Originally posted by magcpen
Thank you, everyone, first of all, but it just occured to me to ask can rats use plastic balls that roll around? And now do I prove to my family that rats aren't vermin, lol?
They can, but I haven't known any that will do it willingly. Mine just sit in the ball screaming at me, trying to get out. So I gave up on that...Keep in mind that they would need a pretty big ball.

Most don't like wheels either.

EDIT: I find that with my rats, a ball really stresses them out. The last time I tried, I found that afterwards the balls inside was soaked with porphyrin (red dishcarge). Rats like to choose their own small spaces, and a rolling ball doesn't seem to be one of them...