Male vs Female rats

Question
i heard that male rats are calmer and i want to get a male but my mom is
worried that they smell much worse than the females because we used to have
mice and the males smelled much worse, thanks, sven

Answer
Male rats are NOTHING like male mice. However, these rodents need to be in a cage, not an aquarium, because the ammonia smell can build up and cause serious respiratory problems. As for the males being calm, this is also true, but one thing that is wrong is people expect to buy young male rats and are disappointed that they do not want to sit on your lap for hours while you pet them and instead prefer to run around and explore their surroundings. Both male and female rats are this way during their youth and it is normal. However, when the rats age, they calm down alot more and around the time the rat is about 18 months old, that is when he will be a nice lap rat.  Also, female rats are very prone to mammary tumors if they are not spayed and although males still have a chance of developing them it is not half as common with males as it is with females.
As for the odor: All animals have an odor, including humans. Proper cage cleaning is essential to be sure there is no excessive odor and this includes removing wet litter daily. Rats tend to urinate in the same spot and they are easy to litter train. If you get them to use a litter pan, all you need to do is dump it daily and add fresh litter. You will never have a problem with odor once you do that! Keep in mind rats are very social creatures and keeping them solo is cruel.  Although male mice should be kept solo due to violent fighting, this is not true with rats. Again, we are dealing with an entirely different species here. Rats are very intelligent and interact with their keeper. They learn to come when you call their name and also understand several simple commands. My rats know the word "treats" and they know their individual names. They also know when its time to come back to their cage when play time is up just by a simple sound I make and say the words "bed time,boys!" They all scramble for the ladder to the cage because thy know a bedtime snack awaits.  So there you have it....a bit more answer to the question that you asked but hopefully it will help you even if you didn't ask. :-)

Happy Holidays!!!!

Sandra Todd