Then The Bad... By far, the most complained about thing is the rats' short life span of 2-3 years. Because of their ability to capture your heart, it can be very difficult to say goodbye. Yet this can also be a good thing if you are looking for a short-term commitment with your companion animal. It is an absolute must that you adopt at least two rats (of the same sex, or if opposite sexes, one of them should be fixed.) Rats are very social, and need the companionship of another rat to stay happy, healthy, and sane! Just as with all companion animals, rats can be prone to certain health problems, but most are VERY treatable heath problems. A rat guardian needs to be prepared to pay for any medical costs that could ensue. (Costs to treat a rat are the same as if you were treating a dog or cat. It can run into the hundreds.) Good rat vets can be hard to find. Rats can indeed be litter-trained; yet some will still have a need to mark their territories and possessions, including you. They do this by leaving little droplets of urine. This is easy to clean up, though, and doesn't smell unless you let a large collection of it build up. Males, due to their territorial nature, mark things much more frequently than females, but you can remove this behavior by having your male neutered. Quality rat food can be difficult to find. The Tail. Most people can't get over their bald tail. But I guarantee that, if you give rats a try, over time you will become very accustomed to what their tails look like. I use to think rats' tails were very creepy and ugly. Yuk! Now I wouldn't have them look any other way, the little cuties! If you adopt your female rats from a pet store that keeps males and females together, you will end up with a whole lot of baby rats. They, like all rodents, can be destructive because of their need to chew. However, this is very easy to deal with. We give many tips throughout our site. You need to be able to make the time commitment to take your rats out to play with you for at least one half hour or, more preferably, an entire hour, each and everyday! Rats are highly intelligent animals, and it is cruel to leave them locked in their cage all day with no mental stimulation. You also need to be able to make the time commitment to keep their cage clean and to feed and water them. You need to have the financial ability to not only afford the rats themselves, but also a decent sized cage, accessories, toys, and a constant supply of food and litter. All companion animals, if not bred or handled properly by their breeder/handler, run the risk of turning out to be an aggressive/ill-tempered animal. This runs true for dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, or any other pet out there. Of course, this is also true of rats. Given the right start in life, rats are the least aggressive of all the small animals. However, there are rats out there that are the result of bad breeding/handling practices, and they can have aggressive personalities. Just remember that this is the exception to the rule, not the norm. (See "Choosing and Adopting Your Rats" within the "Guidebook" section of this site to find tips on how to hopefully avoid adopting an aggressive rat.) It is also critical that, as a first time rat guardian, you avoid adopting unsocialized rats. These do not make fun loving pets without a lot of hard work, time, patience, and knowledge. Even then, sometimes they still don't come around. An unsocialized rat will be terrified of you. To enjoy all the good points of rat companionship, you need to make sure you adopt only well socialized, outgoing rats. It can be challenging to rat proof a room in your house for play time. The cost of caring for rats is fairly reasonable, but look out! The more you fall in love with them, the more you will want to spend on them! They can start emptying out you pocketbook pretty quickly if you let them. And it is hard to resist...