When you talk about exotic pet you probably think about a python or other reptiles; you may rarely think of something as common place as the rat.
The rat has long been viewed as a dirty, disgusting, disease carrying domestic nuisance and thief.
And yet pet owners have found that rats are intelligent, friendly, responsive and sociable animals that can make great pets so perhaps Stuart Little may not be as farfetched a story as one may think!
It is also a misconception that rats are dirty creatures; in fact they are fairly clean and easy to look after.  It is also thought that being a rodent, rats tend to bite, when in fact they don’t bite as a matter of course; in fact pet rats rarely bite.
Rats can also be fairly intelligent and they can be tamed fairly easily. They can be trained to respond and come when called, and can also do a trick or two to amuse the family.  They can also have fairly individual personalities and some pet owners even compare the sort of companionship given by a rat to that given by a pet dog.
Generally speaking male rats are larger and somewhat lazier than females, and have a coarser coat. Females are smaller and tend to be more active and playful.
