Rats are intelligent and friendly companion animals who enjoy cuddling. Rats make excellent family pets, especially children. Rats seek human interaction as well as socialization with other rats; thus making for great companion animals for kids of any age. While rats require some care once you set up their enclosure, once that step has been accomplished it should become fairly straightforward; their diets can usually be found at pet stores while housing requires minimal space and maintenance costs.
Rat Behavior and Temperament
Rats are social creatures, and most can learn to become comfortable with gentle handling from people. They recognize their owners and will become excited upon seeing the person they care most for; bonding forms based on who takes care in socializing with them the most frequently; thus daily interaction must also take place for optimal caregiving and bonding experiences.
Rats tend to be active at night, though some activity may occur during the day. An optimal time to interact with them is usually in the evening hours.
Hand-taming a rat requires starting slowly by inviting it to explore your hands while offering treats. Always ensure you support its weight when picking it up; never squeeze or squeeze. Once comfortable with handling, rats often want to climb onto you to explore. They enjoy perching on owners’ shoulders or cuddling in laps – usually not biting unless threatened!
Rats are generally peaceful pets, though they do make some soft vocalizations. To minimize stress and potential injuries to other household pets, rats prefer living in pairs or small groups – female pairs tend to coexist peacefully while pairs of males can sometimes become territorial but still thrive if introduced at an early age. A female and male pair can cohabit together provided both are spayed/neutered; otherwise you risk breeding an abundance of rats.