Need help picking a good pet

[Salodin]

Let me correct myself, hard to take care of correctly. 99.9% of the cages you get in pet stores are not adequate for a guinea pig. It's home alone is a giant investment in maintenance and space. I don't half ass taking care of my animals, and I wouldn't want another guinea pig when I don't have another 10 square feet at least to put him in. Other then that, they're piss easy. Fresh water takes a minute to provide, a bowl of pellets, and a mountain of hay daily. Most of the time and energy I put into that animals care was taking care of his cage.

That bird singing, I'm pretty sure it's a quaker parrot. Wish this bird would entertain itself like that when I'm not in the room. The quietest I can get her to be is to quack like a duck over and over until I get back or she decides to scream for me.

[Caiyuo]

If I had the time to devote to a grey I'd get one after stories like those lol. I give this parrot attention but it's never enough, she really is just like a needy child. I did the research on her but nothing prepared me for putting her on her cage after playing with her on my bed, then walking out the room to take a piss and hearing her scream her little lungs out for me to come back. It never really did get better, and I tried positive reinforcement to get her to calm down when I left the room but after a month nothing has really worked. Luckily I got her from a mom and pop shop who take pride in their animals so they are willing to take her back since it isn't working out.

I liked my guinea pig, but taking care of it was a big pain, even more so now that I'm alone. I made a big 2x5 cage out of chloroplast and plastic grating so he'd have a lot of room to run around in and popcorn, but I really don't have the room for it here any more. He was also incredibly messy, which we learned how to deal with but still, I would rather not go through it again. I have never seen an animal that I can leave on my floor for 3 minutes, and come back to 15 pieces of turds on my floor. To this day I don't understand where it all comes from...

My ideal pet would be a cat, but like I said I don't want one in the off chance I'd have to give it up in a year. So I plan on settling for something cage living, and so far a snake sounds awesome feeding it so seldom and keeping it's size small. There's no health risk to it? And he doesn't get aggressive being fed so sparingly?

Rodents sound cool too, but now I'm deathly afraid of getting another attention needing animal after this parrot and my time not being enough to maintain it >_< lol

That's commendable that you recognize the limit to which you're willing to commit, that's my big peeve and the reason I'd echo a lot of what Silenka said earlier because I paid for it when I owned 2 hedgehogs years ago. I'd equate them to your experience with your guinea pig, they were more than I expected and I really wasn't as good of a caretaker as I should've been. They died a lot earlier than I expected and I'm sure that it's my fault.

As for pets, I'd throw my vote in with either rats or lizards. An ex gf of mine had a rat and he was very fun and affectionate to play with. The tail freaked me out initially, but overall he was a really good pet that she was able to maintain and care for all within her room due to their house being filled with cats and dogs. Tempyst's bearded dragon seems like an awesome pet and he seems to really enjoy him too. I'd honestly never considered a lizard for a pet until I saw how endearing his was.

[Djghost454]

Unfortunatly my bird died His name was Hadji. My mom works at a vet clinic and brought a dog home one day while I was at work who needed overnight care. Hadji knew how to open his cage, and all the other animals in the house would run for the hills when he was out roaming. Sadly, the new dog did not get the memo from the other dogs, and my mom only found a few feathers.

She's damn lucky she got that dog out of the house before I came home or I would of sliced it's damn stomach open to pull my bird out while the dog was alive.

Had him for 14 years, as soon as I get out of my current financial troubles, another grey will be my first purchase.

[Ksandra]

oh man this makes me mis my rats so much.

(not mine but they are so cute!)





[vdieo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIbU2bZS4bs&feature=related[/video]



I'd totally get more except I get too attached and it's so sad when they pass ;_;

Also I dunno if I trust my cats to be like this:

[Guitarman]

dj i hope you're not trolling us because i'm in tears over here laughing so hard.

[Tempyst]

As for pets, I'd throw my vote in with either rats or lizards. An ex gf of mine had a rat and he was very fun and affectionate to play with. The tail freaked me out initially, but overall he was a really good pet that she was able to maintain and care for all within her room due to their house being filled with cats and dogs. Tempyst's bearded dragon seems like an awesome pet and he seems to really enjoy him too. I'd honestly never considered a lizard for a pet until I saw how endearing his was.

[Djghost454]

Nope. I miss that lil bastard though. One last story before I go to the bar for the night.

My ex was a HUUUGE creationist... Earths 10k years old, etc etc. We always got into arguments over that as I'm agnostic, and believe that the world is freaking old, billions and billions of years old. She also believed that man walked the earth with dinosaurs. One day I was arguing that with her, and explaining that I believe most dinosaurs evolved into birds, which has alot of fossil evidence to back it up. She looks at me to reply, and Hadji cleared his throat. We both looked over at him, he just hunched over and did this growling sound he did from time to time.

She looked back at me, and said "Maybe your right, He's definitely part T-Rex"

[Salodin]

Aw man those rat videos were awesome...maybe I'll do some research into them and see what they're like. I don't like their short life span =( but they also seem a lot more endearing then a python...

[Caiyuo]

Aw man those rat videos were awesome...maybe I'll do some research into them and see what they're like. I don't like their short life span =( but they also seem a lot more endearing then a python...

also, ferret food for thought!

[miokomioko]

I'm confident that the African Grey stories are true. They really are incredibly intelligent and can pick up on an amazing amount of sounds, words, etc. and can actually rationalize a bit and eventually communicate with basic sentences (you've probably seen that Pet Stars video of Einstein). I only know as much as I do about parrots because my girlfriend is a big fan of birds. She had a Green-cheeked Conure named Bird (awesomely cute/cuddly bird), Sun Conure named Cozy (noisy asshole), and a Black-headed Caique named Robot (unpredictable bird but it made robotic beeps and whirrs), most of which were given away to friends/family as she didn't end up having the time to take care of them while she was in an accelerated bachelor program. Recently, we ended up with a baby White-bellied Caique which we ended up leaving with my father because his girlfriend loved her more than anything and it's one of the best birds I've known because my dad gives it so much attention while working from home. The only way it could have ended up as tame as it is. Birds are not domesticated, they are simply "imprinted" by humans when they are born, so they easily can grow to be quite the shitty assholes if they are not continually surrounded by humans with nothing but good things to associate. They also go through "terrible twos" which is an experience in its own.

As far as lizards go, there aren't a lot of them I would suggest because I personally prefer the ability to allow a pet outside of its cage without worry or loss. However, I do have a Crested Gecko that's really tame (never bites), very mellow and loves to just chill on top of my head, or on top of my monitor. While an extremely chilled-out lizard (likes to jump a little though, which scares me and she just recently dropped her tail for no reason...) and we only ended up getting her because its living requirements are incredibly simple. We mist her terrarium once or twice a day to keep the moss/wood moist and the air humid, and its food is just a simple powder that you mix with water a few times a week.

Other than that, I've had some pretty awesome Chinese Water Dragons, Anoles, House Geckos, Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters, and a family friend had an Iguana that roamed their house and back yard like a big, fat, lazy, green-scaled cat.

[Tempyst]

Other than that, I've had some pretty awesome Chinese Water Dragons, Anoles, House Geckos, Campbell's Dwarf Hamsters, and a family friend had an Iguana that roamed their house and back yard like a big, fat, lazy, green-scaled cat.

How are Chinese Water Dragons? I saw one at the pet store and thought it looked cool, but I haven't had the chance to do the research

[Silenka]

If all else fails you could try one of these...

[snowtoday]

How are Chinese Water Dragons? I saw one at the pet store and thought it looked cool, but I haven't had the chance to do the research

Chinese Water Dragons? sounds cool.

[miokomioko]

Chinese Water Dragons are really friendly/goofy as they really react to anything that comes close to their cage with a lot of curiosity, but once they are released in an open area they run. They run just like if they do in any video where they literally run across water like some kind of reptilian Jesus. They run on their two hind legs as fast as they can pretty much until they hit a wall. They are fun to play with in an enclosed area for that reason, but I'd just keep an eye out for any hiding spots they could get at because they are just very active when they get the opportunity. I think, for that reason, they need a semi decent-sized cage for them to go after crickets. I always found feeding live crickets a huge annoyance for owning lizards, which is why I was so happy about the Crested Gecko and its simple powder food (which smells deliciously like bananas).

[Kerberoz]

I can't speak for all of them since he's my first, but my bearded dragon is very easy going and playful. They're also fairly simple to take care of, the only kicker is that the equipment can be a bit expensive, and if you don't breed your own insects you'll have to buy them every week.

A note on this: if you get a beardie or any insectivore, for the love of the gods, do not attempt to breed crickets. They're annoying, smelly, suicidal, cannibalistic, Houdini demon-bugs. Either buy your crickets/locusts weekly, or breed feeder roaches. They're noiseless, odorless, agoraphobic, and can't breed at room temp.

[miokomioko]

A note on this: if you get a beardie or any insectivore, for the love of the gods, do not attempt to breed crickets. They're annoying, smelly, suicidal, cannibalistic, Houdini demon-bugs. Either buy your crickets/locusts weekly, or breed feeder roaches. They're noiseless, odorless, agoraphobic, and can't breed at room temp.

Good lord, this. Even if you bring home bags of store-bought crickets, they will somehow escape and they will forever chirp in your home and there's nothing you'll ever be able to do about it.

[Tempyst]

I keep my store bought crickets in a fairly deep bucket filled with a couple chopped up egg cartons, usually the only escapees are the few that have managed to jump out while I'm transferring them from the bucket to a plastic bag for feeding time.

I will admit though, if you're squeamish around insects like I am the first month of owning and feeding a lizard is hell until you get used to it.

[Cantih]

amazing lol. A+ if he continually asked "u mad bro?" after you answered the phone because of it

I had him trained so if he needed to take a dump he would say "Nuclear Launch Detected" I would place him on his perch, he would shit, then fly back to my shoulder lol.

I can only imagine the terror a 4chan/Vent trained grey would be.

[Kitsuu]

I'm on board with the reptile votes.. However, I don't agree with "they'll only grow as big as you want them to be." for snakes (Well.. any reptile/animal)
That is stunting their growth and is -NOT- healthy.

Ball pythons are great. Their only downside is they CAN essentially get up to 6ft long.
I have corn snakes. =) They max out at around 4ft and are generally very friendly. I've only EVER worked with one aggressive corns.. I've worked with many aggressive ball pythons.

I recommend feeding frozen/thawed mice and rats. They're easy to keep and MUCH safer to feed to your pet. A live mouse/rat left in the tank can cause some serious damage to your pet. Also, if your snake doesn't eat the mouse/rat right away, you're left to care for it.. Then you'll have two pets! haha.

Snakes do not require much care wise. I feed my snakes every 5-7 days. They get 1-2 mice or 1 rat depending on their size.

I also have (and breed) leopard geckos. They are probably one of the easiest reptiles to care for. They don't get very large (10-12 inches) and are generally pretty calm~ I like to walk around with one on my shoulder.

The initial start-up cost for a reptile is going to be your most expensive. The "upkeep price" isn't that bad.
For start-up you need your terrarium, heating, bedding, habitat decor, water bowl, animal, food, etcetc~

I breed my own mice and freeze them for my snakes. It's a lot cheaper for me in the long run since I have 6. Petco and Petsmart sell frozen mice. At Petsmart they're ~$11 for 6 mice depending on size.

Good luck!

ETA: I also agree with the above posters! Crickets are evil and smelly! Mealworms/Superworms and feeder roaches are great~

[Jojimbo]

I was looking into getting a snake as a pet, most likely a corn snake. One thing I was wondering about is if they are fine with being kept in my bedroom, where I keep my PC/spend most of my time. I read online that they can get agitated by ambient noise so as I listen to a lot of music via open air headphones and have a PC that's on alot would this cause major issues?

I'm limited as to where I can put the tank because I am going back to Uni this year and will spend the first year in Uni dorms so if they even allow people to own pet snakes I will probably have to keep it in my room.