My mum was the same at first, She hated them wouldn't go near them or touch them at all..

I catch her quite a bit talking to them when shes upstairs, She will also be the first one to grab ronnie when hes out of the cage. She totally changed her mind about them and she rants on to everyone who thinks they are vermin.

She puts her hands in the cage and lets dudley give her kisses so it can happen. I found it helped getting babies, She was freaked out by the red eyes but shes got over that and will more that willingly snatch ronnie from me for a cuddle..

Cant you sort out a trial for a week? see if you can convert her, Find out why she doesn't like them, Rats often get looked upon as dirty flea ridden creatures, You got to convince her that the rats are very very clean animals, Both my boys are litter trained and wont go anywhere else.

I think Ronnie has a cleaning problem, Hes too clean his cage is spotless and he never has anything lying