You look soo young, what age are you there?

You look so happy there :D! And I like the little white one best, thats gettin squashed a wee bit :). They're Rats arn't they? It's just I see a tail!

Yep, they're pet rats derived from plain old Brown Rats, Rattus norvegicus, which is the same species likely to be found in the sewers where you live ;) All these little guys were given to us by previous owners who didn't have the time/knowledge/willingness needed to take care of rats. The white, squashed one which you like is Benjamin (aka Benny) who was in a pretty poor condition (neglected and starved) when we got him. He hadn't been socialized during his 1,5 years or longer life either, but now he's nice and fat and loves to cuddle.

I met my first pet rat 20 years ago and have been around them much of my life since. They are excellent low maintenance pets. I'd argue way better than hamsters, mice, guinea pigs or chinchillas. Warmly recommended! :)

Haha, I've only seen one Rat before, and it was wild, and I was terrified. It was about the size of a Cat. Poor Benny :( (cool name btw) I would have another pet, but my dog Brooke is more than enough for my house (She's huge) or I'd look into it, I'm a teeny bit scared of the tails though :(, my friend had some animal that had a tail at one point, and I was reluctant to hold it, 'cause it had a scary tail. Arn't you arfaid of any animals :O?

There are no birds, mammals or reptiles that I think significantly scare me beyond any rational fear such as a fear that a polar bear might eat me :p: The only group of animals that I have a very real irrational dislike against that I can think of are centipedes like this guy :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Centipede.jpg

I could hold one and let it crawl around on me I guess, but I definetly wouldn't like it. I've had cockroaches crawling on me and that was fine, but .. I dunno, there's just something about those venomous little centipede bastards that I don't like. I don't have a problem with millipedes, though, they're fine.

Rat tails are of course perfectly harmless. They sometimes get pee and poop on them, but if you don't suck on them, it should be alright. :p:

At least your uncomfortable with something actually dangerous, I'm scared of petty things. ****roaches being one, and Slugs (Ugh), they just freak me out. I'm not scared of the actual Rat, they have cute little faces. It's just the tail :(. Haha, I don't think I'll be sucking any rat tails anytime soon anyways.

My parents used to have a couple of pet giant New Guinea stick insects, like so;

http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/2009/...ffiliate.4.JPG

^ I used to be so scared of them. Good job I never had to feed the things.

But huge, grotesque insects aside, I'm not really that scared of nature either. Used to be quite the arachnophobe back in the day though, particularly of those huge, fat, furry, fast ones that come in from outdoors.

Well, you're not alone :) Although it's not the norm, I think it's pretty common to be scared of these things. Part of it is culture and environment - you were somehow taught that these things were not nice. Rats for example may carry associations to diseases and filth which can help sow seeds for phobia later in life.

If everytime you see a slug, you react with the same disgust and fear, then you further teach yourself to disgust and fear slugs and that response reinforces. The result is that over time, that fear response gets stronger and stronger. The dislike which may have started out as a simply a pre-conditioned attitude derived from society/culture/parents and so on may turn into mild or severe phobias.

The way to get over such fear is really to try and break the behavioural pattern; what you do and think whenever you meet f.ex a slug. I'm sure picking up a slug would be a very uncomfortable experience for you, but regardless of that - if it's something you do because you decided to do it despite the fact you knew you were gonna hate it, you've broken that behavioural pattern. Then you've taken control of yourself and your actions instead of letting fear govern them.

Over time, emotions will follow as well and the disgust and fear will wane.

I'll recommend to anyone who suffers from phobias, severe or mild, to make a habit of challenging themselves and their fears. Some things we fear for good reason and that's fine, but we can still do something about our irrational feelings. :)

By my own wisdom, I have of course a job to do myself with the centipedes.

edit :

Hehe, me and my GF have also had a few stick insects. A guy at the university were giving them away for free because the ones he had reproduced asexually by cloning themselves so over time, he had far too many. They're fascinating I think even if they're not terribly exciting pets.

Oh that is a very nice picture of all of you, Tore, similar to one in the picture archives I think I remember seeing. I've always enjoyed rats...so clever and playful and inquisitive. I remember having fun with a friend's rat by holding out my arms (while wearing a loose sweater), and the rat climbed up inside one sleeve, behind my back, and out there other! You gave good advice about behavioral training to reduce phobias, by the way. I also like millipedes and think all their little legs are cute...but centipedes I never want to get close to. Centipedes don't seem very cute to me at all.

I don't think I've ever even imagined anyone sucking on a rat's tail until reading your post, kayleigh! Hmmm...

GAA! That's the one harmless creature whom I fear. I try to hide my feelings of squirmy disgust so my child doesn't inherit my phobia, and so when I see a huge furry fast spider I say things like, "Oh, look at all those nice strong legs, and see how many eyes spiders have?"...but I don't fool myself.

Lets see that was 2001 so I would've been in 8th grade so... 13 I believe.

Yeah, they're strange enough creatures (even stranger now that I know they can reproduce like that) to be interesting enough as pets, if on looks alone. I think the common Indian stick insects (which the parents also had a few of back in the day) are kinda cute, but those spiny New Guinea ones just freak me out to end.

Funnily enough, I can remember the exact moment I inherited arachnophobia as well. I must've been 4 or 5 years old, and I have the very vague memory of the babysitter screaming at this cute little spider on the ceiling. I wish she'd been that generous about the whole thing - it's true that phobias, the majority of the time, are things you grow out of, particularly after leaving home, but growing up with them can be a royal pain in the arse.

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...1-20at1226.jpg

Closest thing to a forced smile you'll get out me

Well Hello there.
 

This were all on my phone so I felt like showing you guys.

Attachment 3832
Waiting for the bus and the most recent...
Attachment 3833
haha Halloween. I was a dark angel. I was told my outfit fit me perfectly.
Attachment 3834
I decided to wear make up and I was being retarded XD
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F*cking around and being bored.

(I've changed a lot since I was on here. *Being pervert* In more than just one or two ways ;) )

yes,...yes i went and saw new moon at midnight last night,....

What the hell are you wearing, woman?


Edit:
:)

uhhh to much like a hefty trash bag? i was afraid of that

That's the first thing that came to my mind when I saw it, but it's not that.
Just came out of left field... I didn't picture you dressing like that, so I figure it's an occasion.

i've definitely had my moments,...though i normally dont dress like that outside of my home

my friend brit and i went and saw the new twilight movie last night at midnight,...we decided to look 'nice'

Ciao Bella! (Abbi pieta!)

Gotcha.
I don't mean to say you don't normally look nice.
It's just you normally look a "comfortable" nice.
Na meen?

Good stuff tho.
Hope you enjoyed the movie.

cantami, t'amo; abbi pieta

Wow you did get quite dolled up, in a good way though, the lipstick and heels is a nice touch.

thank you pete,..
i know you kinda scoffed at me when i told you i went,...but trust me,..it was way worth it,...

we had a ball,...and all the middle aged women hootin and hollerin was hilarious,...so we just joined it too,...and as ridiculous as that sounds,....we had the best time,..

AND it gave me a reason to buy those shoes

I really dislike conforming to a male stereotype but god damn Savannah, it's post's like yours that make me crawl back to MB on hands and knees sometimes!

youre too kind lee

Kindness and tongue hanging out are not always the same thing ;)

I have no idea what the look on my face is for.

The girlfriend took the picture.

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._5705069_n.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/fc2t6v.jpg
Serious face is serious.

Boo!

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p...wman72/022.jpg

lol. you have the mad eyes and countenance of a silent movie star sir

http://i986.photobucket.com/albums/a...-22at11572.jpg

Enslaved bitches

.edud looC

you should shave, fo serious.

My goodness, you have startlingly blue eyes, Bulldog! They don't look mad at all!!

Heh heh...you also have a Mona Lisa smile. :)
http://www.sgallery.net/artnews/data...1/monalisa.jpg

aw you're so cute!!!!! I was an ugly middle schooler x_x

we should post young pictures?? yes?? (well, im young to begin with, but younger)

holy ****, it's like you're staring into my soul O_o

I still can't believe how blue they are.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...kid/Andrew.jpg

Me, being awesome.

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4853550_n.jpg
Here's me enjoying some fine German beer
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...60_6664260.jpg
Here's me with an Italian person,I like to use it as proof I'm NOT A RACIST.

you of course stabbed her in the kidney after that photo

Whilst sorting through my phone today I found these pics from when Bulldog came down to visit. The quality isn't great but what the hell:

http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...ABCD0016-1.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...o/ABCD0018.jpg
http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/c...o/ABCD0019.jpg