I Want A Rat!

[MegTheFish]

Ok, so we have these two beautiful female rats in at work, one is a lighter tan color and the other is black, they are just so cute! The tan loves to snuggle. I have over $700 in the bank, and I now have a decent paying job (I had a paper route that paid only $20 every other week, now I get $120-$150 every other week), so I would be able to afford them. My parents said no though! They said I have too many pets, but I really don't think I do. I have the 4 budgies, along with the cockatiel, they all live in the same cage, and they aren't that difficult to take care of. I have the fish, which again, are not that difficult to take care of, I do waterchanges one tank at a time, so its not all crammed into one day. We also have two cats and a dog, but those are family pets and don't really count. Ginger gets a walk everynight, me and my parents take turns walking her. Other than that I just have homework to do, and go to work afterschool about twice a week and a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. I'm not doing any sports, I'm not in any clubs, I don't have anything else I have to do. I have good grades, I keep my aninmals cages/aquaruims clean, but still my parents won't let me. They don't have to pay for anything, I buy all of Ginger's treats and toys, they have to pay for the dog and cats food/vet bills but they are family pets. I pay for my birds vet bills. So I just don't get it. Any way I could convince them? Oh, and the rats would go in my room, they wouldn't even have to see them! I've done some research on rats, but would do a heap more before actually buying them. Wow, that was long, sorry for babbling on!

 

[darkevilmonkey666]

Well its too bad they wont let you have them. I had two for almost 4 years..seniors since they dont live that long. I found them extremely intelligent and very friendly. B)

 

[MegTheFish]

And I even found a cage that is 4 feet long for $60 that somebody is getting rid of! It comes with a water bottle and a food dish even! She said its a guini pig/rabbit/rodent cage so the cage bars might not be the right size, but if it was thats on awesome deal
I'm going to print out information sheets about rats and "accidently" leave a few on the kitchen table...and post them on my door....

 

[Silverlady]

Unfortunatly lots of people cant stand Rats because of their scaley tails.
Perhaps this applies to your parents.

 

[xautomaticflowersx]

Rattums are great. My brother has a pair of female hooded rats and they are just obscenely cute. Unfortunately though, your parents have the last say! I've found that the best way to try and talk my parents round when I'm after a new animal is to try and tell them absolutely everything involved in keeping, housing and maintaining the animal. If you've told them everything you know about rats and they still won't let you then you'll have to wait I suppose . As for the bars on the cage you described, an ideal bar-gap is about 1cm.
Silverlady... it's funny how people don't like their tails. It's one of my favourite features of rats! That and the adorable overbite and soft little lower lip

 

[GSD]

My parents would never let me have rats or birds....
Zac(my dog)si the only pet gettin in our house besides the fish
the only reason i have the horses is because they live out
Maybe stick them on your xmas list....you never know

 

[MegTheFish]

Its just the fact that there will be another pet in the house that bothers them...I don't understand why though, I don't have that many pets, but they seem to think so. My mom doesn't really like rodents but she wasn't really into birds either before, but now she is, my dad loves my birds too, and before they were agaisn't me getting them. The last thing they would do is get me rats for christmas...LoL, But thats a good idea though.
My mom is always saying "well you'll see all the animals when you work, there's no need to bring them home'' but she doesn't understand that when I work there, they don't want me to be playing with the animals the whole time, I'm paid to WORK lol. I'm aloud to pick them up and cuddle with them whenever I want, but work needs to be get done, too. And its just not the same as actually owning the animal, there's no point in getting attached to them and stuff because they'll eventually be sold. Its just not fair, I show my mom how many animals people on here have, and I tell her that one of my friends is aloud to have (almost) any animal she wants as long as it is kept in her room and she pays for it. My other friend has a dog (and another puppy coming soon), a cat, a corn snake, a huge fish tank and I think about 3 rats now...she's lucky because her mom loves animals and doesn't mind if she brings them home Sorry, but this just sucks. And then they go on about how I should be grateful because they let me get all my other pets (the way my mom talks you'd think we have a freaking zoo in our house) and I know I should but...gah...

 

[Miss Dib Dabs]

Sorry but I have to agree with your parents. It is their house. Rats take alot of looking after. If they don't get a great deal of attention they can become aggressive or simply sleep their lives away. And you do have alot of animals in the house, even if some are family pets.
Do you mind me asking how old you are? While I suspect you're not a kid the 'it's not fair' thing would put my back up, as a parent. More likely to make me dig my heels in in fact. Parents are human too and just as rebellious and irritating as any child/teen/young adult.
I wanted mice when I was younger but my Mother said no, outright and I never had them. I di have rats for 2 years after I'd left home. Sadly one died of a tumour and the other died of old age in her sleep. And nowadays I find the fish and cats quite enough. I never felt I gave my rats enough of my time which still makes me feel sad.
Be patient. Wait a little longer. Don't push your parents about it but leave it a while.
Hugs,
P.

 

[Dany]

right what u have to do is nag.always works. originally i was only aloud chinchillas. after that my perents said im never having another pet about. well now we have a dog, tropical fish,rabbit,guiny pig,and a hammy.put rat pics on your perants desctop pics.i glued a pic of loads of tropical fish all over my perents bedroom ceiling to get the fish. if this dont work well... then give up.....lol try it and tell me how it works out...oh and if it doesnt work just say can u ahve them for xmas if your good....hehe

 

[GSD]

right what u have to do is nag.always works. originally i was only aloud chinchillas. after that my perents said im never having another pet about. well now we have a dog, tropical fish,rabbit,guiny pig,and a hammy.put rat pics on your perants desctop pics.i glued a pic of loads of tropical fish all over my perents bedroom ceiling to get the fish. if this dont work well... then give up.....lol try it and tell me how it works out...oh and if it doesnt work just say can u ahve them for xmas if your good....hehe

could work i suppose
but nagging will make you look more childish and less responsible.
It took me years to convince my parents i could look after a horse,now with 5 i have no time for anything else at all and any time i have left the dogs and fish take up lol

 

[Dany]

but then again a rat is a bit different from a horse...


it does depent how old you are though. i just bribe my little bro to nag for me now

 

[adam15951]

that just mean 'dany' you should not inslave your younger brother to do your dirty work
but nice one what do you bribe him with

 

[MegTheFish]

I've given up, I've decided that instead of buying more pets I'll just spoil the ones I have LoL. I just got 2 new goldfish today (my mom actually said I should buy them!) and at work we are ordering a budgie in for me, as one of mine passed away a few weeks ago, I get to pick what color too. I was thinking of either a grey, yellow faced sky blue, or a blue spangle. So I feel better now Thanks for all the suggestions though.

 

[Dragonscales]

right what u have to do is nag.always works. originally i was only aloud chinchillas. after that my perents said im never having another pet about. well now we have a dog, tropical fish,rabbit,guiny pig,and a hammy.put rat pics on your perants desctop pics.i glued a pic of loads of tropical fish all over my perents bedroom ceiling to get the fish. if this dont work well... then give up.....lol try it and tell me how it works out...oh and if it doesnt work just say can u ahve them for xmas if your good....hehe

I used to just bring em home, they didn't have a choice then. But then again, I always had the arguement that I technically wasn't living under "their" roof since I spent most of my teen years in a caravan in their backyard (I was pretty much kicked out there at 13 by my step-dad, it was cool though, could do as I pleased, come and go whenever I wanted and disappear for weeks on end sometimes without copping any nagging for coming in too late, etc. On the downside though, I was pretty much barred from the house alot of the time and had to fend for myself alot (if I didn't have money to eat I'd go hungry sometimes, etc, if fact, my animals ate better and more often than me most of the time back then...then again, not much has changed, the buggers still eat better than me and Kel most days ).