My first breeders!

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

I'll leave the dirty stuff to you. ;)

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yeah right connie. i have to watch bambi 15 times in a row just to get part of my innocence back after talking to you.

:rofl: Oh my god you guys are too funny!!!! :rofl:

I feel much better knowing others have gotten those nasty emails :) It's so strange to find out there are so many people that care THAT much about rats. For the last few years I've heard nothing but "OH MY GOD YOU HAVE A RAT FOR A PET!!!! SICK!!!" :rolleyes: You're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

If you haven't already, you'll quickly find that there are cool rat people like Becky and Crissy, then the rest of them.

Most will not sell to you if you keep snakes, many will not sell to you because you don't have this credential or that, or want to breed. The fancy rat world is very unwelcoming to us reptile people.

I imagine the buzzed he's referring to are Fuzzy, and last I heard not a very desireable trait. I don't really keep track of what the fancy rat world deems acceptable or not. I just try to keep on top of genetics and any problems from certain genes. I don't have any fuzzy or hairless, so I'm not to worried about them I guess! lol

Berks are common, I have a crap ton of them. ;) Too bad you aren't anywhere nearby, I'd hook you up!

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It seems like rat people unwelcoming of a lot of people! Jeesh! I didn't even tell the lady I had a snake when I emailed her!

I'm wondering if his fuzzy rats are going to be hairless. I saw them today and they look young enough to lose what hair they have. :confused: Who knows, my little sis has a blue hooded hairless but I can't remember if it had that much hair when she got it as a baby.

And gosh dang it! Of course you would have a ton of Berks! Have you ever seen a dalmation marked rat? My god I want one! Don't you dare tell me you have a bunch of them too! :P

Those people are only slightly insane. ;)

Well, I think they mean well, but are thinking on a wrong plane.. I mean I'm a vegetarian because I don't like the way that the animals are treated while they are ALIVE. People don't get that.. through my beliefs I don't think death is ever a bad thing, in fact I think its just the opposite, but nothing deserves that kind of long-term abuse.
Not all facilities are bad, just most, and I can't pick and choose because I don't know so I just don't eat it. :]

Continuing my point, the rats live perfectly happy healthy lives most of the time, and have 3 minutes of drama? AND? What's so bad about that? I even think the snakes are being nicer about it because most people think that snakes suffocate their prey. Suffocation takes what? 4-5 minutes? Way too long. They cut off circulation and actually attempt to squeeze the heart until it can no longer beat. How long does this take? Usually less than a minute. That's a pretty quick death if you ask me.

Especially when the younger rats can't even contemplate whats going on.. that's even easier on them.

Hope that made sense.

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Originally Posted by blackcrystal22

Those people are only slightly insane. ;)

Well, I think they mean well, but are thinking on a wrong plane.. I mean I'm a vegetarian because I don't like the way that the animals are treated while they are ALIVE. People don't get that.. through my beliefs I don't think death is ever a bad thing, in fact I think its just the opposite, but nothing deserves that kind of long-term abuse.
Not all facilities are bad, just most, and I can't pick and choose because I don't know so I just don't eat it. :]

Continuing my point, the rats live perfectly happy healthy lives most of the time, and have 3 minutes of drama? AND? What's so bad about that? I even think the snakes are being nicer about it because most people think that snakes suffocate their prey. Suffocation takes what? 4-5 minutes? Way too long. They cut off circulation and actually attempt to squeeze the heart until it can no longer beat. How long does this take? Usually less than a minute. That's a pretty quick death if you ask me.

Especially when the younger rats can't even contemplate whats going on.. that's even easier on them.

Hope that made sense.

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I totally understand what you are saying. I'd rather be crushed by a snake than ripped apart by an owl (WHICH HAPPENEDS TO RATS IN THE WILD) :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Oh good lord, now I feel a rant coming on so bear with me....

Why is it supposedly sane, rational, thinking adults have this ridiculous need to impose their own human angst on some perfectly normal animal and it's responses? I'm sorry but I find it incredibly self-serving for that woman to use words like "panic attack" with reference to a rat, it's response as a prey and the snake's response as a predator. Her imposing her human feelings on a dynamic that is natural, that has been going on long before she was ever born and will go on long after she's dust is, for me, just the ridiculous human need to believe only our feelings and reactions "count" or can be the yardstick for all beings.

It's a rat. It might be a just nifty perfect rat but it's a rat. Rats can be many things...a nice pet, a great companion animal, a dirty thing on a garbage dump, a natural food for many predators, one of them being snakes. All the other human babbling and yapping will never change that fact.

Society confounds me. We impose human feelings on animals that don't want them (how pushy and rude is that?). We dress up dogs, carry them around and treat them as "our babies" when the poor thing just wants to run outside and crap under a tree and sniff another dog's butt. We decide our cat has "emotional issues". Makes me wonder sometimes what that says about folks.

If you don't buy into the current mentality then you don't "care". How about caring enough to actually honor the animal by letting it be what it is, fulfill it's natural role, just be...without messing it up with our muddied, angst filled human existance. Sure I refer to our snakes as "scalekids" but that's more about them being a part of our family interest and hobby than any assumption that the lovely things need any of our human attributes.

Okay rant over. :rolleyes:

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I absolutely agree with you. Very well written!

One of the agreements I had with my husband when he started his snake collection was that the rats were CO2 to death or fed live. I've seen the horrible things the local reptile store does to the poor little things when someone comes in asking for a dead feeder. I personally think our rats are very well taken care of for the duration of their stay and much better off than being in a pet store or running wild.

I never really think rats are to cute, but those are pretty darn cute! Love it! :P

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Originally Posted by Isis

I'm wondering if his fuzzy rats are going to be hairless. I saw them today and they look young enough to lose what hair they have. :confused: Who knows, my little sis has a blue hooded hairless but I can't remember if it had that much hair when she got it as a baby.

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I'm afraid I don't have any dalmations, to be honest, I prefer selfs and berks, and the occasionaly full stripe hooded. I'm a fan of color. :)

This is what I was referring to when I said fuzzy.

http://ratbehavior.org/CoatTypes.htm#Fuzzy

I don't know anymore about it except that little blurb. Becky would know better than me.

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Originally Posted by pythontricker

I never really think rats are to cute, but those are pretty darn cute! Love it! :P

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:D I'm glad you think they're cute! I'm biased, but I think they are cute too! Bentley likes me, but Lotus squeaks when I touch her :( Of course Kitty and Mercedes love to be held.

The most fun I've had with my rats is around Halloween :D I had Kitty in the pocket of my hoodie and when the kids came up to get candy she would crawl out and greet them. The moms would run away screaming and say "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH THAT THING!"

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"Too late mom! Can we get one?!" :rofl:

I will not comment on the kooks... except to say one thing...

Humas are stupid... forget them. A little quote from my dad to you. Feel free to use it as you see fit. :)

Good luck with the rats, raising and breeding rats is fun. I know, I need more hobbies, but they are the best. And a litter of fuzzy cute pups... I mean... AWWWWWW! Cute!

They are still food, but man they are fun.

Good luck with it, and it seems like you really respect your rats, which anyone that breeds I think needs to keep that perspective.

Bruce