Rats are social animals so you should have more than one. A couple of males or a couple of females is fine. Having a single rat is cruel. It would be like putting you in solitary confinement.

How old is your daughter? If she is in the double digits then yes.
Rats are great pets. They are clean and don't make much noise. They are intelligent and you can teach them tricks. Like with any other creature, their personalities develop in direct correlation with the amount of attention you give them. I had rats all through grade school. They were awesome.

Advice - NO NO NO NO NO.

@SkotlandSkye has a lovely pet rattie.

I have had pet rats, while I had small children. I do think rats make excellent first pets they might not be suitable for toddlers. They are intelligent, easy to train, loving, funny and curious. As with any pet it's a huge commitment. There is probably lots of info to be found on the internet. Be prepared, they usually only live 3-5 years and can get sick and die the first year. They do not have a long lifespan.

As with ANY animal, with a very young child, there should always be some close supervision to assure both the animal and the kid are enjoying their time together !

Rats are truly satisfying pets ! Handle them regularly and there's little chance of mishap.

Rats are fantastic pets! Smarter than dogs, cuddly, and trainable. We had rats when my son was very young, and got along wonderfully. I had to teach him to respect the pet rats as members of the family, so he would treat them well, but we never had issues from Jack and Tasha, the rats.

That said, rats need attention in order to thrive, on the level of children, so keep that in mind when dividing your time.

I'll take the pet rat. Pet children take up more room, require expensive clothing, and are more expensive to feed. Also, you don't have to send the rat to college.

This is a very interesting and unique post. I say this because I am going to be very interested in the comments that follow.

If she likes Squirrels them I'm sure she should have not problem with Rats. Mice may be a softer way to advance if you have any real concerns and then you can proceed from there and onto her Academic Pursuits which I am sure will go way ahead of many others.

No..had one before..so smart it's scary..great pets..need a lot of attention.

My daughter has 2 guinea pigs ..not so smart but cute..

Oh, yes! I say have animals in the house to teach your toddler right from wrong. Teach your toddler not to pull the rat's tail, or not to pet it too hard or too much, etc. Toddlers are very smart and you can easily teach them to be gentle with animals. If you are too worried about safety, then I suggest not.

My opinion. I see pet rats like having pet house roaches. I'm personally disgusted by having rats as pets. Having said that, a co-worker has pet rats. She showed me pics and I found that the kind she had was not the "New York City" rat kind that lurks underneath trash dumpsters. Hers looked more like a gerbil. To each his own. But rats, disgust me. Even the word "rat" is disgusting. Why not a gerbil or hamster?