Best Small Furry Pet

[Adeptus_Minor]

Originally Posted by CrazyKell

How about a bunny?

Yeah, I could deal with that...

[Trip]

Originally Posted by BobTheBiker

dont necessarily NEED to have a fence for a dog, just walk them yourself and you're good to go. I do with mine daily, apartments kinda force you to.

I am not a fan of leaving the dog in a crate for long periods and I would have to because she wouldn't let me keep it roaming free in the house while we are gone. Waiting for fence for a dog.

Originally Posted by pauldun170

Tell the little lady to stop trimming. Have her grow it out like an afro.
Make sure she uses a good conditioner.

Gross

Originally Posted by The Chi

Send her over to see my ferrets, she'll change her mine...

I've got 2: Bonnie & Clyde. As long as you keep the litter box cleaned and them bathed or spritzed, low to no odor, and you can add things to their water to completely descent them...and they chase the dog all over the house, they're a riot...

If no ferret...um...one of those flying squirrel things, but they can be mean if not handled alot.

I would love ferrets, it's a hard no on this one.

Originally Posted by CrazyKell

I'd still go for a dog even though you don't have a fence. It takes some initial work in the training but it's very rewarding.

How about a bunny?

dog is a no go til fence. This is not debatable.

I would like a bunny, but I want more info before I get one and it be not the right pet for us. I don't want to get something and then have to give it up or try and find a new home/abandon it because we didn't do research before hand.

[the chi]

Hmmm...

You want a big dog or a lil dog? Youve seen my Abby, and while crating a large dog is sometimes seen as "mean" or "confined", many dogs do much better. Abby has quite literally had panic attacks when not put in her kennel. Its her happy safe place, and if she's left alone in the house to wander, she freaks out. My old roomies left her out one night when I wasnt home. I walked into my room to find her laying on the bed, in the dark, shaking so hard she was almost convulsing, her kennel 2 feet away but locked so she couldnt get in it.

I know you want a fence, but remember, even when you get a dog, most trainers recommend crating so there is always a "safe" zone for your dog to go to.

Anyhoo, rabbits are cool, but I have been told they LOVE to chew on everything if not properly supervised, like floors, furntiture, etc. But I think they can be litter trained too!

[Archren]

I had a couple pairs of fancy rats (one pair albino.. the other pair hooded).. and I've also had hedgehogs. Rats aren't really low maintenance (I had to clean their cage daily), and if they're not well socialized, they will bite, and their bites hurt and make you bleed.

Hedgehogs (as in the African Pygmy kind) are fairly low maintenance, are really great pets (again, if well socialized), but they're nocturnal, and that sometimes turns people off.

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by Triple

Having raised all manner of rodents, I recommend rats. Smart, cute, playful, and easy to care for. They can do tricks and they'll ride on your shoulder.

Just get a female, because males grow disgustingly huge testicles.

My pythons are quite fond of rats too.

Tom

[Trip]

Originally Posted by The Chi

Hmmm...

You want a big dog or a lil dog? Youve seen my Abby, and while crating a large dog is sometimes seen as "mean" or "confined", many dogs do much better. Abby has quite literally had panic attacks when not put in her kennel. Its her happy safe place, and if she's left alone in the house to wander, she freaks out. My old roomies left her out one night when I wasnt home. I walked into my room to find her laying on the bed, in the dark, shaking so hard she was almost convulsing, her kennel 2 feet away but locked so she couldnt get in it.

I know you want a fence, but remember, even when you get a dog, most trainers recommend crating so there is always a "safe" zone for your dog to go to.

Anyhoo, rabbits are cool, but I have been told they LOVE to chew on everything if not properly supervised, like floors, furntiture, etc. But I think they can be litter trained too!

Sorry, no dog. It's not an option.


Another reason for the no dog rule is I go on a lot of business trips. Andrea doesn't want to take care of it with walking/bathroom and such. She can't just let it out with no fence. A smaller furry animal that had a cage where she could feed it and just do a once over cleaning of the cage would be much easier on her.

Yeah I heard rabbits can be a pain. That's why I am leaning more to a guinea pig or chinchilla right now.

[tommymac]

Originally Posted by Triple

My experience has been just the opposite. Every hedgehog I've met or cared for has been a violent little asshole. They bite and they are covered in spines.

I've only had one rat bite, and that was at the end of her life, when she was sick and dying. My rats always had enclosures large enough that they only required cleaning once or twice a week.

If we didn't have so many damn dogs right now, I'd probably go buy another rat. Cheap furry fun-ness.



So were my alligators and monitors.

Nice, what kind of gators did ya have. A guy at work just offered me a 4 ft american alligator. I should just leave it for the LL.

I thought rats were kind of sociable, I know like all rodents you do need to keep their cages clean.

Tom

[Archren]

Originally Posted by Triple

My experience has been just the opposite. Every hedgehog I've met or cared for has been a violent little asshole. They bite and they are covered in spines.

I've only had one rat bite, and that was at the end of her life, when she was sick and dying. My rats always had enclosures large enough that they only required cleaning once or twice a week.

If we didn't have so many damn dogs right now, I'd probably go buy another rat. Cheap furry fun-ness.



So were my alligators and monitors.

I only had one rat that liked to bite, but he was one that was a rescue from a research lab (they had trained him, but couldn't use him for their research anymore, so I took him in).. he wasn't very well socialized, and generally only bit when I tried to hand him a treat.

The hedgehogs I had one was very well socialized and only bit me once or twice (thought my finger was food ). The other one was another rescue (one of my mom's friends didn't want her anymore), and yeah, she was a mean little bugger and really didn't like being handled. But I imagine that boils down to that whole socialization thing again..

I would still rather have rats if I were to choose.. they're a lot smarter and that whole lack of spines thing is nice when you want to pet them.

ETA: The biting thing I mentioned because while I only got bitten once or twice by either, rat bites leave scars.. my hedgehogs never even broke the skin when they bit me.

[Tmall]

Ask for your balls back from her purse and get a dog.

She won't allow it to roam the house???

[VatorMan]

Too bad about the ferrets. I miss mine. If I didn't have dogs and a dog door I would get another one.