I live im my own home so the only ones I have to worry about saying anything are my in laws. My son is fascinated by my bp. My in laws hate me having her. My husband is fine as long as her enclosure is secure. With only the 1 bp and no other reptiles I have no reason to breed rats. Its more convenient for me to get one while Im in town doing my shopping and getting other errands done. We have 2 exotic stores in town. One charges over $6 for a largish small rat and the other charges a little over $3 for a smallish medium. Yes there is a difference just not a lot on the size. I usually go for one of those two sizes depending on how big her "belly" is. She took a smallish small 2 wks ago and then that f/t that was a smallish medium yesterday. On the smell thing as long as the rat cages are kept clean they don't stink. I've jad them as pets and they smelled less than my cat and hamsters I had growing up. You can also put a tiny bit of vanilla extract in their water which helps hold down the ammonia smell. The only time mine stunk was while I was recouping after surgery and couldn't clean the cage. I can understand why f/ts are more convenient for you with roommates and living in an apartment. I do understand why people feed f/ts and respect their decisions. Personally I would rather do live and if she doesn't eat it return the rat and get another one later. I am glad Im getting her to eat though. The people that were "watching" her neglected her and said she went off fopd by herself for about 3 months till I found out that they used the money I sent for her care on food for them, and their animals not her. She was in a really dirty cage with no water and no heat. There was a lot of shed pieces, and poop all over. She is now in a clean enclosure with fresh water heat and humidity. I'm just trying to get her back up to par on being clean and well cared for. She was my very first bp and she was a sweetheart.