# Sorry



## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

I am sorry for Everything Stupid that I have done on this site.
And I apologize for everything that Has happened.
I have started to Really like this site because everyone here is nice a responds kinda Quick to everything but I ruin my rep here so I guess since I have been a problem lately that i will resign from ratforum.com.

Also, To get this Straight, My Family and I Do Breed Rats for Food.
Its not my favorite thing but we do it. 
And That rat butt that I posted for help with sexing,
I Can Sex Rats but He/She is only around a week old and Has spots All over his/her body that look like nipples so I wasnt positive.
I posted to see if somebody could tell by the spacing between the things...
(the butt and the thing. Keeping it pg here) 

So I am either going to take a very long vacation from this site or I will just stop coming for sure. 

If I stay then i will ask around via pm before posting a new thread.
I will watch what i type. and i will try and stay low on here.

Sorry for all the problems i have caused and good bye.


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Matt, let me put it this way.

You stirred the pot rather vigorously and then wondered why it sloshed over. Yes, we understand that some people do breed for food, but you started up a controversial subject, you have to expect people to argue about it. You seem very eager about this and somewhat over excitable about it all. Take it slowly. Make sure you know what you're getting into with pet rats that will need to be played with outside the cage daily, etc.

If you do decide to leave, then I'm sorry. This is a rather nice, informative forum and I think you'd benefit from sticking around. Just read more and post less for a little while, maybe, so you can see how people will react to things?


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

I have many animals as you know and EVERY Single one of MY Very own
(My Bird, My Dogs, My Snake...not parents they do there own) Gets held and played with each and every day.
I am Able and have the time for a few more critters and have been researching PET Rats for a Very long time now. And I feel that I have Learned enough to get me threw the day. (its a saying)

I have decided to just lay low for a while and not post every 5 seconds.
And also stop posting stupid nonsense questions like how to make a hammock, breeding for food, ....all my previous posts fit this area.

But seeing as I have gotton on a lot of peoples nevres i am rethinking
because i dont wanna start anymore stupid stuff again.

if people here are willing to forgive me and willing to let evrything go them i will stay.
But if i am not wanted, i will leave for good.


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## Night (Feb 23, 2007)

We don't mind newbies, we just mind people who...

A.) Mistreat rats
B.) Breed rats for food
C.) Have rats in too-small of a cage
D.) Feed the incorrect food
E.) Don't take their rats regularly to the vet (ALL of them, not just your pets)
F.) Most of all, we don't want people who can't take advice and who continue doing what they're doing, even though it's wrong.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

if you all are willing to forgive and forget the past then i will stay on the forum and will think before posting.


and just so you know I am Trying to get bigger cages by saving the most possible money from my own pocket that I can.

So, am I staying or not? 
Can we forget everything that has happened and start all over?


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## Taru (Jun 9, 2007)

I know I don't have a problem with you personally, but you have started some topics that are going to spark heated discussion and then you want us to forget they ever happened. I understand that you are younger (no idea how old really) and that you can't go against your parents' wishes, but you don't have to defend them either if you don't agree with them. However, if you do agree with them then perhaps this isn't the best place for you.

I'm not writing any of this to attack you, or even say anything bad about you, but you have to understand that most of the members of this forum are over the age of 18, have had rats for a while (well except for me, but I'm the exception not the rule) and that they love rats a whole lot. Talking about feeding rats to snakes (even if it's to keep the snake alive) isn't something we want to hear, or think about. In fact it's something most of us fight against in real life.

If you want to stay, that's great! Learn about how wonderful rats are, and why we love them and are so against breeding them for food, or breeding them without knowing more about the parents and genetics, and wanting to keep lines healthy and friendly. Learn about how intelligent rats are, and how much fun they are to train and become wonderful companions. Learn about proper feeding and caging and health. Then, once you've learned a little more from the pet owner's perspective rather then the feeder breeder's perspective, think about rescuing some of the rats from your parents. 

Also, there is a reason that topics are threaded, you can talk about more then one thing in a thread. Posting 15 different topics all in the same day is considered a little rude on the internet. If you want to talk about a cage, and bedding, and toys, they can all go in the same topic, not three different ones. If you sit back for about a week, you can see that this is how conversation flows a little better. Again, it's notthing against you, just something that you didn't know. 

I personally have nothing agianst you as a person, I think you just have a lot to learn, and this is a great place to do it. However to learn, you also have to listen. So listen for a week or so, and once you feel you can be a part of the forum as an educated member, then start posting again.

Sorry this was so long. 

Emy


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

The whole idea of joining here was to Learn about Pet rats and Then Rescue as Many as I can from the Garage. Sorry for posting so much but It didnâ€™t know About the rude thing and will start to think before I post. Also, I didnâ€™t Realize What I was doing when I made the Breeding for food topic and I apologize for that. I will stop making nonsense threads like toys, bedding, etc. 


I only posted some dumb questions because I have never had a Pet rat and I am still in the Stages of Curiosity about them. 

I am going to sit back and watch but I will not become the poster that I was before.

So, If I have any Questions I will ask in one of the threads I currently have now.


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Posting is alright. But there is a search function that will lead you to answers in many past topics.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Where is the Search Thing?


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## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Matt said:


> Where is the Search Thing?


On the top of every page, under the green head. Four links. Forum FAQ. Search. Private Messages. Logout.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

ok, ill use that more often. thank you.


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Matt, I realize you are in a situation where your parents have "the power," and you don't. Still, I beg of you, please, as a personal favor to me, do ALL you can do to make the lives of the rats in your home wonderful. ~Especially~ if the rat is going to have a short life, he or she should at least get to experience a beautiful life, with some favorite foods, and love from rats and people, and plenty of room. Since you have rats, you obviously realize that they are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures...so do your best to treat them like highly intelligent and sensitive creatures.

I would only ask that you do the most that you can do.

As far as posting goes, just keep in mind that, to most of the people here, the death of ~one~ rat is a tragedy that will always be remembered with sadness and mourning. Many of us here cry when another member of the forum has a rat that passes on. We LOVE our little ratties. Before you write something, consider how it will affect the people who read it.

I would reccomend sticking around, though, because you can learn a lot of things that will make your rats happier and healthier, which is a positive.

P.S. If you go to the forum called, "Over The Rainbow Bridge," and read some of the posts there about our beloved ratties who have passed away, I think it will help you to understand how some of us feel about rats. Personally, I had to euthanize my first rat, Gregor Samsa, on Feb. 14, 2007, and it was the worst day of my life, and I will never be the same. I posted two threads on that forum about Gregor, and the people here helped me work through some of it. To us, there is no such thing as "just a rat."


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

Thats the thing, I wanna stick around and ask questions and learn more so i can give excuses to get the rats better cages, foods and lives.
But I made a bad choice about the other thread and people wont stop hate'in on me.

aand seeing as i am still a minor living with my parents, i cant tell them to what to do.

all i wanna do is have all this disapear and start over. i wanna ask questions without people going:

"How can you live with yourself?"

i just wanna be respected like everyone else here


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but as far as I am concerned, if you DO ALL YOU CAN DO to give the rats in your home a good life, then I think that it would be a good thing for you to stay, read, discuss, and learn about what ~makes~ a rat's life "good." As you mentioned, it will also give you some leverage because of knowledge when discussing things with your parents. You will be able to say, "Did you know that Debbie Ducomm, in her book on rat health, says..." or "I took a poll at the rat forum, and 95% of the people think..." etc.

It's not great that you're caught up in a "feeder breeder" situation, but if you care enough to take positive steps, then it will make things better for the rats, and better is, well...BETTER. Personally, I am perfectly willing to treat you with respect, as long as I take into consideration that the reason you are here is to try to better the lives of your rats, and as long as you take into consideration that you are among people who consider rats to be as important as humans.

I have no doubt that, the more you read and learn, the more you'll "get the hang" of things.

As the saying goes, "It's better to light a single candle, than to curse the darkness." Let's work on lighting that candle.


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

thank you holly and i read a few articles in the "Over the Rainbow Bridge" thread and I am sorry for your loss.

I think it is time we all get back to the board and start doing what we joined here to do....Talk about Ratties.

I am willing to do it if everyone else here is.


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## Rodere (Feb 26, 2007)

I'm just catching up on this whole thing and going through old posts.

My initial opinion is much the same as everyone elses.. there is a lot of improvement needed with your rats and their conditions. But I see that you are saying you will fix that, so I hold out hope that you do. 

I'll try to remember that you are learning and wanting to do things the right way. 

Welcome to the forum and hopefully you'll learn everything you need to about your future pets. But I will tell you, it is very difficult to look at those little faces once you've gotten to know how great pet rats can be and know they'll be snakefood. You're in for a world of stress when it comes to that if you come to love them as much as the rest of us do.


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## Lestette (Jun 16, 2007)

I would like to say, "I'm sorry" to you as well. I joined this forum and my first post was an angry one at your feeder topic.

It's great that you are trying to learn more and I hope that you do pick up some more things around here.


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## ladylady (Apr 5, 2007)

If you have to keep breed rats for food then do it well and this is the place to learn how, similar to the differnce between factory rearedchicken and organic free range i supose.

I just wondered, how do you kill them?


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## Matt (Jun 14, 2007)

ladylady said:


> I just wondered, how do you kill them?


Co2 Gas. It is Painless. They fall asleep and they drift off to a Better Place.

Are you guys gonna rag on me for that?


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## KimmiesGuineas (Jun 14, 2007)

That's one of the problems- your attitude. It's great that you want to learn more and help the rats, but snide remarks are not going to help you. They may even hurt you if people think that you don't really care or you're unpolite. If you're associated with feeder-breeders and nasty comments then people who could really help you might not. 

It is really hard to read somebody's expression over the internet so there could also be hurt feelings and problems started by that. "Are you guys gonna rag on me for that?" is rude and unneccessary.


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## Taru (Jun 9, 2007)

I have to say that I agree with Kimmie, I had an experience on another site where many things were taken the wrong way because there is no way to see expession or hear tone of voice on the internet. You need to think about what you are typing so that you don't say something that could be taken as rude or disrespectful. People here have not been "ragging on you" they have been expressing their ideas, and their thoughts about the situation that your rats are in. 

You didn't have to post pictures of your cages, and their situation, you chose to, I think looking for more information about how to make it better. This is a wonderful thing that you want to improve the quality of life for your rats, something that should be commended, but ignoring advice or simply being standoffish doesn't do you any favors. If anything it makes people not want to deal with you at all. 

Instead of what you wrote you could have said: "Is there a better way to do this?" Or "Is this way not the most humane way possible?" Not "Are you guys going to rag on me for this?" Just your choice of words can make a huge difference. Think about that when you post.

Emy


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

I want to know if this thread is going to turn out to be one that discusses killing rats. I know that it's a reality, but if I read about it, I get sad and start crying. This morning, I came here, and was surprised to read about "how do you kill them." Kind of an emotional ambush, as it were.

Is there a way we can say which threads are going to have disturbing stuff in them, and which threads aren't, because some of us are emotionally weak, and just can't take reading about stuff like killing. 

Oddly enough, it was the words, "drift off to a better place" that really got to me. That's what everyone said when I put Gregor to sleep and, well, as a lot of you know, I'm still not really 100% OK with that. I want to help with advice about happy rat lives, etc., but I want to avoid reading about killing as much as possible, because I feel so bad, still, about "killing" Gregor.

Thanks.


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## Taru (Jun 9, 2007)

Holly - that may be something that would be a good thing to discuss in the help and sugestions section, maybe have a symbol or code or something to go in the title of any thread that will be discussing any topics that may be upsetting to some members. I'll go make the thread.

Emy


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## Holly (Dec 31, 2006)

Thank you, Emy. Good idea.


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## KimmiesGuineas (Jun 14, 2007)

That is a good idea! Once somebody feels that it is upsetting they could click an 'upsetting' button and then the more clicks the different the colors become? Like one click could make it yellow, then orange when there's more, then red for even more, or something like that?


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## ladylady (Apr 5, 2007)

Yes trafic lights system would be good.
That dosent sound so bad Matt no.
I think the way I see this is like how farmers can also have pet sheep, some people can do that and there is a market for meat farmers work and have pets. Our rats eat other animals and dont spend much time discussing the welfare of the animals they eat. 
Matt, I think you should take a step back before you post, to me you come off defensive and confrontational. Try using different language to get you points accross. Personaly I will not worry to much about you being a "rat farmer" if they are the equivalent of organic, free range farm animals. 
So rats being cared for according to widely accepted care standards
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/habitat/
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/play/
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/information/breeding/
http://www.fancy-rats.co.uk/resources/webdirectory/

Maybe the author of the thread can edit the title to hilight the fact this thread is upsetting?


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