Pet thread?

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by amber

Cool Collage! Nice pets. I would love to have more different kinds. Everyone always says "eww, a rat for a pet?" but they're kinda cool pets. we babysat one when i was young, and it was really smart.

Yeah I get a lot of negative reactions when people find out that I have rats. I get stupid questions too like "Aren't you afraid you're gonna get the plague?" Whatever.
I've had 13 other rats in the past and couldn't imagine myself without one. I had one named Gordon that I used to take to work with me everyday (I'm a receptionist at a veterinary hospital). I'd let him run around on my desk. He'd steal my paperwork and make nests out of them, he'd take sips of my co-workers' coffee (decaf, thankfully), steal their snacks, and greet clients. He was a great conversation starter and the whole staff and most of the clients really loved him. My coworkers would spoil him rotten and feed him crackers, candy, ice cream, etc. He got so fat that they nick-named him "El Gordo." (Gordo is spanish for fat) But he was the sweetest animal I've ever owned. You could poke him, tug his ears, tug his tail, basically do anything, and all he'd do is get this really annoyed look on his face and then grab your finger and lick it. He'd also lick my nose if I held him up to my face.
I've had other pets in the past -- mice, a tortoise, and parakeets. All but one of the mice never tamed down enough to be really handleable, they smelled really bad no matter how much I cleaned their cages, seemed prone to allergies and they are so small that I always worried about hurting them.
The tortoise was more work than she was worth. Constantly changing water (cause she pooped in it), buying and chopping up produce and mixing it with commercial tortoise pellets, calcium, and vitamin and mineral supplements. And what did I get in return? A pet that did nothing but eat, poop and hide in her little shelter.
The birds were just evil, or at least the female was. She had to be kept seperate from the male because she would attack him and rip out his feathers. She also would fling seed and water at me, bang her cage door, and screech at the top of her lungs ALL DAY LONG.
UGH