Rats are friendly pets that love to chew. They happily nibble snacks. Then they give themselves baths! These critters make great pets, and this title proves it. The book is a guide for pet rat care, including what they eat, where they live, and how they play. The fun text combines with a profile, a supply list, and a care duties checklist to create an engaging primer on pet rats!

Text and photographs follow a twelve-year-old girl as she learns to care for her pet rat.

People have prejudices about and fears towards rats; they are misunderstood creatures. However, for a large segment of the population, the rodents are cherished pets. The fancy rat is the most common breed of domesticated or pet rat. The name fancy rat derives from the idea of animal fancy (the promotion of domesticated animals) or the phrase "to fancy" (meaning to like or appreciate). Wild-caught specimens that become docile and bred for many generations still fall under the fancy type. In this book, animal activist and photographer Diane Ozdamar shares compelling, personality-filled portraits and stories about rats she’s fostered, leading the way to help the countless rats currently living in animal shelters to find loving homes. The stories that accompany the portraits will give readers a sense of each subject’s unique personality, fascinating behaviors, and social interactions. In addition, özdamar provides tips about rats’ care and maintenance and explains how to adopt rescue rats, how many rats to adopt, and why. Readers will also get a behind-the-scenes look at özdamar’s photographic approach, including how she uses a mini photo studio to produce such images. She provides quick photography tips for people who’d like to take pictures of their rats, lending the confidence they need to enjoy their own creative photo shoots.

Shares the author's experiences with her pet rat Iris, offering anecdotes of her antics and other rat owners and discussing how to care for rats, health concerns, life spans, and eating habits.

"Provides basic information about rats and keeping them as pets"--Provided by publisher.

This is our seventh set of Happy, Healthy Pet titles. Like the others, they are books pet owners can turn to for the essential information they need to raise a healthy, happy pet. All books contain information on: feeding grooming housing health care what to expect from the pet basic training As our series expands and focuses on different kinds of pets, the emphasis remains on making the pet a companion. Owners of more unusual pets will particularly appreciate the expert advice in these books because professional care for exotic animals can be hard to come by. As always, the instruction on the books is from experts—people who know their pets intimately but always remember what it was like to have one the first time. Happy, Healthy Pet guides are rich with professional quality color photos and are designed to be enjoyable and easy to learn from. More and more people are discovering each year what affectionate, intelligent and charming pets rats can be. Ginger Cardinal already knows. She's the former president of the Rat, Mouse and Hamster Society and a longtime breeder, exhibitor, judge and dedicated companion of these special rodents.

This is our seventh set of Happy, Healthy Pet titles. Like the others, they are books pet owners can turn to for the essential information they need to raise a healthy, happy pet. All books contain information on: feeding grooming housing health care what to expect from the pet basic training As our series expands and focuses on different kinds of pets, the emphasis remains on making the pet a companion. Owners of more unusual pets will particularly appreciate the expert advice in these books because professional care for exotic animals can be hard to come by. As always, the instruction on the books is from experts—people who know their pets intimately but always remember what it was like to have one the first time. Happy, Healthy Pet guides are rich with professional quality color photos and are designed to be enjoyable and easy to learn from. More and more people are discovering each year what affectionate, intelligent and charming pets rats can be. Ginger Cardinal already knows. She's the former president of the Rat, Mouse and Hamster Society and a longtime breeder, exhibitor, judge and dedicated companion of these special rodents.