Awww...when you mentioned your daughter wrote music for your rat, it made me smile.How nice!!! I am sure Poppy enjoyed it.Rats have been known to enjoy some kinds of music...nothing crazy loud or hard now! Nice, soft music.
I say yes.Altho I love guinea pigs too...I am just too much into rats.They are highly intelligent,affectionate,clean and very friendly.They are not too expensive to keep...except vet bills if they need to go can be pricey! But I find it isn't too expensive to keep them other then vet bills.As long as they have a roomy cage,proper diet and bedding and toys then it is all good.They need to be stimunlated and have something to do, otherwise they get bored and unhappy.Rats are excellant pets and are less likely to bite then a hamster!!!!