Rats, Ferrets, Snakes, other exotic animals.

[WestWindReborn]

Used two have two ferrets, however both ended up dying from adrenal disease. Word of advice anybody was thinking about getting a pet ferret, thinking about looking into getting your ferrets from a reputable reputable licensed probably maybe breeder. Rather than buying them from a brand name pet store as many of their animals have been badly bred and they're highly susceptible to getting the disease.

 

 

The course is no cure for the disease and the surgery has a high risk of the animal dying. And even if they survive it the disease can move to the other gland and your right back in the same situation. Of course there's no real treatment for the disease except for the cosmetic symptoms, and the side effects make the animals miserable.

 

[Moonwick]

I've always wanted a little lizard.

 

The most exotic pet I've had was a guinea pig named Rosie.

 

My mom was allergic to her, though, so we had to get rid of her. :<

[Aqub]

One time I kept a jumping spider for around a week, and maybe I imagined it, but I think it really liked me. Once my mom found out about it she made me put it outside, though.

[Dewdropmon]

I think I might want to get a pet rat one day. Yesterday I went with a group from my school (we're studying to be vet techs) to UF's Biomedical Sciences building to see how vets and vet techs work with the lab animals there and I got my first experience handling mice and rats. The mice were really skiddish but the rats were very calm and more amenable to being handled. I've always thought rats were pretty cute anyway but I've never tried to adopt one because I have a cat and I wouldn't want to risk a prey species pet getting loose and having my predator pet find it before I did. ^^; He may be neutered and a strictly indoor cat but he's still a hunter given any opportunity.

 

Could someone with a pet rat tell me a bit about what they're like a pets?

Edited January 27, 2016 by Dewdropmon

[Suzumiya]

Does anyone here love frogs? I have two pet toads (which aren't technically frogs, but they look similar enough) and they're super amazing. They're 7 years old (got them when I was 8) and they REALLY CAN be affectionate, especially once they start to recognize your scent. I sometimes take them out, flip them on their backs, and rub their bellies. They relax just like a dog would and they just sit in the palm of my hand when I'm done, just staring at me with those big beautiful toad-y eyes.

 

They also sometimes bite me when I feed them. I feed them red wiggler worms by hand, and sometimes they think my finger is the worm. Crickets are too messy and the worms are healthier for toads. Less lost nutrients because they don't have the hard shells and legs. My toads hate meal worms. Tried to get them to eat them, dropping them in the cage and ignoring them, hand feeding them, they would NOT eat the meal worms. Red wigglers are hard to get anywhere but places like Bass Pro and fishing shops. My little picky eaters.

[dlew73]

I have a baby corn snake. He's my real life dragon

[NarotizaDragonTamer]

I owned a pet rat once. We named him Sam. My memory isn't very good, but I think we found him in a garage, and it's possible that someone had owned him before.

[Drakkoh]

I recently got to look after a neighbor's pet raccoon.

The little guy was so much fun that I am not considering adopting one, myself.

Well, after I'm sure I know what I might be getting myself into, ofcourse...

Edited February 19, 2016 by Drakkoh

[Shienvien]

Male rats tend to be larger and calmer. All rats I've owned have been male. I managed to catch a couple of them a few tricks, and all of them came running when called. Most of them were quite fond of sitting on my lap and being scratched. Each had his own personality.

[Husky51]

Along with at least 175 cats (all named) that I had during my 27 yrs of marriage, I've had 10 dogs, a rabbit, three Guinea Pigs, a Hamster (hated that little biting bugger), assorted mice and rats and three snakes.

 

And, NO, the rats and mice were NOT to feed the snakes, they had their supply.

 

This does not count the Tiger Oscar, Pleostemus and other assorted tropical fish over the years...

 

I'm the strangest crittur of them all, a 69 yr old human male...

 

Can I count my three children???

[Fukase_IRL]

only ever had cats and dogs

but i want something like. a rat. or a ferret. or a snake maybe???

sadly my family still own 5 cats so no rats/ferrets/snakes for me

[andromedae]

Do horses count? I have two <3

[SheridanCharon]

I used to have a rat, quite some time ago, a cinnamon hooded called Blizzard (it was snowing like crazy the day we picked him up). He was the sweetest little thing, but also quite a little tough guy.

 

We had a cat, Cali, who used to hunt wild rats at our previous house, so when we got Blizzard she was forbidden from going in my room where his cage was, for his safety. One day, while I was at school, my mum was topping up his water bottle, but accidentally left the door open. Next moment she hears a loud yowl and the cat went bolting past. When she went in, Blizzard was sat at the cage door, mouth full of fur and looking rather smug.

 

The cat refused to go in the room after that

 

Unfortunately, he passed away from cancer when he was two years old. I still miss him and I'm sorely tempted to save up for another once my room is finished being redone.

[20mia08]

After a long time on loving on my brother's ferret, Panda, I rescued her good friend: Calla. Unfortunately, it appears she may have heart issues, but she's been loving her new life with me. She's a chubby thing, probably because she was raised on cat food for a while, but she's probably the sweetest ferret I've ever met.

 

http://imgur.com/a/bYaE3

 

And the ferret with her in one of those images is Panda.

[Cyaneus]

There's some debate but I think the general consensus is the snakes can feel a kind of trust or familiarity to their owner but they're not really affectionate, at least not in the same way as dogs or cats. It also depends on the snake. Some are much better with people than others. Feel free to add onto this tho.

I have a snake and I work with about a dozen different snakes at one of my jobs, and this is my experience with them, too.

 

Snakes are generally not social animals. So they don't seem to get lonely, and they don't show affection to form a bond with their friends. But each snake definitely does have its own personality, and some of them do enjoy hanging out with people. Partly because we're comfy and warm to sit on, and partly because snakes enjoy enrichment and getting to explore outside their enclosures.

 

My hognose shows a distinct dislike of some people, and is very relaxed around others. He's also very interested in smelling the food when I'm cooking. While I don't think he'd be heartbroken if I died or gave him away (he might be clever enough to wonder where I'd gone), I do think he likes me and he looks forward to seeing me.

[SunlitePiggie]

I currently own a subspecies of leopard gecko. She's pretty adorable. When I move in with my boyfriend I plan on getting a couple more (not housed in the same enclosure mind yo) and after keeping them for a few years I'd eventually like to try breeding them. Genetics and leopard geckos are some of my Special Interests.

Edited April 10, 2016 by SunlitePiggie

[Frankenweenie]

I have two rats, snakes, spiders and lots of cockroaches =)

 

[Moeru]

I had a ferret for 6 1/2 years, but he passed away 2 years ago (seemed to be liver cancer). He was an old man so it was not unexpected.

 

After he was gone, I considered getting another ferret but as I live alone and have a small apartment, it is hard to give them the exercise they really need/the space to run around and monitor their activity enough. My last ferret was a VERY good, very smart boy, and even when he did typical naughty ferret things like stealing dangerous stuff to chew on, he never managed to swallow anything stupid or deadly. This is rare for ferrets, as many/most of them will swallow very bad things (plastic, foam, fabric, rubber, chocolate) and need very expensive surgery.

 

So after a year of mourning I decided to fulfill a childhood dream and get a snake. I decided on a baby Ball Python. 6 months later I bought another (an adult this time). The second snake is an absolute dream, a well-behaved, placid, easily manageable boy. My young female is one of those occasional individuals that are very shy, very anxious, very defensive, and huffy/bitey. She's also a huge princess that won't eat rats, won't eat mice under 44 degrees C, happily eats 2 mice at a time in the winter but won't eat 2 in the spring, etc. She's a real headache. But she is growing like a weed and getting calmer slowly. lol

[ArceusPalkia916]

Own several species of tarantulas (P. Irminia is prolly my fave, love my girl), and a grumpy juvenile Jackson's Chameleon.

 

Probably going to go get more T's Sunday--reptile show!

[Wildmoon]

Sorry to bring back a months old thread, but...

 

me and my fiance are going to be getting some pet rats after christmas.

 

It was going to be a tarantula, to try and cure arachnophobia, but I just couldn't deal with it at all when we went to go pick it up (don't worry, it didn't get abandoned, it was one of a friend of a friends that I was going to be allowed to keep, but she has kept it instead, so it does still have a home)

 

So instead, we're going for rats (we do have 2 cats and a dog, but they seem like they wouldn't bother, plus we'd always keep an eye out)

 

I was just wondering, for some advice, what sort of cage we should get, we're getting 2 rats to start with, but may aqcuire more. Is there any particular things not to have in cages, ect.?

Edited December 7, 2016 by Trickseh

[Redds]

All of the above I would have wanted. Ferrets, snakes, rats. The former two are too expensive to maintain. I came across a listing for Sphynx rats a couple months ago and was very tempted. Then I remembered that I work 5.5 days a week and can't take care of my own damn self. Besides which the last time I took care of rodents of any kind they killed each other the first time around, and the second time around inbred a bunch of times. I was a kid.

[chickadeelover]

I would love to have a pet snake, but I don't think my family would like that...

[Kyleedj]

All I have is a bearded dragon haha but she's my pride and joy

[ListenUp]

I currently have a very cute ferret named Mocha~ she is the cutest thing ever and she's been gettin so chubby lately. She loves to play whenever she's up that is lmao and she does the cutest thing ever before going to sleep: she rubs her face and eyes with her paws and yawns then covers herself up with the blanket!!!!!~

[Leashedragon]

Sorry to bring back a months old thread, but...

 

me and my fiance are going to be getting some pet rats after christmas.

 

It was going to be a tarantula, to try and cure arachnophobia, but I just couldn't deal with it at all when we went to go pick it up (don't worry, it didn't get abandoned, it was one of a friend of a friends that I was going to be allowed to keep, but she has kept it instead, so it does still have a home)

 

So instead, we're going for rats (we do  have 2 cats and a dog, but they seem like they wouldn't bother, plus we'd always keep an eye out)

 

I was just wondering, for some advice, what sort of cage we should get, we're getting 2 rats to start with, but may aqcuire more. Is there any particular things not to have in cages, ect.?

Bit late to reply, but thought I'd offer.

 

I have a rather large 4 level cage. Well, 2 full levels and 2 half levels. I have three rats in total and it's plenty of room for them to run up and down, although it's limited on space for wheels. I have the one on the left in this image: http://www.ratcentral.com/wp-content/uploa...ges-reviews.jpg

It seems it is a very popular rat cage from the google results... some of these pictures of people's set ups puts mine to shame... I might have to up my game.

 

Do not get metal wheels or anything with gaps/spaces/bars that little ratty feet or toes can go through as it can be dangerous while running in it. Mine LOVE their wheels. It's also worth it to invest if better quality ones that don't make so much noise because of how much they like to run in them, if that bothers you.

 

Beware certain woods for chewable toys/perches to climb. You can look up online what woods are safe for rats and ALWAYS check what type of wood the item is made out of before buying it. I have several different "bird perches" that I have at varying points to help them climb up and into some of their hanging hide outs. If it doesn't state what wood the item is, I don't buy it.

 

Make sure to have plenty of things for them to do. A bored rat isn't good. Mine chewed through the plastic bottom making it hard to contain their mess within the cage as it now all falls out. Here I thought all the boxes and tubes, hanging things, wheels, perches and toys were enough, but Rain said otherwise.

 

Just make sure anything that goes in the cage is safe for them, as anything put in will likely be chewed. Normally, when a rat chews something for the sake of chewing, they don't ingest it, but it is still better to be safe than sorry. It's good to check what it is made of and double check with a google search, honestly. Don't trust just one source, or atleast that's what I do. You can find almost anything you need to know on Google. I constantly double check the food lists for when I'm out buying them veggies.

 

They love to shred things for "nests". I've hit the dollar store for cheap towels, rags, and even rolls of toilet paper for them to rip up. Best part is they're cheap so I don't mind tossing them when it's cleaning time and giving them fresh ones.

 

Cardboard boxes, toilet paper tubes, paper towel rolls... I like to place treats inside toilet paper tubes and pinch each side closed and fold them in. It makes them have to work to get it. I always make them work for their goodies.

 

Aaand I wrote a book.

 

Edit:

Oh! I completely forgot a point I wanted to make.

 

NEVER feed them through the cage bars. Never! This will encourage them to grab/bite at anything stuck through the bars or near enough to them, including fingers. Always open the door to give them any edibles. I don't do this and I still have nipping issues with Cora through the bars. I've always had biting issues with her, though. She's calmed down a lot from when I first got her, but hasn't stopped. Cora also absolutely HATES cats and I've had several curious cats/kittens get a toe bitten through the bars as they were resting a paw on it to look in. So do be careful of any curious cat paws or dog noses.

Edited December 21, 2016 by Leashedragon