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Original poster

Do people hate pet rats/rodents that much?

86 replies

onlychildhamster · 02/09/2021 14:04

I was at Pets at home buying some stuff for my hamster. I started looking at some pet rats.They were really quite lovely. There was this lady with this bulldog and she was letting her dog put its paws at the tank that housed the pet rats. She kept saying how much it 'loved watching the rats' and 'how disgusting the rats were'. How she wanted to get some rats for him to 'look at' (but she wouldn't be able to clean the cage or handle it due to fear) and kept musing out loud what her dog would do to the rats, given the chance. She also told me that her hatred of rats extends to all small rodents.

I know its a little thing (and therefore not deserving of AIBU, would probably get flamed there haha), but I was quite shocked at how much she hated the pet rats and kept muttering 'disgusting' under her breath. Oh and how she thought they were of such little worth that they were only fit to be a dog's playthings. I don't really understand this, why should a hamster/rat/gerbil be 'worth' any less than a dog? I felt quite hurt from the whole incident actually even though I don't actually own rats. There weren't any more hamsters on display or she probably would have called the hamsters disgusting!

OP posts:
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EmeraldDiamondBeryl · 02/09/2021 15:28

I think people who own bulldogs are pretty disgusting. The heath problems that flat faced breeds have are well known and documented. Id rather have a rat than a bulldog.

CheekyAFAIK · 02/09/2021 15:28

I associate rodents with squalor and disease. I do not like being anywhere near them. I could tolerate a hamster but wouldn't be begging to hold it!

I also wouldn't go out of my way to scare them with a dog, I don't think dogs should be in shops tbh.

I'm beginning to sound like an old lady!

Soubriquet · 02/09/2021 15:29

@Tlollj

Wish people would stop posting pics of them.
You came on to a thread about rats. What was you expecting?

Pictures of puppies? Hmm

DogFoodPie · 02/09/2021 15:29

I used to have pet rats and would tell people I wasn't sure would like rats that I had a hamster like Manuel from Fawlty Towers. If I had a visitor I would hide the cage.

Original poster
onlychildhamster · 02/09/2021 15:34

@CheekyAFAIK it was a pet shop! and it was one of those Pets at Home branches that had an in house vet and grooming parlour. So yes it made sense the dog was there. I think the bulldog was there to see the vet from the sounds of it.

There has been an argument for a long time that pets at home shouldn't be selling little animals as they know nothing about appropriate care but I don't really see that happening any time soon.

OP posts:
Neverrains · 02/09/2021 15:36

@loveyours

I'd love a pet rat and I'm looking into care to see if I should get one. They're smart and clean, domesticated ones

They're tails so creep me out a bit but that's it. Don't know why people hate rodents so much, especially pet ones which aren't going to have diseases

It’s a phobia, by nature phobias aren’t rational.
LoveMySituation · 02/09/2021 15:36

I had pet rats. I had intended to get a hamster, but came out the shop with two rats. I named them after philosophers and gods(!) and they were intelligent, clean, would curl up and sleep in my roll neck, tail hanging down, while I was busy. Always so interesting to watch (and interested in everything) My mum didn't like their tails as pp have said, but later she said 'they were growing' on her. And themGrin

TheSilveryPussycat · 02/09/2021 15:37

I have had a few pet rats over the years. Gave up because it was so heartbreaking that they live such short lives Sad

I have also converted many people who thought they could never like rats. I found it helped a bit to explain that their tails are used for balance and heat regulation.

CallieOpie · 02/09/2021 15:38

Having lived through a mouse plague in rural Aus, I will never be having pet rodents of any description. But I can see how if you haven't had a plague experience you might feel differently.

StormTreader · 02/09/2021 15:40

They're great little pets - as playful as kittens but as easy to look after as hamsters :)

Wild rats have to live where they can which is usually dirty and unsanitary through no fault of their own, pet rets in cleaned cages are perfectly sanitary and clean.

CheekyAFAIK · 02/09/2021 15:43

[quote onlychildhamster]@CheekyAFAIK it was a pet shop! and it was one of those Pets at Home branches that had an in house vet and grooming parlour. So yes it made sense the dog was there. I think the bulldog was there to see the vet from the sounds of it.

There has been an argument for a long time that pets at home shouldn't be selling little animals as they know nothing about appropriate care but I don't really see that happening any time soon.[/quote]
Oh right! I just imagine them peeing on bags of sawdust!

Soubriquet · 02/09/2021 15:43

My Nan was terrified of rats

I still remember once how she walked a massive great semi circle into a busy main road because a rat was sat on the pavement munching on a biscuit. It sat there watching her go by as almost baffled by her reaction and then carried on eating its biscuit

I live near a river and there are lots of water rats but I find it really cute watching them swim through the water.

Heyha · 02/09/2021 19:42

Something I can't understand is why it's so hard to find pet mice if you don't manage to source a breeder locally. A little colony of female mice is so much fun to watch, no smellier than any other rodent, and they are nice and easy, and not too quick, to handle once they've got used to you. Rats seem really easy to find but I think they need a lot more input to be happy than a little girl gang of mice?

Plumtree391 · 02/09/2021 21:01

I have a mouse living under my dishwasher. It's a cheeky thing.

TheChip · 02/09/2021 21:06

@Plumtree391

I have a mouse living under my dishwasher. It's a cheeky thing.
I think you should name him Steve
Plumtree391 · 03/09/2021 09:16

Thank you, that's a good name for a mouse.

cricketmum84 · 03/09/2021 09:21

My FIL is absolutely terrified of anything small and rodent like.

When we had the hamsters we would have to put them upstairs in another room if they were coming round otherwise he wouldn't enter the living room!

Seagullsstopit · 03/09/2021 09:25

One of my rats was a Steve Grin

AlternativePerspective · 03/09/2021 09:34

They’re vile.

Rats spread disease, they stink, and they urinate constantly. They really aren’t the clean animals people like to think they are.

The only reason why domesticated rats don’t spread the kinds of diseases which common rats do is because they’re living in domestic situations. But if you set them free they would be spreading the same diseases soon enough.

Domestic rats are descended from the common sewer rat, people just don’t like to acknowledge that.

I wouldn’t harm them obviously, but there’s no way on earth I would keep them as pets or would have allowed my children to have them.

As for hamsters, they’re cute, but given the average wild hamsters travels up to 5km in a night I think we have to question whether it really is fair to keep them in what to them are tiny cages.

Some animals just shouldn’t be kept as pets, IMO.

LindaEllen · 03/09/2021 09:49

@CuriouslyStardust

Oh yeah fancy rats are just awful. With their cute little noses and how easy they are to handle. Let alone how smart, affectionate and social they are. Literally the only time I've gotten bitten by any of our 6 rats was when one of our old boys thought my finger was his favourite treat. Rats over other rodents anyday imo.

Vile little beasts... think we need two more Grin

They are gorgeous!!

I'd have rats if we had anywhere to put them - obviously they need a much bigger cage than the likes of a hamster.

We had mice a couple of years ago in the house, and while obviously we had to get rid of them, it broke my heart - because I love rodents, but not when they're chewing through your wiring!!

Seagullsstopit · 03/09/2021 09:57

I absolutely love the fact that fancy rats are identical to sewer rats Grin
Rattus Norvegicus with a little selective breeding
Every pest controller I've spoken to actually really respects rats. Several I've met keep fancy rats as pets too.
Industrious little critters and much more deserving of this planet than the virus that is humans.

LoveMySituation · 03/09/2021 10:09

@AlternativePerspective It's mice that urinate constantly, not rats. Mine learned naturally to mostly hold it til they were back in the cage, poos on the other hand.. Grin

woodhill · 03/09/2021 10:12

Nasty women, what about lovely Guinea pigs. Rats are intelligent creatures and I wouldn't want one as a pet but other people do.

romdowa · 03/09/2021 10:13

Myself and my partner got two pet rats a few years back , we researched about how to raise them etc but we rehomed them because they were awful things. They bit and went to the toilet everywhere. They would be fine for a day and then the next They would be back to biting . My partner had rodents as pets for years before and he said he had never come across ones like this. I wouldn't ever get them again and I was glad to see the back of them

Darkchocolateandcoffee · 03/09/2021 10:14

I hate all rodents and would never have one. Urgh they make me shiver with their horrid tails!