What is the difference between a rat and a mouse?

Question

What is the difference between a rat and a mouse?

Answer 1

Beside the obvious size difference there are a few other differences between Mice and Rats.

Mice tend to smell, quite a bit no matter how much you clean they just go back and mark everything.

Rats on the other hand do not smell as long as you keep up with changing bedding and litter when needed.

Mice can be rather jumpy, even when well trained and are easy to loose.

Rats can also be jumpy if they are not given enough time to be taught how to trust a human, with time and patience almost all rats will stop any jumpy behavior. Rats being bigger tend to be easier to hold on to and see if they run.

Male mice generally need to be housed alone or with females (only if you are breeding which i do not recommend). Male mice will fight to the death

Male rats can happily live their lives out with other males. Occasionally fully mature males will have too much testosterone floating around and will need to be neutered to calm them down again but this is actually fairly rare.

Mice have a shorter life span than rats. Mice generally live for around 1.5 - 2 years where as Rats can live generally 2.5 - 3 years.

Answer 2

a rat is just basically larger than a mouse, though they look similar they are totally different species.

also, rats are not more intelligent than mice, both are very smart. rats are not more fun than mice, they both are.

people only believe that rats are better than mice because they can bond with you. this is because rats are large enough to see you as a whole, whereas mice and hamsters are too small so therefore they see you as a climbing equipment.

Answer 3

there are a few really obvious differences between the two. Mice are tiny (fit in the palm of your hand) and are harder to cuddle. They like using mouse wheels and are sold in pet shops for a smaller price than a rat. They can live in a smaller cage but don't have as much personality as rats. I am a rat owner and they are bigger than mice. You can give rats a hug and they will sit on your shoulder quite comfortably. They might cost a little bit more and require a larger cage (i've found a bird cage works well). Rats are just as easy to look after as a mouse but are heaps more fun.

Answer 4

nothing

Answer 5

i just answered a quiestion similar to this the other day...

here is what i said...

The size difference is a major factor. A full grown mouse may weigh a few ounces where a full grown rat may weigh as much as a pound.

http://www.ratbehavior.org/images/RatMou...

A young rat, while still hairless, is already the size of a full grown mouse, where a baby or young mouse is very tiny.

A rat will dig a deep or long burrow to nest, 3 feet or longer, whereas a mouse will generally not go any deeper than 6 inches to a foot if they dig at all, they would prefer to live between a wall, behind or under an appliance.

A rat is much more aggressive than a mouse. If you corner a rat, it may jump up and attack to get away. A mouse will generally freeze and back off in absolute fear.

The size of their droppings is another difference. Mouse dropping will range from 1/8 to 1/4 inch at best in length, whereas rats droppings will be double that size, in the area of 1/2 inch.

Common breeds of rats in the US would be The Norway and Roof Rat. Common breeds of mice in the US would be the Field and House mouse.

There are slight differences regarding shapes, tail length, snouts and ears, but again, are all related.

A rat will venture much further away from their nest to find a food or water source, whereas a mouse will usually not venture more than 15 feet from home.

A rat is generally smarter than a mouse. For instance, if there is a new food source in their area of transit, they may force an older weaker rat to eat it and then watch to see if he dies or not in case the food is no good or contains poison. If that rat dies, they will urinate on it and avoid it. You have probably heard that you may only catch rats once on a snap trap and then you have to try something else. With mice this is not the case, they will come back to the same trap over and again.

Both rats and mice will generally use the same route of travel on a regular basis, both being creatures of habit. Rats will leave more evident proof of their route leaving oily stains rubbing off from the sides of their bodies that will appear over a period of time, along a wall, entry to an opening or corner they travel, often called run marks.

As far as similarities, they both must gnaw on a regular basis. If not their teeth will grow too long and into their heads and could kill them. They are both responsible for the contamination of major quantities of food in the world by chewing through packaging or urinating on raw materials or the finished product which is then destroyed. Also, rats especially, are the cause of many electrical fires due to their gnawing into live wiring. Not to mention the diseases they may carry and transfer. Consider the bubonic plague for instance.

They both live in nests with others and have similar breeding habits, however a rat is much more cruel, I hope is the best word here. For instance, if a rat colony is already overcrowded and food source is low, they will actually kill and eat new borns immediately so they won't affect their food source. I have never heard of this to be true within a mouse nest.

for more info go to...

http://www.ratbehavior.org/RatsMice.htm#...

HOPE THIS HELPS

*runnergirl*

Answer 6

Rats are bigger than mice, and usually live a year or two longer. Mice are said to have better temperaments but i havent owned a rat so i'm not to sure about that one.

Answer 7

_Size_

mice are smaller than rats.

_Attitude_

although all mice & rats have diff. personalities, rats are calmer (normally). Rats can also handle tiny treats every once in a while (well... treats u wouldnt give a mouse)

I personally prefer Mice because...

-take up less space

- more active (which is bad when they sneak out)

- smarter ( in my opinion)

- adjust quicker