Ugh!! I do at least have to give kudos to you for sticking up to her.. sounds like she's a handful!

You are really making a responsible choice that I wish more pet owners would make... there are FAR too many rats produced around where I am that are the result of such breeding, and then *surprise* no one can find homes for them....

How wierd! I guess if she volunteered at a shelter and still doesn't get it, you can't really hope to change her mind. But at least you're there to keep her in check!

Good idea Anna. Show your mom what can and DOES happen when breeding gets out of control.

omg, that's EXACTLY how my mom is!! She kept thinking that I was getting my boys so I could breed her girls and my girls so they could continue a generation. I keep telling how dangerous and complecated breeding is, but she won't listen! I even gave her printouts about responsible breeding, but I don't think she read them. I thought we'd finished the discussion and she understood, but yesterday she asked me when I was going to breed Cailean. I thought my mom was smarter than that. Geez....  

Just be careful she doesn't take it upon herself to put your boys in with the girls...

"Surprise!"

My thoughts exactly....

Same with your Mom Striped.

I think you both need to take your mothers to the Parental Unit Repair Shop. Something is obviously broken.

stripedrats, ditto. I thought she would know better considering all of the volunteer work we've done (and still do) together for homeless animals. She's seen it, yet she still wants to contribute to it.. *shakes head*

Ensie, could it be the fact that she won't be getting any grandchildren from me perhaps? Heehee... wouldn't be surprised.

Dearpie and LittlePixie, I hope my mom is smarter than that... as far as I know she doesn't handle the rats without my knowing. But I'd be worried about going anywhere and leaving her to take care of them.  

Lenore, I honestly don't know... and the way she acts like it's all just a big joke makes me all the more frustrated. She doesn't take me seriously when I tell her it'd be just plain WRONG.  

Pffft.. don't they have to leave the house at least once a year for that to happen?  

Well I can be glad that my mom adores the rats... just stinks that she wants them to breed. Andrew better have kids eventually, because there's no way I'm going down that road. Just means less pet time.

It's funny though... as far as I know she's all for spaying and neutering cats and dogs. But for some reason it's okay for rats to just breed constantly.  

why is it that mothers always refuse to listen to their children (even when we are grownup) about things in which we are well-researched?

For example, I am two months away from a BS in Biology, but my mom NEVER listens to me on biological and health matters.  No matter how many facts I present, she always brushes over them...

I'm sorry your mom is being weird too, Sadcat; I guess there's nothing else you can do but keep telling her no.  These are your pets, so remind her that, if nothing else, you have the last say in what happens to them.  Then you get to try and be patient with any further nagging from her.  good luck!

Good god, Anna! That is amazing.. I can't even imagine the smell of it. Thank god for people like you helping this guy out..

My mother is fabulous. She adores rats, but has never wanted to breed. She now keeps bunnies (because she developed a very severe allergy to rats), and only has rescues. She cares for her animals with amazing dedication.

My dad and I have always had a tough relationship, but he has always loved my animals. He really likes the ratties, and is absolutely great with nearly all fuzzy creatures -- for some reason, nearly every fuzzbutt he meets just adores him.

Methinks I should invest in a lock for my bedroom door... just to be safe.

Naw, I know she wouldn't intentionally breed them... it's just her laughing, joking attitude about the whole breeding issue that gets to me. It's not something I find funny, knowing how many rats (and other overbred animals) can't find homes every year. I think when Parchisi had her baby and it died and I was really upset over it, she got the notion that I'd want to breed again so I could experience healthy babies. What she doesn't understand is, Parchisi's pregnancy was an accident, and a perfect example of what can happen due to irresponsible breeding practices.

Ho hum! At least she loves the rats, and defends them when people say anything bad about them as pets. And she would never think me crazy for spending thousands to save their lives. She knows how much I love them... she's just messed up on the baby issue.  

I went away for a week in January, I had my mother come and petsit my rats. I told my mother "Do not let anybody out of their cages, especially the girls." Not because I wanted to deprive my guys of freetime exercise but just because I did have some girls that would come out and go off in places where the boy cages are. I know their hiding spots, but someone else wouldn't.
I come home, and find one of my girls looking pregnant some time later. I actually took her to the vet thinking something was wrong with her because her stomach was oddly shaped, more like she had 2 saddlebags hanging out of the sides of her stomach. She was pregnant...and delivered 15 babies. Counting 22 days back from when she delivered, it was clear she got pregnant a few days before I came home.
I questioned my mother about it and to this day she still insists that my girl had snuck out of her cage but she put her back in the cage shortly after, and that she doesn't understand how she could've gotten pregnant.
I was really upset because I'd already had a high number of rats and know how hard it is to find good homes for babies plus, the girl that got pregnant was way too young to have babies...she was 3 1/2 months old when she delivered. Fortunately everything went well for her and all the babies...she amazed me with how good she was during the delivery and seemed a natural at being a mother. But my mother tells me, "What's the big deal? Go on the computer and find homes for the babies, or buy some extra cages and keep them." As if it's really always that easy! Though I was able to find great homes for some of the babies and did keep quite a few.
If it wasn't for the fact that I know this particular girl that got pregnant has a habit of trying to sneak out of the cage without me knowing, especially when she's in heat, I really would think my mother did it deliberately. I think what's funnier is when I was younger, I was always bringing home stray dogs and cats, or orphaned wild animals and my mother's favorite lines used to be, "No more animals!" or "Stop bringing them home!" yet she was so indifferent to my rat having babies.