Why a Pet Rat?

Whenever I mention keeping rats as pets I usually get the same reaction: WHY? People see rats as dirty, disease carrying vermin, so why would anyone ever decide to keep one as a pet? While it's true that wild rats are best left alone, those raised as pets can be wonderful companions. Contrary to popular belief, pet rats are generally clean animals. They spend much of their time grooming and as long as their cage is regularly cleaned, you should have no problems with smell. By their nature, rats are friendly, social animals and like nothing better than to play with their humans. They are also extremely intelligent. In my rat keeping career, many of mine learned their own names and came when I called them.

...rats the best pocket pets out there...