# Have you owned any nontraditional pets?



## Mr. Ed (Mar 28, 2021)

Nontraditional meaning unusual or exotic pets? 

For a short I owned a 8 ft boa constrictor, a friend gave me the huge reptile because his wife recently had a baby. The boa was huge, I fed her rabbits, after her first feeding she pooped in the relativity small place for her size place she was kept so I tried to bath her in the bathtub. She coiled herself around the faucet, hot & cold water fixtures forcing hot water onto her massive body. 

I do not recall the details but somehow I was able to pry Moriah (who was clean now) back to her living space. I realized if Moriah had turned on me, for whatever reason, I wasn't prepared to care for a snack as large as she. I returned Moriah to her original owner. 

Another short-lived pet I owned was an albino skunk I bought from the pet store. Lucky was adorable, unfortunately he didn't live long enough for us to know one another. 

I had a HogNosed snake who flared his nostrils and fiercely hissed to ward off potential predators.

Any turtle owners? Birds? Spiders? Squirrels? Ferrets? Hedge Hogs? Share your story about your magnificent pet(s)


----------



## ronaldj (Mar 28, 2021)

does a milk cow count or a few goats


----------



## old medic (Mar 28, 2021)

We had a pet Woodchuck for a few years as a kid... lived in the house, cuddle in your lap, used a litterbox.


----------



## widget (Mar 28, 2021)

Parrots, all my life, up to a few years ago, are they unusual???


----------



## Ruthanne (Mar 28, 2021)

Yes, I've had hamsters and fiddler crabs and newts and a very large snail.


----------



## JustBonee (Mar 28, 2021)

ronaldj said:


> does a milk cow count or a few goats


I grew up on a large  dairy farm  .... all the animals seemed like family when I was a kid.    ...     I enjoyed them,  especially the pigs ..lol  ..they were a fun lively group!    Goats were fun too.  
I loved them all,  well except for the mean bull that was in the pasture.  He  scared me to death!  

Neighbor girl had a pet skunk .... of course it had the 'perfume'  sack removed


----------



## Marie5656 (Mar 28, 2021)

Probably not non traditional..but I have had a chinchilla, and then rats.


----------



## SetWave (Mar 28, 2021)

Had an alligator lizard we caught in the yard when I was little. Fed him flies.
In the islands somebody caught a baby sea turtle and gave it to me. I finally set it free.
Then, as a parent, my son had a hamster (nasty little bugger). He got loose once and I had to crawl under the house to retrieve him.  Then we had a series of rats (no not chewing the walls, although there have been those). They make great pets and are very sweet but do not live long.


----------



## win231 (Mar 28, 2021)

I got a Boa Constrictror back when I didn't know how big they get.  He was only 4 ft.  When he reached 12 ft, I gave him to the zoo.  He loved to be handled.  I didn't want to have to feed him rabbits.  Rats were bad enough.......


----------



## Chet (Mar 28, 2021)

I had a garter snake as a kid. We used to search for them on the sunny side of a rock pile. He was unusual since he had blue eye, so I took him and kept him in a jar and gave him the name Herman. I eventually let him go.


----------



## JonDouglas (Mar 28, 2021)

When  first married, we lived in a 3rd floor walkup and were good friends with the landlord James, and his wife, who lived on the 1st floor.  It may be hard to understand but James and I were both creative types who egged each other on to do some strange things.  James could be characterized as someone who relished a challenge that few others would undertake (e.g., jacking his big old house by himself and adding a another floor, making his own boiler for heat and power, etc.).   Somehow we got talking about tropical fish and alligators, which set in motion the construction of a huge aquarium tank and acquisition of a small alligator, procured from the local pet store.  Well, the one aquarium grew into  hundreds and the alligator got so big tenents were afraid to go down to use the washer and dryer in the basement.  Once the gator got past 6 ft. in length, we wrestled it into his station wagon and took it to the local zoo.  You could say it was a shared project pet, of sorts.  We learned some about the care and feeding of alligators, which was of no earthly use after that except for being a shared, humorous experience.


----------



## officerripley (Mar 28, 2021)

My nephew and niece-in-law own goats; they love having 'em; they can be kinda funny, the billy goats are so darn alpha, wow.


----------



## SetWave (Mar 28, 2021)

officerripley said:


> My nephew and niece-in-law own goats; they love having 'em; they can be kinda funny, the billy goats are so darn alpha, wow.


Lived at a vineyard for a time and they had pygmy goats. They are such sweet animals and fun to play with.


----------



## jujube (Mar 28, 2021)

I got a "descented" skunk for my 12th birthday. She was a pretty good pet, liked to be held and petted, and walked pretty well on a leash.  

She never learned to use the litter box though, so I had to keep a close eye on her when she was loose in the house.

She and the cats never got along.


----------



## Tommy (Mar 28, 2021)

My most non-traditional was probably the assassin bug.  Not the most exciting pet.  It didn't last long.


----------



## J.B Books (Mar 28, 2021)

Like most young boys.

A snake and a turtle.

I did have the turtle for 20 years before a gave it to  senior center.


----------



## Gary O' (Mar 28, 2021)

Took care of my son's wolf pup for awhile
Scars on my hands to prove it
He did like it when I joined into howling


----------



## RnR (Mar 28, 2021)

I had a great variety when I was very young. I guess the most unusual were tortoises I rescued as eggs when floods hit, buried in the backyard and waited until they hatched; a beautiful Australian sugar glider which visited the food I left on the rose trellis each day; an Australian water rat down by the creek and a very large freshwater crayfish I kept/fed in a cut-down drum in the backyard for many years. Also had quite a number of the more traditional kind pictured below.


----------



## Murrmurr (Mar 28, 2021)

I kept a colony of roly-polies (isopods) in a home-made terrarium for several months. Just something of interest for my little foster son. After he was reunited with his parents, I gifted the bugs to my daughter-in-law, for her compost pile. I'm sure they've been very happy and prolific there.


----------



## MarciKS (Mar 29, 2021)

J.B Books said:


> Like most young boys.
> 
> A snake and a turtle.
> 
> I did have the turtle for 20 years before a gave it to  senior center.


I didn't know regular turtles could live that long. Cool.


----------



## RnR (Mar 29, 2021)

MarciKS said:


> I didn't know regular turtles could live that long. Cool.


Apparently, the world's oldest land animal is Jonathan the tortoise, due to turn 189 years old in 2021. In his lifetime, Jonathan has lived through two world wars, the Russian Revolution, seven monarchs on the British throne and 39 US presidents.


----------



## MarciKS (Mar 29, 2021)

RnR said:


> Apparently, the world's oldest land animal is Jonathan the tortoise, due to turn 189 years old in 2021. In his lifetime, Jonathan has lived through two world wars, the Russian Revolution, seven monarchs on the British throne and 39 US presidents.


I know tortoises have long lives. I didn't know just an average turtle could live for 20 yrs. I don't know much about turtles anyway.


----------



## katlupe (Mar 29, 2021)

I had a boa constrictor at one time. My friend (I use that term loosely) was a topless dancer and she danced with her snakes. One of them was really long. I managed and bartended at the bar she danced at and the owner would leave as soon as she came out of the dressing room with the snake. Funny how many men were terrified of them. They would bring their drinks up to the bar when she danced instead of sitting by the stage.

I also had pet. Rhode Island Red. She was the only chicken I had so I kept her in a dog kennel in the kitchen and let her outside during the day with my dog and cats. I still miss her.

I had a Pygmy billy goat and he caused a bunch of trouble for me. I ended up giving him to someone who had a herd of them but no billy.

Now my house rabbit is considered an exotic pet, at least at the vet's. But just like having a dog or a cat.


----------



## Ruth n Jersey (Mar 29, 2021)

When I was in the 4th grade our class had a school trip to the circus. During intermission many venders came out and walked through the rows selling peanuts, popcorn and various circus related items. One man had little boxes attached to a large piece of cardboard. Each box contained a chameleon and a few dried up flies. 
I bought one and had him in a fish tank for quite a long time.  He wouldn't eat the dried flies so the whole family swatted flies during the summer. My mom froze them to get him through the winter.
I also had turtles, hamsters and Guinea pigs. 
When I think about it now, how heartless it was to stick those lizards in a tiny box. At least one had a happy home.


----------



## Gary O' (Mar 29, 2021)

When living up at our cabin, I acquired my little buddy

Golden Mantled are in the squirrel family, but look more like chippies







This guy was my bud
Followed me everywhere












He'd let me know if I was late in setting up dinner






I used him as my model when marketing my chipnic tables







Kind of a sad parting when we moved to town


----------



## timoc (Mar 29, 2021)

One time I was plagued by ants, so Anthony came into my life. He was the most lovable anteater you've ever seen,  I'm kidding you, he was infact a little mongrel dog who had great fun jumping on the ants and splattering them, but when he started licking his paws, yukk.


----------



## J.B Books (Mar 29, 2021)

Since I have an affinity for turtles I am prone to rescue one once in a while.

This one is a new hatchling. Last year I saved from certain demise and released into the pond several weeks later.

Since this is a close up of the little guy in a glass baking dish it is hard to know how little he is..., he is a little bigger than a quarter.


----------

