I love rats! They really do make wonderful pets, it's just a shame they can't live longer. I have had several rats, the first one was an apricot hooded female and little did I know that she had a tummy full of babies when I bought her. I gave all but one of her babies to friends and I kept her son, a black hooded male and I loved him SO much! He was amazing, he did not even have to be locked in his cage. I had a huge aquarium for him and I did not put a cover on it because he just ran along the lid of it and never jumped off and ran away. He was so sweet and loyal. As soon as the door opened to their room, he'd wake from a sound sleep and jump to the lid of his aquarium and either hang there by his front hands and hope someone'd pick him up, or else he'd run along the lid of the aquarium and jump on someone if they were standing close enough.

I loved those rats.