Do rodents show affection/love for their owners?

Question

I am just wondering why people buy small animals like rodents. Please do not think that I am insinuating this is wrong. I have always been more of a dog/cat person.

Answer 1

Yes, they absolutely do!

It depends on the animal of course... Mice are so small, in such a huge world, that unless you spend a lot of time with you, and get them used to you, then they will probably still run away from you if you have had them for years! Guinea pigs are nervous creatures as well, but are easier to calm than mice (or so i have found!) and Rabbits are usually temperamental, but it is easy to tell when they feel love for someone... I haven't had Gerbils or Hamsters...

BUT RATS!

Rats absolutely feel affection and yes, even love, for their owners!
Just ask Spazrats! I really don't think she would have so many if they didn't give her some love in return!
Of course, like any other animal, they go through different stages of development... And it all depends on the rat.
When i first got my baby girl Dragon, it was not hard to tell that i was her entire world! She would sleep on me for hours, and then ride around on my shoulders, play a game with me, and go back to sleep... She has gotten to those teenager/slightly older years, where she likes to give me kisses and hugs, and go to sleep on me... as long as no one is watching... But because she gets to see "Pa" (my boyfriend) so infrequently, she absolutely muals him when she sees him... She grooms him, climbs on his shoulder, licks him, and tries to be a rodentist (the act of a rodent cleaning the inside of a human's mouth/teeth etc.)

Cameo has never been so affectionate... She wasn't handled as a baby, so she doesn't crave it as much, and likes to stay in her own little world... But she will stop by and play games, if Dragon is in too, and she will occasionally go to sleep on my lap, while i stroke her nose... So she is just like some people, they feel love, but they don't show it too much, because they never had it shown to them as a baby...

Then there is Griffon... I rescued her from becoming a feeder, and i have been giving her lover since i got her 2 weeks ago... Probably the first shows of affection that she has had, her whole life... I would say that she is over one year old, but i am not sure...
She licks and grooms me, and she will sleep next to my head on the pillow...
She needs to come back to me every 10 minutes or so to make sure that i am still here...
She loves me... Even though she has only known me for two weeks today...

It is the same as with cats and dogs, and even with some people... They each have their own personalities, and they like learning, and playing, and loving.

A lot of them act just like little dogs... But sometimes they even act like little kids...
I had mice, because i thought that they were cute... And i liked playing with them, and watching them explore... And i got Dragon, because i thought it would be the same... I thought that she would be just as cute, but bigger, and easier to cuddle... But there are so many other reasons that i would have gotten her, if i had known how smart, and charming, and funny, and lovable they really were!

Hope that helped!

Answer 2

Good question by the way before I start.

You would think that animals so small wouldn't show affection but they most certainly do.
My experience has mostly been with Hamsters and they have always made terrific pets for me. I fell asleep while playing with my first ham on my bed and reading and he crawled up by my face and fell asleep with me, though I don't recommend anyone try that. My second Hamster would walk right into my hand when I called it's name and he would squeak and talk to me all the time.
I now own a guinea pig and he has proven very affectionate, He will lay on my second when I am reading, watching TV, or drawing and purr at you when you pet him (obviously sounds different then a cat but it is called a purr) We have three cats that we rescued from a shelter and They have never payed any real attention too me. They just like my mother so I'm not so big on cats. Dogs though are awesome. My dogs just like a person sometimes lol.
Hope I answered your question.

Answer 3

First I have never seen a cat show affection. Second it depends on the rodent. The smaller ones like mice hamsters and gerbils really don't show affection. But I have had six guinea pigs and they are just like little dogs. They squeak when they need food or water when they hear you coming down the hallway and run over to you when you open the cage and stuff like that.

Answer 4

Some social rodents, such as rats and gerbils, can become very attached to their owners and behave very affectionately, almost as if their owner were a member of the same species :).
In fact, rats' social structure & hierarchy and the way they interact with humans has been compared to dogs'.

Less social rodents like hamsters can also become attached to their owners, but perhaps not quite as much.

Answer 5

I am sure that some do! My two dwarf hamsters actually like to lick my lips but that's because they are salty. I think that one of them likes me because lately for the past one or two, I haven't gotten a single bite from him. The other one is a completely different story, lol.

I bought (I prefer adopted though, because I wasn't really supposed to buy from a pet store) two dwarf hamsters from PetCo because I had really wanted hamsters, thought that they were cute, and fun to handle. Also I had never really had a pet rodent before.

Answer 6

Most rodents will bond with their owners and get to know them. My rats have always stuck their noses out of the cage when I walk by.

Answer 7

I'm not sure about toher rodents, but Guinea Pigs (who are really more Cavia) and Rats certainly do.

My rats love to curl up under my neck, or play games with my hands (we wrestle) When I'm sad, they lick my face, and when they're sad, they just want to be cuddled.

Whe they see me walk into the room, their little faces light up and they start jumping around exitedly! They do tricks, and they come tom me in little bounds and leaps when I call their names. Bubba and Harry.

Rats are my favoritie animal of all time. I'm so thankful for my baby boys.

Answer 8

Absolutely. Our rats love to jump on me, sit on my shoulder & give misses. Sometimes they do that great nibbling-grooming thing on my hands-- sweet! They enjoy curling up in my lap or on my shoulder & taking naps too. A couple of years ago we had the experience of an accidental litter (mom was expecting when we adopted her) & although I rigged up a large playpen with lots of toys & hiding places, most of them preferred to climb over the playpen & onto me to snuggle under my t-shirt.
Mice are more skittish, but we've had some very affectionate mice too. One of them, Depeche Mouse, would jump right onto my hand every chance she got, even preferring my company to food. Hamsters are more solitary animals, but when I was a kitten I had a few very affectionate hamsters.
Small animals are also interesting to watch-- we currently have 2 female mice who don't enjoy interacting with people (1 of them is terrified of me, even after living here for 17 months) but I really enjoy watching them play, interact with each other & just 'be mice.'
We're cat ppl too, btw.

Answer 9

Why??? Have YOU ever bought one?
I haven't had much experience w/ mice and hamsters and rats, but we used to build them castles and toys and tunnels and they loved that. They were so fun to watch. Now I have guinea pigs. They don't crawl all over you they just sit there and I KNOW they DO become affectionate. They like to eat stuff and you can teach them their name. You can even teach them tricks like "sit up" and "spin around" I have a doggy too and she doesn't like them. Dogs are more affectionate, but not cats. I would prefer one guinea pig to ten cats.

Answer 10

I have three mice and a hamster! I've had 8 mice so far (love them!) and usually buy them at pet stores rather than breeders to help save a few feeder mice from the snakes and other reptiles. I got my hamster at the store too, and simply adore him - so sweet! My eldest mouse is going to be two years old come June, and I just got two new young ones today, so they're around four months old already. My hamster turned a year old on December the 23rd. My three mice (all female) are Poppy (the oldest), Polar Bear, and Razz. The hamster (a boy)is named Artie! Poppy was named for simply for the nice sound I thought it had, and Polar Bear was named for her slightly coffee tinted fur coat and dark markings right around her nose - just like a little bear, except for the red eyes. Razz is an albino mouse, who I adopted because I knew lots of people purchased the "pretty-looking" ones with the colorful coats, and thought it would be nice to have one of them. I named her after the Razzle Dazzle boat that Jack London had, and confused raspberries (: Artie was given his name due to the way it seemed to fit his personality. Poppy is unbelievable. I'm seriously astounded every time I think about her! She has had four different cage mates total (all girl mice) and has stayed strong, although each of them have died during their stays with her. In addition, she has lived through mites, barbering, and a tumor, and always hops right back up to face life once again. She never gives up - something I admire about her - and has a vibrant energy about her. If I tap lightly on her cage to announce meal time, she'll perk right up, flick her ears a little, and sprint as fast as she can for her food, nipping my fingers to see if they're yummy treats I've gotten for her to eat. Polar Bear and Razz I haven't gotten to know well yet, but I DO know that Polar is crazy-fast! Today, she escaped from her cage, and I learned that she can leap over a foot in the air when she's motivated - and trust me, she's ALWAYS motivated. She can dart out of any small space, wriggle out of anyone's hands, and do perfect dives right into her bedding to escape any curious pet owners. She also loves planning escapes, and climbing the bars of her wire cage. From what I've seen, Razz is a teeny bit more mellow (which isn't saying much!) but is very curious and intelligent. Artie is... special. Haha. He has a tan coat with splashes of white, and a cute, fuzzy pink nose. He always has fur that sticks up at crazy angles on his head, and always looks adorably untidy. In addition, he loves to have totally random spazz attacks and sprint across the hardwood floor (more like a little mop than a hamster) and look around with his enormous deep black eyes. He also never wavers; he doesn't let anything scare him at all! I'm sorry to say that I don't have any photos of my pets on my computer (I'm not exactly computer-coordinated yet :) but would like to thank you for posting this question! It's nice to be able to share a little bit about my loving rodents, and learn about others' as well. Thanks for the opportunity - hope your rats are doing well!