Pet Rat or Mouse? What should I know?

Question

I am interested in eventually getting a pet. I have heard a lot about the intelligence of rats and mice. But I have a few questions that I are a bit unique.
First of all which of the two is friendliest?
What about most intelligent?
What about the largest?
Could I let it rome around my house?
Will it sit on my shoulder?
How long does it take to train them?
Can they be trained to use a litter box?
Is there a specific breed I should choose?
Do the females have different attitudes than the males?
What are the prices for buying and maintaining them?
What foods are they allowed to eat?
Is there love of cheese a stereotype?
They live for such a short time, is it worth it? I mean THREE YEARS TOPS?!

I know there are a lot of devoted rodent owners out there and I am looking forward to your responses, it could mean the difference between me getting a rat or a cat ( can't have it both ways ;-) )

If its not too much trouble, could I have some additional information about owning a roden

It looks like a rat would be the better choice. Great responses so far. AI am going to throw a few more questions at you.

Are the commercial foods healthy for rats?
Are they biters?
If I'm going to have a rat on my shoulder I'd like it to be "potty trained". Is there any way to do that? what about a diaper?
Can they wear collars?
What sort of toys do they enjoy?
What about odor?
What are the biggest rat do's and don't's?

Answer 1

This may be long... but here goes lol: I have two rats, and my friend has two mice...personally my rats seem much more personable and social.. his mice were well socialized, and they're nice, but they really don't care if you're around or nots whereas my rats will literally climb the cage door until i let them out. As far as intelligence i'm pretty sure they're about the same. Rats are definitly much bigger, mine are females, full grown, and about 6 inches long not including their tail... my friends mice were actually so tiny i was afraid i'd break them lol. You can let rats wander around the house, as long as anything that could be dangerous if chewed is picked up... mice i'm not sure, but I know they can escape through really small openings so I wouldn't recommend it. My rats don't go far from me when I let them out.. maybe only a few feet then come back up to my shoulder... then wander out again, it's pretty funny actually lol. Which leads to the next part... I can't speak for mice, but my rats LOVE being on my shoulder... and I can walk around the house with them they're content as can be. I haven't done a whole lot of training with mine other than litter training... which is possible. I have the Coast Cages Rat mansion (which I highly recommend as a rat cage by the way) and I have a litter box on the bottom and top floor, they use them probably 98% of the time... it would be better but i'm busy with school and haven't been as good about picking up the droppings outside the box. Really all you have to do to litter train them is set up the box in a corner, then pick up all the droppings or wet bedding and put it in there until they start to get the picture on their own (mine only took a couple days). Female rats are more active and smaller than males... my friend has a couple of males and they lay around a lot even at night... mine are running on the wheel (built into their cage) all night long. They're actually pretty cheap to own after the initial set up... rats are a little more expensive to get a cage and stuff for then mice simply because things need to be bigger, but after that it's the same food/bedding/litter as mice would be. The best primary diet is lab blocks for either, I give mine a seed rat/mouse mix once a week, and quite a bit of fresh fruits/veggies (although there are some they can't have, petco and petsmart have sheets with lists of what they can't have on them). And mine do love cheese... but only get small pieces once in a blue moon because it's high in fat :). I was worried about their life span at first too, but mine are now 8 months old (i've had them both since they were babies) and they've already been SO MUCH more fun than I could have ever imagined. I'm sure it'll hurt like hell when one of them goes... but i'm just going to make sure I give them the best quality of life I can during their short time. They are truly amazing pets... I wouldn't trade mine for the world. I would recommend getting them from a breeder though... it'll cost you a little more, but they're much healthier and more socialized than pet store rats. Good luck! If you have any more questions feel free to get ahold of me!

To answer your next few questions:
Yes, the commercial lab blocks are healthy for them, As is the seed food although it's not good to use it as a primary food, lab block is best. I feed my rats Kaytee brand, but Mazuri is also good. You'll want to keep some honey/seed treat sticks around to help with their teeth as well as plenty of things to chew on to help wear their teeth down (they grow continually). They can be potty trained to sit on your shoulder... in fact I've never had a problem with mine urinating on me. They will urinate sometimes if i let them run around on a blanket to urine mark, but all I do is simply put them back in their cage as soon as they do it so "fun time" is over... they get the point real quick lol. As far as toys mine in their cage right now have a "knot nibbler toy" from petsmart, A few cosmic chew sticks (they're hamster things, from walmart), some fruit flavored wood chews, and a few little houses/huts. I recently got mine a straw nest (basically a big round thing) and they LOVE it! They really like having places to curl up together and sleep, hammocks, huts, etc. Mine run on their wheel all the time... so I would highly recommend a wheel if you get female rats (males tend to not use them i guess). If the cage you get doesn't have one built in Wodent Wheel makes really quiet ones... just make sure you get a big one for them, otherwise it can damage their backs. I tried finding a harness for mine and even the smallest ones fell right off... so I'm going to say no on the harness, but keep looking. (oh, and collars don't work with their head shape.. they slip them off so fast it's crazy). I think thats about it... enjoy! they truly are a lot of fun... and there's plenty of sites on the net that will give you good info, just be wary. It's really a trial and error thing with them.. I mean you can research all you want, but each rat has it's own personality, likes and dislikes... and it's a matter of getting to know those, trying new toys/treats and learning what they like.

Answer 2

First of all which of the two is friendliest? rats are going to be far more personable and will get to know you
What about most intelligent? definitly rats. They are very smart and will get to know different people
What about the largest? rats
Could I let it rome around my house? you can let rats have alittle freedom, just remember they can fit into anything that their head will fit into
Will it sit on my shoulder? a rat will, a mouse wont
How long does it take to train them? Depends on the pet. You can't really train a mouse. A rat will bond with you and will come to you.
Can they be trained to use a litter box? no
Is there a specific breed I should choose? not really, the younger the better though, then you can make sure they are used to being handled
Do the females have different attitudes than the males? males can be mroe territorial, but both mice and rats are social animals and you should have more then one
What are the prices for buying and maintaining them? Between $2-$10 to buy one. $50 for cage. and maybe another $25 a month for bedding/food etc.
What foods are they allowed to eat? proper mouse/rat food sold ina pet store. Green leafy veggies, the occasional fruit as a treat
Is there love of cheese a stereotype?yes, it is unhealthy
They live for such a short time, is it worth it? I mean THREE YEARS TOPS?! Definitly. Besides a healthy rat can live well past that!


email me if you have more questions

Answer 3

Rats are by far the most intelligent, friendliest, and easily trained of the rodents. Rats will be larger than mice. They actually never technically stop growing. My rat is a little over a year old and over a pound. I wouldn't let him roam around your house. You need to watch them, because they can fit into really tight spaces and climb. My rat likes nothing better than to sit on my shoulder as I work around the house.

In my experience, male rats are more outgoing than females. Females have tended to be more scared and timid than the males.

Rats can eat just about anything, but I feed mine mainly rat cubes (Kaytee brand). You shouldn't feed them too many high fat foods (including cheese), although mine loves nothing as much as peanuts.

I actually bought my rat as a "feeder" for about $2. You can get different breeds, but I don't think it makes much difference. The largest amount of money you'll be spending will be on the cage. Maintanance isn't too bad. I spend about $15 a month on bedding (I change his cage 2x a week), and about $6 on 5 pounds of food. I also spoil him with lots of treats and chew toys.

My rat is only a little over a year old. At this point I will say it is well worth it, but I haven't lost him yet. I may change my mind. I have an eight year old rabbit, but I've never had as much interaction with him as with my rat. They make great pets.

Answer 4

Rat all the way, I have had rats and they are a cool pet