What variety of rat is the friendliest?
It is more a question of individual lines rather than a particular variety. Because rats haven’t been separately bred into certain breeds, any hereditary personality traits are outcrossed to and integrated with other lines. There are a few exceptions. Manx or tailless rats, due to the complexity of the genes for the trait, have had to be very carefully bred separate from other lines. At one point, there were some tendencies of aggression among these rats brought about by unsound breeding programs. Some exceptional breeders have successfully bred Manx rats for good health and personality. Dumbo rats tend to be more docile than others. This can be attributed to the fact that they were always bred as pets, never really lab rats or feeder rats. A breeder’s purposes significantly affect the personality of his/her animals, because, he/she will select the animals that will make the best companions for further breeding and not include the less friendly ones in the breeding program. In the same
