When my wife first introduced the idea of have rats as pets, I have to admit I was not the most enthusiastic of people. You hear so many horror stories to do with rats that the pet rat ends up with a really bad public relations deal. As you may have guessed however, I caved in and we started looking at what was needed. We started researching how to care for pet rats which is the topic of this article.

If you haven't already bought your pet rats (sometimes referred to as "fancy rats"), then here is a bonus tip: Only buy female pet rats (check they're not pregnant first!). The reason? Simple. They don't smell. Male ones do - sorry guys. This makes it a lot easier to care for them in terms of keeping the cage all fresh and wonderful.

Let's start with the pet rats themselves. First of all in a way, they are like little humans - they thrive on love and affection, cuddles, being taken out of the cage and even being taken with you when you go out anywhere, though you might get some odd reactions! They are very sociable animals.

Despite what you may have heard, pet rats are clean creatures. In fact ours have been so clean that we kept them in the living room with us as they love company. They do not like mess and can even be toilet trained by providing a special litter tray and keeping it cleaned out for them i.e. removing their droppings reasonably frequently. They "enjoy" the occasional bath too - well sort of - I think they enjoy being dried off with a towel more. Incidentally, they are natural swimmers. Use a shampoo from the pet store that is suitable for rats and it will help keep down any mite problems.

Buy the largest suitable cage you can afford. By "suitable" I mean a cage designed with rats in mind. Rats can suffer from something called "bumble foot" which can be rather unpleasant for them. The right kind of cage can help to prevent this. We purchased a "Jenny Cage". Cages with wire bases are definitely not suitable. Similarly wheels that they run around in should not be wire ones. Inside the cage, make sure they have plenty of things to do. Provide tubes, ladders, climbing ropes, etc., so they can have fun whilst they are part of your family. Rats do not live very long - around three years is good.

This has just been an introduction to how to care for pet rats. Further excellent advice is available from http://www.infowithin.co.uk/recommends/ratcare.