Hmm Need Help chosing my next pet/s (that aren't birds!)

[kcbee]

For toys - Boog's favorite is lava and apple wood. I buy wood parts in bulk from The Little Perch Co. and get other parts for toys from the pet store. Crystal's Bird Toys also makes some toys for small animals and my guy loooooves this one - apple chunks



He also has a large wheel in his cage he loves to run on during the night.

In the wild chins live in groups, so if you have a large enough cage you can do a group, but like all animals, they won't always get along and can be territorial.

They are also fine living alone as long as they get attention.

 

[65sunnyday]

My vote is for Piggies (& there are some really cute ones!) I love their cheerfulness & chubbles, & the popcorning is SO CUTE! I buy kiln-dried pine shavings--not at all expensive, & quite safe. I find that the only time they stink is if I go more than a week between cage cleanings.

I've read warnings that you must be very careful handling reptiles, as they can harbour salmonella &/or E Coli (scrupulous hand-washing necessary.)

Chantell--I voted for piggies because that is what I am familiar with - but when it comes to pure cute, your chins take the cake!

Bethany--I like your reply, & will have to try your blog!

For hay & pellets, I don't think you can beat Oxbow, esp their Orchard Grass hay
It's very soft (except for this time of year--my piggies love to plow through it when I first put it in their cages!) Prob not avail in UK

 

[KatherinesBirds]

Someone asked me this very question about a week ago. I am full up with ferrets and birds. I told her that I would consider a CHIA PET Well, they are low maintenance and don't make a mess or much noise at all!

 

[jasminlana]

Chantilly those chins are so cute makes me want to get some. I love rabbits but I think the cage cleaning and the hay could be a little mess for upstairs. Our inside rabbit cage is in the downstairs playroom, easier to get the hay from the sunroom and to wheel the cage outside for hosing down

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

When my kids were small we had guinea pigs.Ours were spoiled rotten.Never had a chin but they look amazing to me.

You feed chinchillas a pellet food and hay. They are very cheap to maintain. We get the food at a feed store. Oxbow, Purina Rabbit Chow SHOW are both great brands of food. You want it to be all pellets, no seeds and dried fruit like some pet store brands sell...that is just junk and makes the chins overweight. You also can usually get hay and pine bedding there, for much cheaper than a pet store. You give them a dust bath 1-2 times a week. They don't need shots, de worming, or any other preventative care. You just need to give them wood to chew to wear down their teeth, and lots of love. They are so much fun to watch taking their dust baths or "wall surfing" or "popcorning"! (look this up on youtube if you have not seem them!) I know plenty of people in England that have chins, they seem to be pretty popular there

Ah good, I did think a pure pellet diet would be best for them, plus when they have a big variety they just choose the junky ones!People where I volunteered started giving them dried fruit and they ate that instead of the pellets. ah man popcorning is cute!

The thing that makes the guinea pigs cost so much is their bedding. I buy Carefresh bedding, which is expensive, but in my opinion, the best option of the store bought beddings. Their cage is large enough that I have to use a big bag of Carefresh every time I clean their cage. The big bag ranges in cost from $16 and $21. I don't know how much it costs or if it's available in the UK. I also buy them fresh veggies and fruits, and get them the best pellets I can locally, which is Oxbow Cavy Cuisine. (If you want a longer answer about what I buy them, I actually made a post about that on my blog earlier this week. PM me if you want the link.)
You raise good points about keeping them indoors, but another REALLY good reason to NOT keep them outside is the possibility of predators outside. I've heard of more than one family losing their guinea pigs because of neighborhood dogs.[/QUOTE]

Yes we have carefresh here and it costs a bomb!And we have oxbow, good 'ol oxbow! Oh man you don't want to start me on about predators outside, I didn't want chickens because I was scared of predators, we have alot of foxes about, and as you mentioned other dogs about that arent accustom to chickens like our ones are.

Chinchillas!

short and sweet!

Piggies are so vocal in friendly. I love their little noises and squeaks.
Bunnies are adorable, and house rabbits can be pretty cool, but I don't think they are a social as piggies.
No real experience with chins. They are adorable.
The only lizards I have experience with are iguanas, which I adore, but their diet is a lot of work, and cleaning reptile cages is a lot of work (to me. And I have 2 cockatiels, an indoor cat, a dog, an 85 gallon aquarium, and 2 turtles in an outdoor pond).
My vote is guinea pigs.[/QUOTE]

Owww you just made it harder!

If you get a chinchilla I would make sure you have a chin-knowledgeable vet close in case of an emergency. A lot of vets don't know much about chins and will tell you the wrong info.
Here is a good forum for chinchillas:
Chins & Hedgies - Powered by vBulletin

Oh yes, I have work placement with the best exotic vets in my county honestly I can't sing my praises enough, they're amazing and I've seen them do loads of procedures with guineas, rabbits, euros, chinchillas, snakes, rats, beardies, tortoises, koi, sugar gliders the works!

For toys - Boog's favorite is lava and apple wood. I buy wood parts in bulk from The Little Perch Co. and get other parts for toys from the pet store. Crystal's Bird Toys also makes some toys for small animals and my guy loooooves this one - apple chunks

View attachment 90245

He also has a large wheel in his cage he loves to run on during the night.

In the wild chins live in groups, so if you have a large enough cage you can do a group, but like all animals, they won't always get along and can be territorial.

They are also fine living alone as long as they get attention.

Oooh thank you! Think of all of the toys I could make! *drools* I always feel bad keeping group living animals solitary, it's just a personal thing because they have all of these behaviours that they can do in couples or groups.

My vote is for Piggies (& there are some really cute ones!) I love their cheerfulness & chubbles, & the popcorning is SO CUTE! I buy kiln-dried pine shavings--not at all expensive, & quite safe. I find that the only time they stink is if I go more than a week between cage cleanings.
I've read warnings that you must be very careful handling reptiles, as they can harbour salmonella &/or E Coli (scrupulous hand-washing necessary.)
Chantell--I voted for piggies because that is what I am familiar with - but when it comes to pure cute, your chins take the cake!
Bethany--I like your reply, & will have to try your blog!
For hay & pellets, I don't think you can beat Oxbow, esp their Orchard Grass hay
It's very soft (except for this time of year--my piggies love to plow through it when I first put it in their cages!) Prob not avail in UK

I do love the way piggies talk to eachother, they always sound like they have something to talk about! Yes we get that here, it's not cheap, but it is really nice, I always got them to buy it where I volunteered because let's be honest, if a bunny or piggy aren't eating, they can NEVER turn down Oxbow hay! It's sold at the exotics vets too

Someone asked me this very question about a week ago. I am full up with ferrets and birds. I told her that I would consider a CHIA PET Well, they are low maintenance and don't make a mess or much noise at all!

it's perfect, but wouldn't feeding it grass be abit..cannibalistic?

Chantilly those chins are so cute makes me want to get some. I love rabbits but I think the cage cleaning and the hay could be a little mess for upstairs. Our inside rabbit cage is in the downstairs playroom, easier to get the hay from the sunroom and to wheel the cage outside for hosing down

Ah I hadn't thought about the mess of lots of hay, it gets everywhere...hmmmm

Who knew this would be such a hard decision?!?!

 

[marian]

Can't wait to hear what you decide on.

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

Can't wait to hear what you decide on.

Man it's so hard...tbh the ones I don't get now, I'll get when I move out because I'm going to have dedicated animal rooms
But still....:shock4:

 

[Chantilly Lace]

If you get a chinchilla I would make sure you have a chin-knowledgeable vet close in case of an emergency. A lot of vets don't know much about chins and will tell you the wrong info.

Here is a good forum for chinchillas:
Chins & Hedgies - Powered by vBulletin

This forum is the best for info, but some of the women there are truly awful, mean, spiteful people. They are so mean to breeders, even breeders like myself that do not breed for fur, and always end up driving the most knowledgable people away from the forum. It is a shame. I have not gone back in years after seeing how mean they are to new people and basically anyone that is not in their little "click". I personally suggest to just lurk there. I almost was scared to ever join another forum, but found bird forums to have much nicer people, and mods are more in control and don't let people just bash other members. I think this forum is the best one I have come across.

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

Ugh, I HATE snobby breeders IMO you should unite through your similarities, make new friends and learn from eachother (like it is on AA), I'm not sure what snobby people gain from bashing people, they just end up looking like jerks.

And personally I can't stand real fur, with faux fur around I think there's no excuse for real fur as synthetic materials do a pretty good job.

I think I'll take your advice and have a good 'ol fashioned lurk!

 

[KaribaCalico]

This forum is the best for info, but some of the women there are truly awful, mean, spiteful people. They are so mean to breeders, even breeders like myself that do not breed for fur, and always end up driving the most knowledgable people away from the forum. It is a shame. I have not gone back in years after seeing how mean they are to new people and basically anyone that is not in their little "click". I personally suggest to just lurk there. I almost was scared to ever join another forum, but found bird forums to have much nicer people, and mods are more in control and don't let people just bash other members. I think this forum is the best one I have come across.

I have noticed that too. I never post on there anymore because you are pretty much always "wrong" but it is a great site just to look around on.

I thought I saw some of your post from a long time ago about getting you 'too.

 

[Snickers]

Those baby chins are soooo cute!!!

 

[ashbirdlady]

I say rabbits or chins

 

[ashbirdlady]

Keep an eye out at your local humane society. They will probably get chins in. Usually in pairs too.

 

[MLS]

Personally, I'd go with the Uromastyx. But I'm a reptile person Maintenance is simple and once you get the environment right, you're basically good to go. http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/ would be a good resource to find captive bred Uros if you don't mind getting them shipped ( which is pretty safe and convenient with reptiles as long as outside temps aren't too extreme ) as users on that site are from all over the place. The nice thing about that website is that they have a Board of Inquiry where you can look up vendors and make sure they aren't known for cheating people or anything else unscrupulous.

If you do decide to go with rabbits, make sure to check your local humane society! A lot of people get them on impulse and when cute little baby bunny starts being a hormonal teenage jerk, they get dumped. That and big spayed older rabbits are generally calmer and more easily managed than rambunctious babies. They might even have bonded pairs already. You said you were experienced with rabbits, but I'd say give House Rabbit Society Rabbit Care Guide a skim. Lots of good information on that website! I'm not a big rabbit person myself, but I had a close friend who rescued them and had a few minilops and belgian hares for showing ( left over from when her mother was a show breeder ). They're weren't all the cuddliest critters, though the ones that were were complete hams, but even the most independent loved a good scritch and would sit near you just hanging out for quite some time. I've also heard that dwarf breeds tend to be the more aggressive than the larger breeds.

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

Those baby chins are soooo cute!!!

All chins are cute!

I say rabbits or chins

Keep an eye out at your local humane society. They will probably get chins in. Usually in pairs too.

Oh yes, I'm keeping a very close eye and know of some other rehoming centres near me...I'll look about tomorrow, though I still debating.

Personally, I'd go with the Uromastyx. But I'm a reptile person Maintenance is simple and once you get the environment right, you're basically good to go. FaunaClassifieds Home Page would be a good resource to find captive bred Uros if you don't mind getting them shipped ( which is pretty safe and convenient with reptiles as long as outside temps aren't too extreme ) as users on that site are from all over the place. The nice thing about that website is that they have a Board of Inquiry where you can look up vendors and make sure they aren't known for cheating people or anything else unscrupulous.

If you do decide to go with rabbits, make sure to check your local humane society! A lot of people get them on impulse and when cute little baby bunny starts being a hormonal teenage jerk, they get dumped. That and big spayed older rabbits are generally calmer and more easily managed than rambunctious babies. They might even have bonded pairs already. You said you were experienced with rabbits, but I'd say give House Rabbit Society Rabbit Care Guide a skim. Lots of good information on that website! I'm not a big rabbit person myself, but I had a close friend who rescued them and had a few minilops and belgian hares for showing ( left over from when her mother was a show breeder ). They're weren't all the cuddliest critters, though the ones that were were complete hams, but even the most independent loved a good scritch and would sit near you just hanging out for quite some time. I've also heard that dwarf breeds tend to be the more aggressive than the larger breeds.

Oooh thank you for the advice, checking out those websites now. Belgian hares are gorgeous! I've ment some pretty mean dwarfs but I think they were scared more than anything.

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

There have been some developments!
I'm looking at cage size, viv sizes and I'm going to clean up my room and move things around to get the most of the space I have. I think I might be able to have a viv AND some furries but I need to double check (and yes I know it will be expensive but if I'm honest, I work to provide for my family)
There were 4 GORGEOUS chins at the exotics vets today getting a dental BUT at the same time there was a really cute guinea pig. So I ruled out bunny, but THEN one of the nurses took in a rabbit from a crummy pet shop that wanted to pts a healthy bunny, and they think she might be preggers and that if she is, the bubbas will need homing. And I found some reptiles I definately do not want...but that's just my taste...plus there are only so many times you can get threats from a monitor lizard, just saying.

Sooo I haven't got too far but I'm look at all the measurements for all of the cages and runs ect + toys / hay / food /lights so I can build up an estimate, I do spoil my animals though so it'll go waaay over the limit!

Wish me luck!

 

[Bird_lover6]

Have you considered getting a rat? I've never owned one, but people who have swear by their intelligence and friendliness. I think they're also a lot cleaner than animals like rabbits .  If you visit a rat forum, you will see decorated cages that rival our bird cages. ;0 ; CritterNation cages are great.

 

[HelenVanessaDavies]

Have you considered getting a rat? I've never owned one, but people who have swear by their intelligence and friendliness. I think they're also a lot cleaner than animals like rabbits .  If you visit a rat forum, you will see decorated cages that rival our bird cages. ;0 ; CritterNation cages are great.

My sister has 5 rats, they're nice and I like them, but they just have such a small life span