[LadyBelle]

Mine run to the cage door, but they are mainly checking to see if I have brought treats in for them. Having them run around on the floor and watching them play can be extremely relaxing. There was one time I was laying on the floor to watch tv and one of the rats came up and snuggled up to me and fell asleep against me.

Watching the personalities can also be great. I have three rats; Mister ratty who is white with red eyes, Miles who is black and white, and Reggie who is a dove colored and white. Mister Ratty is greedy and will take a treat, go hide it in the corner, and then come back for another one to see how many he can get out of you. While he is busy hiding his and trying to get more, the other rats will eat one, and then go start stealing from the corner where Mister Ratty is stashing his. He views himself as smart, getting extra, and the other two view him as room service.

One thing, especially if you get male rats, is the urine issue. The rats will urinate against the bars of the cage and it basically will spray out against the wall or anything else near the cage. Make sure anything around the cage can easily be wiped off. The urine can also make the cage itself a mess as it evaporates and leaves behind a sticky residue. This can be easily cleaned with warm water or a vinegar mix, but if you buy a cage that can open enough to fully clean, it will make it much easier. I just bought the Ferret Nation cage for my guys.

Rats can also be litter trained depending on how much you work with them, and somewhat with natural personality. For the most part everyone I've talked to that spends time with the rats and on training the rats, they have learned to use the litter for pooping. Urine is more of a spontaneous thing and marking of territory, so you can't really get them to do that just in the box, but you can try.