Rats: Practical Advice from the Expert (CompanionHouse Books) Choosing Your Pet, First Aid, Fun Activities, Tricks, Training Tips, Diet, Nutrition, Communication, and More (Complete Care Made Easy)

I learned some more facts about my pet rat!! I've had rats as loving pets off and on my whole life (I'm 65) and I still learned some more facts and tips!! Great book for rat lovers like me!! I HIGHLY recommend it!!

The author was a technical advisor for Disney and helped them animate rats to appear more realistically. Called by everyone who knew her "The Rat Lady", Debbie Ducommun is (was) probably the world's foremost authority on everything that pertained to rats. Had the honor of being able to call her friend. She was one of the most giving and most compassionate people I've ever met. If you think you want to try out rats as a pet this book is a must have. It's spelled out in extremely easy to understand laymen's terms. Despite what most people think about rats they are actually one of the smartest and loving little animals on Earth and super fun to have and raise. The good news / bad news about them is they don't require a life long commitment to them as they generally only have a life span of 2.5-3 years on average. The down side to that is? I guarantee you'll fall in love with these little guys and wish you had longer with them. Conversely if you're one of the rare people who just don't end up liking them too much then it's not like a decade plus they're gonna be around. If you're just thinking about it? Get the book and read it. I guarantee there's plenty enough to let you know whether or not this is a journey you would want to take or not....

Good book for brands of cages, foods, different types of bedding, and more. It even has tips and a "breeding guide" at the end. I really enjoyed the book and found it very helpful for a pet rat. Although, I wish the book offered more about training the rats. I'm interested in that for sure!Awesome guide for if the rat(s) is/are your first pet. Apparently the author wrote another book about rats and maybe it has more info about (my interest) training. This book is joyful and worth reading! :-)Please note: This review is written by a 10 year old

I read several different books about pet rats and this author is one of the best on the subject of pet rats. She goes into the necessary detail about why they need to live with at least one other rat (even details some temporary exceptions like medical recovery & hospice).Much of the information here is congruent with the information I have gotten from my trusted rat veterinarian and the rescue group from which I have adopted my rats from. The nutrition bits stray some and I can't imagine either recommending free rein of a house. To this author's credit she does go into detail about the necessary safety steps for rat proofing a room, being able to reliably summon your pets, and things to watch out for.This sounds like a lot but she does a fantastic job of breaking the information up into bite size pieces so that anyone including an elementary student can aquire the necessary information to properly care for their pets without feeling overwhelmed or completely lost.She even goes over a few easy to teach tricks that rats really enjoy learning. Or maybe my pet rats have always been extra eager for a treat and didn't mind doing a little extra to get it quicker.Plus she gives valuable information links/contacts for other pet rat related organizations which is a great resource for additional information.

This book practically covers everything you need to know about your rats, would recommend to anyone looking for ways to enrich their play, bond, or tend to their rats health.

Purchased book for daughter at Christmas for her new pet rats. Provides detailed information on care and diet.

Yes, Debbie Ducommum is THE expert in rat care. I give this book out to new rat owners as it is the most complete and accurate guide to the care, feeding, medicating, and training of rats. It is written for the layman in simple english. It is a guide that tells you when your rat is sick and how to avoid expensive medical treatments by preventive measures. This is the Bible on rat care as far as I am concerned. I have a rat rescue and this book has been inspirational and saved me hundreds of dollars in vet bills and has lengthened the life of many of my rats.

Beautiful book, so well designed. My only critique is there really isn't much information in here. I could've picked this up at a bookstore and gotten literally all the information out of it that I needed in one quick sitting... so, I'm not sure I'd buy it again knowing this. But it's a very well-done book, good graphics, the info that it does have is good.