Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #154268 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 104 pages

Customer Reviews

Excellent book for new rat owners!
This book came highly recommended to me by several rat owners so I thought I'd give it a go!...I certainly wasn't disappointed!

As someone who is planning to get rats this book is full of useful information regarding their training and care. It goes far beyond what the title suggests with chapters on preparing for your new pets, choosing rats, building trust, play time and so much more. It contains interesting sections that you wouldn't find in most rat books as many authors wouldn't bother to mention things like harness walking, playing outside and roll around balls etc. - as someone who has never owned rats before I found these small tips very useful and helpful when buying supplies and knowing what to expect.

There are some lovely photos in the book which are not only incredibly cute but also really demonstrate the points being made. Unlike some pet books there is plenty of information to accompany them too!

The section on introducing new rats would be helpful to any owner and I found the chapter on play time gave me some good ideas. I particularly liked the way the author also suggested homemade substitutes as well as shop bought items.

If you are an experienced owner and really looking for a serious training book then perhaps this isn't the book for you. The training sections in this book are more for the first time owner, focusing on general trust building and calling by name which you can then build on rather than more intensive tricks etc.

Overall I think this is a brilliant book covering all the essentials and full of good advice. It's a very complete all round care book and I would certainly recommend it to any rat owner. You certainly get your money's worth!

A great guide to rat training
When I got this book I didn't think it would be very good as it is quite thin but I was wrong.

This book is good for mainly begginers but is good for experieced owners as well. It uses an easy to understand style of writing and in every chapter they use the names of two rats to help explaining. As well as a training guide this also helps with many other issues such as travelling with rats and how to introduce new rats.

Overall this book is very helpful and I would definatly reccomend it for new rat owners.

An informative guide to looking after pet rats
Although the title suggests a book devoted to training rats, this well-presented little manual is really a comprehensive introduction to keeping rats as pets. The book is based on the (correct) premise that rats are intelligent, sociable creatures with natural curiosity: They enjoy and benefit from the mental stimulation and social interaction involved in training.

The authors of this American book are evidently very fond of rats. Perhaps as a result, the language used sometimes lapses into the childish. This is no more than a minor criticism, because the information given is generally sound and the advice useful.

The book is broken down into brief chapters, each dealing with a different aspect of rat management. The book starts with the sensible questions of whether a rat is the right pet for you and, perhaps more importantly, are you the right sort of person to look after rats. It goes on to cover housing and feeding rats, the selection of a pet and getting to know your rat. The information on rat behaviour, toys for rats and training is excellent. There is also thoughtful advice on rat-proofing rooms, transporting rats and social responsibilities when introducing your rat to other people.

As the opening chapter suggests, if you are thinking of owning a rat, you should glean as much information as you can before actually bringing one home: "Training your Pet Rat" can be recommended as a very good starting point for learning about rats and rat care.