Is a rat a good low maintance (not including attention) animal for me?

I am a low income college student that is considering a pet rat. I have heard they are quite an awesome pet and I am really considering one but don't know too much about them. Is a male or female better? I hear males they mark territory and don't want to deal with that but i don't really know. Do they require a lot of maintance? Are they the kind of pet that will just chill on your shoulder?Is a rat a good low maintance (not including attention) animal for me?
Males will rub their gland across things and leave a trail if you don't neuter them.


If smell bothers you, and you can't afford a neuter, get a female.





Females are fun. Males are laid back, and females like to explore and run around.


The cage will cost you the most.


I personally made my cage for less than $10. Soaked hardware mesh and a recycle guinea pig cage pan = win.


Otherwise, a rat cage will run you a good $100 for a decent sized one.





You can easily train your rat to sit on your shoulder, but a female will be more apt to run back and forth around your neck. All three of my babies do.





The food is rather cheap. Lab blocks are the staple food, $2 a box at walmart or cheaper in bulk from a pet store.


Then you can give them your dinner scraps. Cooked noodles, cooked rice, cooked chicken bones, pieces of chicken or steak, vegetable. Anything they'll steal off your plate really.





Litter will cost a bit. I recommend Kaytee Soft-sorbent which is at petsmart for $16 a bag, but this bag will last you so long.





If you're not going to be home much, I recommend lots of hammocks, toys, and a friend!


Two is better than one.








I had one for so long and she became nippy from not having a friend, so I bought another and she became so sweet. I can walk around with both of them on my shoulder, offering pieces of millet spray as treats to let them know they're good girls.


I have one that'll sit in my hood and I'll walk through the store or the mall with her. ;) Secretly, of course.








They're low maintenance in that they don't require a lot of action to keep them happy, but they'll still need you to be there for them to run around on.Is a rat a good low maintance (not including attention) animal for me?
Rats do make fun pets, are pretty low maintance considering housing/bedding and food. They arnt terribly long gived, usually 3+ I believe. Personally if you do buy one I would sujjest a female, males tent to smell more and like you said mark things. Also cage cleaning as important as they can be abit messy with food and what not. I also think it really depends on the personality of the animal.. Some will probably just chill with you, other my perfer exploring rather then just sitting.





Edit.. Above me is talking about cages, but I wanted to add that at some garage sales I've seen wicked nice cages for really cheap.. So if your one of those people who don't mind looking around, that could be a really good find.
Rats are brilliant pets! Normally the males are more active, and the females more layed back. You can toilet train them. My current ones are males and they are toilet trained, and very friendly. They have to be trained to sit on your shoulder, but all you do is pick them up and place them their without leaning forward. Here is a good site:





http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Train-Your-Pet-Rat%26amp;id=685747





Rats are fun pets and I recommemd that you do buy two at least. If you buy just one, you will have to give him/her lots of attention otherwise it will be lonely, and untame.
rats are great pets but just like any pet, they still need attention. they are low maintenance compared to other pets. males are actually calmer than females. i think its a great pet and yes, you can train it to chill on your shoulder but dont forget to still give it a lot of attention
I own a rat that I got as a very tiny baby. It is a male. It was supposed to be snake food for someones snake but I rescued it from them. I think I would have picked a female if I would have had a choice but I didn't. As it turns out the males are very awesome pets so I am glad I didn't have a choice. Females tend to like to wander around and do their own thing and males are more opt to spending quality time with their owners and sticking close by. My male is now huge and doesn't pee or poop when outside his cage. Rats are very cool.They need food and a nice size cage with a secure lid. But as far as money they are low maintenance. But if you want one that is shoulder trained and trained to not poop outside the cage you must be willing to spend a good amount of time with him/her to train them and get them used to you. I would start with a baby, as then you can train them for how you want your pet to be. I spend a lot of time with mine dailey. Mine has a 20 gallon aquarium but a 10 should do also. Mine comes out 3 to 4 times a day for 30 to 90 minutes each time or he gets very lonely. When I first got him I spent alot of time with him and it was very easy to train him to like being handled and kissed. He loves to run up my back and go on my shoulder or pockets voluntarily. He never poops or pees on me or my belongings and he doesn't chew my stuff but in his cage I provide a chew toy for him because rats teeth always grow and they need to have chew toys to trim them down or they grow so long they can no longer eat. When I started spending all the time with my rat I already knew I wanted and was willing to have a pet that was used to getting that much attention. Once you give them a certain amount of time a day they look forward to being with you as they are very social, smart animals and love companionship. So if you can't spend alot of time you may want to have two as they need the attention and companionship weather it's human or rat. But just don't start out giving tons of time and love and drop down to none because they become very dependant on you if there is only one. Mine knows the schedule and starts jumping in his cage to the lid 30 minutes before its time to come out. And yes they can jump high. I have seen mine jump almost 2 feet high but think twice before teaching them that because it is not always a good thing.