Are Male rats at least somewhat active?

Question

I was planning to get female rats, in fact i was almost sold on them. Then i was reading about males and people say that they are quite lazy and make great lap pets. well, i kind of like that idea, but exactly how lazy are they? Do they ever get up to explore? Do they like to play sometimes? Or are they pretty much always slugs?

How about females? Do they have a calm side where we can just chill? Or are they always exploring and whatnot.

**also, how bad is the male scent to the female? And how bad is buck grease?

Sorry about the barrage of questions, but im a curious guy. Thanks a million <3

Answer 1

Males are tons more lazy but they still will play from time to time. Something I&#039;ve noticed only male rats do is hand wrestling were you tip them over and tickle their stomach and they may actually start squeaking as if to laugh. Though that is really it. They do explore but mine have lost interest easy and go back to their cage. There are of course exceptions but if you want a rat that will for sure play with things like tunnels, hammocks, and whatnot then you should go with a female. Also as age sets in males get lazier and lazier. I&#039;ve had both and I like females better. Females will calm down but you have to tire them out, after a couple hours of playing and chasing each other they really like to lay on your shoulder and sleep. Females need to be stimulated more than males so you&#039;d want to find some playpen/area for them to have toys and stuff. Whereas a male rat is fine with a bed and some cat balls. Then you have a problem with scent marking which males do frequently so unless you cover your bed with a sheet, move play time to the tub.

Buck grease  does get pretty bad especially when in heat and that ultimately causes them to stink more. Some males have it bad to were they have a gel like substance on them. This can be decreased with neutering, but rats are so small that any surgery is major surgery and really not worth it. I think you should still get females, though I of course am biased. =)