Strange pets

[Jessie]

Have you ever had any exotic or just weird pets?

We had a pet squirrel for a while.  His name was Pervis (yes, he was named after Pervis Ellison).  I think either he fell from his nest or my dad squirrel-napped him, I'm not sure which.

He'd play ball with you, and sometimes he'd run up your leg, around your shoulders, and down your other leg.

We've also had turtles, opossum babies, fish, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs, and buckets full of garden snakes.

[nishi]

my brother and i had two pet skunks (yes, they had been de-scented at birth). there were times that it was kind of like living in a disney nature special. my brother would come home from swim practice in the afternoon and lie down on the couch to watch tv. one of the skunks would crawl up and spread himself out like some kind of skunk fur rug over tom's chest and they'd fall asleep like that.

their favorite food was this squash casserole with cream cheese that my mom used to make. i have no idea how that got started, but they went cuckoo for it every time she made it.

[BigDun]

I had a roommate in college who had a pet chinchilla. Softest fur ever. Not a very sociable animal though.

[Jessie]

I was just talking with someone the other day about having skunks for pets.

Are they a lot like cats?

Where do you get them?

I think skunks are some of the cutest animals ever.

[eo000]

what did you have for dinner last night?



We had turtles, opossum babies, fish, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs, and buckets full of garden snakes.

you crazy southerners.

[Jessie]

what did you have for dinner last night?



We had turtles, opossum babies, fish, mice, hamsters, cats, dogs, and buckets full of garden snakes.

you crazy southerners.

Hey, that sounds damn tasty!

Look how cute this is-

[Beefy]

Who is Pervis Ellison?

[eo000]

basketball player.

[nishi]

I was just talking with someone the other day about having skunks for pets.

Are they a lot like cats?

Where do you get them?

I think skunks are some of the cutest animals ever.

one of them we rescued - she was never in good health while she lived with us. she had been kept in an elevated cage with a chickenwire bottom since she was born, and her feet had never developed properly so it was difficult for her to get around much. however, she was very very sweet and quiet and liked to sit on your lap and get petted and eat squash casserole. they have fur kind of like german shepherds - thick and kind of coarse.

the other one we got from a kid in our neighborhood whose dad owned a pet shop - they had gotten the skunk as a kitten in the store from a breeder and then they realized it was harder to train than they had thought and asked if we wanted it. he was a very feisty guy.

my guess is that you can get them from breeders as long as they are not from the wild, although that would vary wildly from state to state.

i would not say that they are anything at all like cats. pet skunks are barely domesticated wild animals. they can certainly be trained to be quite social, but they're not like cats.

check out this site:
http://www.skunk-info.org/Default.htm

[ReBurn]

A guy in my neighborhood had a pet skunk that he walked with his dogs.  I had always seen it from a distance and I thought it was just another dog.  One day I was helping him with a problem with his car and this huge freaking skunk walked up and starting sniffing at me.  I almost crapped my pants right there.

He was told that he had to get rid of the skunk because of a local ordinance against "exotic" animals, so he moved.

[nishi]

they are REALLY cute.

their teeth are REALLY sharp.

and if you think they can't dig through, say, your wall to wall carpet or eat through a closed door, think again.

[Beefy]

basketball player.

Did he have squirrelly wrath?

[Jessie]

I can't decide what type of pet I want to get for Timothy when we move.

I guess that we will be in an apartment will limit our choices.

I know that dogs are out, because they're way too difficult to take care of without a fenced yard, and are too hard to train.

I love cats, but I kinda want something different.  Most of the things I'm leaning towards would be a snack for a cat, so I'd be scared to try and get them to cohabitate.

[nishi]

well, i would never have a skunk in a place i didn't own. well, i'd never have a skunk again anyway. exotic pets require ENORMOUS amounts of work and you can mulitply the vet bills by 3, since you always need to see a specialist.

pugs are great apartment dogs!

[eo000]

best pet skunk ever.

[Jessie]

best pet skunk ever.

Big ugly meanie.

[eo000]

i'm not that big.

[BigDun]

i'm not that big.

That's what your wife says.

[eo000]

i'm not that big.

That's what your wife says.

Like I care. It feels fine for me. 

[Mr. SM Holocaust]

A friend of mine has several large cages full of sugar gliders in his room. We would be drinking there (he still lives with his parents) and he would turn the lights down real low and let them out. They would jump from head to head and start grooming you. He had to stop letting them out because one was hiding on the pantry shelving at the top of the stairs and it jumped on a friend of mine who was really drunk and stoned. He almost fell down the stairs.

And yes, he reeks like those flying squirrel rats all the time. It's disgusting.

[Jessie]

Sugar gliders are amazingly cute little creatures, too.

[Mr. SM Holocaust]

Sugar gliders are amazingly cute little creatures, too.

Imagine twenty of them jumping around a basement.

[Jessie]

Sugar gliders are amazingly cute little creatures, too.

Imagine twenty of them jumping around a basement.

Sounds like fun.

[Gamplayerx]

http://www.knrarabians.com/Sugar%20Glider%203.jpg  Linked because it's huge.  This guy/girl should be prohibited from taking pictures.  By the way, those creatures are named "Poo" and "Loo." 

[DownSouth]

They make these focus buttons nowadays.