Okay...most people think that rats are yucky animals...dirty, disgusting, unfriendly, disease carriers, and just altogether--nasty. Well, I'd like to say something on that...YOU ARE WRONG!!! Out of all the small animals we have, hamsters, gerbils, mice, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets...I believe rats are the best. My opinions on the others--
HAMSTERS--nocturnal animals and if you wake them, they have a tremendous tendency to BITE! Solitary animals, should only have one (male- which most pet stores sell only) per cage.
GERBILS--great animals (I used to have one when I lived in Virginia), but illegal in California (where I live now)
FERRETS--also wonderful pets, but illegal in California
GUINEA PIGS--another great pet to have, but some people don't consider these "small" animals. They take much more maintenance than a mouse, hamster, gerbil, or rat.
RABBITS--yet another good pet, but see the note above about guinea pigs
MICE--do they smell or what?! You'd have to clean their cage every two days or so...maybe more for a male. A single MOUSE CAGE can smell as bad as TEN RAT CAGES!!! Can you believe it?!
This is my list of reasons why rats are so much better =)
Rats can be trained--like ferrets and rabbits.
Rats are clean animals--like cats. Rats actually clean themselves MORE than cats do! Does a cat clean it's paw everytime it scratches?
Rats can learn to do tricks--like dogs. They are VERY intelligent animals.
Rats are very, very friendly--they will not bite you (except in extremely stressful situations or if a momma is protecting her babies)
Rats love to be held and be out of their cage--I don't have lids for my cages and I take my rats places like the post office and of course, 
(I work there)
Rats are awake when you are --they are naturally nocturnal, like hamsters, but they will learn to adjust to YOUR schedule...meaning they can change their sleeping habits to be awake when you are.
Rats are great!--they are docile, sociable, intelligent, and loving. The best "pocket pet" you can ever own. They don't take much maintenance other than feeding them, giving fresh water, cleaning their cage, and of course, most importantly--loving them and giving them plenty of time for playing and having fun.
The BEST!!--Once a person gets a rat after having other small animals....they usually ALWAYS stick with rats from then on out.
For information regarding the owning of rats, click here -->
To read about my rats, click here-->
(RC 0.1) 0m0f B C-- D++ F N S! O3cf OCRB a24
None right now....plus too many ratties that are on the bridge.
A couple other things...Here are a rat theme and a rat screen saver. Theme is from Wererat's Lair and I don't remember where I got the screen saver from.
Rattie Screen Saver
Rat Desktop Theme
LAST UPDATED NOVEMEBER 19, 2000
