Besides dogs, cats, and maybe ferrets (or mongooses in the other hemisphere) what animals could be made pets? My father/uncles once had a pet raccoon, is this a possible major pet? Would otters or foxes be breedable into domesticatable versions? How about squirrels? Hedgehogs? I know some are kept as pets, could they hit the big time? Opossums? Any other suggestions?
Alternate pets
- Thread starter tom
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Abdul Hadi Pasha
Banned
tom said:
How bored are we today, tom?
I understand sloths make excellent pets, though apparently they don't do much.
I had a couple of squirrels as pets once. They are chaos incarnate; even though I liked them, I sure wasn't amused when they chewed my toys. I don't think they would be popular choices as pets.
Diamond
Banned
A friend of mine has a big lizard. And I mean, a friggin BIG lizard. I believe its a monitor lizard. Its over four feet long, not including the tail. He's got a room in his house devoted entirely to this thing - corkboard on the floor and walls, and a 'lizard door' cut into the outside wall so it can get into the backyard.
This creature is as friendly as a dog - it likes to be scratched under its chin, it'll play fetch, it likes to curl up (as much as will fit) in your lap. Its a little scary.
This creature is as friendly as a dog - it likes to be scratched under its chin, it'll play fetch, it likes to curl up (as much as will fit) in your lap. Its a little scary.
Abdul Hadi Pasha
Banned
Guilherme Loureiro said:
When I lived in Poland a friend bought me a hamster for Chrismas because everybody thought I must be lonely since I lived alone. Somehow I got the hamster possessed by Satan; it would raise its claws. bare its teeth and hiss at anyone who came near it, and spent all its time trying to find a way to escape from its terrarium.
One night it did finally escape, and completely surprised me with the amount of sheer destruction one furry little animal could wreak in a single day. It managed to devour an entire square yard of carpet to build a nest and chewed holes in every conceivable item in an apparently relentless search for food and revenge.
I recaptured it, but it was so nasty and hateful that I neglected to clean the terrarium and it eventually drowned in its own urine.
Behind that harmless appearance hamsters have, hides a mean, psychopathic beast; squirrels aren't mean, although they sure are mischievous.
Marmosets and Tamarins
I understand that in some parts of the world, marmosets and tamarins are kept as pets in large cages. A marmoset is a small monkey, about the size of a rat. A tamarin is about the same. They're apparently easy to take care of if you have the space.
tom said:
I understand that in some parts of the world, marmosets and tamarins are kept as pets in large cages. A marmoset is a small monkey, about the size of a rat. A tamarin is about the same. They're apparently easy to take care of if you have the space.
From a cultural perspective, I would define a true pet as an animal which is fully domesticated and which is bred and raised primarily for companionship (including some work-related uses), not food. I would not include wild animals which are raised in captivity, no matter how cute they are. In general, to me an animal which lives its life in a cage is not a true "pet" - they're more like moving, noisy decor (sorry you bird, fish, and boa lovers out there)
I've always considered the most fascinating alternative pets to be primates: monkeys and apes - both for their intellegence and the possibility they could be trained to do a lot of tasks that only an animal with hands could do. It is interesting to speculate about how society with a range of primate pets and work animals would look.
I've always considered the most fascinating alternative pets to be primates: monkeys and apes - both for their intellegence and the possibility they could be trained to do a lot of tasks that only an animal with hands could do. It is interesting to speculate about how society with a range of primate pets and work animals would look.
monkeys and apes are bad bad ideas for pets. They're cute as hell until they get to be adults. Monkeys and chimps can be vicious creature; it isn't often realized just how competitive their societies are in the wild. I remember reading a book about the Simba rebellion in the Congo; it mentioned a rebel leader who kept a male chimpanzee to kill his captives, usually by pulling off parts of their bodies. Apes in particular suffer from a lot of diseases in captivity, way more than cats or dogs. As big as gorillas and orangutans are, they have surprisingly delicate health....
I've heard that skunks are supposed to make good pets, once their, for lack of a better term, *stink blatter* is removed.
Here in Aust, I think some of our local wildlife could conceivably make good pets- esp kangaroos, koalas and possums. I think some ppl in particular parts of the country do indeed have some such local fauna as pets, including here in Darwin- WI these practices for domesticating local wildlife caught on quicker with European settlers ?
I myself wouldn't mind having a pet bear cub as a pet, or some sorta big cat- I know how much trouble it would be to keep such large animals as pets, but it'd be so cool still. I've3 seen NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC documentaries on ppl in such states as Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico who've had their own pet black or grizzly bears. Yeah, real living teddy-bears, huh ? (lol)
I myself wouldn't mind having a pet bear cub as a pet, or some sorta big cat- I know how much trouble it would be to keep such large animals as pets, but it'd be so cool still. I've3 seen NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC documentaries on ppl in such states as Montana, Wyoming, and New Mexico who've had their own pet black or grizzly bears. Yeah, real living teddy-bears, huh ? (lol)
Landshark said:
Nope, they wouldn't be an asset - they're bound to do as much harm to you as to the enemy.
Actually, I overstate my case; not all hamsters are mean(in fact, the mean ones might only be a small minority), but those that are are surprisingly unpleasant to deal with, far more than their size would indicate.