Obviously, I love having pet rats. But rats aren’t the best pet for everyone. So, today I’m going to take you through some of the pros and cons of having pet rats.
I currently own three rats. So maybe I’m a little biased towards the pros but I’ve tried to keep this list as balanced as possible.
The Pros
First up, rats are lots of fun. They’re fascinating to watch and you can even train them!
Rats are great companion animals. They want to be your friend. They’re very loving animals and you can develop a great relationship with them.
Tying into this, rats have their own little personalities and your relationship with each one will be unique.
Rats are not a longtime commitment. They only live for around 2-3 years.
Rats are low maintenance (when they need to be!) It’s much better for them to get lots of interaction from their owner, but they can do pretty well with less. They also don’t need to be taken on daily walks like a dog would.
Rats are a good size. Everyone’s ideal size of pet is different, but rats are small enough that they don’t take up a lot of space, but also big enough that they’re easy enough to handle.
The Cons
Unfortunately, rats have a short lifespan. They only live for around 2-3 years, but in that time you can develop such a great bond with them that losing them is heartbreaking.
Another important con to note is that rats are prone to health issues which can lead to hefty vet bills.
Rats can smell bad. There are things you can do to minimize the smell, such as changing their substrate and bedding more often, and spot cleaning their cage daily.
You can’t just have one. Rats need company and human company isn’t enough. You need to house at least two rats together.
Rats will chew things you don’t want them to. If they can get access to anything – be it, clothes, curtains, charging cables – they will chew it. Nothing is safe and often rats will find a way to get to something that you hadn’t even thought of!
It’s important to note that when you get rats, your food becomes their food. You cannot open a bag of anything in the room you keep your rats without them knowing. And once they know, if you don’t share your food, you’ll be subject to sad little faces looking longingly at you and your food. It’s enough to break anyone!
And finally, rats are addictive! Many people (myself included) fall in love with these precious animals. Once you’ve caught the ‘rat bug’, it’s very hard to stop!
So, to sum up, here’s a list of the pros and cons of pet rats that I’ve covered today. There are many more things that you could add to each list.
Do you have some pros and cons that I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments!
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(Originally published 25th January 2021)
