Ever own a strange pet?
I went through a phase where I wanted a pot-belly pig. Then a ferret. Now I wish I could have a bunny, but one of my dogs has a high prey drive. But I fondly remember my days of loving my guinea pigs, which despite their little size, had big personalities and even learned some tricks. What’s the most unusual pet you’ve ever had, or have now? And would you recommend it to others as an ideal pet?
And don’t forget:
- We have an exotic pet exert available to answer your questions. Click here to submit a question.
- Did you know Atlanta has guinea pig rescue groups? Check out the details in my Pet Dish column.
- Ready to adopt a cute new pet? Meet Gemini, the AHS Pet of the Week.
My father brought home a pot-belly pig during my senior year in high school, after our dog passed. Then brought home another one. Wilbur and Gus. While I was most alarmed at first, they did make pretty good pets. They’re smarter and more affectionate than I expected. They will also eat almost anything. Need a place to put your grass clippings? A pot-belly pig will be happy to cram them in until its belly is drum-tight. It may also eat your pencils, pens, fireworks, soap, and barbecue sauce. (Note: The soap seems to counter stomach acid and the digestion process, resulting in a refund of grass clippings) Want a pot-belly pig to lie down? Try scratching it behind the front shoulder. With a fork. If you like having unique stories to tell, a pot-belly pig may be the pet for you. They might be a challenge to host in a small-property residence like an apartment or a garden home. However, I would easily recommend them to someone with a larger, hopefully semi-wooded yard where they can explore. As long as you didn’t already have plans for all the acorns lying around out there.
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I had a squirrel once. It fell out of a tree during hurricane Earl back in ‘98, and the cat brought it to the back door (still alive). The squirrel was a baby and my mom and I nursed the squirrel with puppy formula until it grew up into a big squirrel. His name was Earl the squirrel. We released it out in the wild to do squirrelly things, and it would come back but then one day it realized it was a squirrel and that was it. It wanted to be with it’s own kind. Now, I make every attempt to NOT run over my squirrelly friends. My dogs on the other hand still crave squirrel blood.
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My husband and I own 12 snakes (several different species) and 2 leopard geckos, among other pets. They have their own room in the house that is kept constantly at around 85 degrees. Despite what most people think, snakes name excellent pets. We have only been bitten twice (in the past 2 years) on different occasions, each time being our own fault. Neither time was it a serious bite. I always recommend them to people who really want pets, but have very limited time. They are very forgiving animals.
While I adore my 2 leopard geckos, I always thought of them more as live ornaments than pets. I see a lot of people buy them for kids as “first pets” to teach them responsibility (something I strongly disagree with). They are the easiest of all pets to take care of, but get very stressed out very easily. When a leopard gecko gets stressed out, it loses it tail and grows back a very ugly, undesirable one (a pretty big deal when you have a specialty color). How do they get stressed out: by handling them. Yes there are proper ways to handle them to limit the stress. However, most kids have the instinct to stroke an animal when they hold it. That is what stresses them out. They guy we rescued one of our geckos from recommended not even handling them except for 3 or 4 times a week for a short amount of time. It’s okay if you want to teach your kid responsibility (although I think there are much better ways), but at least get a pet that the kid can interact with and enjoy for more than 4 times a week.
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We had a Chinese Water Dragon—larger meat eating version of an iguana.
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when I was a 12 year old kid I had two pets one was a huge turtle bigger than a dinner plate and a male sheep named Jackie. My dad brought him home and tied him up in the back yard and said that’s your new lawnmower right there. after a while Jackie would not run off so we untied him but you could not turn your back and lean over because he would butt you and knock you down. the turtle walked away one day and dad gave Jackie to an uncle who owned a farm.
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I had a pet rat in high school/college. She was a great pet! Easy to train, affectionate and, contrary to popular belief, very clean. She knew her name, came when she was called and was litter trained. One of the best pets ever!
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I had a pet raccoon we found in the road. His mom and all the other kits had been run over. He was super cute always stealing food and washing it in our drinks. I also had a baby alligator. We found a hutch of eggs and hatched them. They got loose in our lake and we ended up with two 6′ alligators in that lake - as they’d been fed so well as babies.
The raccoon was my favorite pet I had as a kid. Just super cute!
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When first married, my then-husband’s boss gave us an albino skunk - little pink nose - little pink eyes. The white stripe down his back was a whiter shade than the rest of the fur/hair, whatever that is. He loved to eat the bits out of our dogs Kibbles N Bits and would use our cat’s litter box - one corner only - and it had to be cleaned out before he would use it again. He loved to snuggle up to my neck - unfortunately, every time my husband tried to pick him he, he would, well, you know (can you say poop in the paper?) As it was either it or the husband, I kept the husband. Now, some 20+ years later and single - maybe I should have kept the skunk.
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Former Pet Owner, you gave up the wrong skunk!
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My dad was known for having strange pets. Before I was born, my parents had a pet monkey that died from biting my sister, who had a cold at the time. When I was a pre-teen, he bought several descented skunks. One was the traditional black and white, and the others were chocolate (brown) and white. They were loads of fun to play with. They were easily litter box trained. What I remember best about them is when they got excited they would run fast and stamp their front paws on the ground, causing their hind legs to flip over their head. We had a blast watching them do somersaults. At times, when upset, they would swing their rear ends around and attempt to spray you. Being descented, it didn’t do any good, but they didn’t know that. I would love to find another to have as a pet now.
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I’m a science teacher, so I’ve had some strange classroom critters - geckos, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats - also taratulas (really cool), giant African millipede, and Madagascar hissing cockroaches (who had babies - yikes).
At home my choices are more normal - two dogs.
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My neice had a baby squirrel, and I do mean baby, for almost a week after a particularly bad storm, The mother had not come to take it back so we took take until we found a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who would take it. Had my sister’s daughtere been given the choice, we would still have that pet squirrel, but besides it being illegal to keep wildlife, the best thing for “Cherry” the otherwise healthy squirrel was to be raised by someone who was properly trained and then released back to where it belonged.
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My neice had a baby squirrel, and I do mean baby, for almost a week after a particularly bad storm, The mother had not come to take it back so we took it in until we found a licensed wildlife rehabilitator who would care for it. Had my sister’s daughter been given the choice, we would still have that pet squirrel, but besides it being illegal to keep wildlife, the best thing for “Cherry” the otherwise healthy squirrel was to be raised by someone who was properly trained and then released back to where it belonged.
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I had a pet rock once. It behaved very well. It would stay when I told it to. It had a great sense of humor– I could tell it anything and it would roll on the ground laughing. Sometimes it could be hard headed, though.
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I caught a squirrel once with my bare hands.I had it for a pet almost three seconds.
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I had a guinea pig as a child and I absolutely adored it! I actually have a guinea pig again now as an adult and this one is just as awesome as the one I had before!
Guinea pigs are the greatest little pets! So much fun, so much personality. So adorable and a total sweetheart!
I’ve had friends who’ve had pot-bellied pigs (surprisingly easy to litter train!), ferrets (little escape artists!) and many other things, including a tarantula (sorry, I stick with mammals, thankyouverymuch!), which I wouldn’t go near for anything, because I can’t stand spiders.
Once, when I was about 10, I tried to bring in a caterpillar as a pet. My mom was NOT amused.
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I have a strange pair of pets, although I don’t think they are that unusual on their own. I adopted a guinea pig and a bunny that live, sleep, eat and do everything together.
The rabbit will clean the guinea pig’s ears for him and the guinea pig is pretty much in love with the bunny (a she). As he has not been “altered” as the humane society put it, he also has some more amorous feelings toward her as well.
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I think the most unusual pets we ever had, other than a box turtle we found in the middle of the road (we eventually let him loose in a nearby park by the lake), was our variety of birds. We’ve had parakeets and cockatiels, we had an African Grey parrot (my parents just recently gave him to a friend) who could mimic ANYTHING way too well, and we had two finches. I think the finches were the most random because they don’t sit with you or anything like a lot of pet birds do. They just flit around their cage and chirp a lot. They were pretty, though.
The finches never really had names, either. I called them Ernie and Bert (I think I was 6 or 7 when we got them), and my brother called them Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum. Then again, most of our birds ended up being called “Bird” when it came down to it.
We had lots of hamsters and fish and whatnot, though. My brother had an iguana for a while, and we did have a lop-eared rabbit. She used to chase around our Lhasa Apso, and then he would chase her, then eat her bunny food. We had nothing truly weird, though, otherwise. I think the finches are the most unusual.
I am most surprised to hear about de-scented skunks, though. I don’t even know how one would go about getting one!
Sorry for the stream-of-consciousness writing, too… I’m still at work waiting on someone.
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Meg&Fred, that would be an interest sight!!!
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My family also had a pet raccoon years ago. My brother nearly went over him with a rototiller before he discovered him. He was very young , his eyes had just opened. We fed him with doll bottles and he grew up thinking he was a dog. He slept with our two cocker spaniels. He slept later each day into the fall and winter. (with the dogs) He discovered that he could get into our house on his own through the screen door, and once ate a loaf and a half of bread and shredded the labels off my mothers canned corn and beans before settling in for a very long nap. My mother gave him away, a couple years later after the kids went away to school, to a college student. The kid’s mom called my mother, and was screaming on the phone, asking what she she could do. She was on top of her dining room table with the raccoon circling under the table. My mom told her to give him any kind of food and he would be happy.
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For some reason, when I was a little kid - 7 or 8 - my grandfather thought I liked birds. And since he lived in the country, he wasn’t thinking parakeets, but guinea fowl, geese, pheasants and these weird South American chickens that were this beautiful rust color and laid blue and pink eggs. Honest! That part was cool for about a week. Sadly the goose was a psychopath and bit, as we said back then “the fire” out of me, which was *not* cool. So my grandfather promptly wrung its neck. That was the end of the geese, but not the other farm birds.
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My cat is very strange. Other than that I have 3 fish tanks, a koi pond fire belly newts, 2 cats, a dog, and a green winged macaw, and an african grey. The grey barks like the dog when any one comes to visit. Then yells at the dog to stop barking. He also calls my kids by name on a regular basis. They used to come when he first started calling them. Now they just ignore him, because he never wanted anything.
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My daughter was given a Guinea pig once by friends that were moving away. Unfortunately, it was quickly apparent it was in poor health and went to that big farm in the sky. My husband, with her help buried it in the back yard, and planted a sapling over the grave that she had been given at school. It wasn’t long before her kindergarten teacher asked me if we were having much luck with our guinea pig tree. Apparently at show & tell she shared we were growing a guinea pig tree and it would grow guinea pigs. Sad news -the guinea pig tree died too!
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I’ve had a couple cool pets, guinea hens, chickens, lizards, hermit crabs, but the coolest pet I had I only had for about 2 weeks & it was a brown bat. It had been a baby, fell out of the rafters and was fated to be eaten by someone’s cat. The friend brought it to our house where I nursed it back to health, let my brothers start feeding it bugs, and it learned to fly in my bedroom. Coolest thing ever! Once I felt it was strong enough and eating well we released it. My parents have had bats show up every year since. I’m glad I could help save the little “guy” and would do it again in a second!
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My favorite two “unusual” pets was a squirrel monkey, “Tippy”, that my dad brought home one night. (My mom had always said she’d love to have one, and dad, loving her the way he did, made sure she got it.) He loved to ride in the car (on a leash, of course), sitting on the steering wheel and “swinging” back and forth on it. He died when our kitchen had a small fire, and we had to have to house repainted because of soot damage. It was winter in Va. and very cold, so we couldn’t put him outside. He died from inhaling the paint fumes. We were all devastated. They are very dirty, and after using the bathroom, will wipe themselves on anything available…drapes, furniture, etc.
My other pet was a ferret. I got “Baby” when she was a tiny kit, and she lived a full life. (9 years, which is their life expectancy.) She drove the dog nuts, and loved to play “steal and hide” most anything she could find…dog toys, wooden spoons, socks, you name it. If she could drag it, she took it. You could usually find her “stash” behind and under the sofa. They are kinda dirty, but can be trained to use a litter box.
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between my brother and i growing up and all the creatures my son acquired when he was a kid, we’ve had most of the animals mentioned thus far. in more recent years we also had a grey fox and a fawn. i am a wildlife rehabilitator so have had the usual wild birds, squirrels, raccoons and even raised 6 opposums from the time they were pinkies. i attempted to raise a baby bat with an eyedropper but he didn’t make it so i am in awe of the family who was successful. since the subject is actually “strange” pets, i must submit a neutered male rat. yep, in order to live in the cage with his wife he had to be castrated. it was sad to keep them seperated but every time they had any time together, we’d soon have babies then when they were old enough i released them in a wonderful old barn. so papa went to the vet! dr X made me promise to never tell he had done that surgery on a rat. anyway, mama and papa rat lived together happily ever after …. about 3 more years but that was a good lifetime for rats.
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We had prairie dogs. They were great pets until their mating season. They go bonkers then. We loved them, but the last time I had to have stitches, my husband made me find them a new place to live. They went to a wildlife sanctuary.
They are super-cute, but are wild animals who should remain in the wild.
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We’ve had a pot-bellied pig, tarantulas, turtles, frogs, partially paralyzed guinea pig, ferrets, rats…you name it, we’ve had it! We started the bad (or not so bad) habit of taking in friends’/coworkers’ unwanted pets and rehoming them. The pig was a terror…ate our carpet! taratulas are the EASIEST pet ever…ferrets and rats were ok (stinky!)…my favorite will always be dogs and cats…and our turtle.
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During childhood- I couldn’t wait each year to buy the dyed easter chicks- sorry- I know better now. They often lived and were given to farm friends. One of those farm friends gave me a baby bull( I lived in a small neighborhood) to hand raise I had him for several months before she took him back.
As an adult along with my strange daughter we have had, rats, mice, guinea pigs, a chincillia, a kingsnake, 2 faintgoats- they were so entertaining but eventually had to live somewhere else becasue they were so incredibly destructive.
We currently have 6 dogs, 8 cats, 1 leopard geiko and my daughters favoreite ever her ferrett.
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I totally forgot to mention the three baby ducks someone gave me when they discoverd my love of easter chickens. They lived in my bathroom until they got to big. Then one of my labs got to two of them and the other still lives happily ever after at the monastery.
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Does an older sister count?
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I own a pet rock.
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I have a hairless rat named “Kojak”.
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You guessed it….gerbil.
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Beta fish since no real pets can come to college…very sad. When I was a baby, the parents had a parrot that mimicked me crying. my guinea pig died…and no luck with guiena pig tree as my mom related. No other unusual pets…
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My brother kept a raccoon under the sink for years. Everytime you opened the door it would growl at you. I found out later it was just the garbage disposal.
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I had a ferret for about 3 years. She was very frisky, her name was Fuji. I gave her to the humane society when I had my son, I didn’t have enuff time for her anymore
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I used to have a Tarantula named Cliff. I called him Cliff after the movie CliffHanger because he used to hand on the ledge of the tank…. He died as a result of a bad molt.
Now, since I work at the zoo, I feel like I have tons of exotic pets….
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When I was younger we had the standard menagerie of dogs and cats, along with horses, goats, rabbits, chickens, pigs, hamsters, birds, fish and the like, even a pet raccoon.
But I guess my favorite “strange” pet was a baby flying squirrel names Rocky, he fell out of a tree and I rescued him. He lived happily in a hamster cage until my baby cousin came to visit. And that was the end of Rocky.
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I currently have 2 “Fancy Mice” as pets. Sissy and Fatty. Fatty only has one eye, which is actually why I bought her at Pet Smart. I was just there to get fish food and saw her and figured, “What Buckhead kid is going to get a mouse with one eye.” So I got her and a friend. I admit to being a little embarrassed of having them, seeing as I’m a 27yr old Buckhead female who works at a Wall Street firm. Eh, if friends don’t “get me or my pets” then we didn’t have that much in common anyways.
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Hey C-Dawg,
How many mice do you have? I think you’re down to one.
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I had six pet chickens. Randy Andy Dandy Sandy Candy and Dominique
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man…
opossums
squirrells
donkey
deer
hairless rats
raccoons
pig
etc.
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Bobbi Eden
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Karlie Montana
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Les Archive
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Nude Celebrity Theater
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Digital Angel Girls
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Anal Driveway
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Feed That Hole
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Big Breast
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