# Unique pets



## marlowmanor (Sep 12, 2011)

So I am curious if anyone else had/has odd/unique pets. I had some odd/unique pets when I was growing up, among the list was a de-scented skunk we named Peppy Lepeue, and a group of possums. Since being married we have had a ball python for a little while, fiddler crabs, and hermit crabs. We will likely get some more hermit crabs soon since the kids have been asking about getting some again.

So who else has had odd pets or still has some. Pictures would be nice too! Sorry I have none of my own.


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## foxywench (Sep 12, 2011)

my "odd" pets arnt realy odd...
my dogs are odd because they are hairless lol

my macaw and the linnoelated parakeets are considered "exotic"
i have to see my "oddest" pet is gigantor, my aprox 10" blood parrot cichlid...hes definatly funny lookin.

ive always found skunks adorable, i could definatly imagine having a descneted skunk as a pet, id call her flower!


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## redtailgal (Sep 12, 2011)

z


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## elevan (Sep 12, 2011)

RTG...


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## marlowmanor (Sep 12, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> RTG...


I agree. WOW! This all came up from a conversation DH and I had the other day about the odd pets we had as kids. Our snake we got rid of b/c it just wasn't a good idea with the kids around. The fiddler crabs got flushed b/c they stunk to high heaven, and after them we made a rule that there were to be no more "stinky" animals in the house! The hermit crabs we had died, but we neglected them somewhat too. We've also had cockatiels, but that's not really odd. We've had fish too, but nothing majorly expensive, mostly goldfish.


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## Roll farms (Sep 12, 2011)

I've had bearded dragons, one ball python, innumberable rats, a skunk named "poco" and another named "flower", a cockatoo, ferrets galore, coons.

eta:  A sulcata tortoise.  A co worker got it for her son, not realizing it would outgrow the 5 gal. aquarium she put it in....we donated it to a zoo.

I've done rehab so have raised fawns, squirrels and coyote pups and such.  Not pets, but they lived here for a while.

We had llamas and emus before they became very common.  Had a rhea for a while.

We did wolf hybrid rehab until we got big into goats...not exactly a good idea to own wolf x with prey animals penned nearby.

Currently we have a black tailed prairie dog and a Patagonian cavy.

People know that I'll take in / rescue 'wierd stuff' so I tend to end up w/ the strange stuff folks buy then decide they didn't really want in the 1st place.

Fair warning...skunks and coons can turn mean, even when fixed.  One of our skunks ended up attacking one of our dogs, and then me, and had to be put down.
My dad had a coon that nearly bit his nose off once.  And that thing had loved him up til that point.

I do believe wild animals should stay wild, not be turned into pets.  I'm NOT recommending that anyone run out and get something wierd...just answering the question posted in the thread.


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## marlowmanor (Sep 12, 2011)

Our pet skunk was donated to a park that had a wildlife exibit. We were able to visit it after we gave it away some too. The possums were actually something my dad was raising for meat. I could start a whole other thread about the wild game I've ate as a result of growing up with a hunter!


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## Ms. Research (Sep 12, 2011)

RTG & Rolls



*I do believe wild animals should stay wild, not be turned into pets.  I'm NOT recommending that anyone run out and get something wierd...just answering the question posted in the thread.*

X2 on that one Rolls.


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## carolinagirl (Sep 13, 2011)

When I was doing rehab work I had white tail deer fawns, gray and flying squirrels, opossums and various snakes.  Now I have Florida Red Belly turtles and several liner koi ponds in my back yard full of koi, many of which are well over 28" long.


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## foxywench (Sep 13, 2011)

if we go into rehab add red fox, english badger, euro hedgehog.
and if we add animals ive lived with barn owl and kestrel (dads birds many years back)

ive also pet sat for sugar gliders

used to have pet rats (one day i will again lol)
i also rehabed a coy-dog pup once, he whent to a special learning center
and i rehabed MANY bats in the UK.


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## PattySh (Sep 13, 2011)

When I was a  teenager  I had a male gray squirrel. My family came home during a huge storm. On the ground was a small animal. I remember my father thinking it was a rat and he wanted to kill it with a shovel. Well the animal lover I am I scooped it up and ran in the house. Turns out Stormy was a newborn gray squirrel.  The nest got knocked down in the storm and the mother didn't return for him. Not sure how he ever survived, I remember feeding him cream of wheat and milk and baby vitamins  out of a dropper. He thrived and lived in a large homeade cage in the hallway near my bedroom. The cage was open alot and he freeranged the house and pottied in his cage. At the time we had an old black angora cat, he used to grab the cat's tail and take a ride down the carpeted stairs! His favorite foods were unsalted peanuts, grapes (he peeled them) and sunflower seeds. We tried to release him several times but he always came home. I would take him outside and he would ride in the hood of my sweatshirt. Gradually he would spend more time outside. One day we heard screaming, Stormy ran up a neighbor lady's leg and got caught up in her skirt. She wasn't pleased but understood. In time the neighborhood got to know him.  We had time for years and he'd roam the neighborhood and come home to sleep and eat. Sadly a neighborhood kid shot him with a b b gun and killed him when he was about 6 or so. I do have a pic but it's an old "swinger" polaroid and I don't have a scanner.


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## watchdogps (Sep 26, 2011)

Oh boy...
rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, turtles, lizards (of many varieties), salamanders, newts, frogs, toads, various birds, hissing cockroaches, ferrets, skunks and a 10 inch african giant millipede (kept in an open crystal bowl on my coffee table!)

Still feel like I am forgetting something...


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## Queen Mum (Oct 22, 2011)

When I was residing in Australia, I volunteered in a rescue/rehab center and there we had possums of the Aussie  kind, wallabies, kookaburras, cockatoos, tasmanian devils, koalas, roos, (you name it).  it was a hoot!  WE even took care of (rather guarded) a sea lion on the beach for a week to keep people from bothering it.


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## Ms. Research (Oct 23, 2011)

Queen Mum said:
			
		

> When I was residing in Australia, I volunteered in a rescue/rehab center and there we had possums of the Aussie  kind, wallabies, kookaburras, cockatoos, tasmanian devils, koalas, roos, (you name it).  it was a hoot!  WE even took care of (rather guarded) a sea lion on the beach for a week to keep people from bothering it.


I think Australia has the neatest animals.  Learned all about them from the late Steve Irwin.  Henry and I loved that show and others.  Raising Babies was another.  Learned about wallabies, tasmanian devils, kialas, and especially roos.   That must of been a real hoot.  

Also good for you for helping that sea lion.  Curious people don't understand about the stress factor in wildlife.


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## CYGChickies (Oct 23, 2011)

When I was little we had a squirrel Violet, a coon Ursula and her litter, homing pigeons. I had a red-bellied fire newt named Sylvester and a red-eared slider that we found when parents were digging a ditch on the property. When I went to college I had a tank of hermit crabs--fascinating animals and mine were so spoiled I cuddled them and had them out all the time like they were kittens or puppies! Jimmy, Jonathan, Charlie, Artemis, Kitty and Nudy, they had to go to my Aunt's when the college dorm changed the pet rules. She fell in love so I let her keep them and they lived three years until the ice storm killed the power and my Aunt almost froze too luckily she was able to be evacuated but not the crabs. I plan to get her more because she still has all the equipment and talks about missing them.

Now it's just normal farm animals for me! Though I dream of having a Sphynx cat!

CYG


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