what about rats?

Question

whats better male or female
what is the most friendliest
and easyest to train
do they actually smell
and are they too noisy at night to keep in your room

Answer 1

Females don't wee on you - males will mark their territory constantly unless you get them fixed at a very young age.
both are friendly, girls will constantly come back to you for reassurance but like their space - boys love to cuddle.
girls are more receptive to training - boys are very lazy as a rule.
girls don't smell at all - if not fixed, boys very quickly (they produce an oil that covers part of their fur - baths essential).
Both sexes can be trained to stay up during the day, although they love to play at night. Just make sure that anything that can be thrown is somehow tied down if you don't want crashes in the night :) but generally no, not noisy.

Answer 2

My preference has always been toward the female rats, having had both. I think male rats have a definite deeper musk that can be invasive; a clean female rat smells like spices.

I've always found the females friendlier (except the youngest of our latest batch -she's standoffish), easier to train, and they seem to get along with other animals- like dogs - better than males will.

If you have a squeaky wheel - like we do -then the noise at night can be too much for your bedroom. Ours also used to love to wrestle, and that makes a good deal of noise sometimes, with banging about and squeaking. However, they are pretty quiet pets.

Always get more than one rat - they need the socailizing. Helps if they are litter mates as well. But if you get a female and a male and put them in the same cage, you WILL get babies.

Answer 3

I prefer males as pets, but it's probably psychological as much as anything. Lol.

My rats are really noisy and I can't keep them in my bedroom, they climb, wrestle, etc, all night long.

They don't smell if I keep up after the cage, but I've noticed this depends somewhat on what they are fed.

I breed my rats, so my females are usually preoccupied with babies, which may be why I prefer the males, they seem friendlier, but they have nothing else to do.

They definitely enjoy company. I have one female alone right now and she is clearly lonely. I am working on finding just the right cage mate for her.

Answer 4

Get a female. They're much friendlier and are more pleasant to the eye. Males have rather large genitalia hanging down and aren't overly friendly. Females are smarter. And, no they don't smell. Clean their cage regularly and that won't be a source of odor either. Also, no they aren't all that noise to keep in your room at night.

I had a female rat when I was 17. I used to lie on the bed with her and she would run down to lick my toes, then come back to kiss my cheeks. She was white with gray spots. I named her Gracie. Rats make really excellent pets! Just remember to keep her away from electronics because they like to chew the wires. Mine chewed the wires to my speakers of my home stereo. I was rather upset about that.

Rats are also Very intelligent creatures too. Much like a racoon, they will easily learn to open their cage doors when they want and get back inside before you notice they are gone and they know they will get in trouble. Work with them a bit, and you can train them to fetch like a dog. I have seen that done, believe it or not. They can be very loving, as well. It's well worth your ten bucks to invest in a pet rat and save it from becoming snake food. And as I've said, I suggest getting a female for many reasons....you'll be really happy with her.

Answer 5

Looks like everyone who answered prefers female rats over male rats except me :(. Well I prefer male rats because for one I find them to be more loving than female rats. Don’t get me wrong female rats make excellent pets too, but for me nothing beats those boys! You will find male rats to be more cuddly, people orientated and mellow whilst females are more jumpy and energetic thus prefer to explore and run around then sit in ur lap and be stroked. I suppose some people don’t mind their rat giving their surroundings more attention than their owner, but I need my rats to love me and prefer me over the exciting objects in my room, that is why I chose male rats and never regretted it. The only down side to male rats is that they mark their territory by peeing, but I have heard from some people that females have done the same. I guess it personal preference :). Good luck on ur decision!

I noticed someone above me mention that male rats dont get along very well with dogs, that is false. I have two dogs and my rat gets along with them fine, and my dogs love him. In fact I swear I caught my rat playing a game on one of my dogs, I think it was called nip and run LOL, very cute but it you could tell he was only playing, so no harm was done.

Answer 6

Male & female are equally sweet pets, in my opinion, although females *seem* to be easier to train-- I've had absolutely no sucess getting boys to use a litter box, but @ least some of our girls gave it a try. Boys are usually much larger than girls, if this is a consideration. Both seem to be equally smart about learning their names & such.
They don't smell as long as you keep up with their cages-- I usually do a complete clean every week with spot cleaning & other maintainence as needed-- sometimes a hammock will stay pretty clean all week, but usually not. Clean, healthy boy rats actually smell like corn chips! I've heard ppl describe girl rats as smelling like grapeade, but to me it's more like herbal hair conditioner, not unpleasant @ all. Girls also need few or no baths but our boys seem to need one every few weeks.
It depends on the individual ppl & rats whether they can share a room with you. We have the boys in our bedroom & sometimes they play pretty loud, especially when they're throwing toys around the cage, but it doesn't disturb us. Our girls are noisier, as there's usually someone running in the wheel, but they're in our living-room & we barely hear them @ night unless they knock the wheel over (no matter how tight I attach it, someone manages to unscrew it fairly often).
Whichever you decide on, please adopt 2 or 3 of the same sex. They are much happier with other rats & they'll love you just as much.

Answer 7

i prefer females, because i dont like the big testes hanging out.

males tend to be more relaxed while females like to explore more and are not as cuddly

they are kind of easy to train, but patients is always needed

they do smell if you dont clean there cage. but it you clean it about once a week than they dont

no they are not to noisy at night to keep in your room.

Answer 8

I had pet rats for a long time and I love them I prefer females they dont smell the males do.they arent to nosiey you will get use to hearing it good luck