1. Do not keep them in pairs. Hamsters are loners – keeping them together often results in stress, fighting, injuries and death. They are very happy alone.
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2. Minimum cage size
dwarf hamsters: 30 x 20 x 20 inches (80x50x50cm);
bigger hamsters: 40 x 20 x 20inches (100x50x50cm)!
NOT like this:
Living in cages like this for them is like a human living in an elevator – a lot too small and even dangerous!
For them it feels like this:
Behavior like this is a signal for stress because the cage is too small or that they need more bedding:
Better:
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3. Your hamster (always!) needs a hamster wheel – and it must be a lot bigger than you might think!
Hamster must be able to run with a completely straight back
on a closed surface
with a closed back wall!
NOT like this:
Results of those wheels are: spine problems, backache, stress, injuries!
Minimum wheel size for dwarf hamsters: 9-10 inches.
Minimum wheel size for bigger hamsters: 12 inches!
Better:
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4. Do not buy them plastic tubes (at all):
Those tubes are not suitable at all: Hamsters get stuck or suffocate in them easily.
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5. Your hamster needs enough bedding to dig and build tunnels.
NOT like this:
Better:
Your hamster will be extremely happy and dig around and build tunnels all day (night).
Plastic gets swallowed, splinters, can injure or even kill your hamster.
Better:
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7. Hamsters ALWAYS need a sand bath.
Hamsters love rolling around in the sand, for them it’s like showering. How would you feel without a shower?
You can use those little baths as toilets, but you still need a bigger sand bath!
Better:
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8. Hamsters need a house with at least 2 or more chambers to store food, sleep etc. Also make sure that your hamster does have enough hiding places like coconuts, small houses, toilet rolls!
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9. Do use unperfumed toilet paper for nesting material, don’t use “hamster wool” -> it can tangle around a limb and seriously hurt and even kill your hamster!
NOT like this:
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10. Never ever ever put your hamster or any animal in a hamster ball.
They can’t get out, might suffocate or panic, might run against furniture and seriously injure themselves. The ventilation is terrible, your hamster can’t see/smell/hear enough or use any of their senses properly.
In some countries they even discuss about banning those by law!
Even if you think that “your hamster has fun in it” – please don’t use them!
Pet stores often are very misinformed and sell terrible cages and have little to no idea how to keep a happy hamster – please be careful when trusting them. In the end they often just want to make money – and the hamsters suffer.
Please adopt, not buy hamsters – there are too many hamsters in this world that we need any more breeding.
(Sorry for the spelling errors – I made this post in a rush.)
i literally had no idea, so i feel like this really needs to be stressed
Much like with bettas, there’s a lot of companies out there making a huge profit on habitats that are completely unsuitable for your pets, and counting on consumer ignorance.
Ball pythons, although a common
pet, may not be the best match for every person looking to keep a snake.
Although they are frequently called a “beginner” reptile, there are
many elements to consider when it comes to making the decision to own this
species. When thinking of adopting or purchasing a ball python, it is important
to take a look at all the components to determine whether or not this is the
species for you.
I personally have no clue, all I know is that they imprint to a single person and can die if not given enough attention? But do any of my followers know about them in depth?
They’re pretty difficult pets & not for most people. They do need to be kept in pairs, it’s extremely important for their mental health – gliders that are alone will often become depressed, overgroom, and even self-harm. They need a large cage with plenty of height & lots of perches. They tend to mark their cage, so it can get stinky – I remember it being recommended to change things in intervals so they still have their scent around them & don’t freak out & over-mark. They can’t be potty-trained & will often pee/poop out of the cage too, including marking you & other things.
They’re also nocturnal, and they can be pretty noisy, both from making sounds themselves & jumping around their cage. If you look on youtube, you can find example videos of sugar glider noises such as crabbing & barking. The first is an annoyance/grumpy/defensive sound, if I remember correctly, the second is more of a contact call.
Sugar gliders do not have an appropriate commercial food available – kibble is NOT good for them. They need handmade diets, and you need to be sure that they’re balanced to prevent MBD & other nutritional deficiencies. There are a variety of diets plans available, sometimes you have to try out a couple to find the right one that works for you & the gliders.
For handling, playtime, & bonding, gliders are very fast, and they can get into a lot of trouble very fast. You have to be careful to glider proof the room you want to have them in, especially while first bonding with them (when it’ll be harder to get them to come back to you if they’re in a risk situation). I remember reading that small kid pop-up tents are really useful for bonding spaces. Even bathrooms have a lot of dangers, with holes big enough for them to try & crawl in, and they can drown in the toilet if it’s left open or if they can get under the lid.
I used this website when I did research on them some time ago, it seems to have pretty good info – http://www.sugarglider.info Avoid the hell out of Pocket Pets, which has tons of horrible info on them & sells sugar gliders from mall stands & shit.
So my cousin’s family almost got taken in by the Pocket Pets sugar glider mill in the past couple days, and I’m still livid. Not at them, but the fucking company. Cousin had the handout they got from the stand & the fucking info….
– Sugar gliders make great pets! No they don’t.
– They get along great with dogs & cats! Sure, if you want a dead sugar glider.
– They’re not considered exotic pets! Are you fucking kidding me, even RABBITS are considered exotic pets you absolute shitstains.
– They’re so easy & cheap to feed with this ~vet-approved~ glider chow! Sure, if you want them to look & feel like shit because kibble is actually completely inappropriate for an animal that mostly eats insects, nectar, sap, fruit, and pollen. They need handmade diets that need a variety of unusual ingredients.
– They’re nocturnal so they won’t miss you while you’re at work! True….and they’ll probably keep you up all night while they jump around their cage & bark at each other. Hope you’re a deep sleeper!
– They can be seen by any vet that sees small animals! Okay, even if that were true, it’s harder than you’d think to find a vet that will see small animals & does so often enough to know more than bare basics. They’re an exotic marsupial from Australia, why the hell do you think any random vet is gonna be well informed on them??
– And the one thing they got right, they need a buddy because they will usually die of depression without a companion. Don’t worry about mentioning that, god forbid you scare customers off from sales.
DON’T TRUST POCKET PETS COMPANY. Sugar gliders do NOT make good pets for most people. They need large cages, glider-proofed environments to explore out of the cage, special diets, and they are loud & messy. They can live 12+ years & are a huge commitment. Never trust stands that sell animals in the mall & make them sound like the perfect pet. They are always ONLY concerned with making money.
If any of this has you hesitating, that is okay. It is not a race to get a rabbit as fast as you can. Read up on rabbit care and think about if you are able to commit to a 10 year + friend and their care, or if it is better for you to wait and research more, or a different kind of pet is more suitable.
(however, if you’re prepared and ready to try your best, rabbits are pretty neat and fun pets)
This post is intended to inform, not attack or criticize.
I’ve seen many “cute” videos of cats interacting with birds, and have heard of many people saying “my cat caught a bird but it was okay and I released it/it got away”. These situations are way more dangerous to the bird than they might appear! I have a very sweet kitty, and she really wants to mother my birds. I also have a parrot that really would love to groom my cat. I never allow them these interactions, even though I believe they would not harm each other. Why not?
It is very important to remember that 90% or more of domestic cats (which as a species includes feral cats too) carry the Pasteurella bacteria
in their saliva. Dogs can carry and transfer this bacteria too, but
with much less frequency than cats. Small predators such as raccoons can
also carry this bacteria. Cats are known to carry this bacteria under their claws as well.
Why is this important?
The Pasteurella bacteria, once
transferred to the body of a small animal (especially birds) usually multiplies
rapidly. It can become systemic quite quickly (cause a serious infection),
and for some birds is known to be commonly fatal (approximately 50-60% of the time according to the sources I located)
unless a course of antibiotics is administered quickly (within 24
hours).
A LARGE bird might be able to fight
off this infection if they are otherwise healthy, but it can quckly cause
serious problems for smaller birds, babies/fledglings, and birds with weakened
immune systems. That said, even healthy, adult birds can succumb!!
In this way, a small puncture from cat’s teeth or a scratch can be
quite harmful indeed. For some birds it can be fatal, even if the
scratch or bite is superficial and is not in itself a bad injury. If the bird and cat are friendly with each other and demonstrate play or even simple grooming (running of fur through the beak, or licking or nosing by the cat), the bird may also ingest this bacteria and be susceptible to infection.
Cats are especially deadly predators to small animals (especially wild
birds), which often perish within two or three days of escaping a cat’s
attack, even if the cat did not injure it fatally or “only” had it in its mouth and didn’t even bite at all.
Given this knowledge, it is important to monitor any birds that have
been attacked, groomed by, or played with by a cat, or dog.
*WARNING* Some links contain images of animal injury (intended to educate).
[…] “Even birds with trivial wounds caused by cats must be classified as emergency patients. The risk of an infection after a cat bite is about 56%.”
Dosage of antibiotics depends on the weight of your bird; always consult with a local vet (or, with wild birds, your local wildlife rehabilitator). Please do not administer antibiotics on a whim or without vet consult, but at the same time, if you fear for your bird, please take it seriously.
As always, I am not a veterinarian and you should always consider the advice of a trained avian veterinarian over mine!!
“BUT I HAVE LET THIS HAPPEN AND MY BIRD IS FINE GEEZ DON’T SCAREMONGER, ETC” That’s great news, friend! I’m glad your bird is okay. I just wanted to share this info because a lot of people don’t seem to know it and are taking unnecessary risks with their birds. You’re lucky, but it’s up to you if you want to continue to press your luck. It’s not worth it, to me. I can tell you that at every show I do, I have countless interactions with people (once they realize I love birds) that feel the need tell me how their pet birds have needlessly perished in totally preventable ways (why do people do this, it’s distressing!) and the #2 reason after “it flew away” was a pet cat or dog. Just sayin’, my dudes. “But does this mean I can’t have multiple species in my house?” Nah, it’s totally possible to have a house full of animals and not have problems, but only if you inform yourself on stuff like this and just be smart and thoughtful about keeping interactions safe. In this case, simply don’t let your predatory mammalian pets physically interact with birds. Pretty straightforward! If you are experiencing trouble keeping them from touching, please do some research on training, desensitization, and evaluate your pet’s spaces carefully to mitigate it.
“By the way” Our dirty saliva isn’t good for birds either (not as bad as a cat’s, but not great either) so please refrain from giving them actual kisses with your human lips, or letting birds do things like pick your teeth or climb into your mouth (I’m looking at you, caiques). Instead, blow them a sweet little kiss and give them lovely head scratches, aw yeah.
“TL;DR” Even if you have the most friendly cat/dog in the universe that would never harm your bird, their saliva can seriously sicken or kill your bird (or a wild bird) accidentally.
Rabbits are hind-gut fermenters, relying on a cecum loaded with bacteria to digest the incredible amount of plant material they ingest. They are also incapable of vomiting! Rabbits require that their guts are always moving for them to remain healthy. What could possibly go wrong?
Rabbits are coprophagic, meaning that they ingest their own feces. This is done with special ‘night feces’ or cecotrophs, a softer version than their normal stool that resembles a grape cluster. Their composition is very different from that of the hard, round stools that rabbits pass. You should not find cecotrophs. Rabbits eat them directly from the source to recycle important gut bacteria and B vitamins.
The health of a rabbit’s gut is reliant on the Gram positive organisms that live and ferment feed there. It is imperative to choose antibiotics that do not primarily kill Gram positive bacteria to avoid enterotoxemia. Use of oral β-lactams, lincomycin, clindamycin, and erythromycin is contraindicated.
Rabbits are prey animals and to avoid the attention of predators, they do their very best to hide pain and discomfort. Rabbits who are in pain may exhibit small or decreased fecal output, grinding of the teeth, grimacing, hunched posture, reluctance to move, decreased feed intake, or belly-pressing. Some rabbits will not display these signs until their disease has become more advanced. This is why it is incredibly important to note any changes in feeding habits, whether this be amount or substrate preference! Close monitoring of stools can also be a good indicator of health.
Never, ever, ever fast a rabbit. It is critical that a rabbit’s gut remain moving and without food, why would it? They are not at risk for aspiration pneumonia due to vomiting because they CAN’T vomit. Anesthesia without fasting. No fasting. Don’t do it.
GI Stasis The ‘silent killer’ of rabbits. I have to put this in quotes because GI stasis does not kill a rabbit immediately like an aneurysm. Rabbits do display symptoms of GI stasis and if we are astute, then the signs are quite evident. Causes: this is attributable to stress, pain, improper diet (especially those that are high in carbohydrate, low in fiber), insufficient exercise, dental disease.
**Bezoars (hairballs) are present in the stomach of healthy rabbits because rabbits are fastidious groomers. The general consensus these days is that they are not the primary cause of GI stasis, but are a sequelae of GI hypomotility**
Clinical Signs: anorexia, decreased fecal size/ output, no fecal output, distended abdomen, absent borborygmi, colic (belly-pressing), restlessness. Ain’t doin’ right
Diagnosis: clinical signs + Rads
The rabbit on the left represents a normal radiograph, while the rabbit on the right may have just eaten a large amount of ingesta. However, the history was anorexic on presentation and without any fecal output. You can see that there is quite a bit of gas accumulation in the intestinal tract because the gut is not moving.
Treatment: Getting the gut moving is critical using a combination of exercise, medication to alleviate pain like meloxicam, cisapride and/or metoclopramide. Rehydration with fluids. If the stomach is markedly distended with gas, a nasogastric tube should be passed to decompress the stomach. If not, the rabbit is at risk of rupturing their stomach. Force-feeding with Oxbow Critical Care until the rabbit eats on their own. (**Now is NOT the time to change an improper diet. We can worry about that after we get the bunny better**) (This is not a plug for Oxbow, but is a commercially available, nutrient rich diet that can be syringe-fed to a sick rabbit). Hospitalization = stress, which can be a contributing factor to GI stasis. It’s not recommended unless the rabbit is critical. Owners need to know that their rabbit is going to require intensive nursing care in order to recover from GI stasis. These will be their sleepless nights.
Enterotoxemia Causes: Overgrowth of GI bacteria or loss of GI bacteria (which then leads to overgrowth of inappropriate bacteria). Secondary to stress, poor diet, or antibiotics administration. In young rabbits 4 – 8 weeks, this is usually caused by Clostridium spriforme organism. In adult rabbits, this is usually associated with the improper use of antibiotics and the subsequent dying off of essential bacteria. Clinical Signs: diarrhea, lethargy, inappetance, colic, dehydration. Treatment: Depends on the overgrowing bacteria, but should include supportive care like fluid therapy, feeding if the rabbit is off feed.
Malocclusion Occlusion is where the surfaces of the upper and lower teeth come into contact with each other on their occlusal surfaces, we hope. Malocclusion is any deviation from the way the teeth should come together naturally. This is especially important for normal wear of the continuously growing teeth. If these teeth wear abnormally, tooth spurs may poke into the tongue or cheek, incisors may grow until they become completely unusable by the rabbit. Overgrowth of the molar teeth lingually may even entrap the tongue.
There are two categories of malocclusion Primary: the alignment of the teeth within the mandible and/or maxilla is improper, leading to life-long improper wear, regardless of diet. This form is usually more common in brachycephalic breeds like Lionheads, Netherland Dwarves, lop breeds. Secondary: results from improper husbandry. Diet or environment is inappropriate, resulting in abnormal wear of the incisors and/or molars.
Painful spurs
Overgrowth of the lower incisors.
Diagnosis: a good physical exam, which may require anesthesia for more subtle cases. Rabbits are very sensitive to having you put anything in their mouth and if you stress a rabbit too much, you may put them off their feed. Sedation and anesthesia are your friends! Treatment: There have been a lot of veterinary professionals who have clipped rabbit teeth (with cuticle trimmers or even canine nail trimmer), but I hope to convince you that this is NOT a good plan. Whenever the tooth is clipped, there is a risk of fracturing the tooth, which you likely will not see, but you will see the complications. These fractures may lead to root exposure and subsequent infection. These infections can result a myriad of complications which may threaten the rabbit’s life. To name a few, anorexia, fractured mandibles, loosening or death of the tooth which requires extraction. Does it happen every time? No, but the consequences can be something a rabbit has to deal with for life. Get comfortable with a dremel or bone rongeurs to grind down teeth safely. Yes, it requires anesthesia. Yes, you need to know what the teeth and occlusal surfaces should appear like. Yes, it will take more time. The benefits are that you may already require anesthesia to do a complete oral exam. The risk of fracturing a tooth is substantially lower. Dremels will not leave sharp edges. You are providing better patient care (# 1 priority). A lot of clients may be used to having their rabbit’s teeth clipped by other practices. It is our job to educate them about the potential dangers of doing this why we do something that is more complicated. Clients care about their bunnies and we have to show them why this is the better way to provide care.
Some will not like the higher price tag, but doing things the right way and explaining why will bring around the people who are open-minded.
Large mammals: Cows, goats, sheep, llamas, alpacas, horses/ponies, & donkeys
Small mammals: Guinea pigs, rabbits, chinchillas, & degus
Birds: Pigeons & ringneck doves *** A lot of parrots are vegan, but parrots require a lot of time, research, space, and enrichment to care for properly due to their intelligence. Possible option, but research extremely carefully.
Reptiles: Tortoises – some species (like sulcata tortoises) are very long-lived & get very large, so they need a lot of special consideration for care. *** Green iguanas are vegan, but are not really recommended as a pet in general. They get very large, need enormous enclosures, and most people are NOT up for their care. Research very carefully.
Invertebrates: Millipedes, and (I think) terrestrial isopods.
Fish: I couldn’t find information on herbivorous fish other than some saltwater coral reef species. As I don’t know much about fish, I’ll leave that category for someone else to weigh in on – I don’t know if these would be species that would be highly unethical to mention as a pet (due to conservation status, ability to live in captivity, extreme care demands such as parrots/iguanas, etc.). There may be (probably are) some detritivorous fish that would be vegan, but I was having a hard time finding info on it.
(Also, of course research any pet before getting them. I just wanted to emphasize the importance of knowing what you’re possibly getting into with some of the above animals due to their extreme needs & how often they get rehomed or abandoned due to it.)
Edit: Removed snails & slugs because @beanmilks let me know they aren’t vegan! I misread the page I had read & they are more omnivorous scavengers that are primarily herbivorous (and aquatic snails are often predatory). Also removed ants because my dumb ass wasn’t thinking about that one either. Also edited isopods to be terrestrial isopods (pill bugs, sow bugs, roly polies, etc.) because there are a variety of species & the aquatic ones are often omnivorous. Still uncertain about terrestrial ones, but I’m pretty sure they are.
Update: There are some omnivorous terrestrial isopods, so they are not all vegan! Either avoid or be willing to research specific species so you can provide proper diet. 🙂 (Thank you @poikilomatters!)
Also stick insects & earthworms are both vegan invert options! (Thank you @beanmilks!)
ifesbob 