DW knows all: pet edition

[oyceter]

So. I have had pet rats for the past 7 years, and although I love them to pieces, I think their short lifespans (2-3 years) are really wearing on me emotionally. (Poor Ed-rat. I think he is getting lonely too... he is getting kind of neurotic when I play with him.)

I think I am currently looking for a pet that isn't too high maintenance or expensive. I'm not interested in getting a dog, and I'm slightly allergic to cats. I'd prefer something that can't mess furniture up. I also tend to like the older guy rats because they're lazy and squishy and cuddly, as opposed to the more energetic girl rats. I'd also like something that lives for at least 5 years.

So far, I have been thinking of either ferrets or guinea pigs, but I have no idea outside of random things I've read on the Internet. I would also not be opposed to getting a litter-trained non-kitten cat or so, but have no idea how much work cats are. I'd also prefer adopting from a rescue agency over getting a pet from a breeder or pet store.

Also, I went to a local rat adoption fair and nearly succumbed. There was a pair of one-year-old boy rats, all fat and squishy, and one of them was a black berkshire like Fitz-rat, and one of them was a black rex like Ren. SO CUTE! Especially the black rex! He was even kind of balding like Ren! I so wanted to take them home! I always get so sad seeing the adult rats in adoption fairs, because their chances of being adopted are so low, thanks to the lifespan thing. I was trying to tell myself that if I got the two boys, maybe I wouldn't get as attached to them when they died in a year or so? Ha.

Comments

[oyceter]

Ahaha, you make them sound like... my rats. Who are, I suspect, less intelligent and less dexterous than the average rat, with the exception of Ruki, who was the devil incarnate. I love them most for being sweet and friendly.

[octopedingenue]

Very sweet and friendly! They...don't really do much; the potatoes-with-legs description is accurate. Part potato, part easygoing cow? They like to ambleskitter around and sniff things, and nibble on them experimentally, and to sit on you and be petted. (Caveat: AFAIK guinea pigs pee freely, so we always held them with a towel over our laps or with the pig wrapped up like a loose burrito.) But they're always happy to see you, and recognize their "person," and they're very keen on their environment. When you were going through the fridge in the next room, my pig Sofie could always tell by sound when you were opening the crisper-drawer-with-the-tasty-carrots and not the meat drawer, and she'd meepmeep a racket for the former and ignore the latter. And she got very interested in the TV in the room, and would meepmeep reproachfully at us when we'd turn off the Summer Olympic broadcasts at night.

Continuing a la dogs, piggies use their mouths to gnaw investigate things, not their paws. They'll dig a little or prop their forefeet against the wall to stand or climb a bit (I've seen some cool multilevel cages with ramps), but they don't sit up on their hindlegs or really do the grabby-hand-paws like mice and rats. So they're not as trustworthy with uneven surfaces; they love to sit on your shoulder or the sofa but they can't cling tight if they start to fall off.

I'd highly suggest getting guinea pigs from a breeder or other private entity--mine came from family members whose sow had babies--so they're accustomed to humans from a young age and not overcrowded. Nearly all pet shop piggies I've seen have been wild-eyed nippers driven mad by people poking at them all day in those open-top cages.