents into my house! But as a child my parents gave in and let me have a guinea pig. Guess this is something parents kind of need to do? Personally I'm a dog person but with a 3 yr. old this isn't the time for me to get back into house training, behavior training, ... chasing the dog around the neighborhood when a kid goes outside and the dog sneaks out too .... been there done that :)
 
I don't know anything about pet rats, but I do know that cats are excellent low maintenance pets, if you get a short hair and not a long hair. They're very loving, have a lot of personality and bond well with kids, unless you get a pure bred, in which case you need to do some research on which are best for families (Devon Rex is awesome for families and extremely playful, but range from adorable looking to slightly scary alien. And they're expensive.).

I know you said you're a dog person, but lots of dog people find out they're also cat people once they have one of their own (sort of like kids!). I love both, but currently have 2 cats because I don't have the time for a dog. My kitties are amazing wonderful company that other than food, water and litter duty, they take care of themselves, although I love to snuggle and play with them. My young nieces and nephews love them, too. Both were rescues.

Good luck!
 
Pet Rats

Hi Jenny,

My son bought a white rat 2 years ago and let's just say that I was not very happy about it..that being said, I have found him to be the easiest pet we have ever had. His cage will smell if not cleaned at least once a week, but other than that pretty simple. They are also nocturnal so if your son is a light sleeper best to keep the rat in another room. They are very smart and I even take him out and hold him on occasion which I never thought I'd do.As far as food we feed him a RAT mix from the pet store and fill in with vegies, fruit...dog foor..nuts...he even had turkey on Thanksgiving...we have never once fed him crickets??
Good Luck
 
My mother had pet white rats (my parents were divorced, so we didn't live together). From what I remember, her rats (rats in general, I assume) are not 'potty trainable' and just let go with little pellets whenever and wherever they may be (like climibing on someone or walking around the house).
 
I have to vote for a cat. I was afraid my Maine coon would be a problem with my grandbabies but he puts up with hair pulling and roughness that an adult or big kid wouldn't get away with.
 
Joan, I have a Maine Coon and he likes kids but I teach the kids on how to treat a feline. My Bombay/Burmese not so much with kids.
 
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