To friend or not to friend...that is the question

Question
We recently purchased a hairless rat - and want to get her a friend.  She is 10 weeks old..and the pet store said it would not be good to get a fancy rat to put with her - they would fight.  They are going to ask the breeder our rat came from for a "furred" rex to be with her....
In reading - it seems to me the only difference between our CHica and a fancy rat is hair (or lack there of)
Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Shannon

Answer
Yes, a friend would be fine.  Pet store employees are not trained properly to know about most of the small animals they are supposed to be in charge of...sadly. In fact, the store manager doesnt even know. I cant tell you how many times I have had to explain things to them, even when it comes to proper care of the hermit crabs and other small animals they sell. Totally clueless.

Rats are highly social animals and prefer to live with other rats. To say anything other wise is not accurate.  However, the older they get and longer they are alone, the more it is important for proper introductions to occur rather than just tossing them in with strangers, esp if you have males. Rats born together get along great unless they are inbred and have aggression problems that doesnt usually show up until puberty. This pertains more to males than females, however.