CocoLion, thank you! Rats are VERY personable, similar to guinea pigs. They are incredibly social animals and very smart/trainable - kind of the dogs of the rodent world. They are prey animals, like all rodents, so they can startle easily (mine don't like loud sounds or sudden motions) but are also very curious and playful. It's key to make sure they are socialized with humans from a young age - ideally since birth - and to always have multiple rats (something that I didn't know when I was young.)
I've always had female rats, which are stereotypically more active and playful. Male rats are typically "fat squishy cuddlers" - after puberty, most males settle down and are a little less active, and love being held and petted. However, males going through puberty can sometimes be aggressive toward one another.
We got Boo and Blinkin when they were about 7-8 weeks old. They were a little skittish the first couple days, but quickly they grew comfortable being held and napping in our arms. Now that they are young adults, they pretty much want to party all the time when they are out of the cage - I miss my sweet napping times! Sometimes they will chill out on our shoulders, but mostly they want to explore. We have a huge, emptied-out walk in closet with a light that we have transformed into our rat playroom, full of toys, so that we can just let them explore and play with them.
If you're interested, I upload videos of my girls on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channe.....0jBMegyHow
