which rodent best for me?

[HamterDudette]

i would actually want to have a couple of rats and try them out. the tail thing doesn't bother me as much, but my parents don't even like mice, so i know they won't even consider letting me have rats. also, rats need a humongous cage, and i just can't provide that because of money and space issues. and i also read somewhere that they get sick more easily. so...since i want a friendly pet that needs a companion, i think a couple of gerbils would be best. they're also smaller than syrian hamsters, right? i'm surprised at pooky's size, and i can't even hold him in one hand!! i happen to be petite. so...yeah.

i just can't wait until i move out, because then i can have whatever pets i want!!! YAY!!! i'll have hamsters, mice, gerbils, rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, lizards, frogs...i can just imagine it: a guest walks into my house and is overpowered by a smell of animal food, waste, and....just plain smell(i know for a fact that all animals have a unique smell)!!! each and every room in my house will be stuffed to the brim with cages, tanks, dog and cat beds, food, litter, bedding....

Quote: each and every room in my house will be stuffed to the brim with cages, tanks, dog and cat beds, food, litter, bedding....

LOL - that's what I've been doing.

It does get expensive, though. I'm really glad I didn't get all my animals at once. I think I would have been really overwhelmed

[nygerbil]

A friend of mine put together a nice comparison of small animals on her site here:Take a look.

[Christy]

Due to your budget restrictions and the size of the cage, I would not recommend rats. I know you mentioned you didn't really want them anyway, but thought I'd point it out anyway. Rats can become very expensive due to some of their medical issues (tumors, respiratory infections, heart problems). A 15 gallon would be ok for one rat - but since rats really should live in pairs or groups to be content, that would be too small for two rats, IMO.

[Zouave]

Quote: Originally Posted by Alika LOL - that's what I've been doing. It does get expensive, though. I'm really glad I didn't get all my animals at once. I think I would have been really overwhelmed

Only one of my rooms is stuffed: one GP cage; one rabbit cage; two dwarf tanks; a couple of Habitrails; a CT2, and I have lost track of the bins and other tanks for the hams and gerbils. Plus a mouse tank. It is all in the living room, or what was the living room, except for one Habitrail in the nearby dinette.

Half are rescues.

[laydeerodentzz]

rats are the best they are clean hardly smell and bond very closly to their owners!

[Oboe]

I love the sound of having a pair of pet rats, but for me, money and space are currently the issue, so it might be a pair of gerbils or a group of mice for me. Maybe a group of mice, so that later my mom might be more inclined to get a pair of rats.

[laydeerodentzz]

cool..