Do you hate rats? Please explain and justify. Wild or pet rats.?

Question

Now, first of all, i would like to keep this friendly. i will try to be nice unless someone says something mean or stupid. Please do not say anything without a good reason
to, and please answer the question.

now, i personally love rats, my three boys for pets, and i love wild ones too, and i think all rats are misunderstood. But Many people dislike rats, and i want to know, if you hate rats or just dislike them, a good reason why. I hate it when people just say 'they are stupid' (which is a very dumb thing to say because, even if you dislike rats, they are smarter than some cats and dogs.) or 'they are gross' or 'ewww rats' whenever i answer a question, or talk about my boys or about a story i am writing on rats.
Well, i just want to know why you don't like rats, simple as that. But please, do not be mean about it or unfair. If you say they are gross, please explain what is so gross. If you think their tails are disgusting, explain what is disgusting about them. (i don't understand this either as rats groom themselves more than cats, and that is saying something) If you think they spread disease, well, look up more. Fleas started the plague and spread it between us and the rats. Rats didn't want it either, and they didn't intentionally hurt us in any way, and so they have no blame. That is what i have found out. If you disagree, please bring it about calmly, because as i stated earlier, i really do not wish to get angry about this.

if you actually like rats, like me, then you are at perfect liberty to explain that too. I wouldn't mind an explanation or pictures of your pet ratties if you have them, either!

So, as a summary, why you dislike or like rats, and a good reason, and keep it nice please. no just saying, 'they spread disease stupid' as many people have said in similarly asked questions. Thank you for your time.

Answer 1

It's so nice to see rat lovers coming together. ;P



I love them, and have 5 at the moment. They're the best small pet I've ever had. Hilarious to watch & affectionate.. I play with them for hours. Templeton, Reggie, Fezzik, Inigo, and Westley.



I'll skip the babbling and get to the pictures, since you already know all about the best attributes of rats. ;P



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/DerbyRatties009.jpg

This is one of my favorite pictures! 4 of my guys all crammed into one hammock!



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/samsdormrats030.jpg

Westley, going after my camera.



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/008-3.jpg

Templeton, my loner.



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/015-1.jpg

It's so hard to get them all together. ;P Good tooth shot of Reggie.



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/016-1.jpg

Close-up!



http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q142/courtbarr/009.jpg

This is the cage.. a Ferret Nation.



:]

Sorry, I just looooove sharing pictures of my boys. They're like my children. ;P

Answer 2

Personally...I love them and I'm in the process of getting my first rattie! Eventually I'll add a companion to the mix but I want to start with one at first. To learn the ins and outs of owning them, caring for them, keeping their quality of life good and etc.



My problem is...EVERYONE I know is "EEWWW RATS!!" EVERYONE. I tried once to get a rat in the 5th grade and my dad went on a rant "I will not have a RAT in my house!" So this slows me down considerably. Nearly everyone I'm close to will think I'm dumb for wanting a pet rat! I have no clue how I'm going to explain it to them...but I know I'll be yelled at, criticized, berated...which is sad.



I can see how the tail is unattractive. Even I think the tail is unattractive just something about it being long hairless and somewhat scaly isn't cute...but I can look past that. I still love rats!



Anyone who has taken a history class should know the plague was carried by a type of flea and not the rat itself. Yet for some odd reason people still see them as dirty.



Wild rat infestations aren't good business. When the population gets out of control the rats are at an increased risk for developing diseases, or getting illnesses, not to mention the fighting that would develop. So there's added injury. And a colony of wild rats can get quite destructive. They have been known to decimate picked crops. And when you are the farmer who owns the crops you not only hate wild rats, you consider them ALL vermin.



Because they ended up getting the destructive/gross rap people decided to give up totally and decided that no matter what...rats are BAD, vile gross creatures. Unfortunately they refuse to simply educate themselves on domestic rats. I honestly believe that if the general population resigned themselves to a little education, then they would LIKE rats.

Answer 3

I too, love my rats; but I had to wait until after my father passed on, before I could get any rats. My father had a very good reason for not liking rats. In the mid 1920's, when my father was a sleeping baby, he had part of his ear chewed off by a wild rat, so their doctor then had to trim the other ear to match.



I like animal tails, including rat tails. If you look closely, you will see that a rat's tail actually does have some short fur hairs on it, and is not truly naked or bald. Neither is a rat's tail scaly; for a real scaly tail see a lizard or snake's tail. I tell my ratties that they have fine tails; very nice rat tail files. If a rat's tail is slimy, then that particular rat has diarrhea, and is not a healthy individual rat. The tail of a healthy rat is dry, and not slimy. I do not know what people mean when they call a rat's tail slinky. I have noticed that neither mice, nor rats drag their tails when they walk.



It is true, however, that I do not care to look at, or be around, any albino animals; this includes Pink Eyed White (PEW) mice, or rats. But there are plenty of rat colors to choose from that have dark eyes, instead of the pink or red eyes that bother me. I don't hate PEWs, but I do try to avoid them.



As destructive as wild mice are, I assume that wild rats, being larger, could be even more destructive. I have never seen a wild rat; neither a black [also known as roof or ship] rat (Rattus rattus), nor a wild Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus). However, I have caught, in a humane cage type trap, and relocated, on seperate occasions, two Bushy-tailed wood rats (Neotoma cinerea). More commonaly known as "pack rats", or "trade rats", these are not true rats, since they belong to the Genus Neotoma rather than to the Genus Rattus. Their size and appearance more closely resembles that of a chinchilla, than that of a rat. They were kind of cute, but had a slight skunky odor. If I do ever catch another one, I might try to keep it.

Answer 4

I love rats. I actually grew a love for them while helping out at a pet store and cleaning the mice/rat cages out!



Since, I have played with many rats. I think they are smart, clean, amazing creatures. And I personally love the tails on rats--I dislike hamsters because they *dont* have tails. Since I currently live at home, and my parents dislike rats, I cannot own any now, but I would like to have a couple someday.

Answer 5

I used to dislike rats a lot, only because everyone else seemed too. but one day I just developed a fascination about them, decided I was going to have them as pets, so I researched them for a good 6 months so I knew what I was getting myself in for.... and the rest is history! totally converted!!



I really love rats now, they are just amazing creatures, each rat we owned had it's own personality, they are so lovable and cute, and just so loyal more than anything! I am so glad we got to experience the rats....... we have many photos of us all together.

My friends used to laugh at my rat cage: it was bigger than me (which isn't hard, as I'm only 155 cms tall) and they would have a 3 course meal each night for dinner. for someone who used to despise them, what a turn around!



We don't have any at the moment: we are a busy family and it wouldn't be fair to have animals that we can't spend time with (we struggle with the cat and dog at the moment.) Maybe one day, we will get another one (or two) but we aren't sure.



I think rats are very misunderstood animals............ it's a right shame people have a particular mindset and don't want to change their way of thinking.



RATS ROCK!!

Answer 6

I love rats which is why I rescue unwanted ones and have 17 now. They are loyal and friendly and clean and I could go on forever on that. I never get tired of watching them play and run and be at the cage bars waiting when I get up in the morning. I dont hate wild rats. I really dont have any problems with them other than the fact that some of them do carry diseases and they are destructive. But you cant hate the animal for the environment they grow up in.

Answer 7

Ah, I'm so glad to see that it is mostly rat lovers answering as Courtney said!



I love them, they are cute, smart, affectionate and more. Pets are great. Wild rats, I know some have the possibility of disease (I know that not all have diseases, so I'm trying to make that sound indefinite) but I still love them. I wouldn't want to pick them up right away with my bare hands but I would love to hold them even though they're wild. I was not really scared of rats ever, but now that I am to the point of liking them so much I am about to get them, I am so obsessive over them!

Answer 8

I love pet rats, but they are not for everyone. I can see both points of view on this, since my roomates dislike my rats for good reasons.



1. they scent mark. I have two adult males and they pee everywhere. It doesn't bother me, but a lot of people are turned off by it.



2. They smell. Even the cleanest, best cared for rat will have a scent. Especially adult males, who smell kind of musky. If you live in a small space, the scent lingers.



3. They chew on everything. My rats will chew through anything they can get their hands on. I have lost several shirts, a quilt, and a pillow case to my rats. They prefer my clothes to their chew toys.

Answer 9

Rats are SO cool! I don't have one, but I know lots about them and they are awsome and really cute! Just to straighten things out though, there are 2 species of rats. Norway rats are what domestic rats descended from. Black rats are mean, skittish, and they were the only kinds of rats to carry the plague. It would have been a lot worse if the norway rats hadn't moved into europe. They thrived and nearly wiped out the black rats, therefore, helping to stop the plague!

Answer 10

I LOVE RATS!!

on Yahoo answers in about a week i have gotten about 5 people to get rats! (with only using one answer everytime)



I own 2 and they are great! all my friends love them!

People are just haters till they meet them! :)

Answer 11

I like rats as pets. I think they're good pets and are pretty cool.

Wild rats, as long as they stay in the woods or in the sewer or wherever they live and out of my house, I have no problem with them.

Answer 12

i too love rats,

whenever i see one on the street i save it and bring it into my basement.



last week, i saved this lovely grey rattie from the clutches of an evil cat next door. i nursed him back to health and now he is scurrying around happily with his new family.



save the rats.

Answer 13

i like rats and i would love to have one as a pet!, however i have nothing against wild rats as long as they stay out of my house, because they arnt as sanitary and havent been vet checked!

if i was to see one in my house i would caatch him with a live trap and release him somewhere far away!