Safe small pets.?

Question

My hubby and I are moving into a place that only allows small animals that live mainly in cages (birds, ferrets, etc.) We were wanting to get something cute and fuzzy but that is also easy to care for vet-wise. I've had hamsters before and they weren't friendly at all, in fact, they tried to eat each other. So what's a good small pet that's friendly and easy to care for?

Answer 1

I'm really just responding about the people who wrote about rabbits above... They DO require vet care first of all, you just have to be careful about what vet you bring them to because the vet needs to be trained with rabbits in order to know what they're doing. Rabbits have weak bones and strong muscles and can actually break their own backs if handled too roughly. A female rabbit will need to be spayed around 7 or 8 months time, otherwise there's over a 90% chance that she will get uterine cancer. A male rabbit should also be neutered around that time if he is showing behavioral issues (spraying, biting, etc).
AND rabbits certainly can (and should) eat lettuce. The dark, leafy, romaine lettuce, no light colored leaves as those contain too much water and can give the buns diarrhea. If you want to know more about rabbits and what care they require, go to rabbit.org. I have two, they're great pets. If you clean their litter box regularly, they don't smell at all. But they do require lots of love and attention, food, hay, TOYS (you wouldn't think it, but they play like there's no tomorrow) and some place to exercise in at least once a day if they have a small cage. And the cage should have a plastic bottom, or else they can get sores on their feet!

Answer 2

I don't know what you all are talking about, but having kept 7 rats over the last few weeks, rats are not particularly smelly at all. If you use something like Woody Pet bedding, they have little odor. Mice are much smellier than rats, even though rats are 10 times as big. Rats are the best small animal pet. I've had two rabbits and they were fine, but are sometimes iffy on litter training. My big male typically peed off the side of the litter box. *eye roll* They are typically more nervous. I have a ferret and they need a lot of out of cage time. I'd go for rats.

Answer 3

Both rats and gerbils are very social so if the pet store currently only has one of each then I would suggest you wait until you can get two. Rats and gerbils both will get bored and stressed without companions and are also more susceptible to illness when kept solitary. Taking a small animal on a month long road trip really does not sound like a good idea. Small animals tend to get stressed when traveling. You should either try to find someone who would be able to responsibly keep the animals or wait until after your road trip to get the pets.

Answer 4

A Guinea Pig , If You're Going To Go Out Alot You'll Need To Get 2. They Don't Smell ( Like Hamsters ) They Are Awake At Day And Night , They Squeak And Are Alot Of Fun Check This Out
>> www.littopigs.piczo.com << Cheerz

Answer 5

In college I had a chinchilla. I kept him in a large aquarium. I recommend this if you get one because then you can kept the dust from their dusth baths contained. Mine was very friendly, would "bark" when he wanted attention, and loved running around on a wheel or in a "critter ball". Chinchillas can live for a long time if well cared for.

Answer 6

rats are friendlier than hamsters and the are really smart. birds are complicated but they are great pets. they take a lot of research and a lot of things are dangerous to them. rabbits are good but they are messy. they need a lot of time to run around out of there cage and they poop everywhere. ferrets are expensive and they smell. I'm not sure about them vet wise. hope i helped and good luck with your new pet

Answer 7

Rabbits can be scared easily though...

Rats can smell extremely bad, as well as ferrets. I think rabbits and geuina pigs are good pets though. Or if you have some extra money, get a Chinchilla. Those are cute. :D

Answer 8

I personally would choose Guinea Pigs they require a few things, but not to much and they are so sweet they purr 24/7 i suggest you geta male Guinea Pig and you should name it one of these names below...
Biscuit
Niki
Miki
Milky Way
Prince Charming/ Prince William
or...
Woko (wah-koh)

Answer 9

gerbils are great small pets!! here's a GREAT site on why:

http://www.abcgerbils.com/whygerbils.html

gerbils don't eat each other, like hamsters, and aren't nocturnal, plus they are great photo oppurtinites!!
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oh, and by the way, ferrets are NOT nocturnal, and make great pets, but are very high maintenance, so i don't think yall are in the situation to have one of those right now. i used to have 2 of them, and i loved them though!!

Answer 10

rabbits are great and can be litter box trained but do NOT feed them lettuce if they were weaned on pellet because (except for tiny amounts) can be toxic.
rats make excellent pets but yes, have a rodent smell.
birds are noisy, the dander can cause illnesses and they poop everywhere! (budgies or any smaller bird do not have very long life spans.)
ferrets can be good pets but will get into any hole/vent small enough to fit in. they poop in corners and are mostly nocturnal.