Thread: Peculiar Pets or Pesks?

I was sent a video of a chameleon being given various colors of sunglasses, and it is fascinating to watch it blend with the sunglasses' colors.

But if it's high maintenance, it is not for me then.

How about something cuddly but not a cat or a dog? Any ideas?

Rabbits can easily be litter box trained and make great pets in the house but do best with company. Some will do fine alone but some will become lonely and agressive if they don't have a friend. It's also a good idea to neuter or spay a rabbit that is kept loose in the house and it's common practice with indoor rabbit owners. They tend to make calmer, friendlier pets and again can become more agressive if not neutered along with the same risk of marking things that you get with a cat or dog. Try the house rabbit society's website http://www.rabbit/ .

I don't know much about hedgehogs except they are a bit more complicated feed although more and more commercial hedgehog diets come out all the time and they can become quite tame eventually. Try hedgehog central for good info.

I've kept lots of pets. We had guinea pigs and guinea pig pups from the time I was in kindergarten through college. For awhile my sister had dwarf hamsters and I was breeding gerbils. She did have one eat several litters but after removing that one her hamsters raised many very friendly cute babies. I had some wonderful gerbils but it's very hard to find good gerbils without going to one of the rodent shows to get them direct from breeders. I just got lucky. Eventually I moved to more exotics and had some things you've never heard of like duprasis (a gerbil relative but a bit more like a smart hamster in personality and body shape) and degus (south american version of a squirrel). Now aside from the larger pets we've always had around including 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 horses and the flock of chickens I am also breeding roborovski hamsters which are half the size of your common dwarf hamster and I have 5 sugar gliders. Sugar gliders live a long time and can become exceedingly tame to the point they can be taken in public and won't leave you as well as grooming you every time they get out of their cage. However they take a long time to tame and will bite until they know you. People generally get discouraged before they fully bond with them because it can take months. They also are complicated to feed since they do not do well on a dry diet only and few commercial diets are even appropriate. A small pet that's as interactive as a dog but not a good pet for inexperienced pet owners and those lacking patience.

Every pet has benefits and potential problems but you might also want to look in to chinchillas. A little more time to tame than a rabbit and again best with company but they can become very friendly. They aren't overly demanding requiring a chinchilla pet and grass hay for their diet and an appropriate sized cage. With another chinchilla for company they can do fine whether you have a lot of time to pay attention to them or not. They are slightly expensive though and so is a large chinchilla cage for them to play in. If you do a search for guinea pig cages or cavy cages there is a site (probably the first one) that is all about making cheap very large cages for guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, and other similar sized animals out of shelving grids and the plastic material they use for political signs.