# rats at school



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

i asked my teacher if i could bring the girls to school on friday and he said no. i proceeded to tell him that they don't bite and he said "do you have a special kind?" i told him that rats only bite if you give them a reason too, i told him a bit about their personalities, and told him they loved giving kisses and stuff. then i again asked if they could come in on friday, again he said no. i asked why then he said "because they can come in next friday" yay!!

can anyone give ideas on what i should say? im gonna say the whole how they're misunderstood creatures, they make great pets, compare them to hamsters, tell them how they're sort of like mini dogs. 

only one of my friends will be aloud to hold them, she's met them before a few times. she'll be my "assistant" in helping out with them (holding and stuff) i don't want any other people holding them unless they have experience because i've read horror stories of people letting classmates hold them and they mistook a claw for a bite then threw the poor thing, and i don't want that happening. i'll take them around so everyone can pet them.

so, anymore suggestions?


----------



## Forensic (Apr 12, 2007)

Look through the 'Interesting Rat Facts' sticky. Probably tons of fun stuff there.

And you may want to refute a few myths, just for fun.


----------



## wispy_wiskers_rattery (Jan 4, 2008)

Me myself I've done that the kids were mean to my rat. They'd pick on him just for fun in his cage spitting spit wads and such at him if the teacher wasn't in the room. Poor guy was almost dieing of fright. I had to call my mom to come pick him up since they were so mean to him. I'd double think about it.


----------



## Vixie (Jul 21, 2006)

Tell everyone ahead of time to see how they'll react and firmly lay down some ground rules for your babies.


----------



## rattusnorvegicus (Dec 31, 2007)

in third grade, my teacher had six rats. i gave her the idea and she hates rats so of corse i had to at least beg her for four months and finaly she let me. though we had them as class pets, my teacher made me take the whole responsibility for them. they are dead now but in forth grade i had to come to her class and miss my lessons just to take care of them. in second grade, i did the same thing as you plan to do. they petted boogie gently, 'my old girl was around at the time. look at my signature' and asked to hold her. of corse i said no because of the same reason you were thinking. if i become a teacher when i grow up, i will ask the principal if i can have seven rats as class pets.

say this: 
rats are better than cats and dogs or any other animal on the planet and watch 'em scream at you saying rats are smelly and stupid and dogs and cats are better like my classmates do.

what grade are you in?


----------



## miloandroxie (Dec 19, 2007)

Let your ratties be for a little while and just have the class observe them. After a while it will be more than evident they are not the smelly, filthy creatures they have the reputations of being. Show the class how ratties clean themselves in a OCD catlike manner; nobdy things cats are digusting, do they?


----------



## eclecticnoise (Jan 4, 2008)

Perhaps if you have a leash & harness you can let them walk around a bit (if they are comfortable with that sort of thing)


----------



## JESSU (Aug 8, 2007)

Be sure to tell them before had to keep quite. I brought Noah in to a palaeontology course because we were studying the fossils of an ancient rodent. He was a bit scared because of the noise.


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

rattusnorvegicus- im in 7th grade

those are all good suggestions, unfortunately i dont have a harness 
if anybody tries to scare them then someone's gonna get hurt real bad

i'll check out the interesting facts thread


----------



## Turfle (Dec 30, 2007)

My daughter took Turfle in to her class about 3 weeks after we brought her home. Her class LOVED the rat so much that 6 of her class mates asked for "pocket" pets for christmas. Now there is a club for kids with pocket pets in her school. Even her teacher brought a rattie home with her. My daughter had so much enthusiasm for Turfle that all her classmates fell head over heels for her. Now, every time I go to pick her up, all her friends ask "Where is Turfle?" 
I suggest that whatever you talk about with your rattie, that you be really excited about it. Try not to be too scared as your sweety will pick up on that and be a bit skiddish....and that is just what people think of with rats. 
Oh BTW...my daughter is in 4th grade. 
Good luck!!! :wink:


----------



## rattusnorvegicus (Dec 31, 2007)

if someone does, says, anything offencive to you and you rattie, sock them in the face, and i mean it. 

because rats are rats, doesn't mean they are smelly and moldy and stinky and stupid. 

tell em' this: rats are the smartest rodent and one of the smartest animals in the world. they are the cleanest animal/rodent becuse they grom themselves whenever they can. only sewer rats are the kind of rats that get into alota trouble. rats rarely bite, unless you give them a reason to.

rat_rascal~ i am in 4th grade


----------



## Turfle (Dec 30, 2007)

Where as most of us would probably like to smack somebody for rudely saying something really stupid, actually smacking them is considered battery and can get you expelled from school if not arrested. I suggest, if some comment really upsets you, to get home and beat up a stuffed animal or go out and play a vigorous game of some sort. This way, you can get out the aggression without hurting anybody or getting expelled. Believe me, I have had to play quite a lot of exhausting hockey games from hearing the oppinions of others. I teach this to all the students, including my daughter, that I have during field trips. :wink:


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

i planned on taking a sock to school and hitting them in the face with that (socking)


----------



## dragonegg (Oct 2, 2007)

My son also wants to take his rats to school, but I worry about the rats catching an illness, there are so many colds going around this time of year. I'm not sure if I'm just paranoid, though.


----------



## Turfle (Dec 30, 2007)

Hi dragonegg..this is what I found about rats catching a cold.....

Rarely, some viruses can cause respiratory symptoms in rats, but they can't get the common cold or any cold that a human has. the most common cause of respiratory illness in rats in bacterial infection. You can pass certain strep bacteria to your rat and it is always a good idea to wash your hands before and after handling your rat whether you are sick or not.


----------



## BlueSkyy (Sep 27, 2007)

Don't let anyone hold your rats - many people will throw a rat even if it just licks them or "mouths" them, screaming "IT BIT ME!"

My friends are in college (like me) and when they first got licked by Panda, they jerked their hands away super fast - if they would have been holding him, he would have been SPLAT against a wall. People of any age can be sissy chickens when it comes to ratties 

Good luck on your presentation, and remind everyone that if they have nothing nice to say, then they shouldn't say anything at all


----------



## mopydream44 (Jun 10, 2007)

I hope your class loves your ratties. Maybe you can use some of the information on the forum to make a small packet on basic care for pet rats, and make a copy for everyone in your class (or have your teacher make copies). That way if anyone decides to adopt a rat in lite of your presentation they won't be going into it blind. I would include an "Important Things to Consider Before Adopting a Pet Rat," section. 

this just gave me an idea.


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

tomorrow's the day. i already know what i'm going to say, my friend's helping. today someone was like "eeeeww, rats are so gross, they carry diseases blah blah blah" i just said, "tomorrow, i'll let them run loose so you can get rabies and die from the plague" and she said "if they bite me i'll get a disease or something" and i said, "i'll let them bite you, and we'll see how fast you die" teehee...

i'm really excited, i cleaned their tails and clipped their nails and prepared their cage for tomorrow


----------



## jellybeanqueen (Sep 6, 2007)

Good luck~
I'm sure you'll do a great job of proving to everyone that rats are amazing animals! =)


----------



## xkatex (Jan 10, 2008)

Haha your lucky you get to bring your rats to school. I would probably be suspended if I did. The teachers and VP's and the Principal are total jerks anyways. I wish you the best of luck!!


----------



## Sami (Dec 11, 2007)

That's a good way to teach people about rats.. Actually, it's a great way to teach people about any animal. ^^

When I was in highschool my classmate was feeling depressed one day, so she brought her rat to school. Not for educational purposes, but the little rat stayed in her shirt the whole time and helped her feel better, and the math teacher didn't have a problem with it.

I hope everything goes well for you and them.


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

it went well! i was walking down the hall holding the cage and a few of the teachers standing in the classroom door shuddered, gasped and ran in the class. then the guy i really like came in the class and they scared the heck out of him which was funny. i took ozzy out while my friend was trying to get penguin out of the cage, so i put ozzy on my shoulder to go over and help her, and everyone gasped in amazement at the fact she just sat on my shoulder (teehee). we talked a bit about them, then i walked around with them for a bit, and everyone who wanted to pet one could, when i accidently said "who wants to hold one" you should have seen how many hands shot up! then when i was walking around with them their were a few screams and frightened people scattering around the class, which was amusing. 

mopydream44, i asked everybody who wanted a booklet on rat information (some people are now considering getting some) so i have quite a few to make (which will take up my entire weekend)

i should have brought my camera and posted some of the people's faces, there was one girl who's face went pale and pukey looking when she first saw them, and it stayed like that the rest of the day.


----------



## jellybeanqueen (Sep 6, 2007)

Aw, that's great! Sounds like you and your ratties were a hit!
Besides the few people who were alarmed, that is. :wink:


----------



## Sami (Dec 11, 2007)

Silly people. I hope you were able to change some people's opinions on rats, and that's great that some people are considering getting a few. ^^

I think my boss hates rats. That's how he acted when he was helping me clean the cages at work, anyways. :roll:


----------



## rat_ratscal (Sep 23, 2007)

atleast half my class loves rats now


----------

