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Anonymous
I have a pair of male rats, and they are awesome.
They don't smell. They have a scent if you hold them up to your face, but it's not unpleasant.
They are very friendly and cuddly.
They don't cost much to feed.
They are prone to upper respiratory infections, but are generally healthier than ferrets and far cheaper to treat. Almost everyone I've known with ferrets has had to shell out a lot of money on meds. The illnesses you usually get with rats can be treated with a $10 antibiotic prescription.
Their pee-marking is very minor and you don't really notice it. Think a tiny drop every once in a while, while exploring, and even the pee doesn't have much smell. Mine don't pee on skin, either.
They are very affectionate, and will lick my hands relentlessly given the slightest opportunity. They perk up and greet me when I come home, they adjust their schedule to be awake when I want to play with them, and they have never done anything close to aggressive toward me - they're even especially careful to avoid nipping me when I hand-feed them.
About 90% of their poop goes in the litterbox, and I didn't even have to train them. What doesn't go in the litterbox dries out very quickly anyway and doesn't stain and is easily picked up.
Almost anything that's OK for people to eat is OK for rats to eat, so you can usually give in to their begging for your food. My boys' favorite thing ever seems to be bacon (very small bits and not often, don't want them getting fat).
I'd recommend pet rats to anybody who will take good care of them.
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