Which pet/s would you never have again and why? (light-hearted)

[Fckingfuming]

No real reason, just wondering if any of you have or had animals you couldn't bring yourselves to have ever again and why?

I will never own Russian dwarf hamsters again. Bitey little sods.

Budgies: Christ, the noise! Constant chirruping, screeching, grating sounds, and the ACKACKACKACKACK din from them when you're sat there and your heads splitting, just NO.

Dogs: Have 2 at the moment, I don't see myself having them again in the future, like toddlers, always wanting attention, barking at nothing, standing in the bloody doorways of the room I need to go in, trying to get on my lap when I have a hot drink, etc, etc, I could go on😂

Rabbits: Too upsetting when they eventually die, I always think they're like small dogs without the constant fuss!

Like the title says, this is a light hearted thread, I'd never hurt an animal despite thinking WHY DID I GET THIS BLOODY THING?

Over to you lovely ladies!

Mice are great, and so are Syrian hamsters.

Syrians are also bitey bastards! Loved all ours though!

Sea monkeys. They didn't look like monkeys at all and were very boring

@DotTheCaddy

Sea monkeys. They didn't look like monkeys at all and were very boring

I knocked mine over all over the dining table. They were just getting big enough to see

Sea Monkeys! The biggest anticlimax. I'd desperately wanted these as a kid. Got some a few years ago. Couldn't tell the difference between the food and the 'monkey' - just specs in water!

I'm done with dogs too. Can't go anywhere without serious planning, want constant attention and entertainment and picking up all their turds....how is this fun?

Probably Chameleons. The reason funnily enough is not to do with the Chameleons themselves (I've had 2 over the years) but because of their food. They have live crickets and locusts. The crickets are very good at escaping and roaming the entire house! And they also kept me awake with their chirping! Real shame as Chameleons make fascinating pets, for the right sort of owners (if you enjoy pets you can just observe really.. really fascinating to watch!)

Fruit bats - eat their own weight in fresh fruit each day, produce an equal amount of poo and breed non stop. I started with two pairs and within three years had 15 of the blighters. Endearing, entertaining and all had very individual personalities, but, no, never again!🦇

The crickets are very good at escaping and roaming the entire house

I know someone whose escaped cricket lived behind the fridge freezer for three months chirping every night

A male mouse. My daughter persuaded me to buy one at great expense from a pet shop - said it was a rescue (I think it was destined to be fed to a lizard). It was cute but it smelled SO bad - we even had to buy an expensive HEPA air filter - stunk the house out. Poor smelly Horatio.

I love my dog. Seriously I do. She's so well behaved and everyone adores her. She's 5. But never again. 3 kids (one with SN) and a DH who usually works abroad for extended periods and I'm a teacher (part time). It's just exhausting. I hate the guilt about leaving her and the constant poo picking up.

Fish - very high maintenance although lovely to look at.

We have a crested gecko. She is an absolute dream. Her terrarium is set up as a natural mini rainforest ecosystem. Unbelievably low maintenance. Can be handled but also very happy not to be. I'd definitely get another!

We had just about every pet under the sun but the worst was a chinchilla. He was cute and fluffy but hurtled around the room and ate an entire sofa arm!
He had sand baths and chucked it everywhere.

@MrsT1405

I had a chinchilla and it was no problem at all. It just hung on the hall stand and one didn't here a whisper.

Not tadpoles. Very smelly when they die, and it's very traumatising on everyone when you have to go over and tell the new entrant teacher that the class tadpoles died on your watch. (Especially when your new entrant daughter bellows it at the top of her lungs to the fascinated children and the horrified Mummies).

Not budgies. I'm still traumatised from finding that my budgie had found my love and care so unpalatable, it managed to strangle itself between the bars of its cage.

Tortoise- So boring and the lights constantly blew so we had to mess about week after week replacing them. Plus the tortoise table was hideous and the cat kept shitting in it thinking it was a litter tray

Fish- boring and the tank constantly went green within days despite filters/removing light from shining on it etc etc. Finally got it settled and all fish happy enough but one day I came home to find them all dead for no apparent reason. Never again!

I’ve also had ponies in the past and would love one again one day but the expense and relentlessness of it all puts me off. Plus the bitching in the horse world.

The only pet I would never want to be without are my dogs but there are certain breeds that I have had that I wouldn’t have again!

@SweetPetrichor

OMG Seahorses! I'd love these. I'm fascinated by them. They look so sweet just pooling along under their own steam, no rush, just nice and relaxing to observe. I said I didn't see the point in fish and the like but I'd definitely make an exception for these little beauties 🙂

*pootling

Gerbils! They're smelly, bitey and boring

Are you sure you had gerbils? They’re cute little buggers, fascinating to watch them building their tunnels and rearranging their cages. They don’t smell either due to not producing urine being desert animals, one of the reasons we chose them as the cleaning demands are far less than other rodents. They can be bitey if not handled, but train easily.

For me it’d be fish. Need a fucking PHD in water chemistry. Even after you’ve read all the books and done all your measuring, balancing and chemicals in test tubes the little fuckers still die. I have nightmares about nitrates, nitrites and ammonia.

We have gerbils in the fish tank now. Much lower maintenance!

Although I have to say as much as I love animals, on balance I won’t get any more once these go. It’s either give in and start collecting animals, or have a lifestyle where we can go away on impulse, and after many years of not being able to go away, arm the holidays are winning.

Honestly, best thread ever! The pure randomness of the comments😂

Snakes - boring and complicated when they get sick

Bearded dragons - boring, complicated when they get sick and they stink (or rather their crap does)

Long haired animals of any kind - just no.

Geese - wouldn't advise.

Dogs - love him but I'm so fed up of cleaning poo, endless walking, him weeing on anything new I get and the fucking barking if he hears a strange noise.

No more small furry animals - they tend to bite and make a disproportionate amount of mess.

I'd happily have horses again when I can afford it though!

And I love my cat despite the hair, hair balls and her sleeping on me all night.

when you have to go over and tell the new entrant teacher that the class tadpoles died on your watch

I remember when, in about Y4, The Fonz was eaten by his gerbil Mrs the weekend after I'd looked after them. The joy of it not being on my watch remains to this day.

Findorama we have a Crestie as well and he’s very little trouble. Very handsome too
I find his Velcro feet a bit creepy if he climbs in my hair though so I dont really handle him much but he happily sits on DDs head and watches TV with her

I actually love fish and have 6 tanks (would have 7 if we had the space) but they require a high level of technical expertise and for fishkeeping to be rewarding you have to be interested in that sort of thing (which species display which behaviour, who will get along and who won't, how to set up the perfect habitat for the fish you had in mind). I am very fond of some of my fish- the two catfish I've had for 15 years for a start- but on the whole I think fish work better seen as a hobby than as pets.

Dagus, only mission in life is to eat their way out of their cage, metal or not. Grow bigger than expected and smell.... had to go back to pet shop😬