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Original poster

What pets have you had and which do you think are best?

70 replies

Biochemistree · 13/01/2020 16:48

I've had cats, budgie, parrots, hamster, dog, snake, beardie, chickens, fish and guinea pigs.

By far my favourites have been the guinea pigs. So easy to take care of and very affectionate, funny pets.

My least favourite was the bearded dragon. Absolute arsehole to look after (don't know why they are marketed as a starter reptile?! Snakes are much easier) expensive, fussy and quick to get poorly.

I don't even count the dog as a pet any more, he's more like an extra child!

Interested to know what others think

OP posts:
Original poster
Biochemistree · 13/01/2020 18:26

Oh I would LOVE a goat!

Agree about never getting another dog. I adore the bones of him but no way. Too needy!

Ideally I'd have a cat and maybe a snake. Nice easy pets

OP posts:
Mandarinfish · 13/01/2020 18:27

Cats, gerbils, guinea pigs. Also chickens for a couple of weeks while friend was on holiday.

Cats definitely my favourite. Ours are really affectionate. Also cleaning out the litter tray is so quick and easy whereas cleaning out the guinea pig hutch is a bit of a ball ache.

Whynosnowyet · 13/01/2020 18:28

We used a pop up paddling pool to feed the dragons their crickets. Dcats use to like to sit and watch!!

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Millie2013 · 13/01/2020 18:30

I’ve had
Ponies most of my life (currently have one)
Rabbits (ditto and ditto although soon to be two, providing he bonds ok with another rabbit)
A dog (adored her, but can’t really have one at the mo)
Guinea pigs
Hamsters

I love ponies and rabbits, but ponies are hard work and rabbits need sooooooo much more space than is offered by most commercial available hutches and runs, so they’re not the easiest to accommodate (and they’re not mega keen on being handled much)

I want to love cats, I really do, but I just don’t think they’re for me (and I don’t like that clawing thing they do on laps)

sonjadog · 13/01/2020 18:33

I have had fish, hamsters, cat and dogs.

  1. Dog is first, but they are full family members rather than pets, and they need a lot of time and consideration.
  1. Hamsters I had when I was growing up. They were great pets and my Mum got really attached to them. They were good for the period when having a dog was too much work for the family.
  1. Cat. I am not really a cat person, but my cat needed a good home and so he moved in. I came to appreciate cats more after owning him, but I still much prefer dogs.
  1. Fish. The fish were nice, but hard to build a relationship with.
nevernotstruggling · 13/01/2020 18:36

My parrot she was amazing. She is arms if Jesus now.
She was like a dog, ate any food you dropped, has to be shut out of the kitchen, tried to sleep on my pillow in thunderstorms,sat on my lap in the evenings to watch tv god I loved her so much.

My cocker spaniel is my 3rd child

nevernotstruggling · 13/01/2020 18:37

But my Rex rabbits are delightful too and follow me and butt me with their noses to see what I'm doing. They are massive poo machines tjough!

jarviscockatiel · 13/01/2020 18:38

We currently have 6 chickens, a cockatiel, gerbil, rabbit, beardie, tortoise and tropical fish. Totally adore all of them but the irreplaceable one is the cockatiel. Despite him chewing and destroying everything in sight, the house isn't the same without one.
We've had an African pygmy hedgehog and wouldn't recommend them. Ours was grumpy, growly and bitey... But looked soo cute.

NemophilistRebel · 13/01/2020 18:39

Fish
Hamster
Ducks
Dog
Cat

I loved the ducks and the dog the most but h the easiest to look after by far was cat

Original poster
Biochemistree · 13/01/2020 18:40

Does anyone have an Axolotl? They're so cute and funny looking. I imagine not very interactive though.

OP posts:
avocadoze · 13/01/2020 18:42

Tamagotchi, fish, cat and humans. The tamagotchi was easiest in terms of dealing with poo. The humans were the most painful to give birth to. Hth

DramaAlpaca · 13/01/2020 18:42

I've had cats, dogs, fish, ferrets and a gecko. Just two dogs and a cat now.

Cats are the easiest. I love my dogs but find their neediness difficult. Fish are not my thing. Ferrets are cute and playful but smelly and inclined to bite. The gecko needed live crickets as food and I wasn't keen on that either.

JesusInTheCabbageVan · 13/01/2020 18:45

@whynosnowyet at 16.51 - not dsnake? Poor boy, is his name Oliver Twisssssst?

Mammyofasuperbaby · 13/01/2020 18:46

I've had dogs, Budgie's, guinea pigs and a dwarf hamster.
The dogs were the best all rounders but my hamster was like my shadow. He sat on my shoulder or in my hand all the time and would get so excited when he heard my voice as all he wanted was to be near me.
We had a very close bond and even the vet said she'd never seen anything like it in 30 years. I miss him still and its been 8 years since he passed away

EoinMcLovesCakeJumper · 13/01/2020 18:50

I have a friend who has an axolotl (daxolotl?) and it's cute but it doesn't really do anything. You can't pet them and they don't seem to notice if you're there or not!

I also had a friend who had goats when I was at primary school. They were awesome but very destructive, given half a chance. They were a bit too interactive if anything.

Whynosnowyet · 13/01/2020 18:50

Dsnake is 9 and a half!! And very pretty!!

Poetryinaction · 13/01/2020 19:02

Dog - too smelly, too much work
Rabbit - nice
Fish - boring
Lamb- adorable

theluckiest · 13/01/2020 19:02

We've had dogs, cats, chinchillas and rats.

Love them all but dogs are the biggest life-changer I'd say. In terms of holidays & where we go for day trips, we always consider the dogs ....like having a furry child in many ways. Grin

Hamster was a nasty bitey fucker.

Chinchillas were beautiful, nice to cuddle and hilarious. Very hard to sex though as we found out when lots of tiny baby chinchillas appeared. Turns out we didn't have 2 females after all. Also chewed through everything.

Loved the rats the most I think. Gorgeous creatures. Very cuddly and clever

Runnerduck34 · 13/01/2020 19:26

Cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs ,hamsters, fish , chickens and runner ducks.

I think the best are cats, undemanding and loving.

Dogs are great but lots of commitment, rabbits can be fiesty ,as can hamsters , guinea pigs are generally best for handling - less likely to bite and kick! fish can be hypnotic to look at but are basically ornamental. Chickens and runner ducks, if you let them free range, are real characters and lively to watch but beware of Mr fox, sadly high mortality rate!

Nutkin123 · 13/01/2020 20:23

Cats and guinea pigs. Both great pets! I had the guinea pig when I was in primary school, he was called chip and died at the age of eight - he was my best friend! Such a lovely, cuddly and funny pet.

WalkAwaySugarbear · 13/01/2020 20:28

Loved our Dog but she was a lot of work, our 2 new Guineas are adorable, squeaky and cheerful, the DDs are besotted.

IpanemaGallina · 13/01/2020 20:30

Dogs and chickens 🐶🐓

WildRosie · 13/01/2020 20:55

I am sure snakes make interesting pets but don't they have a talent for escaping from home, e.g. when their vivarium is being cleaned ? I wouldn't want to go for a leak one morning, lift up the loo seat and find an enormous Burmese python coiled inside the lavatory bowl. Better to see it first than sit down and find it seconds later Wink.

SantaBuddy · 13/01/2020 20:58

@Witchend I don't really like birds very much but your post has just made me fall in love with your budgies, they sound adorable and hilarious. I now love budgies 🤣

As for the OP in my life (including childhood here) I've had/lived with cats, dogs, rabbits, a hamster, goldfish and a newt. My absolute faves are my 2 cats I have now, they are the first pets of my own I've had as an adult and are more like my babies, just part of the family!! They are the most loving affectionate animals I've ever met but they still have their own funny little personalities..they're just perfect 🥰

I wouldn't ever have another caged animal or a dog..and the newt wasn't really a pet, just a visitor till he moved on 😆

EoinMcLovesCakeJumper · 13/01/2020 21:24

WildRosie they can, but so can any pet really. I put mine in a lockable box with air holes while I'm cleaning the vivarium. I've had one or two escapes as a snake keeper and generally find them under a bookcase or something. They just want to be somewhere warm, dry and dark, not down the bog!