Exotic Fuzzy Animals

[Craig]

i was wondering how many of you own or have owned exotic fuzzy animals. i have kept a few kinds.
here's my prairie dog. i think he is the best non herp. pet you can get. they like to cuddle, they are friendly, and they are easy to take care of. and my fav. part is they are very intelligent. he comes running when i call his name. they are awesome pets!!! i think their intelligence is about equal to a cat or dog. (i hate the way i look in this pic. )

 

[Craig]

these pics had a beautiful res. but making them smaller kind of killed it. here is my male degu. a freind gave these to me. they were droped off at the pet store where she works. the degus had 8 babies. i will be selling them $60 a pair when they are done weening. they kind of look like a chinchilla crossed with a gerbil. their care is similar to chinchillas.

 

[jper26]

Where can you get a prarie dog looks like a great pet.

 

[Craig]

Where can you get a prarie dog looks like a great pet.

most pet stores that sell exotics sell them. i wouldn't buy one from most of those stores. i got mine in a trade. i'll post a link where you can buy a healthy prairie dog.
anyways, here is one of the baby degus
again, sorry about the crappy res.

 

[Craig]

here is a female short tail (or dwarf) opossum. i traded the male and female for t's. i didn't feel i was spending enough time with them.

 

[jper26]

nice pic did you catch the opossums in the wild yourself?

 

[Phillip]

Have shown these before but...

What the heck I'll post em again. Petarus breviceps ( Sugar Glider ) I've had Mary here for right at 2 years. I need more pics of her but rarely will she sit still for good shots. Here are a few of the decent ones I have.

Phil

 

[Ravnos]

I have sugar gliders, ferrets, prairie dogs, hedgehogs, and chinchillas.

Rav

 

[Bry]

I had hedgehogs...that's about as rare as it got. Those prairie dogs seem awesome though.

Bry

 

[extrovertinvert]

we got a few prarie dogs in at the store a few weeks back and they were all dehydrated and looked about dead but we each took one home and nursed em back to health and they were doing fine untill we sold em. one of them is doing great the person who bought it comes in and updates us. the other havn't heard anything yet but im sure uts doing good

 

[Craig]

those are awesome everyone!!! i love sugar gliders. i think marsupials in general are very interesting animals.

nice pic did you catch the opossums in the wild yourself?

nope. these are naitve to S.America. their adult size is as large as a small rat. they were captive bred. a strange thing is that they lack pouches. so in a way they are not true opossums.
here's a link were you can read more. they're really interesting animals. http://www.rzu2u.com/stpossum.htm

 

[Buspirone]

Originally posted by jper26
Where can you get a prarie dog looks like a great pet.

jper,

Its illegal to keep them as pets in PA now. You can't keep sugar gliders or hedge hogs anymore either for some reason, IIRC.

 

[Ultimate Instar]

I have 4 degus, 2 ferrets and an African Pygmy hedgehog out on a breeding loan. The degus are definitely the cute ones and pretty good-natured. The only problem is that they are so fast that they can be difficult to catch. They are quite intelligent; they have a large repertoire of different calls to communicate with each other. Mine were sneaking in and out of their cage unbeknownst to me.

Karen N.

 

[The_Phantom]

Those hegdg hogs are so cute. How long do they live ? Do they smell (like pee?) WHat do they eat ?

 

[Ravnos]

African pygmy hedgehogs can live to around 10 years, they are largely insectivorous - but can be supplimented with various high protein commercial foods, there are even foods made specifically for them now. They don't smell at all if you clean them regularily. The main 'mess' issue I have with mine is that she tends to poop in her wheel while she is exercising.

Rav

 

[kellygirl]

I want to revive this thread because I was thinking about how great our family prairie dog (Buddha) was when he was still around. I miss that little guy. Currently, we have a chinchilla (Arthas) living in his old cage but some day down the road, I'd like to get a prairie dog for my mom again. I don't know if Craig still comes here but maybe someone else knows how to get a hold of a healthy prairie dog?

-Kelly

P.S. Fizzgig--The Dark Crystal! GREAT movie!!!

 

[Ravnos]

Prairie dogs are currently illegal to sell/trade, transport, etc in the US. Along with numerous african rodents like dormice and pouched rats. Until the ban is lifted, there aren't really any legal ways of getting a prairie dog, unfortunately. Many states and cities have passed seperate laws against them, so even if the federal ban is lifted, you may still not be able to get one easily.

Rav

 

[kellygirl]

Prairie dogs are currently illegal to sell/trade, transport, etc in the US.

When did that happen? The prairie dog was given to us years ago so we never actually went through the buying process with him. Bummer.

-Kelly

 

[Ravnos]

It happened last May when an importer/seller did not obey proper quarantine procedures on shipments from Africa and some gambian pouched rats infected with monkey pox infected some prairie dogs. Then those prairie dogs were shipped out to pet stores and sold to numerous families - who subsequently became infected. No one died, but something with a 'pox' name on it was enough for the media to hype up and scare the wits out of everyone involved and it resulted in banning of all species that they blamed for transmitting the disease. Prairie dogs, though victims themselves, ended up being labelled as a culprit. Even though it is just as possible for something, say a rabbit, to transmit it to a human as well. Its silly... but thats the CDC under ignorant public pressure for you.

Rav

 

[The_Phantom]

Im going to Alberta in July...maybe I can bag one for you....I mean, a live one of course!