8 replies to this topic

[♥~kitkat7♥]

Idk where else to post this, cuz its not about one specific animal 

 

 

So, I have been thinking - I am responsible to own another small pet.

 

Heres what I don't want: Hamsters, Rats, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, lizards, geckos, c..co..coc...cockroach...h...ess, bugs.

 

 

 

 

I am thinking about fish!

 

My friends have 2 tarantulas, and it looks like they can live in pretty tiny cages! So thats an option.

 

Sea monkeys, I posted a topic about, but I am not sure.

 

Ants...no thanks.

 

 

 

 

Got any other ideas...?

 

 

Basically here are some requirements: Something small, doesnt require lots of money, doesnt smell awfulll, not BUGS, the cage doesnt take up a lot of room (could sit on a desk) maybe you can interact with the animal a bit, one that doesnt bite a lot, sorta cute, maybe fuzzy???

 

 

 

anyways, any suggestions are open! (even if it bends my requirements a bit )

Links are helpful!!!

 

Thank you all!!

-nibbles

 

[♥️fluffy♥️]

Hello! No pet is easy, they all require different aspects of care.

 

Fish are amazing animals to care for, I used to own a lot. If you care for them properly they make wonderful pets!

 

A ten gallon tank is great to start with, if you have any questions regarding their care, you can ask on a fish forum or on HH or ask here.

[ajuniceu~]

I second the 10 gallon tank idea- this would be a great home for a betta fish and maybe a couple shrimps or snails!

 

Fish tank mantience isn't as difficult as hamster care in my opinion, but you will have to wait up to two months after getting the tank to get the fish as you have to cycle it

 

If you require extra info on fish, I highly recommend checking out fishforums.net and fishlore

[Zula]

I know that you say no bugs, however what about millipedes? It depends a bit on the species as to the enclosure size but they don’t tend to need to be too large. Many people will house them in bins with holes drilled for ventilation (they don’t need the same amount of ventilation as pets like hamsters). The substrate takes a lot of research to get right as it’s quite complicated, and some may need a heat source. Heat mats attached to the side, not bottom, of the enclosure work will if they are needed. After the initial set up they are very easy to care for and maintain.

Fee free to ask anymore questions, there are also quite a few good YouTube videos on proper care for millipedes. I’m afraid I haven’t properly researched them since last year so can’t remember any particular channels but I might be able to have a look for you.

Edited by Zula, 01 October 2021 - 11:48 PM.

[NougatTheHamster]

Maybe shrimp or snails would be a good idea! They are not easy, but I'm pretty sure they can live in 10 gallons.

[A~HM]

If you get an aquarium, and you don't want to spend money or want something easy, shrimp are NOT the answer. Neocaridina and caridina shrimp require very specific water parameters and set ups. You can get away with ghost shrimp a little easier, but due to their fragile nature since they're feeder animals, I would invest in a nice set up for them.

 

There is no "easy pet", nor cheap. All animals will require some sort of high start up cost, and if they require vet visits then you're stuck with that too.

 

A betta in a five gallon would be a decent "easy" pet, but you have research the nitrogen cycle before even starting anything with fish.

[Robin~]

100% agree with ^^^ this is why I don’t have shrimp in my tank right now even though I would love to have some. Bettas are so much tougher (hence why they can survive in literal cups for years) and you only have to test for half as many parameters. Then again, that’s not to say they’re cheap—I’d put all the supplies at around $200 total (maybe cheaper if you get a kit?) plus a couple months of waiting while your water cycles.

Although, when you look at your list, here’s what I put bettas as….

Small: ✅

Doesn’t require lots of money: comparatively, yes

Doesn’t smell: ✅

Not a bug: ✅

Cage doesn’t take up much room: ✅

Interactive: Bettas are pretty much one of the most interactive fish you can get for a tank this size so that can get a checkmark. You can even teach them tricks!

Doesn’t bite: ✅

Cute: ✅✅✅✅✅

Fuzzy: ❌ (although you did throw out basically every small fuzzy pet lol)

So that’s like an 85% match. Might not be a bad idea to look into them! Like people have said, no pet is easy, but once your tank’s cycle is stable care is super super easy. Like, feed a couple pellets/frozen-thawed food twice a day and clean the tank once every 7-10 days easy.

Edited by Robin~, 02 October 2021 - 08:46 PM.

[Lightning~]

 

 

Fish tank mantience isn't as difficult as hamster care in my opinion, but you will have to wait up to two months after getting the tank to get the fish as you have to cycle it

 

0-0

not two months, it can take a few days to 5 months.

and yes, i agree, but, like, it's not easy. Water changes once a week, making sure your paremeters are ok (you have to check at least every-other-day), making sure your plants aren't dying, and if they die, you have to figer out if it was the water, light, heat, conditoner, ect., then you have to eathier try to bring them back or buy new plants, and make sure those don't die because you spent $50-$150 on the new plants, and now you've paid to much attention to the plants and didn't relise your fish looks like it had ICH, then you have to buy medication for $15, then that shows up a day late, and guess what, your fish died.

 

(this hasn't happend, and i hope it doesn't. Just to show how stressful it is)

[Robin~]

0-0
not two months, it can take a few days to 5 months.

and yes, i agree, but, like, it's not easy. Water changes once a week, making sure your paremeters are ok (you have to check at least every-other-day), making sure your plants aren't dying, and if they die, you have to figer out if it was the water, light, heat, conditoner, ect., then you have to eathier try to bring them back or buy new plants, and make sure those don't die because you spent $50-$150 on the new plants, and now you've paid to much attention to the plants and didn't relise your fish looks like it had ICH, then you have to buy medication for $15, then that shows up a day late, and guess what, your fish died.

(this hasn't happend, and i hope it doesn't. Just to show how stressful it is)

I’m not sure why saying a specific timeframe is worse than saying a range…? A lot of that depends on what you use, but if start from scratch, don’t plan on having a heavy tank load, and use ammonia it’ll usually be right around 1-3 months. Sure, if you seed your tank with someone else’s BB or don’t add any ammonia at all it’ll take shorter or longer, but if you do the standard process, yes, it’ll take around 2 months. Neither answer is wrong lol.

Also no offense but half of your worries are about live plants which aren’t even necessary lol…

I 100% agree fish can be stressful pets sometimes. They require a lot of upkeep, and not everyone can provide that. But, you can’t just pick a worse case scenario and say “this is why fish may not be the best”. I can do the exact same with hamsters:

Ok, you get your hamster, and you realize you bought all the wrong stuff because you followed what the pet store said. There’s $150 wasted. Then you spend a week making a 450sq in bin cage, but then you realize that’s still not enough for your hamster, then you have to buy a 75g tank and because you can’t find any on Craigslist you buy a new one for $500. Then, you realize bedding is important too and have to drop $100 on more bedding. Then, you realize you picked up cedar bedding instead of aspen, so you have to return all that bedding. But, you only realize this a couple months later, so your hamster has developed a chronic respiratory illness so now you have to give your hamster medication twice a day. But, your hamster doesn’t like being fed medication etc etc etc..

Most hamster care won’t be like that, but it is a possibility so you shouldn’t get a hamster if you can’t handle spending +$1000 over your hamster’s lifetime! Like, no…
I’m sorry if this comes off as blunt but I don’t get this logic at all.

Edited by Robin~, 03 October 2021 - 11:17 PM.