Quote:
Originally Posted by wooohooo
So I live in a Condo that doesn't allow big pets (cats, dogs, tigers... etc)
Well anyways, I'm looking to get a small pet for fun like a fish or a hamster. Anyone have a suggestion on a pet?
I'm leaning more to a hamster/gerbil than a fish as I can at least play with it but if the maintenance and cleaning is too much of a hassle I'll get a fish.
Also, how about the costs associated with each? I've never owned a pet in my life so I have very limited knowledge in these aspects
Thanks in advance!
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Over the years, my kids have had most of the menagerie from Old MacDonald's Farm. Although my husband has rolled his eyes at what pets I allowed the kids to have, the only pet he actually said had to go was the gopher, you can read on for why.
Dogs, cats are great but you said that is a no no.
My kids have snared baby gophers and raised them, basically they are sort of like hamsters, very active at night, spinning their play wheel like crazy, keeping the whole household up....not the type of pet to have in the house if one of the members of the household is a light sleeper!!! But they are more interactive with people than hamsters.
Fish are great, but be forewarned, if you travel and are away much, most people are not great about feeding your fish while you are gone. They really don't think the amount of food you laid out is enough and they tend to overfeed them. Depending on the variety of fish, some are more maintenance than others.
My kids have also rescued baby birds and raised them. Birds are nice, but can be noisy. Cockatiels are very interactive with people. And they can be taught to sing and to talk. From my experience, they sing better than they talk.
When I taught, my homeroom class had gerbils one year as a class pet and garter snakes another year. Gerbils were fun, and out of all the rodents, probably the least smelly. That however does not absolve you from cleaning their cage regularily. Snakes, well they certainly do not interact with people much.....actually, snakes do not do much period.
My kids also had guinea pigs. They are not quite as interactive as gerbils, but they really did bond with my kids, particularily my daughter. They have a life expectancy of 5 to 7 years, unlike hamsters which are lucky to make a year. So if you do not want to cope with a lot of mourning in your life, I would recommend gerbils or guinea pigs over hamsters.
My kids also had rabbits. They bond well with people, and can be litter trained like a cat. Rabbits live a long time, 10+ years. Not sure what you would do with yours in an apartment if you were away. We live in the country and they also had a large outside coop, making it easy for someone else to come and feed them if we were away.
And my kids have had leopard geckos, in fact my daughter still has a pair of them. From my experience being around them, while they are very easy maintenance, they really are not "people" oriented.
Rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters all require a cage with wood chips, prefereably cedar wood chips. You can put in other playthings and paraphanelia but most do not require a lot. You can feed them some fresh fruit and vegetables and then they have their kibble which is quite cheap. Birds require a cage too and then various kibble and other mineral and vitamin blocks etc.
I could never, ever, live with a tarantula in my house!!! Gives me the shudders just thinking about it, actually.
