# What exotic pet makes you go, '--huh??' **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 19, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416 "2000-12-19T21:28:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2001, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/61 "2001-01-18T19:47:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shy Ghost \* > :eek: :eek: :eek: > > Sweet Mother of God. > > Seriously, it makes my blood run cold just thinking about tarantulas. I think that’s the same responce my mother in law gave us! 😃 Come to think of it I knew a guy with a skunk for a pet and someone with a racoon. An older couple down the street also owned a monkey. And I worked with a guy who claimed to own a monkey, but he used to tell some crazy stories so I think he was making it up. but they were still damn funny stories. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/62 "2001-01-19T00:15:24Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by a35362 \* > \*\* Horses, I could see getting attached to, though if they’re too big to come in the house they’re not really a pet, are they?_\* I dunno, we used to bribe my sister’s quarterhorse into the basement with butterscotch candies. He’d do anything for those: Kinda like ‘Scooby Snacks’ for horses. We’ve had snakes, scorpions, rats, turtles, geese, cats, dogs, ducks, sheep, and mice, but my hand’s down favorite was the Mexican Pallid bat. He’d eat from your hand (flying or not). Now _ **that’s** _ cool! ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/63 "2001-01-19T15:23:52Z")
I saw an online pet supply store which sold various species of small sharks, but I can’t remember the URL. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/64 "2001-01-19T15:39:09Z")
Someone’s selling a real live sugar glider on eBay. [http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=545236882](http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=545236882) ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2001, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/65 "2001-01-19T19:11:02Z")
As the first (I think) poster to post that OWNS sugar gliders, let me assure you that they are MUCH better pets than cats! I have two sugar gliders, and they rock. They are cute as hell, playful, funny, and they bond to you more so than a cat ever will. They don’t smell, which is one of the complaints I had owning a cat- that litter box stank no matter how often I cleaned it. Well, they smell if you frighten them, but mine don’t get frightened anymore, so I have no problems. I can also carry them with me during the day to the office- they are nocturnal, so I put them in a rock climbing chalk bag and keep them with me (if I want, most of the time the stay home). They wake up around 7 or 8 (after I’m home and after dinner) and I play with them for awhile, get their food ready, etc. They jump REALLY far, are curious as heck, have very distinct personalities, and are basically a lot of fun. I built a cage for them out of a wardrobe (it’s huge) and they love it. We leave for the weekend and stick extra food in the cage and they are fine. I place them in between cats and dogs on the difficulty scale of keep, attitude, friendliness, smell, etc. I’ll probably never own a cat again. Sugar Gliders are much better pets. But a dog…yeah, I do want a dog someday. I think one of the reasons people dispair about them is that when you read about them all you find is negative things about health, lack of vets, etc. But in my experience, those are all worse case scenarios. If all you read about cats was feline leukemia, would you want one? I haven’t had any problems with my gliders (except for getting woken up in the middle of the night a few times - they are nocturnal after all) and I have had many problems with cats before. Give them some slack- they’re cool. Take care- -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/66 "2001-01-20T22:43:15Z")
In another thread some time ago, someone mentioned someone who owned a pet bobcat. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/67 "2001-01-21T04:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > I saw an online pet supply store which sold various species of small sharks If by “small” you mean “goldfish sized” they have been around for a while. Since they don’t grow up to be three feet long, they aren’t even all that exotic. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2001, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/68 "2001-01-21T19:41:20Z")
Isn’t there someone here who owns a wolf-dog hybrid? ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/69 "2001-01-22T13:29:35Z")
> [@](#): > > Since they don’t grow up to be three feet long, they aren’t even all that exotic. But still, think of how cool it would be to say “I have a pet shark”🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2001, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/70 "2001-01-22T17:56:30Z")
> [@](#): > > this same friend has also had chincillas, hedgehogs and ferrets. All totally useless as pets. I beg to differ. Our ferret can’t balance the checkbook or do the grocery shopping for me, but he is a great pet! He loves to go for car rides, will sit in the hood of my jacket for hours at a time while I shop, keeps the cats entertained, loves to play, is really comical, and a total sweetheart. How is this useless as a pet? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/71 "2001-01-23T04:50:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Horses, I could see getting attached to, though if they’re too big to come in the house they’re not really a pet, are they? Well, for this lady… [Misha, the Horse Who Shares Our Home](http://www.women.com/family/pets/features/PM/f0203househorse.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2001, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/72 "2001-01-23T06:14:44Z")
I dunno here but two exotic pets I have always wanted were a tree sloth (almost zero maintence, plants for food and a shower every few days for cleaning and toilet stuff) or the best a Fruit bat… flies, looks like a small dog, eats fruit and scares the hell out of annoying visitors! I also think it would be a nice pet to travel with, just him hang on the rear view mirror of your car and watch the looks ya get. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2001, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/73 "2001-02-02T21:46:42Z")
Here’s someone who has all sorts of exotic critters for sale(maybe, I don’t know when the site was last updated, so if you actually want to purchase something, you’ll have to contact him to make sure there’s one available: [http://www.vanimals.net](http://www.vanimals.net) Some of the stranger lifeforms: Kinkajous (whatever the hell those are) Coatimundies (never heard of those either) Large Spotted Gennets Servals (apparently some kind of exotic cat, never seen one) Caracals (another kind of cat) Ringtail Lemurs African Bush Babies Fennec foxes and arctic foxes Spectacle Caimens(some kind of reptile that looks like a baby alligator) ---
**Author:** ![Medievalist2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e19adc/32.png) [@Medievalist2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medievalist2)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2001, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/74 "2001-02-03T08:59:27Z")
Sugar gliders look like Pokemon monsters. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2001, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/75 "2001-02-04T23:42:58Z")
Funny you should say that: [http://members.nbci.com/mitsumame/conspire.htm](http://members.nbci.com/mitsumame/conspire.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/76 "2001-02-06T04:58:42Z")
actually sugar gliders sound kinda cute. 🙂 About the wolf thing: That is creepy. Though it sounds plausible. Wolves are hierarchal creatures. Still. It’s a big risk to take. Another exotic pet- monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/77 "2001-02-06T13:49:41Z")
[quote] Isn’t there someone here who owns a wolf-dog hybrid?[/quote Yeah, **Zenster** does. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/78 "2001-02-06T16:34:39Z")
My two cents… The coolest pet I have personally ever had was a panther chameleon. It was the neatest little thing I’ve ever seen. Big googly eyes, weird splayed toes, and a tongue that could shoot out more than his body length to catch insects. They are very difficult to take care of, very fragile as far as climate in concerned, but so alien as to be fascinating. He looked like this: http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/CamPix.nsf/5ff7233e4ab2f216862569be0069ad47/2f91306981dd42e1852569e6007180fa?OpenDocument If that link didn’t work, sorry, it’s my first attempt on the boards (a programmer I’m not.) I also have a friend that has an alligator. He got it when he was a kid, and has had it about twenty years now. The thing is about ten feet long. People have tried to get it away from him, saying it’s dangerous and shouldn’t be allowed in a residential area, but he’s fought all the way to the Supreme Court, and managed to keep it so far. He has a large outdoor enclosure with concrete walls at his house, with a pool for it to swim in. It sleeps on one of those poolside lawnchair recliner things that has a mattress on it. It’s fairly tame, he says, but it makes me a little nervous. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2001, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/79 "2001-02-06T17:27:00Z")
Um, [I’m afraid to ask] what does it eat? …neighbors? P.S. I can’t tell which chameleon picture you’re trying to show us, so here’s the Animal Ark Lookup Pictures page–there are several photos of “panther chameleons” listed. 🙂 [http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/CamPix.nsf/c130d7e3c0eb17e6862569e50022535d?OpenView](http://animalark.eapps.com/animal/CamPix.nsf/c130d7e3c0eb17e6862569e50022535d?OpenView) Some Google hits for “panther chameleon” list it as “Furcifer pardalis”, some as “Chamaeleo pardalis”. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2001, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416/80 "2001-02-07T00:38:53Z")
The ONE exotic pet that I would love to have would be the ringtail cat. These are small relatives of the racoon. They are as cute as can be! I defy you to find an animal that is cuter! Here’s a link to an owner’s page: [http://members.home.net/petitepaws/ringtailpix.html](http://members.home.net/petitepaws/ringtailpix.html) Anyway, although I would love one of these things, I would never get one, because I couldn’t guarantee it’s health or safety. But apparently they domesticate easily. (Sigh…) Oh, they’re so CUTE! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exotic-pet-makes-you-go-huh/46416.md?page=3)