I want a new pet any ideas? info inside the thread

I have noticed not all of you are only into snakes so I figured I would ask. I am looking fora pet that is umm well I would not call corns boring but I want something that runs around and is playful but is kept in a cage. Im 16 homeschooled so I got time for care. I do not want anything that stinks bad tho then my mom would make me get rid of it. Ty for any help Nitelion.

Anything specific you are interested in? I mean are you looking for snakes, lizards? Or even reptiles? Mammals?

Id prefer a reptile or mammals. Anything that falls under what I said is ok tho something playful that dose not stink

I think mammals are more of a pain then reptiles are. They stink a lot to, I have a ferret, and I love him, but he craps so much I have to clean his cage all the time. Lizards are pretty good, maybe leopard gecko or bearded dragon? They are pretty good begginer lizards. You dont like corns?

Rats make great pets and aren't too smelly if you clean the cage regularly. They are easy to care for, very friendly, and can be litter trained. Pretty much, they're like tiny little dogs...they can even be taught tricks!

A few of our members have short tailed opossums. I don't know much about their care, but they are adorable! I've thought about getting one once I do the proper research.

Bearded dragons are great if you want to stick with reptiles. Mine roams around the house when I'm home and gets along well with the other animals (dog and cat, supervised of course). They are more difficult to care for than corns, need special lighting, more roomy enclosures, and have fairly strict dietary needs, but are great pets if you have the time and some extra cash (UV bulbs aren't cheap and need replaced often and fresh fruits/veggies can be expensive, unless you're just using whatever your family already has in the house).

Yeah rats are pretty good pets. If you do choose bearded dragon though I just use some greens that my family has in our fridge. Bearded dragons are pretty awesome!

Ferrets are a ton of fun but yeah they do stink, and you have to clean alot.

Rats are great and very playful and fun and as long as you keep up with cleaning there shouldnt be much smell. One thing to note though is rats do much better in same gender pairs (to avoid breeding of course) because they are social animals.

Bearded dragons make great pets as well. Mine are very friendly, active and reconize me. My young beardie is esspecially entertaining with out goofy he is. Its nice that they also get large enough to feel safer about taking them out of the cage and letting them roam around.

Yeah if you wanted a playful animal get a ferret, they are a riot! But if your mom wont allow the smell then they aren't going to work lol.

If you want to go mammal, rats or a Cavy would be my recommendation. For a reptile, I'd also suggest a beardie.

When I was home schooled, my parents got me a Chinchilla. He was so awesome that my mother got two females and we started to breed them and sell the babies to a local pet store for about 75$, they turned around and sold them for 125. But, chinchilla's do not stink as long as you keep their pen clean, and we cleaned ours about once a week when I only had one, and twice to three times a week when we had more. They are also really fun to have and can become quite tame.

If you're home a lot, I'd look into adopting a chinchilla. There's a lot of them in rescue groups and mine was simply intriguing as a pet. They interact very well with people and are a lot of fun to have around. Their poop is very dry and doesn't have an odor to it. They are rather dusty, require large cages and live for a number of years, so keep that in mind before you look into one-- you've got college in the future, and most dorms won't allow pets besides a fish aquarium.

Hey Nitelion94,

I got to put in my 2 cents, my vote is a RAT. The reason is because if you get a just weaned rat and play with it daily they become so tame and nice that it is unreal. As someone said you can train the rat to do tricks. I would recommend a female because they smell less and with one rat all you have to do is clean the tank out each week.

As for the cavy, my daughter had one and I hated the thing. However, they do make ok pets if you get one when it is small.

I can not say anything about a reptile because all I have ever owned is snakes.

The reason for the rat is because I owned one when I was a kid and it was one of the best pets I have ever owned.

Love the Fatman

Rats are wonderful pets, but not for everyone.
Rats are very social animals and are much happier and healthier in same sex pairs or trios. Keeping a rat alone is a very sad and lonely way for it to live, but it is harder to introduce adults, you really should get babies.
Rats need a really big cage and should have at least an hour of out of cage playtime a day. Tanks really are not big enough or ventilated enough.
And rats have very short lifespans and are subject to illnesses that may require vet care.
Males are slighly stinkier and much larger and slower ( I prefer males myself)
Females are softer, faster and tend to get mammory tumors that usually end up killing them.

Right now I have 2 males and 2 females, in seperate cages.

rats, guinea pigs, chinchillas

although chinchillas have the agility of a squirrel and curiousity of a ferret they can be a handle full and are excellent escape artists. but they are fun.

ferrets smell so thats a no.

sugar glider? maybe

teacup pig?

sugar gliders go in the same category as chinchillas... need alot of moving space and need stimuli

I cant remember who said it but I love corns I plan on getting my girl a boyfriend next month. but other that crawling in my hands there not super playful. I am thinking about looking into sugar gliders they look cute and fun. beardies sound fun and i want a rat bad but its kinda like my mom was over snakes she watches waaaay to much tv and thinks there nasty and evil and if I get bit ill die. O and shes afraid they will get lose breed and then well like kill us in our sleep or something idk. so im not gona push them to hard took me to long to get a snake and I dont wana tick her off and lose him

If you're 16, someday you're going to grow up and move on. Will you take your pet with you? Depends on where you live--a lot of rentals won't allow pets of any sort.

Rats sound good to me. They'll die about the time you're ready to go to college or live on your own or travel or whatever it is you'll do as a young adult, and in the mean time, they make wonderful, intelligent pets .

Nitelion94 said:

I cant remember who said it but I love corns I plan on getting my girl a boyfriend next month. but other that crawling in my hands there not super playful. I am thinking about looking into sugar gliders they look cute and fun. beardies sound fun and i want a rat bad but its kinda like my mom was over snakes she watches waaaay to much tv and thinks there nasty and evil and if I get bit ill die. O and shes afraid they will get lose breed and then well like kill us in our sleep or something idk. so im not gona push them to hard took me to long to get a snake and I dont wana tick her off and lose him

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sugar gliders become great pets. if you bond with them and psend alot of time with them they actually will follow you and look at you almost as their own human tree and they are very social. they love being close to their owners and will hangout on you or in your shirt and you can put them in your pocket and they will just hangout there because they are close to oyu. they are nocturnal so they will be up most of the night as they like the night.. light hurts their eyes ( well bright lights) although they will wanna be with their owner during the day even if they are sleeping in a carry pouch or your pocket... they need a tall narrow cage to climb and scale and glide in.... if you want them to become used to you what you should do is wear an old t-shirt and at the end of the day pput it in their cage or wipe a paper towel on your face and throw it in with them.... the scent will be there and they will be able to sense when your around by your scent and they will know you are there and get excited to see you and be with you. your mission when getting a baby or a (joey) is to bond with it. so during the day is the best time. why? because they sleep during the day and if you can handle it and get it to fall asleep then it trusts you and feels safe. if it doesnt fall back asleep it feels threated.... this all of course takes time. if they try to nip that means they are afraid.... dont puull back. if you show it that it can intimidate you then it will try to bite more. as if you show no fear it will learn your not afraid and wont bite. give them treats and show them your gonna care for them. they will lick yogurt right off your finger. and bets way to hold them is created a hand cave almost dont squeeze but cup and protect them.

trust me these little guys can make great companions and will play and be excited to be with you. they will play with almost anything. pretty much bird toys is what they like. but they will also play with balls that they can move around and arent too heavy... they also love wodent wheels ( its a running wheel with holes for them to crawl through then they move it odviously with there legs)


these are awesome pets that you can get to love and be with everyday as they will always be excited to see oyu!

Well lock I still want a sugar glider but I read some info on them and I do not know how my mom will feel about the peeing/pooping out of the cage so im still looking. It will be a little while I am spending the money I got right now to get a snake or 2 at a show next month

My experience with Sugar Gliders is minimal, but my niece had one and I would not recommend them. The DO need lots of attention, being social animals... and if you're not going to spend LOTS of time with them, then you probably need a pair.

My niece... she got one, didn't play with it hardly ever, and then gave it up to a rescue. It was pretty sad.

I had a ferret too... you CAN buy a pet food that supposedly "decreases" the smell, but I didn't notice a difference. They are AWESOME pets!!! Chester was just awesome with me... but if I could do it again, I would get one that ISN'T albino. Chester was and his vision was pretty impaired (as I hear most albino species have impaired vision). He couldn't see a ball bounced at him and would have to "find me" by trial and error... listening for my voice or footsteps. He was fun and adorable, but yeah, I'd definitely go with a normal sable colored one or so. JUST REMEMBER the odor thing. That would definitely be something to consider.

The_Thunderer said:

My experience with Sugar Gliders is minimal, but my niece had one and I would not recommend them. The DO need lots of attention, being social animals... and if you're not going to spend LOTS of time with them, then you probably need a pair.

My niece... she got one, didn't play with it hardly ever, and then gave it up to a rescue. It was pretty sad.

I had a ferret too... you CAN buy a pet food that supposedly "decreases" the smell, but I didn't notice a difference. They are AWESOME pets!!! Chester was just awesome with me... but if I could do it again, I would get one that ISN'T albino. Chester was and his vision was pretty impaired (as I hear most albino species have impaired vision). He couldn't see a ball bounced at him and would have to "find me" by trial and error... listening for my voice or footsteps. He was fun and adorable, but yeah, I'd definitely go with a normal sable colored one or so. JUST REMEMBER the odor thing. That would definitely be something to consider.

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oh and get a ferret with a mask almost like a bandit cus white faced ferrets have hearing problems. so they wont be able to hear you.( my sister has 2)