Trying to work out whether Rats could be the pet you've been looking for? Or trying to convince family members/partners/friends etc that pet Rats are actually amazing? Read on...
Do rats smell and/or bite?
People who have never had a pet rat, or known a pet rat will usually have concerns relating to cleanliness and temperament.
These concerns are easily addressed - spend even 5 minutes with a pet rat and you'll observe that they are one of the cleanest pets you can have, spending up to 40% of their awake time cleaning and grooming themselves. As a result, the smell of a healthy, well kept pet rat is described as quite faint and unique, but pleasant. They are arguably cleaner than cats and certainly cleaner than dogs. If you've ever had mice, they don't smell anything like them. If there is a negative smell associated with a rat, it will stem from either health issues, or more commonly, poor living conditions.
Litter Training:
Adult rats naturally choose to defecate away from their feeding and sleeping quarters. For this reason, they can also be litter trained and like cats, will usually take care of this without any intervention required on our part so long as they are provided with the necessary provisions (a litter tray and suitable 'kitty litter'). It helps as well if their mother was able to show them how, which obviously is impossible if the mother didn't have a litter tray herself. This is a good question to ask any breeder you're considering adopting from.
What about biting?
Temperament is both an inherited and learned trait. Over the years I have spent caring for rats and other animals, I have come to believe that genes actually play a stronger role in determining the temperament of the rat. You can have 2 rats that you treat equally and raise yourself from birth that can still react very differently towards people and other stimulus and for this reason, whilst we put a lot of time and effort into socialising our rats, we believe it is more important to have the right building blocks to work with in the first place. I have never had any of my rats display aggression towards me and have never been bitten by one of our pets - any degree of aggression towards humans would entirely preclude a rat from our breeding program.
In short, smell and biting are not the questions I believe people need to be asking themselves when considering adopting rats. But there are important questions that need to be reviewed.
Questions to ask yourself
1) Do you have time for Rats in your life?
One of the things I love most about rats is that you get a pet as intelligent and friendly as a dog, but without the same amount of time or real estate requirements. That said, rats are very intelligent, deeply curious and deserve more than life in a cage (or worse a tub). They need at least 1 hour a day out of the cage, ideally with their person or people. In return, they will entertain you, learn tricks for you, play with you and love you.
2) Can you afford to have Rats?
Whilst Rats need and cost much less than many other pets, initial set up costs still need to be considered. Rats require a cage, the larger the better. Rats are generally healthy, but like any pet, you will need to have funds available in case vet treatment is required.
3) Can you handle having a pet as smart as a dog, that will love you and seek you out, but that will only live for 2-3 years?
And this is the hardest part. One of the first rats I ever bred, many years ago now, nearly put me off owning rats for good when he passed. It hurt so much. I now feel that the joy of rats is worth the pain, but that doesn't mean it isn't a struggle every time.