My parents will ONLY allow me one rat. I've been doing a lot of research on his, and everyone says you need two. A teacher at my school has a single rat and says it's happy, but I'm still stuck. If I get just one, what can I do t make it happy/not lonely/not get neurotic behavior disorders? Please, don't go on rambling about how horrible it is to keep a rat alone. I am able to spend about 5 hours with the rat a day, give or take a bit. Is this not enough? Should I call off the rat altogether? And IF I manage to convince my parents to let me have two, how much more would it cost?