Pet Rat Basics

While many people think of rats as annoying pests or just another bothersome rodent, some people see the domesticated rat as an ideal pet with lots of personality and a lot of love to give. Because of their sociable personality and intelligence, domesticated rats, also called fancy rats, can be trained to do tricks, and even use a litter box. Pet rats enjoy being in groups or spending time with people, and they also love to be played with, pet and even tickled. If you are looking for a cute, fun and sociable pet that doesn't take a lot of time to care for, perhaps a fancy pet rat is the pet for you.

In this free video series, our expert will show you how to care for pet rats. You will learn all the information you ever needed to know about how to pick out a healthy rat, how to set up a rat cage and even how to socialize your rat. You will also get tips on what to feed rats, how to bathe pet rats and how to travel with rats. If you are thinking of purchasing a rat, or need information on your domesticated pet rat, let our expert show you everything you need to know.

"Hi, I'm Laura Fitzgerald on behalf of Expert Village, and today I am here to talk to you about care and maintenance of your pet rat. In my hands today I am holding a dumbo rat. This is blondie, she is my little mommy dumbo rat. See how her ears are on the side of her head and not at the top of her head like regular rats? She is also called a rex rat. See how her hair is blonde, going in this direction, and if you push the fur in this direction its almost a silver grey. Rats make wonderful pets, for family and children. They do not bite or hardly ever bite. They are extremely intelligent, they come when they are called, they can do tricks, they get along with all the other family pets, they are very low maintenance and they are very clean. I have a few other rats to show you, momma had some babies, she had four other baby rats. This rat is only two weeks old. As you can see, its eyes and ears are closed. It will not be able to hear for six weeks. It will be totally dependent on its mom up until about six weeks old, when it will start eating regular rat food. In this cage over here, I have two rats, this is my big daddy rat, Tar. Tar is also a rex rat, but see he has normal ears, they are at the top of his head. Tar is about eighteen months old. He was my first rat, he has a little white belly and little white feet. And he is very intelligent, he even knows his name and does tricks. You can see the difference between the male and female rat. The males are much bigger than the females. And this is Lucy, she is a hairless rat, she has regular ears. But she has no hair, the only hair is on the side of her head on her whiskers and at the top of her head. Sometimes that falls out and grows back. But all over her body she has no hair. Rats come in many different colors, hair types, different body types and without tails, if tails make you squeamish."