How intelligent are rats?

Question

I have recently been given a tame rat, she is not too bad for being picked up and doesn't bite as long as you havn't been handling meat.
I work with birds of prey and I am starting doing educational visits to kids parties with my owl, I am already set up with a company that organise witch and wizard themed chidrens events and was thinking about using the rat for these parties (obviously not alongside the owl or we will be a rat short).
What I am wondering is how intelligent rats are, can you teach them simple commands or even just to respond to thier name.
I will be using her in an educational sense so will be showing what they would do naturally.

Answer 1

Rats are smarter than most ppl. They can be trained to do almost anything. Sounds like a great job you have. Good luck

Answer 2

Rats are very intelligent. You can teach them to do all sorts of things. 2 of my rats will come when you call thier name. We taught them in the same way you would teach a dog, with a click & reward system. It was very effective. All of my rats know their names, but we only ever got round to teaching our first two to come when called.

You can also toilet train them so that they use a litter tray instead of peeing and pooping all over the place. Personally I've never done this, (I know plenty of people who have though) but my gang never pee or poop outside their cage unless they are scared of something.

If you are planning to keep the rat long term, it would be better if you could get her a little friend for company. Rats actually learn from each other so this would add another angle to your study.

I think it's a great idea to introduce rats to kids. They are very gentle creatures and once people get past the stigma of it being a rat they suddenly realise how wonderful these little fuzzballs are :o)
My neighbours kids love my gang and are always asking after them. They thought it was a bit gross until they met them.

Wishing you the best of luck!

Answer 3

Rats are very intelligent. I have 4 currently, 3 that I have raised from little tiny fuzzlets and 1 that I adopted. You would probably have better luck training a baby rat, than an adult, as they only live 3 years or so. Our hand raised babies respond to their name, our adoptee is kind of skittish and really hasn't figured anything out yet.
check out www.ratfanclub.org and www.ratsrule.com.

there's also a site based in australia called the dapper rat, but I cant recall the exact URL. a search of 'the dapper rat' should bring it up.

And as I'm writing this my boyfriend just got nipped by our adoptee while handing her a piece of his hamburger. Which is the only time they bite, 4 rats trying to occupy the same space for a treat. But check out the websites, they'll give you great ideas into what you can do, as well as the care they require.

Answer 4

Rats are very intelligent. but dont call them rats call them mice they love it. I have 4 currently, 3 that I have raised from little tiny fuzzlets and 1 that I adopted. You would probably have better luck training a baby rat, than an adult, as they only live 3 years or so. Our hand raised babies respond to their name, our adoptee is kind of skittish and really hasn't figured anything out yet.
check out www.ratfanclub.org and www.ratsrule.com.

there's also a site based in australia called the dapper rat, but I cant recall the exact URL. a search of 'the dapper rat' should bring it up.

And as I'm writing this my boyfriend just got nipped by our adoptee while handing her a piece of his hamburger. Which is the only time they bite, 4 rats trying to occupy the same space for a treat. But check out the websites, they'll give you great ideas into what you can do, as well as the care they require.

Answer 5

Rats are very smart animals and should never be under estimated.I used to breed rats, and they would lift the smaller adult rat to the top of the pen while it chewed the lid so they could all get out.They use them in labs and found that they are in the top 10 list of the smartest animals.The pig is the smartest animal on earth.Believe or not.Rats are smarter than dogs its just most people are scared of them and degrade them.They make great pets and have a great sense of humor.All animals can be trained if you spend time with them.
I have 2 ducks that knows their names and comes when I call them.Animals are smart but will never be as smart as the human race as they cant process information like we can. Good luck with the rat.

Answer 6

Rats are the smartest of all rodents. You can train them to learn their name and also perform simple commands. You should join a local chapter of RMCA (Rat and Mouse Club of America or something like that). You can also pick up a good book about rats.

One of the main things you need to know about rats is that they are social animals. They love being with their human(s), but they need other rats. You would be doing your rat a big favor by adopting or buying another rat. Rats who live with other rats generally are happier and live longer.

Answer 7

rats are very intelligent i own two and i have a book on how to train them sadly i got mine when they were a bit older so they are more difficult to train and need alot more of my time, but rats can come to there name, play fetch, beg, walk on a lead etc etc. I think of rats like mini dogs.
hope this helps.

Answer 8

rats are highly inteligent and can be trained fairly easily. do you do clicker training at all as i'm sure this method could be used with rats. to respond to their name should be fairly easy, just call the name and give the rat a treat - he or she will soon learn to come running!

i would advise you get another rat though - they are very social and should be kept in pairs at least :-)

Answer 9

We had a pet rat...he was really cool, we called him Templeton. I wouldn't describe him as intelligent, but he was trainable. He new his name & would come when called because he knew he would get a treat. He would also stand up to ring a bell in our hand, but always for a treat. If he couldn't smell a treat, forget about it, you would be history. He loved to ride on our shoulders for long period of times.
Just work with your rat as you would with any animal you want to train. Have fun with him!

Answer 10

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