Rats, Ferrets, Snakes, other exotic animals.

[Draco Knight]

Little Tribble the fox is getting sooo big! She's 12 weeks old now, which means I've had her for seven weeks. Time flies!

 

D'awww

 

Sneering at me, I think.

[YDraigMelys]

We used to have Iggy The Iguana, for the "exotic" animals... happy fella, fresh leaves from the garden all through the season and whola lotta love from all - especially the cats. Sadly, our very own dragon passed away some time ago of age... still searching for a new one, but Iggy was very special, cool and friendly from the very beginning...

As for other animals - rats, of course, over and over again - they're smart and fun to watch, degus - right now a pair of boys Machu and Picchu, Guinea pig Crispin, gerbils Attila and Genghis, Syrian hamster Emmanuel (with a real pedigree! ), six lovebirds - each one of them has a name, but usually they're yelled at - "Shut up, you little monsters!" - and an African Grey Parrot, called Bertie. The rest are just usual cats and dog, booooring! But the dog is a Pharaoh hound, so maybe?

[Coorinna]

At the moment, the only exotics I have are a couple of geckos, a crestie and a leopard gecko. Geckos are such neat little guys, and the more common species are great starter pets.

Crested geckos are especially good for squeamish people, since they don't necessarily need live food - my girl eats a fruit smoothie-type mix. The leopard gecko is the opposite, though - he gets all kinds of live invertebrates for dinner. The crickets and locusts really creep people out when they visit, hehe.

 

I'd like to get some more reptiles, though, like a blue-tongue skink, cave geckos, chahoua geckos and maybe a sand boa, and possibly start with some exotic mammals too. I'd love some to own tree shrews one day.

 

Also, I'd love a jackdaw, magpie or other corvid as a pet, though, or at least have the chance to keep one for a while. It'd just be brilliant to observe them closely, being some of the most intelligent animals on the planet.

[5icky]

Love that there's an exotic animal thread on here :> My partner and I actually breed/own birds and reptiles as a hobby so we have:

 

1 Lutino Indian Ringneck Parrot

6 Cockatiels (Normal Grey, Whiteface, Pearlpied, Pied, Whiteface Pied, Cinnamon)

1 Lutino Peachface/Fischers Hybrid Lovebird

1 Pied American Parakeet

1 Zebra Finch (the last of my breeding project with these guys)

1 Diamond Dove

6 Cornsnakes (Champagne, Butter, Snow, Blizzard, Lavamel, Sunglow)

5 Leopard Geckos (Tremper Albino, Normal, Super-hypo Tangerine, Blizzard, Albino Patternless Mack Snow)

1 Smoothie Bearded Dragon

2 Crested Geckos (Ink Spot, Tan)

1 Ornate Pacman Frog (I guess he's an amphibian but he's on the list anyway)

 

Aaaaaaaand I think I got 'em all.

I absolutely LOVE birds...

I'm very into the genetics and colours of animals however... so i'm going to go into them, please ignore aha

 

I've had Five cockatiels, but currently have two.. (A Cinnamon pearl named Ian Curtis and a normal grey /Pied pearl named Singerboy(Beo) ) i've had a pearl pied, an SFDS hen, and another Normal grey.

 

I bred Zebra finches as well, normal greys.. I've been through two females trying to find one split to Black Breasted like my Lux interior.. I currently have two zebs though as Lux lost his mate last august.. he lives with his daughter now.

 

I also still have five ferrets

A Champagne named Coda, Sable point named Stiv Bators, Albino named Tubesock, Sable female named Leia(she's ten!), and a silver/champagne roan named Lydia Lunch..

as well as two rabbits. (and two cats but cats aren't exotic!)

 

I've had multiple snakes and i've always wanted some other types of birds.. I will be getting back into breeding zebra finches as soon as i get my own house.. Lux will be to old to breed soon, despite his /BB lines i won't be able to continue them by the time i will be able to get back into breeding... Hopefully his daughter will though, she turned a year old in january (12th)

 

Does anyone else have zebra finches?

[Windfur]

At the moment, the only exotics I have are a couple of geckos, a crestie and a leopard gecko. Geckos are such neat little guys, and the more common species are great starter pets.

Crested geckos are especially good for squeamish people, since they don't necessarily need live food - my girl eats a fruit smoothie-type mix. The leopard gecko is the opposite, though - he gets all kinds of live invertebrates for dinner. The crickets and locusts really creep people out when they visit, hehe.

 

I'd like to get some more reptiles, though, like a blue-tongue skink, cave geckos, chahoua geckos and maybe a sand boa, and possibly start with some exotic mammals too. I'd love some to own tree shrews one day.

 

Also, I'd love a jackdaw, magpie or other corvid as a pet, though, or at least have the chance to keep one for a while. It'd just be brilliant to observe them closely, being some of the most intelligent animals on the planet.

I use to have 2 geckoes but... not knowing why, they both died after a few months

I was going to get a snake but... nope, we got a cat instead (although it is not exotic)

[Dreamsong Dragon]

*knuckle crack*...Most of my pets have been exotics of some kind...Here's the great big list of what I've owned in the last...20 years, oldest (when I was 5) to newest (current/soon to get).

 

2 Gerbils (I don't remember what happened with them...>_>)

 

1 Female Toy Poodle (Gave to Grandma/Grandpa when they visited/fell in love with the puppy)

 

1 Female Yorkshire Terrier (Gave to my aunt when we had to move)

 

2 Goldfish, 3 Neon Tetra, 1 Algae Eater, 1 Red-Finned 'Shark' (Small tank, small end-stand, water and fish all over the floor)

 

1 Female Miniature Schnauzer ( Loved this dog, but she had to be put down for attacking my then 4yr old nephew's face @_@ He wore glasses, and she didn't like them.)

 

2 male hamsters (Both Syrians, one longhair/colorpoint which we thought was a female.)

 

3 Budgies (Max, Maisy, Mojo, all three were given to a friend)

 

2 Toy Poodle Puppies & 2 Yorkshire Terrier Puppies (ALL Females, my mother and sister went a bit overboard. All puppies were given to good homes after a few months.)

 

2 Orange Tabby kittens & ANOTHER Yorkshire puppy (Puppy was given to my cousin, kittens went to a neighbor with three small children)

 

Between 70 and 200 Guppies (DEAR GOD WHY?! So many pregnant females from our original purchase, we had three tanks going. 1 10gal and two 20gals)

 

2 Green Anole (Evil little freaks...They moved in to one of the 20gal tanks after our guppies all...Well...You get the idea.)

 

2 Leopard Gecko Hatchlings (My first Leos! I had no idea how to care for them back then, so they went to live with a neighbor and his 7yr old son)

 

1 5-Lined Skink (...My sister found this and brought it home, the entire house panicked when it escaped from the 10gal tank. Found it and let it loose in a patch of trees/bushes near a local stream. They're native to the area, so it was safe/better thing to do.)

 

1 Female Tabby Kitten ( Named Serena. A barn cat. We did not know she'd be so wild, but she was the sweetest little cat. Had her for about two years, found a home for her after we got the next critter on the list.)

 

1 Male Pappillon Puppy (Oh my god this dog. We still have him, longest I've ever owned any animal. Willy will be 10 next year, and he's been nothing but amazing. He was supposed to have been put to sleep THREE DAYS before we got him, just goes to show how uncaring some petshops are. The place we got him was called 'Just Puppies', and they were shut down within two weeks/made to pay for all of our vet bills for poor Willy. We still had Serena when we first got Willy, and she's the main reason he started perking up, she practically carried him around and mothered him from day 1.)

 

1 Female Guinea Pig (We only had this little baby for a week, sadly. She had Ringworm and Mange, and our vet said it would be best to put her to sleep. Thing is, she liked to cuddle with Willy, and he ended up having to be treated for the same conditions e_e)

 

1 Female Yorkshire Terrier (This makes...#5 for the yorkie count? Well, Daisy is almost 9 years old now! She's a permanent fixture in our family, even if Willy hated her at first.)

 

2 Cockatiels - 1m Grey, 1f Lutino (Corky and Jasmine. Corky was a gift from my brother when he was visiting us, we had him for about two years. Jasmine was more or less a rescue, as a neighbor found her in a cardboard box on her front porch. She was extremely skittish, she'd panic anytime the cage door was opened, but she'd cuddle up to you once she'd calmed down. Corky would fly around the house freely, come when called... And fight with Daisy whenever he could.)

 

4 Budgies (White, Light Blue, Green, Lutino. All shared the same cage until the poor little Lutino one got beat up, earning him his own cage. 'Tweety' and the other three would have free range of my room for a few hours a day, and they'd always be grouped up/hanging around with Corky and Jasmine. All six birds had to be given away, as my father couldn't be around them any longer due to health issues. Jasmine went to a home by herself, while the budgies and Corky went to a neighbor couple who loved birds)

 

More up to date now...These next ones were all within the last 8 years.

 

1 Crested Gecko (Had the perfect set-up, perfect food, perfect lighting and temps...But bought a sick Crestie. Another one-week pet v.v)

 

1 Brown Bat (AHAHAHAHA! Yes, A bat. After we moved, my family was cleaning off the back porch in the middle of winter, they started hearing a screeching sound from under some bags and panicked. I grabbed some gloves, a warm towel from the dryer, and a small cardboard box/mealworms from my Crestie's food supply when I realized it was a small injured bat. Kept him/her in the box for a few weeks, fed nightly as much as s/he'd eat. Once it could fly, it'd come back every night and attack any moths that were too close to me, even perch on my shirt to eat them or to say hi.)

 

5, yes 5, Leopard Geckos (Hiryu, Sanzo, Zen, Rei, Yuki. Normal, Leusistic, Sunglow, High Yellow, Albino. Hiryu and Sanzo were ~3 years old, Zen was ~17 months old, Yuki and Rei were ~6-8 months old. My family had five thriving geckos, and plans to breed Zen&Sanzo for some gorgeous little hatchies. All five died within one week of each other, due to a bad shipment of foodstuffs. Half of the herps kept as pets in our area, the ones who ate food from this one store? All died. This is why I''d rather breed my own feeder insects.)

 

4 Female Rats - 2 Cream Hooded, 1 Black, 1 Black-Hooded Dumbo (I loved -3- of these lovely little girls, the first one/oldest one was a retired breeder and she was nasty as could be. They all were found good homes, no snake-food futures for my girls. Family member had an allergy to them, which is sad...I had one of them trained to follow me around the house and to go to her cage when told, even from upstairs!)

 

2 Female Ocicat Mix Kittens (Forgot about our newest babies! We've had Noel and Sabie since they were 4-weeks old. They're now approaching 8 months old, and they're staying with us no matter what! Such spoiled girlies)

---------------

 

Now...Soon. Within the next few months soon. I'm going to be building a 2'x2'x5' Terrarium, starting a Dubia colony (hopefully), and purchasing a Bearded Dragon! Even when I'd gotten my first baby geckos, I'd wanted a beardie. 13 years of studying and reading everything I could on them will finally be paying off!

 

Terrarium is going to include a built-in landscape, sliding doors in the front, partial screen top for venting/lighting, and will be made 100% Reptile safe. No pine or cedar, no sand/loose substrate. I've already priced everything out, and for the same price of an ExoTerra 36"x18"x18", I can buy all the lights, lumber, acrylic, foam, grout...Everything I need to make a much larger enclosure ^-^ The lighting actually costs more than the lumber and acrylic combined!

Edited July 25, 2013 by Dreamsong Dragon

[wonderwanders]

I have one snake. I just picked her up at a Reptile show about a week ago. She's a Honduran Milk Snake, tangerine-phase (Orange, black, and red) and just a bit over a foot long, but she'll grow to be 4 feet or maybe 5! One of the prettiest snakes I've ever seen, if I can be so bold to say.

 

This is my first pet snake but I've dealt with snakes a lot before, this was no impulse buy I'd been planning for this show n this new baby for months. So far she's doing really well, ate fine the first feeding, temps in the tank are ideal and she's not even tried to bite me once. (I'd read that especially the babies tend to be nippy.) She's much calmer than I expected, actually. I named her Pandora.

 

YES... that's right. So I can let Pandora out of her box all the time! LOL I'm just too punny.

 

My other pet is a Pacific Parrotlet named Bonsai. He's my little blue baby, total sweetheart.

 

 

[thomasgold19]

Do zebras count? If they do that is the only exotic animal I want.

[Psycho Cat]

I would like a hoatzin, but then the house would stink...

[Earth Gurl]

I have been dreaming of owning a snake for so many years. They seem so filled with love and they are so beautiful. I'm not sure what kind I want. I don't want one too small, but I don't want one that will be big enough to eat me (yes I know it won't either way )

 

I've also sort of wished for a pet skunk or raccoon. I heard both make very sweet pets. I've also dreamed of a lion. I've heard both stories of lions being loveable giant pets and on the other hand biting people's hands off and turning and attacking. I suppose it's a cat's nature to attack- especially if they aren't petted or played with often (as shown by my cat Martin who will bite you after 10 seconds of being petted because of lack of attention.)

 

 

I don't know if it counts, but my two cats are exotic breeds: Tonkinese (a Siamese/Burmese mix). They act like dogs playing fetch and whatnot, so I guess that's cool. They're very exotic looking anyways.

[TheThing_Oo]

I have spider tarantula, acanthoscurria geniculata.

[Moonlight_Eevee]

I wants a garden snake to keep >

[MichealTozier]

I have 5 pet rats, over 20 pet mice, several feeder mice, a bearded dragon, a crested gecko, and a ball python, as well as several domestic pets. I love them so much.

 

 

 

[ozys]

Not sure if this is exotic but, a goat. It was an orphan so i had to bottle feed it and all. No i did not eat him and i never will

[Sonatos]

Not sure if it's considered exotic or not, but I would love to have an axolotl.

 

They are cute and come in a variety of colors (the most well known being albino pink).

 

Here is a picture for those unfamiliar:

 

[Omen]

Sorry about the awful formatting of my last reply, I made it via my phone and finally saw it on my laptop.

 

Tribble is certainly a handful(at the moment I'm trying to type this and prevent her from eating the cord to my $100 headphones- and now she's entertaining herself with toys, good). Thank you very much, such a compliment to my animal husbandry is nice to hear, especially from someone who obviously cares a great deal for the needs of their animals as well.

 

There's no way to determine gender for sure? I guess that's to be expected, though. I'm only %85 sure my Leo Darcy is male, he was sold as a male, but he was very young so it was the breeder's best guess. How long until Gizmo reaches maturity? Do you know about how large he will get?

 

I like the Fire and Ice as well. There is a super sweet woman on an exotic animal forum I like that has a Fire and Ice, and her fox is absolutely stunning.

 

Thanks for the luck wishes, I was about to abandon all hope with her, but I recently had to pay for a huge AC repair that her negligence created so...I might just get the frogs and go the 'ask forgiveness not permission route' and subtly mention that I did bail her out of a huge problem if she gets angry. I'm lucky that poison darts in captivity aren't poisonous, but what would you do if you got stung? Is it something that would require a hospital visit, extensive healing time? There are a few spider species I wanted, but ultimately I didn't get them because of potential health risks.

 

That playpen idea sounds really cool, even if it is not as extensive as your dream. Tribble has a 10x10x6 outdoor enclosure for once she reaches maturity, I'm hoping to extend it to 20x20 before she has to go out into it.

Excuse the month and a bit late reply, moved interstate.

 

Yes, there are a few methods, such as probing or popping, both of which can be dangerous and may cause injury if done incorrectly. Males will also drop sperm plugs when mature, usually along with their urates and poop, whereas females don't because they simply don't have the means to produce them. Another method is behavior around other blue tongues, however reading elsewhere some people have had known males act like females. Some of the more experienced keepers can guesstimate fairly accurately by looking at the animal. I've got my suspicions with Gizmo being male, although s/he's only six months and at least 1-2 years from being sexually mature, I've had some sperm plug looking presents deposited along with poop and urates on my bed once, that was pleasant.

 

It depends, in regards to what I would do if stung by a scorpion. If I was allergic to the venom, I'd definitely have to go to hospital. If I wasn't, and the scorpion was only mildly venomous, minor pain or discomfort wouldn't require a hospital trip. Although since doing a bit more research, I might not be able to get any, due to my being allergic to bee stings. I'd rather not risk a hospital trip.

 

Gizmo and Caine aren't exotic here either, not technically anyway. I suppose the OP meant "different from the norm pets" when making the thread. Tribble is looking mighty cute now! Love the picture of her sneering.

[Arveldir]

sadly no, but I'd love a lizard, bat or chinchilla

fennec foxes are also very cute, though I can't remember if it's legal to own them

pretty sure 'standard' foxes are legal pets though

that would be cool

[7Deadly$ins]

sadly no, but I'd love a lizard, bat or chinchilla

fennec foxes are also very cute, though I can't remember if it's legal to own them

pretty sure 'standard' foxes are legal pets though

that would be cool

"Standard" foxes are illegal in a lot more places than fennecs are.

[inbox]

I don't currently own any because of my living arrangements, but I would absolutely adore to own some kind of snake someday. Ferrets are also very cute, albeit a bit smelly (or so I've heard ).

[Draco Knight]

"Standard" foxes are illegal in a lot more places than fennecs are.

Yep, at least in the US. Fennecs have the grace of being non-fur bearing and non native, which means they are legal in many more places than larger species.

[dracopenguin]

I have an adorable Bearded Dragon lizard, but I really want a genet. They're kind of half-way between a cat and a ferret (actually, they're more closely related to meerkats), really affectionate and absoulutely gorgeous too One day, I will get hold of one... It's kind of one of my life goals.

[Dragonclaw129]

My two cornsnakes (Alice) Cooper, the red one and (Marilyn) Manson, the brown one. It was my brother and stepfather who named them Cooper are 15-16 months and Manson 12 months.

 

Both are opposites of each other. Cooper is pretty lazy and you'll find her often somewhere hiding while Manson climbs everything she see and during feeding time Cooper constantly attempts so attack everything that moves and Manson gets startled if you're moving the mouse

[silverstarslayer]

I wish I had exotic pets! The closest I am to an 'exotic' pet is my derp of a cat Sunstar who acts like a lion when he wouldn't even hurt a mole.

[demonicvampyress]

Oh goodie! I get to brag

 

Exotic pets... Currently I have ten snakes (albeit one is just a long term foster). Seven ball pythons: two normals (Amira and Zafir), two pastels ([Ale]Xander and Nefertiti), one spider(Neith), one lesser (Malika), and one yellowbelly(Genghis); Nathair, my rescued creamsickle cornsnake (mix between a amelanistic cornsnake and a great plains rat snake), Zmeya, my red tail boa, and Typhon, a banded california king (he's the foster). And, trust me, they're spoiled rotten. Everyone gets fed weekly, unless they refuse or are shedding (in blue). And I keep careful notes on everything. What they ate, when they ate it, were they blue, etc. Xander regularly goes on fasts. The last one was eight months and I finally took him in to be force fed because he lost almost 200g. Ball pythons can be super picky eaters and fasts are normal so I just watch weights and activity levels and keep trying on a bi weekly basis.

 

Besides the snakes I also have three rats, all of whom were intended feeders but ended up becoming pets. I don't have the same attachment to them as I do the snakes but they do get handled and loved on. And they get a homemade diet that keeps them fat and happy.

 

Previously I had three sugar gliders, Kali, Kisa and Brat. They, unfortunately, didn't handle the stress well from when my ex husband kicked me out and died shortly after. I had a rescue iguana baby, Tzar, at one point that was sick. I was feeding him what was essentially a smoothie of greens through a dropper but he didn't make it. And a Nile monitor, Burundi, who died suddenly from internal parasites last year.

 

Right now I'm in the process of preparing my home for a Brazilian Black tarantula (recommended by a good friend of mine who breeds them and is well aware of my mild arachnophobia and intense fascination for spiders) and I'm wanting to try another monitor, either a green tree, water, or savannah.

 

Besides them I also have six cats: Stormy, Seirei, Akuma, Stetson, Clara, and Martha. It was seven but last week, we lost Airashii to liver disease, despite weeks trying to fight it. Still aching over that one while trying to save for her cremation.

[RiverstarOfSkyclan]

My mom is terrified of snakes, but I really want a ferret. Or some kind of exotic bird.

But my dog would kill either