NationStates Jolt Archive

As an extension of the odd pet you'd like to have, how about the oddest pet you've actually owned?

I had some of the usual round of pets as a kid - guniea pig, rabbits, and fish.
But I had a tarantula for a while.

Well I had a salamander that I managed to kill in three days. :(

A rat by the name of Krisa ... she was a blue, and so smart, she could mimic sounds of other animals, INCLUDING myself when i sneezed.
Also, another rat, a hooded blue, named Muadib, who played tricks on the other rats in the cage, and had a bizarre fascination with attempting to climb up people's nostrils. He was fun.
I *currently* have a cat that chases moose and knows how and why to turn doorknobs, and also knows what i mean when i tell him to "get the cat" - he goes and attacks the other cat ... he does it with people too! ...
and two awesome ferrets.

Well I had a salamander that I managed to kill in three days. :(

I once killed a gopher with a stick.

Edit: When I was a kid, I caught a baby Fiddlebottoms while on vacation in Florida. Eventually - it got too big, so I released it in a sewer in the Bronx.

I don't know if you'd call them pets, but I feed a racoon and opossum. I saw them together as babies in the woods behind my apartment a good while back, and to my suprise they are still "friends" as adults. They eat together anyway.

Once we had four hamsters, but they all got out and we could only recapture two of them. One we found dead in the garage.

Two years later I found the fourth one downstairs. I caught it and kept it and it lived a grand couple more months, but I believe it died mostly because it missed the wide open spaces of, um....the basement.

My stepson had a Burmese Python for a while, and for the first six months or so, my ex wouldn't let him keep it at her place, so I took care of it. Every two weeks, we'd buy a rat from the feed store, take it home, and my spare bedroom became the Discovery Channel.

I have chinchillas (Back home in the US). I have a dead tarantula, but I don't think it counts.

I’ve never been big into owning pets, but I like hanging out with them when I’m over at a friend’s place. I had a dog and cat as a kid but nothing since.

Cats seem walk into my place whenever I’ve lived on the ground floor and opened a window or door. They just hang out and leave when they want.

My sister gave me a plant and let me tell you it’s become a huge commitment keeping it alive.

I have chinchillas (Back home in the US). I have a dead tarantula, but I don't think it counts.

Never had a chinchilla, the closest I had was a couple of rabbits.

I have an emerald tree boa, but thats hardly weird.

My mum is a science teacher and when I was younger we would take care of all the pets (since they were technically ours anyway, seeing how we bought and raised them), so I've had: Degus, bearded dragons, iguanas, ferrets, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, turtles, gerbils, Congo millipedes, hedgehogs, finches...etc..

As an extension of the odd pet you'd like to have, how about the oddest pet you've actually owned?

I had some of the usual round of pets as a kid - guniea pig, rabbits, and fish.
But I had a tarantula for a while.

had a cotton mouth by accident.

thought it was a gardener snake..but to my moms horror it was venomous.

caught it in a creak by my house,had it in my terrariam..and it started killing shit in there..i just thought it was being a snake...but mums got out the book of snakes(we had lots of books) and found out it was a cotton mouth.

my pop killed it with a shovel.

I had a couple of big beetles and a gecko. The gecko was more to eat the spiders of the apartment where I was living (there were too many). I just left the window open until one came in, then I closed the window. When it first came in it wasn't much longer than 2cm, when I left the apartment one year later it was over 10.

"What's the most unusual pet you've actually owned?"

Had a kinda, sorta pet Gekko part of the time I was in Vietnam. :)

At the tender age of eight, I captured and tamed a fierce creature that is a very important ingredient to escargo.
I also played with lots of frogs and turtles, because I could actually catch them. However, I could never tame thier wild spirits.

I have chinchillas (Back home in the US). I have a dead tarantula, but I don't think it counts.
I had one of the little fuzzballs too...and a ferret.

had a cotton mouth by accident.

Small world. I also had a pet cotton mouth. I named him Vito Corleone.

I had one of the little fuzzballs too...and a ferret.
WooT!
*weasel dance*

WooT!
*weasel dance*
haha...how did I see that coming?

anyway, tis really time for sleep. my typing skills are horrid right now.

haha...how did I see that coming?

anyway, tis really time for sleep. my typing skills are horrid right now.
Ah it's good. I'm doing a lot of phone yammering to straighten out a work app, so i'm *again* intermittant.

Do my brother's headlice count as pets?

Do my brother's headlice count as pets?

Only if you gave them names.

I had a couple of big beetles and a gecko. The gecko was more to eat the spiders of the apartment where I was living (there were too many). I just left the window open until one came in, then I closed the window. When it first came in it wasn't much longer than 2cm, when I left the apartment one year later it was over 10.

Spiders everywhere?! Geckos crawling in through your window?! Good god man! What level of hell are you living in? Makes me itch just thinking about it.

Not that a spider or two (or centepede or scorpion for that matter) hasn't crawled into my bed late at night over the years. But still... *shudders*

Only if you gave them names.

We called them "Thomas' little friends"...

Spiders everywhere?! Geckos crawling in through your window?! Good god man! What level of hell are you living in? Makes me itch just thinking about it.

Meh, you grow up in the tropics you get used to it. No big deal. Having a gecko or two inside the house actually keeps it very balanced, since they eat almost all insects.

I won't tell you the story of how I once woke up with a tarantula crawling up my arm.

I have a trouser snake. Most of the time he just lays around but sometimes when he gets excited he puffs himself up and spits venom. These are the times that he makes me most happy.

...

Meh, you grow up in the tropics you get used to it. No big deal. Having a gecko or two inside the house actually keeps it very balanced, since they eat almost all insects.

I won't tell you the story of how I once woke up with a tarantula crawling up my arm.

Never been a big fan of the creepie crawlies. I'd probably be happy living in the arctic. It doesn't help that I have nerve damage and frequently feel things crawling on me that aren't there. :p

We have trantulas here too. During the summer hundrends of them come out of their holes to bask in the sun on a large concrete spillway near by. I never went out on the spillway again after I saw that. But no geckos and few lizzards in general.

I have a trouser snake. Most of the time he just lays around but sometimes when he gets excited he puffs himself up and spits venom. These are the times that he makes me most happy.
Too bad he has to molt so often. I bet that can be a tad inconvenient.
And smelly, come to think of it .... all scaly and musky.

Would a Goth girl friend count?

Too bad he has to molt so often. I bet that can be a tad inconvenient.
And smelly, come to think of it .... all scaly and musky.


mmmm...musky.

Too bad he has to molt so often. I bet that can be a tad inconvenient.
And smelly, come to think of it .... all scaly and musky.

Actually there is a simple way around such problems when dealing with a trouser snake. Some pets need heat lamps or sun bathing rocks to keep them healthy but the trouser snake simply needs a dip into a rejuvination chamber now and again. This avoids all the difficulties you mentioned. These chambers can be picked up for free from generous animal lovers or, if times are rough and there are no nice people around, bought by the hour. Some people purchase their own chamber to keep in their house permanately but this is extremely costly and must be registered through the state. I don't suggest this option as some chambers will degrade in value and one might end up paying a lot for a rejuvination chamber that just lays around the house and nags.

Would a Goth girl friend count?
*grrrrroowwwwl*

Actually there is a simple way around such problems when dealing with a trouser snake. Some pets need heat lamps or sun bathing rocks to keep them healthy but the trouser snake simply needs a dip into a rejuvination chamber now and again. This avoids all the difficulties you mentioned. These chambers can be picked up for free from generous animal lovers or, if times are rough and there are no nice people around, bought by the hour. Some people purchase their own chamber to keep in their house permanately but this is extremely costly and must be registered through the state. I don't suggest this option as some chambers will degrade in value and one might end up paying a lot for a rejuvination chamber that just lays around the house and nags.
It tends to be picky, though, about what you feed it sometimes, all wiggly and obstinate. Even, to the extent that one would need to get firm with it and give it a good, hard reprimand. Sometimes it's a massage, sometimes it's a meat tenderizer.

It tends to be picky, though, about what you feed it sometimes, all wiggly and obstinate. Even, to the extent that one would need to get firm with it and give it a good, hard reprimand. Sometimes it's a massage, sometimes it's a meat tenderizer.

It is true. While it is a loveable creature they are known for their obstinance and pig-headedness. The trouser snake is a durable creature and one of the only animals that must be beaten on a daily if not hourly basis to ensure its happiness and longevity. Sometimes it is necessary to enlist a friend to come and help you ferociously beat your pet until it returns to its jovial self.

Several humans. Well I think they were humans. They could have been shaved monkeys, but that begs the question: Who shaved them, and why?:eek:

I'd say mealworms, but it wasn't unusual, since everyone in my science class had to take them home.

Simonist']Once we had four hamsters, but they all got out and we could only recapture two of them. One we found dead in the garage.

Two years later I found the fourth one downstairs. I caught it and kept it and it lived a grand couple more months, but I believe it died mostly because it missed the wide open spaces of, um....the basement.
I'm amazed it lived that long. I thought Hamsters only lived like 2 years or something. (looks at his join date..."uh, oh").




Funny how hardy some things are. My ex-g/f had a couple of guinea pigs. One got pregnant. One day she took them out in the backyard pen, and they escaped. We got one back, but not the pregnant one. As I had a great mouser of a cat, the neighbour on one side had 3 cats, and one the other side two cats and a Jack Russell (and those things love tearing small animals apart), we gave it up for dead and partially digested.
6 weeks later, the neighbour comes over and tells me she's seen the g.pig (that could be a cool name for a rapper - G.Pig). We managed to track it down to a small bush between the properties, and as it was heavily pregnant it was easy enough for me to catch. Gave birth about a week later, so perfect timing really.
God knows how it managed to survive so long in those conditions.


I guess the weirdest pet I've had wasn't really a pet. It was a lizard that turned up in the kitchen soon after I moved to HK. I let it live and it hung around for more than a year. Apparently those types of lizards eat cockroaches, so I figured it was good to let it stay. For a while there were at least 2. I'd go weeks without seeing them, then they'd turn up again and scampered about.

Several humans. Well I think they were humans. They could have been shaved monkeys, but that begs the question: Who shaved them, and why?:eek:
My moneys on Lunatic Goofballs.

My moneys on Lunatic Goofballs.

Probably, but that still doesn't answer the question: "why?"

Probably, but that still doesn't answer the question: "why?"Yes it does :p

Probably, but that still doesn't answer the question: "why?"
Does he ever need a 'why'?
Except the obvious one, "To see what would happen"

Does he ever need a 'why'?
Except the obvious one, "To see what would happen"Or because someone told him he didn't have the guts to do it.

Points noted.

A guinea pig. It did nothing special. Woot for boring pets. At least it was a tad more lively than the rabbit, so it qualifies.

I have a teddy bear called huggles does that count??
i dont have any pets of my own... im not trusted... i have been looking after a mates 2 snakes and his 2 fish and i took the fish for a walk once :D it enjoyed it!! erm yeah my bear rocks!!