Yes, boys are big squishy couch potatos. Girls are more active. Both equally loving. Much less stinky than mice.

If you get your rats from a reputable breeder, they will be amazing! Smell won't be much of an issue of you clean them out regularly and they will be friendly from the get-go. Boy tatties tend to be more chill than girls. I would like to state, that even if you get rats that have not been handled and acclimated to human bonding, with some work, they will be. I've kept a whole range of rats over the past 10 years and even the bitey pet shop ones will become little snuggle angels when you spend that time with them.

Rats are great pets. They are clean, not known to bite, very social, can laugh when tickled, can be trained. Their biggest downfall is their relatively short life span.

🤔 Not really comparable, I think. They are super nice and fun, but I wouldn't say calm 😅

I once rescued about six pet rats who had been dumped in a drain and left to die by some heartless scumbag. >:( I was able to find new homes for all but two of them, who I kept. I also rescued a big cuddly boy who had likewise been dumped and was living in some lady's woodpile. She was terrified of rats, but compassionate enough to notice how he kept walking up to her like he was asking for help. Her daughter knew my mother and therefore knew I was a "rat person", so I was asked to come and take him away. I found him in his sad little nest in the woodpile, and reached down there thinking he would bite me or run away, or both, but no - he started sniffing my fingers as if to say hello and let me pick him up! I took him home, and he was so starved his skin was hanging off him, but right away he was trying to climb onto my shoulder. I soon had him well fed and in good health and we were the best of friends. He suddenly died a few months later, but I never forgot him.

I found a pregnant rat in the park. She ran up to me begging for help. She was a total love!

Awesome. She was very lucky!

Mine used to be less into fashion, but more into interior design. "That phone cable? Didn't look good there. We removed it for you. You're welcome!"

Ben, you're always running here and there - you feel you're not wanted anywhere! If you ever look behind, and don't like what you find, there's something you should know - you've got a place to go...