I'll add in my vote for rats, HOWEVER I'll caution you: TRY TO BUY FROM A BREEDER.
Petstore rats are often not as social and friendly, and have a tendency to have more health issues.
Now, in my experience... the boys were the better "cuddle" pets- the girls more standoffish. The girls, however, were all pet store rats- and all but one seemed to like humans less. The one who did like humans unfortunately suffered a stroke as far as we can guess, and became rather neurotic- she had to be fed with an eye dropper, and got to a point where she'd try to bite me and my fingers rather than eat.
A truely good cage is all wire (except the drop pan), but smaller gauge then that normally used for other animals (unless only housing fully grown rats). However, I've had success modifying Rubbermaid storage tubs. We simply cut a huge plastic square out of the top and attached hardware cloth or another small-gauge metal square material. We used zip-ties for one cage, and had to switch to paperclips with the second because one of the girls was a chewer
Some people have success making cages out of metal storage cute shelves, or from wire shelving attained at a hardware store.
I really miss my boys. Currently I only have one rat, and rats usually should be kept in pairs. I became allergic while pregnant, however, and didn't want another rat to pick up this one's habit of biting/hard nipping when you get your fingers too close to "her" box. -.-
My boys were my sweethearts. Two were brothers, and breeder-bred, the 3rd was a storebought male. The storebought was the first to go- and he was my special boy. Second was Blaze, the sweetest of the three (he was a rattie ambassador), and the last to go was Hoggle- the escape artist and most cantakerous and bold of the three. They lived on average 2 years, and rats usually only live 2-3 years (though I've heard of 5-7)... the oldest one I owned was nearly 3.
When Blazie boy and Hoggle passed, even my non-pet oriented husband was upset. He was attached to them. For a long while, they lived out in our living room
If you want, PM me- I'd be glad to share links and more info, or even just answer any questions you might have. I can also answer questions on Betta fish, or rabbits- some are small enough to be kept in an apartment
I can't resist, I have to post my memorial pic for the "Misfit Mischief'- the three boys, Toby, Blaze, and Hoggle.
