Every rat has its own unique personality making it important to learn about each rat as an individual. Your rat's specific behaviors can help you to determine his wellbeing, general health, and his needs on a day-to-day basis. It will also enable you to interact with your pet in a safer and more productive fashion.

Rats also have behavior patterns that are considered standard with the breed, making knowledge about the social interactions of rats in general very useful.

When you acquire multiple rats, the behavior issues become more complicated and it is important to know what to expect so that you can avoid any problems especially concerning introductions and dominance issues. Managing a colony without attention to behavior issues can result in injuries (even death in extreme cases).