how do you make yourself 'stop'

[crazy rat lady]

Ah hahaha! This thread is so funny , no matter what we will never be able to stop! Unless you have a strict hubby and in that case get the rat and get rid of the hubby :giggle:

:laugh4:

My boyfriend get's mad cause I spend so much time with the ratties, from cleaning to play time & I only have nine yet

To me, ratties trump boyfriend/husband....
They are the love of my life....

 

[sausage4ever]

I've devised a simple plan that seems to work great for me, because saying I'm going to cut my numbers or get of of rats every year doesn't really work too well :giggle:.

What I do now is I only adopt boys born between Feb.-Apr. of each year, up to a max of five boys (so I don't get overwhelmed). If I do this then I get to look forward to this time of year as RatHunt time, and then my boys are also about a year apart (which in my reasoning cuts down on the amount of illness due to old age and death).

 

[jorats]

That's a pretty neat idea Dee.
Ya, the whole: "I'm done with rats" doesn't work with me either. lol

 

[mamie]

I can't seem to stop either but ... I won't purchase from a store no way hosay..

 

[Godmother]

When I figure out how to stop, I will let y'all know! :giggle: I was going to cut down my numbers, haha, and I would have been down to four by now. Somehow I now have twelve. :?:

 

[Candaloo]

I totally understand the "save them all' feeling. I have a hard time staying away from Craigslist and petfinder.... I have 15 right now and just took on a rescue from a girl who couldn't take care of him anymore, so, now I have 16.... (sigh). My problem is, I find these great sales on cages and buy them, then I think, "hmmm, I have more space for this rat and that rat that needs a home" and then, Whammoe, I've got more... I am using 7 of my 12 cages, lets cross our fingers that I keep myself in check. :emb: A rattery I know called 3 Girls Rattery says this: "Rats are like potato chips, you can NEVER just have one" I would add with "Rats are like potato chips, you can NEVER just have one or two or three or fouror five or six or seven or eight......
Candace
Forever Loved Rats Rattery *FLRR
http://foreverlovedratsrattery.yolasite.com/

 

[MissGuardian]

I totally know this feeling!
I only have three tho..
I want to be able to have all my rats with me at one time, either if I go on vacation or just for a walk
Probably a good thing that there aren't any rats for adoption here when it comes to me getting more rats.. :lol:
Problem is I don't have much choice but buying at pet stores:/
Besides my Edward is a handful so wouldn't have time for more rats :lol:

 

[Argent]

Knowing I'm moving house soon isn't helping >.< I keep looking at rescue babies for adoption and my GMR flares up again!

 

[BriannaDawn]

lol I was just talking with my roommate about dumbo rats and then we started talking about getting one then talked our way into 2. Then we stopped ourselves and were like, "oh god we're rataholics!" :lol: It's so tempting to run out and get more but I just keep telling myself 3 is enough.

 

[Phyllis]

Oh this thread fits me to a T. I just drove to another state to meet a wonderful girl who drove far like me so I could get my 4 baby girls & 2 old boys. I have often said if I could just win the lottery, I would save so many, hire people to clean them & help me but I would still want to play with them & bond with them! I do believe you have rattie fever, it is very hard to control,,,, :giggle:

 

[Petunia]

I hadn't heard of GGMR when I got my first five girls. er I mean my first THREE girls. ahem
which quickly became five girls.
then I added two more girls. And two of the previous girls were older and passed away.
somewhere in the middle of all that, I added a neutered boy- and then got sick and was totally overwhelmed.
with great regret and much embarrassment and pain, I rehomed two girls and the boy.
due to a strange twist in circumstances I was able to get my two girls back but the boy went on to be adopted to another home. He's got a great home, a wonderful new mom and plenty of playmates, so you could say it all worked out in the end....
BUT I felt so bad (and still do) about having made the initial commitment to all of these kiddos and then to have failed to live up to it,
that anytime I feel the urge to take on more than I can reasonably handle, I just remember what happens when you go beyond your limits.

It's not good.

My maximum limit is 8. I think that really five is the best number for me so I have some extra time to do other things. (like the housework LOL)
but they are so much fun and there are so many that need a good home.
I just try to keep it in mind that if I get too many rats, I am no longer able to give the ones I have a GOOD home let alone provide a good home for new ones.

know what I mean?


it's hard though. It's really hard. They say cats are like potato chips, too, but I can easily stop with the cats. three is a good number for cats, or one- but two seem to fight constantly (or maybe it was just the cats that I had at the time?!!?)

but with rats, it's more like
one rat leads to another and another.....

and those popcorning babies, forget about it!! LOL

I told a friend they were like Pringles- have you seen the ads? Once you pop, you can't stop...

when I called to tell her I got more rats, she said "oh no, you've been Pringled" LOL

good topic!

 

[jorats]

lol... you've been pringled. I love it!

 

[Phyllis]

:heart: I know I have 6 new kids from a rescue right now, you saw my lil Blondies. I have all my cages to max again, I just wish too I would win a lottery, I'd donate so big to all rescues, & build my a big one, hire people to clean & I could play & love

 

[minnow]

I was doing so well, committed to getting down to one cage as the oldies passed away... until the baby boom at CCRR. Now I'm planning on getting a shiny new CN for the ones I'm fostering, in case they don't get adopted and I "have to" keep them as permanent "fosters".

I guess I got pringled...

 

[jorats]

Awww.. minnow, that is so wonderful of you to plan for their forever instead of giving them a time limit. Now that is some sweet pringling. lol

 

[minnow]

Fosters deserve to have a forever too. It's semi-experimental to see if there are bites here (when people actually know that they don't have to drive 4 hours) for rats that are actually well socialized but more expensive than the low low [censored] prices found at the local disreputable pet store.

This place brought me into rescuing instead of going to the pet store, so maybe I can get a few local converts with some absolutely adorable bubbers and bring them into the Rat Shack fold. Or I can keep the bubbers for myself if there are no bites. Either way I'm happy.

 

[jorats]

Sounds like a win win plan.

 

[rodentmama]

Well I was pringled. I like four as my magic number and when it dropped to three I ended up adopting three more...to replace one. And they ended up being girls....so drat, now I have to budget for spays. OH NO....but they are so cute, and I love them. In the end cheaper then booze or antidepressants. Can you ever really stay depressed with furries or nakkeds crawling all over you saying "Mommy we love you".

 

[jorats]

In the end cheaper then booze or antidepressants.

OMG... I'm so going to use that. LOL!
This thread is going from how do you stop to which excuse is the best. rofl

 

[PitLuvs]

I went from 2 brothers and thats it... to 9... not including the 3 girls partying in my bedroom every night and stashing food in my pillows.
Hard to believe I was at 4 the beginning of the month, its the 15th.

And I couldn't be happier! Tehe! But this time I mean it, 9's my limit.