You're making me sad. All the cool YouTube videos of all these animals seems like they're pretty cool friendly pets. And Bengals seem smart.
I always wanted a ferret as a kid. What about goats? Saw a video of someone with baby goats, maybe dwarf goats? But they looked so cut hopping around everywhere.
I have no intention of getting a pet anything any time soon, but toss me some ideas of fun atypical creatures that are good pets so I can watch YouTube videos and be happy.
At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to how much time you want to dedicate to this animal and how much money you’re willing to burn.
Ferrets need a decent set up ($300-500+ for the proper size cage) and absolutely need a nearby exotics vet. They WILL get sick (incurable adrenal disease is a textbook ferret problem, as are insulinomas). They shouldn’t spend 24/7 in their cages though, and need supervised roaming time. During which they can be destructive and dirty. They also stink enough to make your *whole* house smell, despite the fact that all pet store ferrets have been ‘descented.’ They still stink. You can walk into a pet store and know instantly if they sell ferrets. Like, their descented odor is strong enough that it’s one of the top reasons people ‘get rid of’ a ferret after they buy it.
Goats need significant space, buddies (so multiple goats), specific veterinary care and hoof care. They are outdoor animals so you’d need to provide them with proper shelter. They may not be legal depending on your town laws/codes/whatever. They also have a host of issues that they will get without proper care that the average vet down the street can’t help with. You’d need a nearby small ruminant vet which are hard to come across.
Raccoons are also destructive and equivalent to having a toddler in the house but with sharper teeth and zoonotic diseases. I’ve yet to meet a vet that will see a pet raccoon, as a result they often go without medical care. Most of the videos you see of them online are posted by people that kidnapped their raccoon as a baby btw.
I mean you really are just looking at videos and saying ‘wow, that looks fun!’ Without actually looking into what it looks like to give these animals proper care. That’s the exact issue we’re talking about here. People see a video, rush out to get that animal, and that animal is ultimately doomed.
Truly, if you want a pet, go to a shelter and get a cat or dog. At the end of the day, you’re going to do whatever you want, but you need to take a minute and seriously think about what you’ve been saying here. These animals are living creatures, not meant to be casually owned. Especially by someone who seems to be an extremely novice animal owner (because otherwise you’d never consider goat ownership for example, even jokingly).
Some context: I’m a vet, so animals are my job. I have resources, friends, and myself to provide medical care. I have a dog, 5 cats, a rabbit, and a box turtle (so a turtle, but it doesn’t need a tank of water). My rabbit is by far the most demanding animal I own. He requires a safe space, is destructive, is the most expensive to feed, and requires me to be vigilant for life threatening gut issues (they can die within a day if early symptoms are missed). I’ve been lucky that his teeth have never needed intervention in the 12 years I’ve had him, but I also provide him with what he needs for dental health. I can vet him for the most part, but otherwise the closest vet I’d trust is 45min away. Driving a sick rabbit 45min, even if he isn’t severe yet, could kill him. So yeah, he’s really cute, but he has NEEDS. When is the last time you saw an animal video talking about demanding and expensive the cute fluffy *insert animal here* is? You haven’t because that doesn’t get people their views and clicks.
I could also tell you horror stories….there was a local chain of pet stores in Tampa that was notorious for selling owners all type of exotics with no basic info, or flat out incorrect info. I saw some really effed up cases as an emergency vet at the only ER that saw exotics (within like a 2-3 hour radius, mind you) as a result.
