Recommended pet for single bloke

[YAKOBU]

Hi Everyone

I'm a single bloke and would love to have a low maintenance pet. Cats and dogs are out due to the area I live in, and I have a 4 year old son who visits at weekends.

Can you recommend a pet that would fulfil my needs (no rude comments please http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/tongue.gif ) and entertain my son.

Thanks

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

[Dhepee]

Some rabbits are really great if you do a little bit of research online and at your local pet shop you should find the right type.

I had a friend whose pet rabbit was quite old and very friendly, it liked to be petted for hours, and required very little work.

[Ja'chyra]

Maybe you should read the retrosexual man topic before you buy a rabbit

[JAG]

Rabbits take a hell of alot of upkeep, I know form experiance, and if you have not got the time they would not be a good choice. Maybe a bird of some sort?

[Redleg]

A bird, a hamster, or fish
- especially some really good salt water fish

[octavian]

get an elephant, no matinence whatsoever

[BDC]

2 Degus. They are friendly, easy to handle and look cute for girls. Don't feed them sugar though or they get diabetes. Don't do an image search for them either or you get loads of pr0n...

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-confused.gif

Praying Mantises are good too. Scare off women though. And if you spray them with insect killer they get paralysed. They like watching MTV apparently.

[octavian]

do not get degus, i hate them, smell like *edit* (what are they anyways?? http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif )








j/k we had degus for a while, if you are looking for a couple cute animals get them, but, unlike elephants, they are not mantinence free

[BDC]

And they sqeak a lot when they have arguments... Gah.

Look at:

cronusbdc.tripod.com/degu.doc

for a pretty pic. Don't ask why it's in a Word doc... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/rolleyes.gif

[Lord Ovaat]

PUPPIES ARE CHICK MAGNETS. I repeat:

PUPPIES ARE CHICK MAGNETS.

[Accounting Troll]

Go for goldfish. A 24inch tank isn't difficult to maintain, and it will look very attractive if you put some aquatic plants in there as well - use good quality artificial plants, he won't know the difference Kids love looking at goldfish, but you will have to make sure he doesn't bang the tank.

Marine fish are sensitive to the tiniest changes in temperature and water, and tropical freshwater fish are so inbred these days that they are worse than sheep for just sitting around waiting for an excuse to die. There is nothing more pathetic than a depressed guppy.

[BDC]

Goldfish are good because they are very tolerant of different temperatures. Don't get a frilly one though because they are weaklings. Get a normal boring one, it will last longer.

[Hosakawa Tito]

You'll find your perfect pet in the front room.

[Kraellin]

i've always been curious about keeping ferrets, a pair. they had some in a local pet shop once, but i didnt know enough about them at the time. cute, playful, and seem somewhat tame, but not really sure about the maintenance.

K.

[TheSilverKnight]

even though you can't have them, I'd say...KITTY YAY KITTY http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Parmenio]

Get a rat. No really, very underrated is your rat. Highly intelligent animal and very active (at the right times).

Just don't get a snake. They're basically creepy living statues that never move when you're watching them. Though they are low maintenance once you've got their environment set up.

[YAKOBU]

thanks for all the recommendations http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

gonna pop down the pet shop at lunchtime and see if anything grabs my fancy. fish and snakes are out as not very interactive, as are elephants octavian lol

gonna go for something small and furry that can be in and out of a cage, probably not with wings lol

[Accounting Troll]

Kids like to handle small furry animals, so don't pick a hamster because it will probably bite him.

[redrooster]

anything rabid

[Hosakawa Tito]

Here's the perfect pet for that single guy. Low maintenance, no feeding, no vet bills, full of unconditional love. Also a good protector. About to be accosted by a ruffian? Drop this little baby into your sock and... http://www.fadtoys.com/Merchan....e=19026 (http://www.fadtoys.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=FT&Product_Code=19026) http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wacko.gif

[Leet Eriksson]

Get a chameleon,its compact,and low maintenance,it cn cling to your finger and is harmless.All you need to feed him is bugs,wich are plenty everywhere

[Postino]

Quote[/b] (Redleg @ May 11 2004,04:41)]A bird, a hamster, or fish
- especially some really good salt water fish
birds, of any type, are very high maintenance if you want them to be interactive to any degree. if you want them to wither and die, then feed them and watch. this is b/c they are of the flock mentalty and need interaction.

[Papewaio]

Get a fighting fish... just needs a glass of water... very nice to look at and they only need the water changed once a week... also as long as it doesn't have another fish in the same tank it is fine... two fish in the same tank though and you find out that its name ain't to stave off comments about its beauty.

My one that I had in Sydney was a azure to deep blue scales... whenever it was feeding time I would hold a small mirror up to the tank and it would open its mouth, puff up its fins and get into a defensive posture (reminded me of linemen)... anyhow it learned after a while that it would get fed whenever it got into its fighting stance (as long as it had not been feed recently) and it would start doing so when it was hungry... it would also eat the fish food off the tip of my finger.

[ShadesWolf]

Is this another topic about Jag http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-computer.gif

[SwordsMaster]

oh, idea http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/idea.gif

get youself a wookie.

You know, that hairy guy from Starwars, the one that was with Han Solo, come on.... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/gc-2thumbsup.gif

[BDC]

Remember, if you get a rat make sure it is a female one (male ones are lazy buggers who spend the whole time sleeping), and make sure you can handle it everyday/get two. Also check that the breeder is well respected, many are far too inbred and get all sorts of nasty lung infections.

[FesterShinetop]

Yeah, rats are very nice. And make sure you don't get two male rats... or a male and a female... http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[nightcrawlerblue]

Quote[/b] (YAKOBU @ May 12 2004,03:21)]thanks for all the recommendations http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/bigthumb.gif

gonna pop down the pet shop at lunchtime and see if anything grabs my fancy. fish and snakes are out as not very interactive, as are elephants octavian lol

gonna go for something small and furry that can be in and out of a cage, probably not with wings lol
Snakes are interactive Just put out your hand... Little closer... Little closer...

[YAKOBU]

Hi everyone ~:wave:

Sorry to dig out an old topic but events finally taken a turn. My local cafe where I go for lunch gifted me a chinchilla 2 weeks ago. He seems friendly enough but chews on everything. The previous owners said he was okay to roam around the room but after chewing my skirting boards, playstation lead, telephone books and packing I decided enough was enough. I have now bought a large ball that he can roam around the room in but get the impression he does not like it. The ball has plenty of breathing holes in it which I realised to my cost are large enough to let droppings through. After a 10 minute session there appeared to be excessive droppings all over my carpet which makes me think he isn't enjoying the experience. Unfortunately I do not have a garden so not sure what other options are available to me.

Any ideas anyone?

[Ja'chyra]

Chinchilla kebeb?

[YAKOBU]

You bad man! I thought haggis was the favoured scottish dish? ~;)

[Sjakihata]

or buy an acquarium for it - with no aqua in it of course ;)

[Voigtkampf]

Chinchilla kebeb?

No! Omg... No... :stunned:

They make excellent coats, that's it.

Now, seriously (though chinchillas actually do make excellent coats, you'd need 50-60 of them ~D), I understand your grief, as I have wanted to get myself a low maintenance house pet, because I’m off to field trips a lot, and irregularly, and I currently live alone, so I can’t leave it behind, whatever it may be. Can’t get myself no dogs, birds or fish for that reason.

You are fairly out of options. Spiders might be a solution, perhaps.

Or something you can take everywhere with you… A chimp? Nah, forget it…

Btw, get a chinchilla coat, show it to your pet and say “now, you bite anything else then your food one more time…" :thumbsup:

[The Stranger]

since you have a son, a lion is off. i would say a guiniepig (sp?) but they're dull. rabbits are cool but they breed like ..... and are lonely so i would say 2 male or 2 female rabbits.

[Steppe Merc]

You need to get a chincilla home. It's like a big huge cage that they walk around in. I've seen em in pet stores... There also seems to be many chinchilla websites, who would know stuff a bout them.
Oh, and a dust bath, for some reason. ~:confused: Apparently they like that.

[ichi]

dwarf hamsters

http://www.hamsterhideout.com/illustrations/marlene/normalww.jpg

they are solitary, you can only have one or two (only if they get along, and if you pair up boys and girls you will have excess hamsters in about two weeks) in a little habitat (new name for fancy cage with little wheel and tubes for them to run in).

Get two and get them each a hamster ball (you put the hamster in the clear plastic sphere and they run around the house bumping into things) and race them.

Only live about a year or two so they good to teach kids about the cycle of life and if you don't like them then the prob solves itself.

Have to clean their habitats every 7-10 days.

ichi :bow:

[Beirut]

You are fairly out of options. Spiders might be a solution, perhaps.


Ha! Two of my buddies were living in an apartment. One had a big black scorpion in a terrarium. One day the thing dies. So he takes it out, gets rid of it and leaves for a few days

The other guy comes home late that night. Puts his stuff away, opens a beer, then notices the top is not all the way covering the now empty terrarium.

~:eek: "Ack!"

Needless to say, he slept poorly that night.

Spiders? Ya. big ones!

[Voigtkampf]

Ha!

Spiders? Ya. big ones!

They should be hairy too.

[Fragony]

Hi everyone ~:wave:

Sorry to dig out an old topic but events finally taken a turn. My local cafe where I go for lunch gifted me a chinchilla 2 weeks ago. He seems friendly enough but chews on everything. The previous owners said he was okay to roam around the room but after chewing my skirting boards, playstation lead, telephone books and packing I decided enough was enough. I have now bought a large ball that he can roam around the room in but get the impression he does not like it. The ball has plenty of breathing holes in it which I realised to my cost are large enough to let droppings through. After a 10 minute session there appeared to be excessive droppings all over my carpet which makes me think he isn't enjoying the experience. Unfortunately I do not have a garden so not sure what other options are available to me.

Any ideas anyone?

Rodents are obsessed with wires, if they can they will chew it. One of these problems that solves itselve ; zappppppp

[Drisos]

dwarf hamsters
http://www.hamsterhideout.com/illustrations/marlene/normalww.jpg


how cute! I'm sure you kid can't resist those. ~:) listen to Ichi and get them soon! ~;)

~:cheers:

[Samurai Waki]

When all else fails get a Wallaby! ~D I've had my Tammar Wallaby, Raistlin, for 6 years now. I bought him as a baby from one of my neighbors, whose mum died several days after giving birth to him. I contacted a Zoologist from the Denver Zoo, who said they didn't have room for him, and because his mum died at such an early age, that his chances of survival were nil, they said it would be better just to pacify him. Well, I didn't want them to kill him, so I contacted the San Diego Zoo, they said that they didn't want him either, but they sent me a guide on how to take care of one, and all the formal paper work so that I would be considered his owner. After about 3 weeks of constantly nursing him, and being on vet watch he eventually came around, and I sort of became his surrogate parent. When I first got him, he was roughly the size of my index finger, now he's about 1' 6" tall, or from tip of the nose to tip of his tail about 4' 6" and weighs about 20 lbs (which is still rather small for a Wallaby). He's been my constant companion since then, he never leaves me alone, he also knows how to the use toilet (which is a good perk), and can groom his own fur if I give him a Hair Brush. The only two things he can't do by himself is obviously get food (I've had to get cabinet locks for that purpose), and Clean Him, which I have to do everday, because he can get quite smelly. But other than that he is very cordial to neighbors and the people that are in the resort, and he likes to climb our Palm trees if he wants to be alone. I have never seen him get paranoid or aggressive towards anyone, his sharp teeth tends to ward off a lot of people though, but they are just for shearing off the flesh of fruit. The only time he has ever been aggressive was when he was quite young, a lone ally pitbull decided he wanted to have a scrap, I don't think the Pitbull will ever mess with a wallaby shaped figure again, as Raistlin kicked the Dog right in the side and sent him launching about 15 feet into a Concrete Barrier.

I have an image of one, this however isn't Raistlin, I really don't have a picture of him. This one is quite a bit larger than him.

http://ruggiero.tele-base.net/Australia_04/0225d_KI_Tammar%20Wallaby.jpg

[Steppe Merc]

Wow... now I want a wallaby! ~D

My mom's friend works at a stable (for horses), and has a baby deer, even though it's illegal. They found it abondend. That would be a pretty cool pet I think...

[Big King Sanctaphrax]

I've heard that if you raise lambs from birth, they become totally loyal to you. Therefore, I intend to raise 10 male lambs, and have them become my elite Ram protection squad.

[BDC]

A couple of degus. Live about 7 years, can't eat sugar or they die, are amazingly friendly and sociable, not too stupid, and are obsessed with sex.

Think of them as a rat meets a chinchilla.

So they introduce the concepts of caring and responsibilty, without biting off too many fingers, and also introduce sex.

And yes, the sex refers to a single-sex pair of siblings.

[Steppe Merc]

What the heck is a degus?