The first pet I got after I moved in with my boyfriend was a hamster. He is very sweet now but was very scared and unfriendly to begin with, hence I decided to purchase two rats.

My husband was dead against the idea at first and I had to take my friend with me to buy them. However now he now loves them just as much as I do and I couldn't part them if I tried!

Ratties are just so friendly and clever and much cheaper than having a dog or cat. You do need a very large cage for them to live in though. We had 4 ratties at one point and even though two died the two that are left still live in the same size cage.

Ratties need lots of toys to play with and time out of their cage every day (we let them run about in our spare room or outside in a rabbit run in the height of summer). If you provide these simple things for them you will get so much back in return.

Oh yes, and remember not to first look at their tails - look at their lovely little faces and you will fall in love with them forever!

one of our ratties, Rosie was extremely clever and used to come running whenever we called her name - this did take some training though so be prepared that you need to spend a lot of time with your ratties if you want them to perform tricks for you!

one final thing - we have never been bitten by our ratties but make sure you buy your ratties from a reputable breeder and not just any old pet shop - many ratties have a disease called myco which is a lung disease. Make sure you listen to the ratties chests before you buy - any wheezing, don't buy them!