Do rats or sugar gliders make better pets?

I am thinking of getting one of these two little creatures :]


and would like to know which one (in your opinion) makes the better pet





Which one ist smarter? which one is more loving, Easier to take care of? ect.





TY all who put in the time to help me out :D!Do rats or sugar gliders make better pets?
I've owned sugar gliders and rats - some things I noticed:





-Sugar gliders bite more than rats. You have to work with sugar gliders to get them to trust you. Rats don't really seem to mind being handled, unless they've had bad human experiences in the past.





-Rats smell worse than sugar gliders. No matter what, they have a fairly strong smell to them. However, sugar gliders can be pretty smelly if you don't clean their cage often, or if you have intact (not neutered) males.





-Rats are far easier to care for than sugar gliders. Their cage doesn't need to be as large, they don't need a specialized diet (just pick up a bag of rat food at the store), they don't require 4 hours of your time each day (sugar gliders need 3 hours during the day in a bonding pouch around your neck, then an hour of playtime at night), it's easier to find toys and other cage accessories for them, and overall, rats are cheaper. A rat at the pet store is what? $10? Normally, standard gray sugar gliders sell for around $150 - $200, average. (Sugar gliders are the cheap part to having sugar gliders!)





-Rats don't have to be kept in pairs without risking their health. Sugar gliders should always be kept in pairs, at least, because they are very social animals and live in large colonies in the wild. Single gliders may self mutilate/starve/dehydrate themselves to death due to depression from being alone. No matter how much time you spend with them, it doesn't replace a second sugar glider. You can't speak glider, you can't sleep in the pouch with them, you can't groom them like they groom each other, you can't run on the wheel with them - you can't compare to a second sugar glider.





-There's not really any way to say which is 'smarter.' Rats are very intelligent creatures, but sugar gliders are crafty. I've heard of some sugar gliders that learn their names (typically females), but you can teach rats tricks. Rats can also be potty trained, whereas sugar gliders can't be. Suggies will go potty wherever they are when they gotta go.





-Some will say rats are more loving, but I feel that sugar gliders are more loving. Rats will sometimes cuddle with you or chill on your shoulder, but sugar gliders will groom you, they'll bark for you (at 2 in the morning), they'll click to you, they'll dive down your shirt (if they're bra babies), they'll run to you if they're scared.... However, it takes time to establish this bond with sugar gliders. You have to be willing to take some bites, be crabbed at, etc. to gain this relationship with your gliders.





Feel free to e-mail me with any other questions if you'd like.Do rats or sugar gliders make better pets?
If your looking to get a easy to take care of pet get a rat. Sugar gliders are cute and look really cuddly but unless your used to staying up all night your not going to want one . Sugar gliders also have quite the complex diet . Rats can eat just about any thing can be trained to do tricks and to sit on your shoulder and they're not as expensive. I have a rat that just loves to sit in my pocket all day. If your a first timer at a small pet Definitely go with the rat. If you keep their cage clean you wont have to worry about smell and well guess who loves table scraps ...even the vegetables, I would have to say the rat is smarter... I haven't heard of a trained squirrel yet. Good luck hope this helps!
i used to have a rat she was the smartest sweetest animal in the world i loved her so much i trained her to do tricks and everything!
i would get a mouse because rats are discsing and sugar gliders are lazy!!!
Well when i had 3 rats I loved them to bits Ive never had a sugar glider!
I own 4 sugar gliders. So speaking from experience there are MANY MANY things to know before getting any. First off you MUST get at LEAST TWO sugar gliders. They are colony creatures and WILL get lonely. Loneliness leads to self mutilation which usually leads to death if not caught very early. No matter what anyone says, you can't speak glider, you can't cuddle in their pouch for warmth with them, and you can't run in their wheel with them. Humans simply can not replace a second glider. Secondly, their cages need to be as big as you can possibly afford. So the initial expense is usually over $500. It's about $100 for each glider, at least $150 for the cage, and about $100 for food, pouches, wheel, etc. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot just feed your glider a pellet food. They require a pretty complicated diet. There are many diets to choose from, but most of them include an ingredient or two that you can only find online. It usually takes me about an hour or two to make a batch of food. I freeze whatever I'm notfeeding them that night and the frozen stuff usually lasts about a month before I have to make more. Male gliders smell. Bad. Unless you get them neutered which is VERY VERY important. There are hundreds of gliders in need of homes because people get them and they don't end up having the time or the patience to bond and care for the creatures. Please, any animal you get please please get neutered. We don't need more homeless animals. Back to the gliders. They are nocturnal, so you need to be up rather late to see them play. And they are LOUD at night. They make lots of noises, one of the most common being ';barking';. This sounds just like what you're imagining. It sounds like a small dog barking. So if you are a teenager living with your parents and have to keep your gliders in your room, this usually doesn't work. They will come to you and they WILL bite. It can take months or even years [and lots of blood from the bites] to bond with a glider. Some gliders don't bond at all. Rarely do gliders bond within days or weeks. Gliders DO NOT LIKE TO BE HELD. A very rare few will not mind, but gliders are still wild animals and would much prefer to be on you than held by you. If out of their cage, they must be in a glider safe environment which means ANY HOLE THAT YOU CAN FIT YOUR THUMB INTO IS A DANGER. Gliders are very fast and very curious. They will run straight for the holes, you can count on it. Also taking them outside and to work with you and things like that are very stressful to the gliders. This can also lead to self mutilation. Unless your glider is VERY bonded to you, it is not recommended that you take them out of your home. Any more questions PLEASE FEEL FREE to email me. fadedrainbows828@yahoo.com


Also, I really recommend visiting sugarglider.com and glidercentral.net and just read the forums before decided whether or not to buy. While I love gliders I just feel it is really important that they go to good homes. Here is a link that talks about some of the needs of glider and the first sentence is ';So is a sugar glider a good pet for you?'; http://www.sugarglider.com/gliderpedia/i鈥?/a>