# Have you ever converted a rat hater?



## petcrazy (Jul 30, 2014)

I don''t have any rats yet, but I when do get them I want my mom to like them. She's not afraid of them, she just thinks their tails are gross . I blame society's beauty standards lol. Anyway, I feel like there's hope for her since she does like most animals. I mean, she picked up lizard shedding, which I thought was gross so...*fingers crossed*

Have you ever had a parent or friend that disliked/hated rats change their mind about them after spending time with yours?


----------



## ThePokemonMaster (Aug 1, 2014)

My mom doesn't like them, but she doesn't mind that I have them, her only requirement is that they're taken care of, because they're still living beings. Because I'm allowed to have them, I don't really care about her opinion. I know forcing things on someone doesn't work, so don't try that route. I would play with them around your mom for a few weeks or whatever, but it may or may not work. It just depends on the person. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## nanashi7 (Jun 5, 2013)

My sister hates the tails, so having the fuzz face meet her face is best. I'd also not place the rats on her but encourage her to pet them while they're on you, they use their tails to balance and inevitably they'll touch her.

Eventually, try to get her to touch the tail for a moment. Rat tails look like they'd be scaly and sort of cool like a snake, but they're actually not. A well-groomed tail can be soft, they're warm, and they have tiny hairs down them. Always rub base to tip, and it feels nice. They will wrap around you and whip you occassionally though which isn't pleasant for those who are afraid of them.

I had my sister sold on them until they had it wrapped around my neck while they balanced on my shoulder.


----------



## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

I have so many conversion stories! My husband is one, he didn't exactly hate them but was very skeptical, now I find him sitting at his computer with one on his shoulder or watching them play. If your mom has a problem with their tails, give her some cool facts about how they regulate their body temperature with it and use it to balance. She might think it's cool.


----------



## Rat Daddy (Sep 25, 2011)

Fuzzy Rat converted literally hundreds of people. Max and Cloud have made their share of converts... But if you run across a real live rat phobic, you might get them to not hate rats, but their fear will prevent them from ever being hands on with a rat... Rat phobics don't hate rats they fear them. Hate may be close to love but fear is a thing most people can't get over.

Fuzzy Rat was so friendly we had a few rat phobics actually ask if they could touch her... One or two succeeded and ran off jumping for joy that they did something they never thought they could... just touch, not hold... But I also had some folks freeze up and uncontrollably start shaking from 2 feet away. It was hard to watch their sheer terror overcome them. The closer a rat phobic comes to a rat the worse it gets. I suppose for me it would be like petting a spider or waking up with a tarantula on my face... I'm not terrified but not a big fan either. And yes, I actually turned down a potential tenant who bred spiders... It went something like this... 

Q: So how many babies does a bird eating spider have?
A: Several thousand at a time...
Q: How big are they when they are born?
A: They are pinhead size but grow really fast...

End of discussion... as I'm picturing thousands of pinhead bird eating tarantulas growing fast in my walls... 

I guess I'm manageability phobic? Maybe I could have put up with one pet spider... But thousands that could escape... That would be my last night in my house... forever.

Best luck.


----------



## Aeyna (Jun 16, 2014)

Rat Daddy, I agree. At that point you burn down the house and move to a different state. Preferably 1000 miles away. 

My best friend in Minnesota was grossed out when I sent her pics of the girls, but a few weeks ago she came by, was shocked by how big their cage is (I guess it looks small in pics?) and started to play with them and fell in love. Once she saw how friendly they were (and had Olivia groom her hands, face, and ears), she understood why we keep them as pets. As soon as people meet the girls, they tend to appreciate them.


----------



## ThePokemonMaster (Aug 1, 2014)

nanashi7 said:


> My sister hates the tails, so having the fuzz face meet her face is best. I'd also not place the rats on her but encourage her to pet them while they're on you, they use their tails to balance and inevitably they'll touch her.
> 
> Eventually, try to get her to touch the tail for a moment. Rat tails look like they'd be scaly and sort of cool like a snake, but they're actually not. A well-groomed tail can be soft, they're warm, and they have tiny hairs down them. Always rub base to tip, and it feels nice. They will wrap around you and whip you occassionally though which isn't pleasant for those who are afraid of them.
> 
> I had my sister sold on them until they had it wrapped around my neck while they balanced on my shoulder.


I love stroking tails. <3

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## fluffy470 (Feb 24, 2012)

One of my best friends was terrified of rats. She didn't even want to be in the same room as them. She eventually faced the facts that she had to come into my room eventually, so she warmed up to them a little just by being forced to be in the same room as them. She still didn't like them though and wouldn't let me get them out when she was here. Then one day we decided to film the 7 second challenge for my youtube channel. One of the challenges I gave her was to let a rat sit on her shoulder. Thing is, she's really competitive, so she couldn't bring herself to wimp out on a challenge. Once she got over the initial shock of having my squishy rat on her shoulder, she warmed up to him and even admitted that he wasn't so bad. After that she was fine with me letting him out. She still doesn't love the idea of rats as pets, but she went from disgusted, to a peaceful co existence, she even asked if she could pet them last time she was here. Success!


----------



## QueenB1958 (Apr 27, 2014)

My mom didn't hate them, but she didn't really like at first either. Now, she LOVES Margo. She thinks it's adorable how I can walk around the house with her on my shoulder. And she loves how when she walks into my room, there's always three little faces crammed in the corner of the cage waiting for some love  The only TRUE convert I've made is a girl I work with. When I first told her about Margo right after I got her she said the typical 'Ewww! Rats are dirty!' Blah blah blah. But once I showed her pictures of wee baby Margo, she melted. We're friends on Facebook and I post pics/vids of my pets compulsively, and now she always 'likes' my rat related posts


----------



## Zabora (Jun 8, 2014)

My husband was skeptical of rats and the way I convinced him of how awesome they were was to pull up youtube and show him Rat Tricks. He said ok lets get some. I brought Sam home the next day from the shelter and Dean not long after. It was love at first cuddle.


----------



## MaryLiz (Jun 15, 2014)

If your mom really likes lots of other animals, even scaly ones, unless she finds that she's utterly afraid of rats, she will probably warm up to them. My mother didn't care if I had them, and I got them while I was away at college but it was important to me that they be accepted in the house with her and dad since I still live with them through Summer and most weekends.

She was skeptical too, mostly about the tails, but she got really attached to my original two over Christmas break, and now that I have added a baby and am "babysitting" for a friend with one extra, she actually has gotten to the point that she's upset at the thought of me moving back closer to school again and taking them all away (especially the one that I'm babysitting... I almost regret accepting him now because she's actually mad that we will have had him over a month but still eventually have to give him to the person I picked him up for. I actually have fingers crossed hoping that the person who wanted him but didn't have their cage fixed for a rat so small will just decide that we can keep him, so that I could leave the smaller two with my mother to keep her company for a while).

So I can say from experience that if someone is a fuzzy animal lover already, it probably won't be too difficult to convert them to a rat lover as well.


----------



## diachuk (Jul 21, 2014)

Zabora said:


> My husband was skeptical of rats and the way I convinced him of how awesome they were was to pull up youtube and show him Rat Tricks. He said ok lets get some. I brought Sam home the next day from the shelter and Dean not long after. It was love at first cuddle.




Haha..do I smell a Supernatural reference? ( lol )


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


----------



## annoellyn (Sep 19, 2013)

i wish i could convert a rat hater. my friend really dislikes rats, says there dirty even when i say they clean themselves more then a cat does. he says it's all psychological, they just seem dirty to him. he doesn't mind seeing them in there cage but i can't bring them out when he's here. on occasion i open there cage and hold one, showing him how cute they are but he just doesn't agree. my other friend also doesn't like rats. she'll tolerate them if there on the bed, free-ranging, and she's on the couch but she'll never touch one or hold one and grimaces when we go for walks and Iden comes with me on my shoulder.
thankfully my sister, my mom, and my mom's husband all love them so when they come over, they play with them.


----------

