# Pengiuins as Pets?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 11, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604 "2003-03-11T17:43:18Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/1 "2003-03-11T17:43:18Z")
How feasible is the domestication of these critters?
[http://www.penguinwarehouse.com/](http://www.penguinwarehouse.com/) seems pretty serious, though a thorough hoax is hard to see through.
Anyone ever had a penguin? Can they be house-trained? Are they legal?
;j
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### Author:  [@Robb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robb)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/2 "2003-03-11T18:01:32Z")
This is an amusing [page](http://www.penguinwarehouse.com/qa_care.php).
Jungle penguins?
> [@](#):
>
> In fact, most penguin species live in warmer climates and even in jungles!
Jedi penguins?
> [@](#):
>
> Someday one of those smart penguins (maybe yours) will become a Jedi penguin, an elite status of wealth, power and strength in the penguin empire.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/3 "2003-03-11T18:12:28Z")
Apparently [not.](http://www.members.shaw.ca/epenguin/newsletter/archive/12_23_01/12_23_01.html)
> [@](#):
>
> Penguin Warehouse, Inc.
> Could it be true? Can you really buy a penguin? Well, no. But this is a pretty convincing site anyways.
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### Author:  [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/4 "2003-03-11T18:16:14Z")
Penguins, being birds, probably cannot be very well housetrained, because birds do not have sphincters and therefore can’t really “hold it.” I’ve had limited success training my parrots to go in their cage before they are let out, though - but if they are out for a long time and they need to go, they have to go.
Although I don’t personally know anyone who’s had a pet penguin, I’ve heard of penguin ranchers, and a zoo website I read a long time ago and lost the link to (so sorry, no cite) said that penguins who have been raised among humans from hatching are very personable and enjoy human contact and even a certain amount of cuddling. This would jibe with the behaviour of most other reasonably intelligent domesticated birds; wild-caught animals are generally not good pets, but hand-reared ones are.
IANA penguin rancher.
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### Author:  [@ChalkPit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChalkPit)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/5 "2003-03-11T18:22:30Z")
I have met many penguins of several species (Gentoo, Magellanic, ChinStrap, RockHopper and King (just a bit smaller than the famous Emperor) while I was stationed in the Falkland Islands - trust me, you wouldnt want one as a pet.
THEY SMELL TERRIBLE!
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### Author:  [@In\_Conceivable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Conceivable)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/6 "2003-03-11T18:27:48Z")
> [@](#):
>
> **Q: Why does my penguin keep bumping into walls?**
> A: Penguins, like humans, are prone to eye deterioration over time. Vision correction may be necessary for your penguin’s welfare. We highly suggest laser surgery correction as many penguins do not take well to eyewear.
Yeah, sometimes a hoax is hard to see through!
It is cute that someone would take all that time to make a website like that.
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### Author:  [@Logical\_Phallacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Logical_Phallacy)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/7 "2003-03-11T18:57:20Z")
I think its actually a ‘demosite’ for a webdesign company.
On penguins in hot places: I had a lot of fun playing & swimming with penguins in Cape Town, South Africa, there is this one beach that has a huge colony of the birds, they look just like the ones in Alaska.
Talk about a paradigm shift!
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### Author:  [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/8 "2003-03-11T19:07:59Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Logical Phallacy \*
> **On penguins in hot places: I had a lot of fun playing & swimming with penguins in Cape Town, South Africa, there is this one beach that has a huge colony of the birds, they look just like the ones in Alaska.**
Penguins in Alaska, outside of the zoo? C’mon, man, this is the Straight Dope, not a Far Side cartoon.
Although I am wearing these pointy spectacles…
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### Author:  [@Gulo\_gulo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gulo_gulo)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/9 "2003-03-11T19:08:38Z")
Great website. _chuckles_ I wouldn’t be surprised if someone does try to sell penguins for real one day.
```auto
Did anyone ever read "Mr.Popper's Penguins" as a kid? About a guy who has a bunch of pet penguins?
I'm presently reading a book now called "Waiting to Fly" by Ron Haveen about his adventures studying penguins in Antartica. Great book, but it sure doesn't make me want to have one of those critters in my living room.
```
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/10 "2003-03-11T19:55:23Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Gulo gulo \*
> \*\*Did anyone ever read “Mr.Popper’s Penguins” as a kid? About a guy who has a bunch of pet penguins? \*\*
Yes! Loved it! (As a nascent engineer, I loved the bit where he fixed the refrigerator so that it could be opened from the inside. This was back in the days when fridges were death-traps for little kids, and I thought at the time that ALL fridges should be openable from within!)
Trinopus
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### Author:  [@Arken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arken)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/11 "2003-03-11T20:00:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Logical Phallacy \*
> \*\*I think its actually a ‘demosite’ for a webdesign company.
>
> On penguins in hot places: I had a lot of fun playing & swimming with penguins in Cape Town, South Africa, there is this one beach that has a huge colony of the birds, they look just like the ones in Alaska.
>
> Talk about a paradigm shift! \*\*
There are species of penguin indigenous to the Galapagos Islands. Geography buffs will recognize said islands as lying right on the equator.
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### Author:  [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2003, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/12 "2003-03-11T20:02:25Z")
I read that too!
I loved the bit where the penguin coasts down several flights of stairs dragging poor Mr. Popper along behind him.
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### Author:  [@Emperor\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emperor_Penguin)
#### Post date: [March 14, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pengiuins-as-pets/160604/13 "2003-03-14T01:44:35Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by ChalkPit \*
> \*\*I have met many penguins of several species (Gentoo, Magellanic, ChinStrap, RockHopper and King (just a bit smaller than the famous Emperor) while I was stationed in the Falkland Islands - trust me, you wouldnt want one as a pet.
>
> THEY SMELL TERRIBLE! \*\*
About time someone recognized my greatness…
[sub]I know, I know. But I’ll take what I can get.{/sub]