# Rude comments about your pets....



## Ergala

Why is it people have to make rude comments about other people's pets? I understand not everyone likes rats, but leaving comments on my pictures of them on FB saying stuff like "YUCK!" or "ooooh my snake is hungry!".....that's just mean and rude. I hate spiders, they terrify me and I have a serious phobia of them, I don't leave nasty comments about them on my friend's photos who have them as pets. I just don't look at them, they give me the heebie jeebies. I understand if you have mouse traps in your home, to each their own, but please don't make those comments on pictures of my girls. 

I will say that I have a friend who before was terrified of rats who now wants to meet my girls merely from seeing their pictures and following my posts about them. She wants to learn more about rats as companions and is possibly interested in welcoming a pair into her family. THAT is what I love and why I post about my girls so much and post pictures of their adventures and shenanigans. So that people who were uneducated and misinformed can see the truth about these guys and perhaps be willing to be more receptive to them. Another woman was posting in a pet group looking for a larger cage for her son's two grls. I mentioned building one for cheaper than buying, we started PMing and she friended me and I explained immersion when she said that they are unfriendly because he never handled them. They are 8 months old. We chatted for hours last night and I mentioned this forum so hopefully she joins it. I told her a socialized rat is a happy rat.

I kind of want to form a local rat society. There seems to be a few of us who are rat owners who would benefit from getting together a few times a month to discuss our companions and maybe even do same sex play dates once in awhile if that was possible.


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## ratsaremylife

When I post rats on FB their are a few people saying things like 'not my cup of tea' but not in a mean way. I have had people say in person things like that. I know some guy who wants rats but finds me getting a hairless one is gross.


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## Ergala

It makes you wonder if they would say that if they thought your child was ugly. "Meet my new baby!"...."OH GOOD GRIEF!!!!! YUCK!".....


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## ratsaremylife

Lol. I'm sure some people would!


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## Ergala

Lol!


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## lalalauren

My favourite one is "do you actually pick them up???"...why is that so hard to believe!?


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## monster_paws

I've had strangers give me nasty comments to my face before. However, I don't have a problem getting nasty back. Oh, you think rats are gross? Well I think your face is gross. 

Yeah I know, I'm such a petty child  But it's interesting how such a childish rebuttal like that can get people so huffy and indignant. They think they can go around and attack other people, but when the tables turn they get all butthurt. Although I feel like people think they can get away with comments because I look so small and unassuming; they don't expect little me to snap back.


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## arigrace

Even my boyfriend gives me nasty comments about my rats! I make sure they don't ever smell too bad but all he can talk about is how it smells like rat crap. He never shuts up about how they smell, and then gets mad at me for being upset. It really gets on my nerves and he won't talk about it unless I'm saying he's right (which he's not...). No one else thinks they smell. He's just a butthead, I guess.


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## Ergala

Pacha smells like maple syrup sometimes! Her poop smells when it's fresh though! And her farts stink too. Artemis needs a bath, tonight I'll be getting some all natural baby shampoo for them. It irks me so much when people insult anything I willingly share my home with (or my home in general). Don't like it, don't come in.


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## arigrace

Yeah. What I hate most is that he uses it to try to get stuff from me.. When we get into fights, he tries to use it against me, and I'm just like "..well you're being a tool and if you don't like my rats, leave." I would never survive without my babies. I bathe the male as often as is healthy for him. He does get stinky fast but it's not an obvious smell, ya know? Like you have to be _trying _to smell it to get a whiff of it at all. It's just ridiculous to me. I get so personally insulted when he calls them disgusting.


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## Tufty+Flo

I know quite a lot of my friends have been like rats eww and then when they saw them they actually really liked them! There's nothing wrong with being uneducated with rats, it's just when people get rude that it's a problem. And you think why won't you mind your own business and respect other people's pet choices? But some people with always have something rude to say about anything they don't like but it is best to just ignore them  quite a few people have been like eww how can you have rats and why did you choose such an animal but they don't really mean it in a bad way and I just explain why I have rats and why I keep them as pets. I get their not everyone's cup of tea but if people are rude then I just kinda end the conversation and don't waste my breath on someone who doesn't deserve it!!!!!!!


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## arigrace

All my friends who haven't met my rats LOVE them from the stories I've told them. My boyfriend is like the only person out of my social group who actually knows my rats and he is the only one who criticizes me for them, even though he loves them too.. I just wish some people would get their noses back into their own books and leave my babies alone.


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## Ergala

Exactly. I've seen the hoarder episode where the man was hoarding rats....that was a sad sad case and I can imagine the smell in that house. But I find that the litter box from my two cats smells worse than my two rats do hehe. And if I get peed on I immediately remove my shirt when I am done playing with the girls and get tossed into the laundry. Rat pee comes out pretty easily in the wash. I use fleece in their cage which is also laundered so their cage doesn't have an odor either. I get the poop out every day and every other day I change the fleece. No smell at all.


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## arigrace

Oh gosh yes, I could never ever deal with having to clean a cat litter box. Avery's water bottle leaked last week and his bedding was entirely soaked and that smelled just as bad as cat litter, but I cleaned it out immediately. The smell has never ever bothered me other than that, and there's three cages in my room. Some people just have a bad image about rats and just assume that all rats are smelly, gross, untidy creatures.. And that makes me so sad.


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## Ergala

Rats are incredibly clean. I have two cats....and my 1 year old kitty Tardis....well....I'll let the video speak for itself.[video]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203604574859032&l=592575966173830004 8[/video]


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## arigrace

Oh my goodness! What a naughty cat. My dogs get in the garbage too. And my stubborn, untrained dachshund pees and poos all over the place, way more than my rats ever have.


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## nanashi7

People only say my house smells of animals when they come in knowing how many animals I have, I found. Those who come in then see how many pets I have do make petty comments like "oh wow I'm surprised your house doesn't stink". Like having pets makes me unable to keep a clean home. 

My professor who found I put his class work behind any ratty vet appts or emergencies was very upset and said I should get a eagle and balance out my problems. He's always asking about my eleven rats -- never my rats, but their specific number. He refuses to believe there are rat shows and anybody who isn't crazy could own and appreciate rats. 


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## TNCraftyRat

When I first got into rats a few months ago I wasn't really attracted to dumbo rats and hairless ones are still kind of odd just like any other hairless animal whose species usually has fur. Just because those specific kinds of rats are not my thing doesn't mean I am going to say that they are ugly. I do think they are cute if the picture is right. But then I guess it all boils down to their personality. I might end up with one if I ever got the opportunity. I do find it to be a serious offense for anyone to say anything bad about my rats although most do not, they just give me "that" look and you all I am sure know which one I am talking about. I do feel we as rat owners need to educate people that domestic rats are as clean if not more so than most other pets. Sure, wild rats do have a possibility of carrying diseases or the fleas that have diseases but so too can any other wild animal.


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## Gannyaan

People will always pick on you if tey know it will get to you  don't let their jokes bother you and yaou will encounter less of them...


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## Ergala

Arigrace There is another one where earlier in the evening we had a stand off when he perched on the counter and prepared to investigate the garbage. One of my friends messaged me and said that it was one of the funniest things he's ever watched. Then you see my other kitty Marrah bringing me mittens and playing fetch....Tardis is so naughty LOL!

The stand off:
[video]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203603888281868&l=330316655976356140 9[/video]

Sonata, Marrah, the mousie and me (9 minutes long....towards the end I REALLY start to feel the medication....it gets funny)
[video]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203597229955414&l=698349002315511194 7[/video]

Sonata, Marrah the mitten and me later that same evening....complete with the laugh. Only a few minutes long. This is priceless.
[video]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10203596816545079&l=790880036954782690 48[/video]


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## RatBaby

Oh my gosh, Ergala. This seriously just happened to me a few minutes ago. I posted an absolutely precious photo of all three of my babies sleeping and one girl wrote 'this seriously makes me want to throw up'. Like, what the ****? I really don't understand why people are so disgusted by rats! Honestly, they spend as much time as my cats cleaning themselves!! They are not dirty! They are beautiful creatures! I just could never see a rat as ugly or disgusting, especially not my babies!


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## MichaelK

My mother thinks they are cute but she still is unsure about them. It's like 60% of the time she's okay with me getting them then 40% is spent shuddering and shaking her head. It's a very interesting thing to see someone battling with the cuteness of them and the idea that rats are disgusting brought on by their wild cousins. I think it's all about educating people on them. I used to dislike pigs till my girlfriend got her micro pig now I lovee pigs. People are just quick to judge what they don't understand.


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## Urithrand

RatBaby, I would have probably come to blows with someone if they'd said that about my boys!


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## Ergala

Ratbaby that is when I would be tempted to post the same comment on a picture of one of their more traditional pets....but I know that it's rude  I will give them this though, Artemis smells baaaaaaaad, like really bad. She is one foul smelling little rat and today she is getting a bath. I bought frozen peas for during and lots of blueberries and yummies to reward her for afterwards. No idea why she is a stinky girl but she is. I couldn't figure out what the smell was but last night when I was saying good night and giving nuzzles I realized it was her. Pacha smells like maple syrup and she smells like diarrhea.


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## arigrace

I don't see how anyone at all could find these precious creatures disgusting.. I hate the bad image that rats receive. They are only mean if humans treat them badly. ): 

My five baby boys are starting to smell but I don't have a very huge cage for them right now and they tear out the bedding constantly while trying to burrow in it. It's all over the place. Do you guys think it would be bad to bathe baby rats (about 4-5 weeks old)?


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## Ergala

You could let them go pea diving! That's what I'm going to do with Artemis. And then I'm going to be slick and gently soap her up as she's eating a pea. Oh for pete's sake it's WWE in their cage again.


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## arigrace

That's a good idea! Thanks. Maybe I'll try that. 
And I understand the whole WWE thing. These babies fight over everything.


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