more questions:

[quietann]

From someone who'll I'll not name, for now:
I remember having pet rats as a child fondly. My girlfriend is really freaked out by them. Do you think that her opinion of rats might change? Do you have suggestions on ways to cause it to?

It *could* change if she wasn't too traumatized by whatever caused her to fear them. If she was willing to approach them, I'd start by giving her some of these to hold:



From whuffle:
If you could do any sort of craft project, even one which you do not currently have the skills to do, and knew ahead of time that it would come out exactly as you envisioned it, what would you want to make and why would you enjoy the process?

Under those circumstances, I probably wouldn't enjoy it that much, because I like the process of seeing the end product take shape without knowing exactly what I'll get at the end. But if I had to choose something, I'd say a quilt with perfect mating of fabric, pattern, and quilting.

From lyonesse:
what qualities are you hoping for in the rats you breed?

I'd like them to be healthier. That is the most important, and it's the hardest. They need to be sweet (and most of mine already are), and consistently pretty (again, rarely a problem). (The health issue is on my mind because one of my lines seems to have one-year expiration date; of the ones I have kept track of, all but 2 have either died or gone into a severe decline just before their first birthdays. It's very sad, because they are really quite wonderful otherwise.)

Comments

[rabbitorf.livejournal.com]

speaking of rat health issues . . .

what have you had the best luck with for treating myco/respiratory issues in your rats?

[rabbitorf.livejournal.com]

Simon and Bo say hello, btw :)

[quietann.livejournal.com]

wren13 is touting Zithromax these days, enough that I want to ask her for some.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

hi guys!

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

A couple of comments: About getting people to like rats if they really really don't: you sometimes can't. I know that quietann's rats can be cute, but that doesn't mean I want one living in my home. I just don't like the way they squeek, don't like the way they dart about, don't like their smell if you don't clean their cages twice a day (even a minor scent really bothers me that way, and male rats just reek of pheromes). I do like the fact that they are built-in garbage disposals in a way (maybe call them Compost Heaps?). And with my bird and rabbit experience, I don't think I like the idea of adopting animals that Live in a cage (as opposed to live outside of a cage, but sometimes are caged temporarily). I just don't feel like I take good care of cage-bound critters.

[quietann.livejournal.com]

The goal with Person #1 isn't to have her grow to love rats, but just to be able to tolerate her boyfriend having them (they don't live together and are not likely to in the near or far future...) As in, not freak out over rats in cages being in the room.

But animal phobias are tricky; I had one friend in grad school who was so afraid of cats that she wouldn't come over to my apartment, even when I shut the cats in the bedroom. And I have my own issues with dogs, though that is slowly improving.

[koshmom.livejournal.com]

ah, well that's an easier solution: The guy must be extremely fastidious about cleaning the cage (especially when gf is coming over) and either move the cage to a room where gf won't be frequenting, or put a cover on the cage while gf is present if the apartment is too small to get the cage physically not present while she's there. Definitely do not have the cage in the bedroom when they are there together.

Personally my attitude is "love me, tolerate my pets". That's one of the reasons I finally decided to get a dog. I figured if I did hook up with some guy who didn't like dogs, I'd *never* be able to get one if we got hitched. But now that I have a dog, if I meet a guy who won't tolerate my dog being around, no matter how non-intrusive Kosh is, then I like don't want this person for a SO. Heck, Kosh has already winnowed out one loser from my love life. After the guy said that he liked me but told me that "no man wants to date a woman who owns a dog" I decided that my dog was much more attractive as a companion than this jerk.