# "My pet would eat your pet!"



## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

THIS. ANNOYS. ME. SO. MUCH.

I am sick and tired of people making jokes about how their snake would _love _a play date with my rats. I'm fed up of people making jokes about how my rats smell like dinner to their dog or cat. It's not funny. They're my pets, I love them and these people know I love them, yet they find it oh so hilarious to make jokes about them being eaten alive. It wouldn't even be funny if they weren't my pets. 

Honestly, in my experience, snake owners are the worst for it, especially on social media. Oh yes, your snake eating my rats is so hilarious, like wow, I've never heard that one before. My own family have made jokes about the dog eating them, repeatedly, and I've actually snapped at them on multiple occasions because of it.

I would ignore it, I usually do ignore it, but it just keeps happening and I feel like I'm about to explode with rage. 

Argh


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

I find it pointless to get upset over it. Then again, I have a pretty wicked sense of humour, and often joke like this with my own rats, and when they're being naughty I'll threaten to feed them to my snake. I never would, obviously. 
It's just not something I care about, people say stuff, who cares. It gets old. My grandmother hates both snakes and rats, and made a comment a couple weeks ago that snakes don't love you, which they don't, but then she said "heck I don't even think rats love you back". I just told her that they do, it's not really a big deal. 
I'm not a big fan of "not stooping to other's levels" either, so really I'd have no problem joking about snakes, "smells like a pair of new boots/wallet/belt/etc." 
Sure it's annoying, hearing anything over and over again gets annoying, but it's far from upsetting to me. People have their own opinions and I don't care. 

Something I do hate, is saying they STINK. They do start to smell once cleaning day comes around, but not overwhelmingly. And I know I get used to it since they're in my room and I spend all my time in there, but I know it's not resonating all through the house. I think I figured out why people think that though: When you don't like them, and don't like the smell they have, it's going to seem a lot stronger. For example, a couple times someone cooking screwed up and really burnt the grease in a pan, or made a tiny grease fire or something, and when I came home it was HORRENDOUS. It had been a couple days, and the smell was barely there, but it reeked like vomit and I couldn't stand it. I couldn't leave my room. So I have started to understand when people day they stink.

Rant-ish. Lol


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## Sal (Mar 21, 2016)

Just tell them how you once ate a snake on a survival weekend and you'd love to have a play date too... "I really enjoyed snake".

Hehe!


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Sal said:


> Just tell them how you once ate a snake on a survival weekend and you'd love to have a play date too... "I really enjoyed snake".
> 
> Hehe!


Hahaha! I totally would but I have two snakes myself and I don't want to get in trouble lol


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Fraido said:


> I find it pointless to get upset over it. Then again, I have a pretty wicked sense of humour, and often joke like this with my own rats, and when they're being naughty I'll threaten to feed them to my snake. I never would, obviously.
> It's just not something I care about, people say stuff, who cares. It gets old. My grandmother hates both snakes and rats, and made a comment a couple weeks ago that snakes don't love you, which they don't, but then she said "heck I don't even think rats love you back". I just told her that they do, it's not really a big deal.
> I'm not a big fan of "not stooping to other's levels" either, so really I'd have no problem joking about snakes, "smells like a pair of new boots/wallet/belt/etc."
> Sure it's annoying, hearing anything over and over again gets annoying, but it's far from upsetting to me. People have their own opinions and I don't care.
> ...


At first I would have agreed that it's pointless to get upset over it, but now I'm just fed up. I do joke about things like this, about my own pets, but I would never joke about someone else's beloved animals. There's also a time and a place. I just really don't find it funny anymore, and they don't find it funny when I "joke" that I'd sooner rip their snake in half than let it eat my rats. Of course, I would never hurt an animal, ever, unless I absolutely had to. It's apparently malicious when I say something like that, but hey, rats are just snake food. Pfft. 

Oh my gosh, I've heard that so many times. I know exactly what you mean by the bad cooking smell. Everyone in my house loves fish, and I absolutely cannot stand the smell, it makes me sick to my stomach, so when they're cooking something fishy I cannot leave my room. They don't think it smells bad at all, but for me it's absolutely horrific, so I can't really blame people for thinking rats smell. Then there's the fact someone people have a stronger sense of smell than others, so what may not smell to one person can absolutely reek to others haha.


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## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

I have people who, when I mention that I have rats, talk about how they have rat traps in their house and/or how many rats they have killed in the traps. It's like they are trying in any way possible to relate to me, like "Look! I used to have rats too! Lol" but it can be totally hurtful and not to mention awkward. I just try to brush it off and educate them on how good rats are as pets. But man, it's weird. Once you go down the rabbit (or rattie) hole, the way people talk about rats is absurd. No, they don't carry deadly viruses. No, they aren't the same as wild rats. And no, I would not like to talk about how you have caught and killed rats.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

rottengirl said:


> I have people who, when I mention that I have rats, talk about how they have rat traps in their house and/or how many rats they have killed in the traps. It's like they are trying in any way possible to relate to me, like "Look! I used to have rats too! Lol" but it can be totally hurtful and not to mention awkward. I just try to brush it off and educate them on how good rats are as pets. But man, it's weird. Once you go down the rabbit (or rattie) hole, the way people talk about rats is absurd. No, they don't carry deadly viruses. No, they aren't the same as wild rats. And no, I would not like to talk about how you have caught and killed rats.


Ahhh I went through something like this not long ago. I was talking to a friend of a friend about tattoos, and I told him about the tattoo I'm getting of Winston, and he said he didn't agree with keeping rats as pets because they're vermin and all that stuff, which I then argued against. Like a minute later he was asking to see pictures and watching videos of them. He still doesn't agree with rats as pets, as in he would never have a pet rat, but he understands why others do. It is incredibly awkward when it happens, and sometimes it genuinely feels like they are purposely trying to hurt your feelings.


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## Tabitha&Tobermori (Mar 14, 2016)

rottengirl said:


> And no, I would not like to talk about how you have caught and killed rats.


 I had someone go into detail once about finding a rat in their apartment and they killed it, and how the dead rat smelled, and how disgusting it looked laying in it's cardboard box! YEARGH!


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Tabitha&Tobermori said:


> I had someone go into detail once about finding a rat in their apartment and they killed it, and how the dead rat smelled, and how disgusting it looked laying in it's cardboard box! YEARGH!


D: What on earth!?


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

If they have kids, tell them you wouldn't exchange your rats for their kids + $$$...That will shut them up. I said:"Well, my rats are super cute, way cuter than your kids and I actually wouldn't exchange my rats for your kids even if they came with $1 million dollars attached to them". Say it with a nice smile, so it doesn't sound too aggressive. I felt wonderful. I bet that mom was mad at me for a week, lol- at least I was super happy I got it out

I had a bad encounter with a stupid woman once at my vet, and even after I explained how wonderful rats are, she still was eww. I was mad at myself for not shutting her up and telling her how rude she was. Never again. Explain how wonderful rats are, and if they are still too stupid to get it or at the very least can't even be polite about it, time to throw it right back at them.


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## Angel_Rat (Feb 17, 2016)

I hate it when poeple do this. My sworn enemy heard me saying if I could be a animal in another life I would be a rat! She replied in her disgusting, smirky, know it all way "ohh, I'm sure you would be a greaaaat rat! And laughed. It was obvious she was being "nice" in saying that I would be a great rat but was referring to what certain poeple THINK of rats, disgusting, smelly and mean wild beasts. I know how u feel


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

notbritney said:


> Fraido said:
> 
> 
> > I find it pointless to get upset over it. Then again, I have a pretty wicked sense of humour, and often joke like this with my own rats, and when they're being naughty I'll threaten to feed them to my snake. I never would, obviously.
> ...


I mean, I totally understand that. I think I was really tired when I read your post because I guess I got the impression you were "upset" like, sad. However, I see now that you're just frustrated. Lol No idea why I thought that, so yeah it's totally understandable to get frustrated because it's all the time, and often hypocritical. I must admit I'm very likely to hastily pry my snake's jaws off of my rat, not worrying about any consequences to the snake. I'd never let that situation happen, though. I would be mortified.

Yes! Fish is another smell I often can't stand... funny you mention it, my family is making it right now.. salmon. I really have to be craving fish to be able to eat it. Anyways! I try to be understanding about the smell, but they're often such hypocrites when it comes to that, the dog smells awful, but thaaat doesn't matter. Only my animals' smells matter. *sigh*


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## Gribouilli (Dec 25, 2015)

Rats smell great, it is only their cage that smells bad if not cleaned enough. I never had 1 rat that smelled bad, not even once. Dogs smell way worse, and they will do anything to smell bad again after a bath- at least that is what my in laws' dogs did😮.


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

Gribouilli said:


> Rats smell great, it is only their cage that smells bad if not cleaned enough. I never had 1 rat that smelled bad, not even once. Dogs smell way worse, and they will do anything to smell bad again after a bath- at least that is what my in laws' dogs did😮.


The poor dog my grandparents have doesn't even get into things to smell bad... she's got bad breath due to bad teeth, and she just smells like dirty feet. *bleh* 

I have to agree that rats smell great, I love the way they smell, unless they've been laying in a pee spot or something. Not everybody would find their smell appealing, though.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Gribouilli said:


> Rats smell great, it is only their cage that smells bad if not cleaned enough. I never had 1 rat that smelled bad, not even once. Dogs smell way worse, and they will do anything to smell bad again after a bath- at least that is what my in laws' dogs did.


Winston smelled amazing, like a mixture of wood and grape juice, and his cage was never smelly either. Chappie and Grimlock absolutely stink though, and I have no idea why. It takes a day for their immaculate cage to start smelling, too. It's not an overwhelmingly terrible smell, it's just a bit unpleasant. They smell like cheese, I guess, haha. My dog doesn't smell bad at all, she smells a bit like popcorn, but not popcorn? She's perfectly healthy, too. When she rolls in poop or dead birds she doesn't smell so good though lol.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Fraido said:


> I mean, I totally understand that. I think I was really tired when I read your post because I guess I got the impression you were "upset" like, sad. However, I see now that you're just frustrated. Lol No idea why I thought that, so yeah it's totally understandable to get frustrated because it's all the time, and often hypocritical. I must admit I'm very likely to hastily pry my snake's jaws off of my rat, not worrying about any consequences to the snake. I'd never let that situation happen, though. I would be mortified.
> 
> Yes! Fish is another smell I often can't stand... funny you mention it, my family is making it right now.. salmon. I really have to be craving fish to be able to eat it. Anyways! I try to be understanding about the smell, but they're often such hypocrites when it comes to that, the dog smells awful, but thaaat doesn't matter. Only my animals' smells matter. *sigh*


Haha, I understand why you might have read it that way. Oh yeah, it's very hypocritical. I kind of understand why they have that kind of mentality, but it doesn't make it any less annoying when they have to rub it in my face _all the time. _I have both rats and snakes, so I see it from a different angle, I guess, whereas they might not even think to approach it from a different perspective. 

Ahhh! Salmon, blergh. It looks so tasty, but it smells baaaad. Dogs can be so smelly, especially when they're wet. I hate wet dog smell, it kind of reminds me of hot dogs, hahaha.


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

notbritney said:


> Fraido said:
> 
> 
> > I mean, I totally understand that. I think I was really tired when I read your post because I guess I got the impression you were "upset" like, sad. However, I see now that you're just frustrated. Lol No idea why I thought that, so yeah it's totally understandable to get frustrated because it's all the time, and often hypocritical. I must admit I'm very likely to hastily pry my snake's jaws off of my rat, not worrying about any consequences to the snake. I'd never let that situation happen, though. I would be mortified.
> ...


I feel you.

You have ruined hot dogs for me. *barfs* Lmao


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

huh.... Sorry you've had bad experiences online, but I own snakes and all the snake keepers I know don't make jokes about what snakes eat.. especially to people that also own rodents. There are a lot of immature people out there...this includes some people that own snakes (typically the same crowd that get piranhas or Oscars and then feed them live fish for "fun" or people that buy pit bulls because they are "tough"). I've had similar comments about my snakes.. i.e. "the only good snake is a dead snake"... etc. 

I can tell you that on all the serious reptile groups they ban people for live feeding videos, for making comments when someone posts a pic for OPS (other pet Saturday) that is a rabbit or rat... anything off-color will get you warned and then banned. Our hobby gets enough bad press without the actions of the people you've mentioned and people that take the hobby seriously don't put up with it. 

As someone that owns both snakes (and other reptiles) and rats as pets, I can tell you that I take both type of animals seriously and don't take jokes along those lines lightly. The others that I know that are serious about keeping snakes and happen to raise their own feeders take it very seriously and many do so to ensure the rodents are cared for and disposed of properly and humanely prior to becoming food. If you ran into rude or childish behavior please don't take the majority of the hobby as acting or feeling that way. And to clarify, I keep my rats as pets and buy all my feeder f/t from reputable sources.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Fraido said:


> The poor dog my grandparents have doesn't even get into things to smell bad... she's got bad breath due to bad teeth, and she just smells like dirty feet. *bleh* I have to agree that rats smell great, I love the way they smell, unless they've been laying in a pee spot or something. Not everybody would find their smell appealing, though.


I've noticed alot of older dogs i meet have horrid breath and teeth. I'm convinced it has to do with all the processed treats they get. My dog is 10 and he's teeth are pure white. The vet said they were the healthiest teeth shes seen on a senior dog. We've been feeding him carrots, broccoli and cauliflower as treats since he was a puppy.


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## PawsandClaws (Jul 22, 2014)

I know somebody who constantly (and with gleeful details) talks about live feeding rats to his snake to get a rise out of me. It is pathetic and I completely understand how you feel.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

artgecko said:


> huh.... Sorry you've had bad experiences online, but I own snakes and all the snake keepers I know don't make jokes about what snakes eat.. especially to people that also own rodents. There are a lot of immature people out there...this includes some people that own snakes (typically the same crowd that get piranhas or Oscars and then feed them live fish for "fun" or people that buy pit bulls because they are "tough"). I've had similar comments about my snakes.. i.e. "the only good snake is a dead snake"... etc.
> 
> I can tell you that on all the serious reptile groups they ban people for live feeding videos, for making comments when someone posts a pic for OPS (other pet Saturday) that is a rabbit or rat... anything off-color will get you warned and then banned. Our hobby gets enough bad press without the actions of the people you've mentioned and people that take the hobby seriously don't put up with it.
> 
> As someone that owns both snakes (and other reptiles) and rats as pets, I can tell you that I take both type of animals seriously and don't take jokes along those lines lightly. The others that I know that are serious about keeping snakes and happen to raise their own feeders take it very seriously and many do so to ensure the rodents are cared for and disposed of properly and humanely prior to becoming food. If you ran into rude or childish behavior please don't take the majority of the hobby as acting or feeling that way. And to clarify, I keep my rats as pets and buy all my feeder f/t from reputable sources.


You're definitely right there about immaturity. I'm glad that there are communities out there that take it seriously. See, I'm not trying to paint all snake owners with the same brush, because I am one myself. However, in the small town I live in there are more snake owners than rat owners, and speaking from experience, only a handful of them are kind people. The rest, the ones I get the comments from, sell their snakes on Facebook weekly. Seriously, they'll buy a snake through Facebook, they'll have that snake a week and then bam, they're selling the poor thing and buying another one. I'm not kidding when I say this happens weekly, and it's not just snakes, it's every animal they impulsively buy. The corn snakes they started with aren't good enough, oh no, they want bigger and they want it now. It's disgusting. 

Again, I'm not saying every snake owner is like this, but where I live the majority are, which sucks.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Fu-Inle said:


> I've noticed alot of older dogs i meet have horrid breath and teeth. I'm convinced it has to do with all the processed treats they get. My dog is 10 and he's teeth are pure white. The vet said they were the healthiest teeth shes seen on a senior dog. We've been feeding him carrots, broccoli and cauliflower as treats since he was a puppy.


I totally agree with you! Our dog is 12 and she has amazing teeth. The only "treat" she gets is a dentastix at night, and throughout the day she gets carrots, apples, sometimes a bit of chicken, just healthy stuff really. She's never really had processed treats.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

Fraido said:


> I feel you.
> 
> You have ruined hot dogs for me. *barfs* Lmao


Hahaha, I'm so sorry.


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## notbritney (Feb 3, 2016)

PawsandClaws said:


> I know somebody who constantly (and with gleeful details) talks about live feeding rats to his snake to get a rise out of me. It is pathetic and I completely understand how you feel.


Ugh, that's horrible. I don't understand the thought process, I just can't wrap my head around the fact people _enjoy _it. I'm so sorry you have to listen to that


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## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

notbritney said:


> Ahhh I went through something like this not long ago. I was talking to a friend of a friend about tattoos, and I told him about the tattoo I'm getting of Winston, and he said he didn't agree with keeping rats as pets because they're vermin and all that stuff, which I then argued against. Like a minute later he was asking to see pictures and watching videos of them. He still doesn't agree with rats as pets, as in he would never have a pet rat, but he understands why others do. It is incredibly awkward when it happens, and sometimes it genuinely feels like they are purposely trying to hurt your feelings.


Yep, totally. It's really strange. That's my pet you're talking about....I don't want to hear about how much you hate it! I mean, I get it, but still. I'd rather those people do what most people do - just smile and nod and keep their negative opinions to themselves, or at least until I walk away


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## rottengirl (Mar 16, 2016)

PawsandClaws said:


> I know somebody who constantly (and with gleeful details) talks about live feeding rats to his snake to get a rise out of me. It is pathetic and I completely understand how you feel.


That's sociopathic! Okay, maybe not. But wow. What an absurd and cruel thing to do.


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## Fraido (Oct 1, 2014)

Fu-Inle said:


> Fraido said:
> 
> 
> > The poor dog my grandparents have doesn't even get into things to smell bad... she's got bad breath due to bad teeth, and she just smells like dirty feet. *bleh* I have to agree that rats smell great, I love the way they smell, unless they've been laying in a pee spot or something. Not everybody would find their smell appealing, though.
> ...


Huh, that's a good idea.


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## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Our part wild girl would roll herself in stuff that stank on purpose... Oddly we apparently both agreed that a certain kiddie perfume stank because when my daughter spilled some she took a bath in it... Otherwise her preferred stank was pit bull terrier... And yes I suspect it did keep the cats away when she lived outdoors on her own.

But really she was vicious and she went for the face and eyes when she had a shot... when I got some stupid comments I'd just reply.... "Maybe, but my rat would tear you up long before you fed her to anything.... and your cat too." And I definitely wasn't joking. If that didn't resonate, I'd just say something like.... "have you ever seen a snake killed by a rat? That's supposed to be really gruesome." And usually that ended the conversation...

People who joke about their pets eating rats... for the most part haven't met a real rat... Rats rarely attack, but they also don't usually back down and they don't lose too often. To be honest more people are afraid of rats than almost any other animal... and there is a very good reason. Most of our rats are nice because they have been bred and trained to be that way and they love and trust their humans. Break that bond and a rat is nothing to fool around with. And some hillbilly friends claimed that rats at the dump would actually attack in pack formation when threatened. 

On the other hand, most people aren't worth the bother... just remind yourself that rats are the second most successful species in the world... smile and let it go. What's the point in proving your rat can eat someone else's cat.

In the end.... after the nuclear apocalypse, those of us with rat friends are likely to fare pretty well, whereas former snake owners will have a lot to answer for to their mutated giant rat overlords.... Seriously can anyone even imagine an Armageddon without giant rats?


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## mrowfs (Sep 20, 2014)

When people make the jokes or dislike rats, there's always going to be people that no matter what you say you can't change their mind. 

I've had so many friends and family members be like 'Ew, you have rats? That's disgusting!' Then as soon as they saw one or held one, they were in love. I guess people just assumed the domesticated rats look like sewer rats, giant, dirty, and gross. But I have a lot of friends on facebook that always like the pictures I post of them and they're always saying 'Awhh! They don't look like sewer rats!' and whatnot.
My mom let me get one about three years back. She thought it was gross. The more she saw how Juno interacted with me, the more she liked her. Though, she never admitted it. I just think it's funny because when I lived with her, countless times I've caught her sneaking in my room to give my rats treats and pet them, when I ask what she's doing, she would always say 'nothing! just checking to see if you cleaned their cage'. She's still a little freaked out by their tails, but I know she secretly loves them.


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## raindear (Mar 3, 2015)

In this world there are a number of animals I don't consider "pets" and a number of people who love them as pets. So, ok, as long as you recognize that I love my rats/other, I will recognize that you love your snakes/other. Now, if someone told me something on the line of "my snake/other would love to eat your rat", I would likely respond, "Well I got him because he killed the first snake/whatever he was offered to, so I'm not too worried." Whether it was true or not.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Snake and rat owner are in the same boat really. We both have pets that have a negative reputation. And if anything snake owners probably cop even more stupid comments because snakes are not mammals and therefore seen as simple minded killers. And the fact that some snakes have venom so potent it can kill in minutes probably doesn't help with the rep either. Which is why I find the feeding to snakes comments silly. Chances are they would get just as upset if someone said they'd run their snake over with a car.


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## InuLing (Dec 26, 2015)

Agreed and I don't know how many times I've heard people asking if ball pythons would strangle someone. A snake won't hunt anything too big to eat, people. I'm usually one of those people who rolls their eyes at comments like that. I have a hunting breed dog so the rats stay in the area of the house he's not allowed in for their safety. When someone said once that her dog would eat the rat on my shoulder I just laughed and said "So would mine!" It shut her up so fast. Apparently she was trying to insult me, or at least get a reaction out of me.


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## LeStan82 (Dec 31, 2013)

I have rats and ferrets. I get more responses on the ferrets than the rats. Ppl just say "ew" about the rats, with a crinkled up nose. Won't your ferrets eat your rats? Um probably which is why the ferrets are never allowed in the rats room....duh! Ferrets stink! Um, not when on proper diet, and their litter boxes are changed frequently. Then ppl proceed to tell me that ferrets are just rodents too... Um, no ferrets aren't rodents, I have actual rodents would you like to see the difference.., I don't get up set, ppl are just ignorant and don't know any better... Lol


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