I didn't read alot of what some said, but I do agree with the price. VERY expensive. From a breeder they are usually between 15 and 50 dollars, depending on cetain traits. They are also very hard to care for if you want them to live long. They are much tougher to keep alive than a dog. This is mainly because there are SO many foods to watch out for, there are so many illnesses that they can pick up, and they need to be kept on strict diets. If you are looking for an animal that stays in it's cage all day, than they are VERY easy to care for, only they wouldn't be happy and they wouldn't live long.

I'd also suggest getting more than one rat.

Keep in mind that these little buggers like to chew For my rats, I have several kinds of rawhide, and dentabones.

Also, cages are quite expensive. I'd suggest you buy a permanant cage before buying a rat...They are usually between 100 and 500 dollars (atleast they are here). you might be able to find some at thrift shops for cheap though. Icarus has a cage made of three cages put together. The first cage cost 30 dollars (cuz it's a hamster cage), the second cage was originally 50 dollars (it's a hammy cage too, my friend gave it to me), and the other cage I'm not sure about....Frisco's cage cost 15 dollars at a garage sale, but was originally 100 dollars.

I'd go to petratscanada.com/forum but don't get too attached lol.

I'm pretty sure everyone else has given you very much info. I didn't feel like reading it all lol.