Slashdot Mirror
Household Pets for the Common Geek?
batobin asks: "I just moved into my first apartment that allows pets, and am looking forward to finally getting some sort of animal companion. My question to the Slashdot community is this: are there any pets out there that are especially conducive to a nerdish personality/lifestyle? I was looking into hedgehogs before I found out they're illegal in my state, but ferrets are starting to look fun too. Which pets are especially trainable? Which will be entertained by (yet not intrusive upon) a typist with a flashing screen in front of them? Is cable-gnawing an issue? Something tells me I can do better than simply a dog or a cat."
I've always really liked fish. And they are really geeky. Easy to take care of, and the don't take up much space. A good time for all involved!
If penguins were legal to own, could there be any other obvious choice. :)
C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
If you are looking to make a commitment I would recommend a few sugar gliders. They are very fun, but they do bond to their owners and live for many years, so they aren't a good choice if you're just dabbling with the idea of pets. They are also communal, so you should get at least two.
As always, a simple web seearch will turn up lots more information.
-- MarkusQ
IMHO nothing beats a good dog.
great. no fur (i'm allergic), will scare the crap out of people, and it's a cat (which is da bomb). image here
I have to voice my personal preference for small rodents. My GF and I picked out a cute little russian hamster about two months ago and I'm quite smitten with the furry little creature. And I have to say that having a pet with the same schedule (nocturnal) is a boon. We've got him a hamster-ball and he takes great joy in doing laps around the living room and the rest of the house.
Plan on a 2-year life span and expect to clean out the cage 1-2 times a week. He's a great little furry companion and he also enjoys chess. What more can you ask for in a geek-friendly pet.
No matter what you decide, make sure that you understand what you're getting into and are willing to make the commitment to a creature that for better or worse, will be dependant on you for the rest of it's life. Ask questions, choose wisely, and don't forget, there is a special hell for people who neglect their pets.
"If I wanted your input on my pet project, I'd stick my hand up your ass and use you like a sock-puppet." - Muse
You really can't get more geeky than the Macintosh 512K fish tank. I forget the site for it though.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
I have had a rabbit or two, although I didn't keep them in the house, I have heard they can be house trained, and are rather nice loveable little things. If they get mad, they can nip rather hard though.
Also, what about a parakeet (or budgie, depending on what part of the world you live in). They are generally good natured, and you can teach them to talk if you have enough patience. I used to have one that sat on my monitor and would look upside down at it.
Perhaps a dog, depending on the size of your apartment. Rescue a grey hound from a your local racing gray hound rescue shelter. They are medium sized relaxed dogs, but need to go for a quick run once a day or so. Also, if you get a dog, crate train them, you place them in their crate overnight, and they sleep, and won't crap in it.
If you get a cat, get the fattest laziest one you can find. I have 2 cats. One is up all night creating messes and hardly sleeps, and the other sleeps on my bed 23 out of 24 hours a day, and the other hour she is on my lap purring.
Aibo. Obviously!
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"if you're just looking for a fixture around the apartment, go with something like a guinea pig or a fish... ferrets stink. literally. i mean, given that you're on slashdot, your chances of getting a girl to voluntarily come over are already halved, but if you do by some miracle score one for the home team, ferret-stink is a big turn-off.
if you're really looking for a companion with some personality, go with a cat, or to a lesser extent, a dog... personally, i'm a dog kinda guy, but its hard to find a good sedate breed of dog that won't get in your way while coding. if you do opt for a dog, definitely get obedience training. its indispensible for any dog owner, coder or not.
They're small, fluffy, cute, clean, affectionate, cheap, intelligent, trainable, and easy to look after.
:)
They only disadantage is they don't live very long (sucks getting attached to one and have it die within 2-3 years), and they will knaw through cables and clothes if you're not careful.
They'll sit on your shoulder while you work, can be trained to come when called, will sit while you stroke them, and come in a wide variety of sizes and colours
As a cat owner, I resent the comment at the end of the submission. Apparently the original submitter is against cats and dogs because they are more mainstream pets, and therefore are not ideal "nerd" pets.
In fact, I have found cats to be ideal for the nerd lifestyle. They require a minimum of maintance and require little attention.
I have also found that cats are very fond of lounging on top of CRT monitors during late night sessions. My cat has never forgiven me for getting my 17" LCD.
Cats have plenty of personality and tend to be fairly reclusive. Smell is a minimum, as well.
- (c) 2018 Hank Zimmerman
I've got 2..when I am busy with the computer, they entertain each other...
they are also amused by x-roaches.
-- oodabadabaY
The obvious answer is a penis bird. Don't get a ferret, they smell like urine.
Relax, I might be kidding.
Don't blame me, I get all my opinions from my Ouija board.
but ferrets are starting to look fun too. Which pets are especially trainable? Which will be entertained by (yet not intrusive upon) a typist with a flashing screen in front of them? Is cable-gnawing an issue?
I know several people with ferrets (Including my mother in law).
Ferrets are very cute and very fun, but they don't meet all of your criteria. They are difficult to train to to tricks, they are pretty dirty animals (They don't potty train very well, and often prefer to poop in a dark corner vs in a bed of kitty litter), play with and chew cables (My mother-in-law had one that kept chewing through hot electrical wires), they do not enjoy cages, and they are hyper hyper hyper... nonstop nocturnal action. They do like to cuddle with you, but they are also libel to pee and poop on your bed while you are sleeping.
Also note that ferrets are master escape artists, so if you do get one, make sure that ferral ferrets won't threaten indiginous bird populations in your area (Which is why ferrets are illegal in California & Hawaii, and should remain illegal according to the Audubon Society, the Waterfowl Association, and The Sierra Club).
Something tells me I can do better than simply a dog or a cat."
Don't disregard a dog or cat simply because they are common pets. There are hundreds of millions of dog & cat owners in the world, with good reason: dogs & cats are (usually) intelligent, clean, easy to train, and very loving animals.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
Not ferrets. They do too much ferreting.
your a geek, not an idiot
how about a good old cat or dog.
I'm a big retard who forgot to log out of Slashdot on Mike's computer! LOOK AT ME.
They are cute, ooze personality, are very friendly and "talkative," and what other animal is so closely associated with science? The only problem is that they are prodigious poop producers, so get a cage that is easy to clean. Also, get a short hair, as they are easier to care for (no grooming and less shedding).
:Peter
I agree about the hedgehog, though. Someday I'll get one...
If you get a cat, be prepared to tell your friend "ACK! Sorry, cat on keyboard."
If you really want to be truely nerdy setup a mini reef tank, about 20 gallons. It is pretty simple to maintain and is most certainly geeky (you built and maintianed a small ecosystem in you apartment). Or a simple solution is get a cat, assuming you get a good one they play with you, but don't require any where near as much trouble as a dog or ferret.
...and toilet train it.
No shit, I trained mine 5 years ago and it's been great. She uses the toilet in the spare bathroom and neither of us have to worry about all the indignities of a dirty litter box.
Do not try to train it to flush, though. Seems that if you do this they decide that they love it and go and flush the toilet whenever they're bored...
"It is our blasphemy which has made us great, and will sustain us, and which the gods secretly admire in us." - Zelazny
Agreed with above AC. Gerbils are MUCH better than hamsters!
Gerbils are originally from the Mongolian desert, and therefore are much more efficient and emit less waste, and you can tell. You can get away without changing gerbil cage bedding for more than a month before it really starts to stink, though once every 2 or 3 weeks might be better. Hamsters need to be changed every 1 or 2 weeks. Mice are HORRIBLE -- if you don't change their litter for ONE week they smell like CR@P!
Gerbils are also tamer than hamsters. I've been bitten by them, but that is very rare after they got used to me. If you tame them right they will sit happily in your hand for a long time when they age and let you stroke their backs! I've never had a hamster of my own, but the ones I've seen are much more aggressive than gerbils.
Another option might be rats. I'm thinking of getting a rat someday. They are smart, and not nearly as dirty as most people think they are.
...hermit crabs!
:-)
Ok so they're not all that affectionate, but they are kind of fun sometimes. Given them some rocks, a good bowl of water, some hermit crab food & an apple, a few spare shells that are a little bigger than they (REALLY IMPORTANT), and leave them alone or watch them! I defy anyone to come up with a pet that requires less maintenance!
The beauty of it is that you can play with them when (and ONLY when) you want to. It is rather fun to let them walk around on you.
And they are quiet too. No barks or meows early in the morning, no re-arranging cage bedding or running on a squeaky excercise wheel at 4AM.
- Keep small pets. Pets like cats, and anything smaller, are good for this. The reason is cost. Food for a large dog will cost you a ton compared to a half-tin of cat food a day and a bag of dry food every two weeks.
- Keep low-maintenance pets. Cats are reasonably good for this, as long as you remember to let them in and out (if applicable), and remember to change their litter and feed them. They'll mostly stay out of your way if they're loners, and if they're sucky (friendly, suck-up, lovey) cats, they'll gladly sit in your lap, where you can pet them with one hand and browse slashdot with the other.
- In a ground floor apartment, you can have any pet you want. In anything above the 1 1/2th floor, or anything above the 3rd floor that doesn't have a huge tree just outside the patio/window, you need an indoor pet, or a 'companion' pet. Cats are bad for this (unless you have the tree), since once you get outside, they'll take off, and you'll have to wait for hours for them to come back so you can open the door. Dogs are better for this, since you walk them and then go home with them. Problem is, you have to walk them, it's not an option.
- Don't go exotic. It might seem 'cool' or 'geeky' to have an exotic pet, but when it gets sick and the vets are clueless, when the only petstore around that carries food for it closes up, when you move to a no-pets apartment and have to get rid of it, it can be a pain in the ass.
- Don't get a bird. Either you let it fly around the apartment and crap on everything, or you lock it up in a cage, which is cruel. The best case you could hope for is one that's happy in a cage, in which case it'll sing and whistle at you, which can make concentrating or sleeping somewhat difficult.
I'm a cat person myself, I've almost never not had a cat, but I'm also aware of how much work it takes to care for a cat, and a lot of pets take more work to manage. Be very careful. Ask your local petstore, or as many local petstores as you can find. Ask friends, family, coworkers what kinds of pets they have or have had, and what it takes to take care of them. Get as much info as you can, not just from slashdot. No one here knows enough about your personal habits to give you proper information, only suggestions.And lastly, once you decide on a pet, go to the SPCA or the local animal shelter. Don't buy from a petstore when there are poor things sitting locked in cages for who knows how long, up until they have to be killed to put them out of everyone's misery.
--Dan
Something tells me I can do better than simply a dog or a cat.
[This sounds like a sickly competitive statement.]
Dogs and cats have millenia of domestication backing them up. If you want a trainable animal, this seems like a no brainer. My dog knows all sorts of things.
- "Let's take a nap" and Belle runs up stairs.
- "MOVE!" and Belle avoids being kicked and gets out of my way.
- "Treat!" and she pays more attention to me.
- "Truck", "Clancy", "go", and she gets excited to go in the truck to Mom and Dad's to play with Clancy.
- "Get in the truck" and she jumps into the back of the truck.
- all of the standards, "sit", "down", "paw", "rollover", "stay"
- "other paw" and she'll shake with the other paw...
= "Outside?" and she'll go to the door if she wants out, otherwise she'll just stair at you.
- When let in from outside, Belle used to check out the living room for visitors, not she checks out the high chair for dropped food.
Dogs are only fun when well trained. Training is a physical activity. There is no negotiating with a dog. The dog has to know that it is at the bottom of the pack (below children) and may at times need reminders.
Mixed breed dogs are more robust and smarter. I'd look for a young dog at the pound.
Dogs are also a 20 year commitment, but can be well worth it.
Joe
Joe Batt Solid Design
If you just need to have an animal that hangs around looking cool, get some kind of reptile. Very low maintenance.
Rats are interesting. But a little too smart for their own good. And they don't live very long.
I've often wanted a ferret. But they're illegal where I live. Probably require more care than I can provide.
The ultimate extreme pet. Somebody in Siberia managed to breed a de-feralized fox. Hoping to create a fur animal that easier to raise than wild foxes. Unfortunately, the de-feralized ones don't have market-quality coats. But they're still beautiful as hell.
i can't believe the inane questions that people ask on slashdot these days... "is this geeky enough?" "what would be geekier?" "could you please define my life for me?" "help me, i have no personal identity!" "*whine*"
seriously. people! "nerdish" "geeky"... if you are you are. if you aren't and you're asking slashdot how you CAN be... ehhhh, you need help, but not from us.
I have a ferret, and she's perfect for my lifestyle. Ferrets can be difficult to train, and they're not going to do tricks for you, however, they can be litter trained, trained to come to you, etc. Mine is about half litter trained, which is good enough.
Some ferrets will chew on cables. I've been lucky in this regard so far, although there are some gnawers out there. However, this is trainable, especially by using bitter apple spray (they hate the taste).
The best thing I've found about ferrets is that they're always ready to play. Getting home at strange hours is no real problem for them, as they're usually sleeping anyway. However, because ferrets are so playful, it's usually a matter of waking them up, giving them a minute to stretch, and then they're ready to play.
All in all, a ferret makes a great choice (or two, they're very communal, remember), if they're legal in your area, of course.
-Gabe
Fish could be interesting. I rescued a goldfish from a wedding reception and the thing lived for 3 years with my minimal care (let the tank go a little too long before cleaning it, sometimes forgot to feed him)
A year ago we inherited an african grey parrot. They're considered the smartest of birds and probably the smartest of animals that are relatively easy to keep in the house (read about Alex to see what they are capable of with training). They aren't a low maintenance pet though, they require personal interaction and they are loud, messy and destructive. However, they are a very rewarding pet to own and can be very entertaining. If you consider owning one (or another type of parrot) I'd reccomend reading up on them and talking to a few owners to get a better sense of what owning one is like.
Bleh!
If you have been on the internet for long enough to remember.. Gopher://
DRACO-
Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.
"My question to the Slashdot community is this: are there any pets out there that are especially conducive to a nerdish personality/lifestyle?"
MY 32 horses suit me fine. I may not be a very typical nerd, though.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
I usually am not an advocate for reptiles as pets(snake-o-phobia). However, I have a leopard gecko and really like it.
They have long lives with proper care (15-20 years), so you have time to grow on each other. It is easy to take care of, since it lives in a converted fish-tank that I picked up at a garage sale. It is nocturnal, so it is most active during those late-night programming sessions.
I just have to make a trip to the pet store fairly regularly to keep him stocked with crickets. I picked up a thermometer and an under the cage heating pad for him. Probably cost $50 at a maximum initally, then $2-5.00/week for crickets.
He is very relaxing to watch as he stalks his cricket prey around his cage. Once in a while when I'm sitting there talking to myself, he looks at me like I'm nuts. Not real cuddly, but I like him that way.
For a nice low-maintenance pet, you can't beat them.
Well, Cats and Dogs are certainly viable geek pets. Cats, outside of litterbox detail and putting out food and water, are technically low maitnence. Of course, there's the playing with cats, mainly when they're kittens, but that's fun. Also, if you get a cat, get it to love canned food enough that it goes nuts every time a can is opened. Then, get one of those catfood-sized can air fresheners. The look on my cat's face when I did that was priceless.
Also, make sure to train kitty to hop into your lap at the computer. Mine wouldn't, and missed out on a lot of cuddling and petting.
And one more thing. If you get a dog or cat and leave antifreeze out in an area where the animal has access to, you should be shot. *looks at her father* Antifreeze is a killer.
Anyway, if a cat doesn't sound right, consider a dog. Dogs are great, and loyal, but you have to play with them now and then too to really have a loveable doggie. I recommend against small dogs and any dog that is or is similiar to a poodle, unless you want a guard dog.
My dog was half miniature poodle, and she was the best guard dog, despite being tiny. She would go ballistic every time someone she didn't know came NEAR the house. She couldn't have mauled them to death or anything, as she was an ankle biter, but I'm sure she scared a few away. Besides, the last thing we needed was a lawsuit.
I've found that very good, low-maitinence pets are Sea Monkeys. Yes, they are real. No, they are not monkeys. They're small invertibrates that look like little white things. They're small, I think about the size of a staple. You feed them once a week, and you can get medicines and stuff for them... And they're obviously aquatic. I don'tk now if they're still availbible, but when they were there was a whole catologue of accessories.
But Sea Monkeys aren't cuddly.
I had a rabbit once, but it died. So no comment there.
So, have fun.
"are there any pets out there that are especially conducive to a nerdish personality/lifestyle?..."
A sheep. Not only a pet, but a friend, a sexual partner, a personal clothing factory, and a small butchers all rolled into one.You need never see a human being ever again!
Well, you did ask...
Rabbits make bad pets, all they do is produce large amounts of rather noxious shit.
When searching about ferrets I came across this testimonial. To summarize it, a representative from the fish and wildlife department of california came to this lady's house, and seized her ferrets. She was forced through a legal battle, and currently has her pets out of state with her father, and a hefty fine. PLUS she's on probation.
Sounds like they take their laws seriously in California.
Seriously, a former girlfriend of mine did have a pet ferret and it was fun but somewhat high maintenance. They do smell but most people have the scent glands removed which pretty-much deals with the problem. We never had a real problem with smell after the operation.
Like dogs, they love to grab onto things with their teeth which are sharp and they will sometimes draw blood. We never had it try to hurt someone, though. If you jumped, it would stop playing almost as if it was sorry it hurt you.
~~~~~~~
"You are not remembered for doing what is expected of you." - Atul Chitnis
I own 6 Ferrets and they are an absolute blast. They sleep for 14 to 18 hours a day, are litter box trainable and do not gnaw on cables. They are intensely curious. Best analogy that I have read is that they are a cross of the best of a cat and dog. When they are awake they are like a 2-year old on very,very good caffine! :-) If you chose the right one they will bond with you and adjust their sleep cycle to your schedule. Females are about a half pound for the very smallest ones up to 2 pounds and the males can range from about 3 pounds to the largest one that I had seen and held that was 6 pounds. They are very loving and really love to play.
Your actions in life will determine your children's future.
Yes, because a pet is a status symbol. All your friends will think you are uber-leet for having a marmoset.
What a moronic Ask Slashdot question.
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
I'm a big fan of cats, myself. The only problem is when they want to be the center of attention and jump up on they keyboard (or book or whatever else I happen to be holding between me and the rest of the world).
"It is widely grokked that cats have the hacker nature" - The Jargon Files
I have a few pets, which have helped my geeklife.
.. FROGS! Like a fishtank, you can go gadget crazy also, and they don't mind if you change the habitat from time to time. You can also combine this with a love of lego. Which brings us to the next choice ..
1 husky, which *requires* walking daily. How is this a good geek pet? Well, it makes you get away from the PC! Take a walk, look at the horizen, breath some air. I used to bitch about it alot (still do) but once I get back, I've always been better for it.
2 cats, which are mostly great. The younger does make a habit of sitting on the scanner, but I can live with that.
9 frogs. What can I say
Rodents. Pick your fav. from rats through to gerbils. And this is also a great excuse to use lego. Ever thought of making their home interactive? With lego setup correctly to a lego treadmill (hehehe) your imagination is your only limitation.
Robert Anton Wilson
For the active geek with some property, nothing beats a small herd of llamas.
No, really.
But then again, I could be wrong.
are there any pets out there that are especially conducive to a nerdish personality/lifestyle?
A Pikachu?
PS: this is where you all go into LOL mode;
Buy a Nintendo DS Lite
www.neopets.com
Pretty geeky.. and you never have to leave the pc
DRACO-
Consider yourself blessed if you are sneezed on by a dragon and only get wet, it could have been a fireball.
Get a Servicat. I don't have a link handy right now, and I'm too damn lazy to find one, but a google search will turn up tons of pages.
A Servicat is half African Serval (like a mini-leopard) and half Bengal (a standard housecat, but is at least some part Asian Leopard). They are legal in most states because they are only considered 50% exotic.
I have 2 Bengals, and they rule. If they weighed like 30 or 40 pounds like a Servicat, they would be hella cool.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
i'm not sure if they're obtainable in your neck of the woods, but they're an excellent geek pet and unique exemplar of male pregnancy!
In my sophomore year of college, my roommate had a pet ball python and believe it or not, made for a pretty good companion while working on the computer. He'd stay up on my shoulder, or on my arm, perfectly content to watch me work away. And before someone asks, he never tried to strangle me! *grin* The snake was about 3' long, and from what I remember my roommate saying, they don't get all that much bigger than that. And taking care of it was a breeze. Just make sure it has a clean cage and give it a mouse once or twice a month. And for those that are really adventerous, let a mouse loose in the living room and watch the snake hunt it down! Just be sure not to bother the snake while it's feeding, it does NOT like that!
Of course now, I have a springer spanial, but only because my wife HATES snakes.
You are a FUCKING MORON.
I second this, even though you appear to want an "exotic" pet.
Rene, I agree with your "read" of the poster's intent, and I'm pleased you added the always prudent "appear" to your statement since it's not clear what the poster wants/needs in a pet. I thought your post was great. Hopefully that will cause the poster to think twice about the pros and cons of exotic pets.
My first thought when I read the poster's topic was what exactly does s/he mean by "Something tells me I can do better than simply a dog or a cat." What does better mean? Apparently an animal that fits in with the poster's nerdish personality/lifestyle, but that doesn't tell us much. I'm a little concerned that the poster's intent may be to get an animal that s/he can show off to his/her friends as an example of what a counter-culture, eccentric-genius, think-outside-the-box kind of guy s/he is. The comment about ferrets looking "fun" troubles me. Perhaps it's because I've seen way too many hippies who think that owning one of these is a great way to advertise your non-mainstreamness. Again, I don't know poster batobin so all we can do is guess what his/her criteria for a pet is.
I sincerely hope that batobin knows what is important to them in a pet even if s/he chose not to let us in on the secret. And for the record, I believe that cats make great nerd pets. If you're concerned about them fooling with your computer equipment, just put that stuff in a offlimits-to-Kitty-room.
GMD
watch this
i have a cat that i really like. cats are pretty low-maintenance and have a well-established user base (== lots of available accessories already on the market, documentation online etc)
i don't think cats are particularly more or less nerdish/geeky/etc than any other pets tho...
I'm not sure a Pikachu in and of itself is particularly nerdy. NOW if you hacked an Aibo so the only noises it made were random variations on "Pikachu", give it a custom yellow paintjob and rigged it to give an electric shock anytime it got pissed off (or you forced it into battle with the neighborhood rotwiller), that would be a pretty cool nerd pet! Hell, you could make a website about it and submit it to slashdot for all of us to marvel at! Can't get more nerdy than that!
GMD
watch this
While not really a "pet", they are great for geeks. I have one at work.
Eco-sphere
They don't require any maintenance and if you forget about them for a few weeks, no big deal. Occasionally, I'll put in the dark for a few days to stop the algae growth and to satisfy my god complex.
I had mine for about a year now and my 4 little brine friends are still running in circles.
Live web cams
Probably the most intelligent animal you can keep as a pet, and they can be absolutely hilarious. Kind of high maintenance and expensive though.
Their playful nature is a delight and they are pretty low-maintenance but a cat would be almost as playful most of its life and would live easily twice as long as your average ferret.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
The perfect geek fish are Betas... cool looking, easy to take care of, and a geek can spend from $10/month to easily $500/month of them! What's more geekier than a fish that can breathe air? A dog with gills??
s /b etta_more.htm
http://www.aquariumfish.net/catalog_pages/betta
http://beta-fighting-fish.com/
Plus, any true geek will love the name!
... you have 5 MacQuariums!
"Macintosh" (128K/512K)
Mac Plus
Mac SE
Mac Classic
Mac Color Classic
iMac
Ok, so I'm still working on the iMacQuarium! I'd also like to find an old Macintosh TV (the black Mac LC 520 with built-in TV tuner).
Short-hair cats.
Fish freak me out. They're always looking at you with beady little eyes. Birds are every possible kind of messy.
Dogs require a little too much maintenence (gotta get home to let Spot out to pee).
But my cats - a pound rescue and a Scottish Fold I've had for several years now - are great geek pets. First of all, they love the computers. Bat-the-cursor, lay on the keyboard, sleep on the giant monitor. They appreciate all the simple geekish joys.
They basically come toilet trained, and clumping litter means two minutes of litter-box cleaning three or four times a week. No big deal. You keep a brush around to keep the shedding down to a minimum (it's not bad on shorthairs, anyway), get 'em a few toy mice and a laser pointer (all household pets, including my ex-'s fish, will play with a laser pointer), and they're basically good to go.
Cats can cuddle up on your lap and are plenty vocal (mostly) if you're in need of another voice. Purring is a smoothing thing. It always relaxes me, anyway.
Cats also live a good, long life. My parents had a cat for 21 years. They're truly an animal for the long-term. They're just all-round good pets.
-- I wanna decide who lives and who dies - Crow T. Robot, MST3K
I want an Ein!
Downsides: chihuahuas are pretty dang stupid, they bark alot and have bad eyesight, plus one just pooped in my bedroom .
Religion is a gateway psychosis. -- Dave Foley
Sugar gliders make excellent pets - especially for those who like odd hours of the night (they're nocturnal). My gliders love to race around the room and run up and down my arms as I'm typing. However, you should put a decent amount of research into them before getting any. They have special housing and dietary requirements. Here are some useful links - www.sugarglider.net and www.isga.org --observina
An optical mouse! It always lives with you, very low maintainance and get along well with computer...
Don't worry about having more than one cat - they tend to fight a bit for a week or so, then settle down. Since I can't bring my cat here to my flat, he lives at my mother's house with her cat. So, we've two neutered toms, and they don't pee everywhere or fight.
They are no trouble to look after, although if you live in a city you might want to have a litter tray and keep them inside. Ours go in and out when they want. We just leave a window open for them, so if they need out they just go and come back when they're hungry.
Don't, whatever you do, get a "specialised" breed of cat. They've got all kinds of health problems and will cost you a fortune to look after. They got that way because of the inbreeding inherent in pedigree breeds. Just get a "Domestic Shorthair" cat - your local rescue centre will have loads of them, and will have culled out the inbred ones.
One final not-totally-related tip - do NOT get a horse. They're extremely expensive and very hard work to look after. Having more than one isn't a problem (unless they breed or fight, so if you do, only get mares) but the amount of work increases exponentially. You will be able to grow fantastic organic vegetables, though, with all that dung.
Have you read my journal today?
Me & my gf got two chihuahuas called Nano and Pico (think metric, not editors). They fit nicely on a keyboard.
See some MPEG mevies or JPEGs.
(I can't believe I'm voluntarily subjecting that server to the slashdot effect..)
--Tv
--funny answer first-cockroaches. free as in speech, the most true cross platform critter out there, tough as nails the full stable release, no government or private corporation can stop them, anonymous, able to exist forever on pizza crusts and spilled beer.
best_pet_ever
--serious answer, just rescue some dog or cat mutt, get it spayed and love it, it will love you back no matter what
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Duh.
.sig wanted: Must be concise, funny, and display my cleverness.
Quantum-hologram scope (Read something about them somewhere) to watch your favorite internal organ.
Question
http://www.ironfroggy.com/
I can't say enough good things about turtles. You can either get aquatic turtles like red-eared sliders that spend most of their time underwater in an aquarium, or you can get regular box turtles that can wander around on the floor. They're very sturdy, they're easy to take care of, they live for tens of years, and they've got great personalities.
Personally, I prefer aquatic turtles: if you have to leave them alone for a week (for vacation, trips, whatever), you can get a little automatic feeder and you don't have to worry about them pooping all over the place like dogs. They're beautiful to watch when they swim, plus you can take them out and play with them.
Plus, they'll eat meat: you can throw a couple of live feeder fish, crickets, or whatever in the tank and watch the thrill of the chase.
I can't exactly say that they're trainable, but they're very smart. Mine have learned to climb up on my feet and sit there when they want me to play with them. They'll just camp out on my socks or shoes and wait patiently for me to sit down on the floor.
What's your damage, Heather?
Get 2. Cats are ideal companion pets. They like to hang out on top of the desk while I surf. Heres' some examples:- http://www.futureway.com/~bobmc
also purchased (amongst other things):
A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash by Sylvia Nasar
Seriously, my cat show more genuine affection for me than any rodent I've ever owned - I used to keep guinea pigs. She'll sit on my lap while I work or watch tv, she walks in front of my monitor to be scratched (well, nobody's perfect) and she bats at the screen when I play video games - I think she likes Asteroids more than I do. So we have common interests, and she's not needy, like a guinea pig - as someone else mentioned, cats take care of themselves. They don't need you, but they choose to associate with you, and that makes them great pets.
In addition, cats are obsessive about cleanliness. That's good - means less dander floating into your boxen.
I'm the stranger...posting to
3 cats courtesy of the wife. ;) I did have a large tuxedo cat many moons ago. And we have a 15 gal mini reef tank (two months old). So we're starting to add coral (pink zoothenids (sp?) and a hammer coral) now.
:D
PS Don't ever volunteer at the local animal shelter, or you'll end up with more pets than you can shake a stick at (third cat!).
A green anole is kind of fun, if you can deal with the crickets chirping all the time. You should clean out the tank every couple of weeks. It's a good idea to have a friend around when you take it out of the tank to play; that way, when it runs up your arm and onto your back, your friend can remove it :)
I ended up with 4 cats courtesy of my wife (I had one to start with), also have hear tortise (which luckily is the small type which won't ever get bigger then 18 inches, course it will live 80+ years), her giant igauna (about 4+ feet long), and after we married we folded a couple smaller reef tanks we both had into a larger 75 gallon job with a 30 gallon sump. Course my wife is fasinated by mantis shrimp, so we have one (damn thing eats my snails!!!! but it amuses the wife and leaves my coral alone so other then buying snails every 6 months it is a neat pet).
We've had a greyhound for just over a year now. They're great geeky pets, if you don't mind something that's lazier than you are!
She and I get up at around 6:00 AM, when I feed her and let her out for a minute. She then promptly goes back to sleep, and I leave for school.
She usually gets up at 12:00 PM and asks my dad to let her out again... then she goes back to sleep.
At 4:00 PM she gets up again to go for a quick (20-minute) walk with my dad, then sleeps for an hour (before her dinner).
After all of this, she's completely exhausted and goes back to sleep until 6:00 AM the next day.
Adopt a greyhound!
The US Army: promoting democracy through unquestioned obedience
For the last year I have had four ferrets, though I only started out with two. These are my recommendations:
Buy more than one: This will prevent YOU from being the focus of attention whenever the ferret is out of the cage. It wants to play... and it will play with you if nobody else is around... this is a great thing, except if you want to get work done! (It will do pretty much anything to get your attention!)
Let it out to play: Ferrets go crazy when they are locked up in a cage for days at a time. They need stimulation, which can only come from being outside the cage. The last ferret I rescued was fat and spastic because he was let out for half and hour every week or two-- he thought that every second he was out of the cage was play-time, so I had an exhausted ferret trying to keep on playing.
The Ten Minute Rule: Leave a glass of water/soda/beer in a room and within ten minutes a furry nose will get into the glass and induce a spill. I have ruined more keyboards this way.... and now I have a no drink without supervision rule for myself and my husband!
I love my ferrets more than anything! They are not an annoying as cats, who jump on your lap and demand to be petted. They can be trained and are fun and cuddly, you just have to work at it!
Scooping the litter and washing bedding regularly will prevent ANY odor!
Good luck choosing a pet!
I have a parrot, He's bright, likes to sit on my flatscreen monitor, slightly tempermental, but all and all a fun little guy.
:)
He's expected to out live me (I am nearly 30 and he's just a year old).
Fish are cool, but moving can be very stressful for them. If you do get fish stick with freshwater or Africans... A reef system can be seriously destabalized by a move and is generally something you buy once you buy your first home...
Chinchillas are great pets.. they don't chew, they don't make a lot of noise, they are cute as hell, and they are very very clean animals (no odors, etc.).
Finally, you can always get a Mr. Peepers
-johnny
http://www.martnet.com/~johnny
and what do you need a cat for? it will only concatenate your files and print them on the standard output
If you're concerned about them fooling with your computer equipment, just put that stuff in a offlimits-to-Kitty-room.
That might be cruel to both pet and human, since by definition, the nerd would need to spend a lot of time in the 'computer room', away from their companion. Besides, Real Nerds(tm) can't limit their lifestyles and gear to one room. Roaming laptops, servers, cabling, PDAs, Gameboys, Lego, remote controls, board games, dice, etc. Be aware of small toys and choking hazards! Geez, this sounds a lot like gettind ready for a newborn!
Guinea pigs are the best pets to get if you are looking for something rodent-sized. They have been domesticated nearly as long as the dog, and so get along great with people. Their advantages are many:
Shockwave Flash movies are the greatest thing to happen to non-sequitur humor since Japan.
Minuses: Not very interested in people. Often fearful. All Guinea pigs urinate a lot (no real bladder control). I've never seen one successfully trained to reliably avoid pissing on his/her owner.
Without lots of fresh vegetables, particularly a good supply of vitamin C, the guinea pig has a abbreviated lifespan.
Overall, I'd say a guinea pig is basically little more than a huge hamster -- easy to care for, but not all that interesting. They make a great pet for a kid, but aren't particulary geeky.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
don't get a turtle those mother F's are dirty, stinky, and they are not friendly at all especially red -ear sliders. I heard some tortoises are fun but water turtles terraium needs to be cleaned every 2-3 days.
The only cool thing is they know when you are around and will stare at you staring at them. If you have a big place they are fun to watch run around, all clunky like. Turtles are alot faster than most people think.
They don't bite, but carry salmonella.
If you buy fish they hunt them down really cool, crickets too.
They are high maintenance but won't poop on your carpet like cats, dogs, and rabbits.
yah, I brake it all.....
I keep 3 turtles in a big tank. They are low-maintenance, won't shed hair all over, only need fed a few times a week, and given a good tank heater, clean water, some nooks and crannies to hide in, and an overhead light or sunlight and rocks to bask on, pretty much take care of themselves. I've even kept a heated indoor tank for nights and a sun-heated outdoor tank on my balcony for days (in the summer months only, for days when it will get up over 90; they love to bask in the sun).
The only problem with the outdoor tank is you have to make sure they can't wander off and get lost (they will climb over the edge of the tank and go for a stroll).
You can feed them canned "senior" dog food, making sure they get enough calcium, and supplement with just about any kind of chopped-up fresh fruits and vegetables, dried shrimp, mealworms, crickets, even brown rice, beans, leftover people-food salad... they are omnivores. They have different tastes. Giblet loves broccoli. Bubba hates bananas. Etc.
The possible downsides:
They don't have the most exciting life-style.
They aren't cuddly... in fact, they would prefer you didn't handle them. Although they will learn to take food from your fingers (watch the fingers; big ones can draw blood).
They are very messy eaters. You need a separate tub or tank to feed them in. If you feed them in their regular tank it will get clogged with rotting food. The books warn against feeding them in the sink but I have a big stainless steel sink with a garbage disposal, and that's where they get fed. Just clean it afterwards.
They can live a LONG time if you take care of them... like maybe 50 years! (Are you ready for a long-term commitment?)
They can bite HARD when they get to be bigger. I've got some scars on my hands.
Some of the breeds can be harder to deal with, especially if they need hibernation. Red-eared sliders, box turtles, and musk turtles are easy to take care of, though.
But they are an unusal pet, kids love to watch them in the tank, and they are mildly entertaining.
you can pick up a skunk at many pet stores from the begining of spirng till winter, they are de-scented and are great pets, i had one for a while, would still have it but i have super bad luck with any pet that is officially mine, he was running behind me and i didnt notice and accidently shut my front door on its little head, it snapped it neck killing him instantly, im glad it was quick ='(, anyway back to the pet, they love attention and are very affectionet (sp?) They love to play, they'll charge you like a bull (which is funny since there not all that big)
The one i had was named ceaser and he'd love to sit and watch me play ceaser3 oddly enough.
Oops. here's the link
Seagull's Guinea Pig Compendium
I can provide some information on the Bengal...
The Bengal is bred from the small wild "Asian Leopard Cat", not a leopard but Felis bengalensis, a small (up to 18 pounds) wild cat found in southern/eastern Asia, the Phillipines, and Indonesia. A full-blood ALC is very shy. The Bengal is a cross-breed with domestic cats, and acts pretty much like any other cat, except they like water and will cost you around $700 for a "pet quality" Bengal kitten.
A badly-bred Bengal will be shy, like her wild great-great grandmother.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
I'd like my next cat to be really large.
Any suggestions as to a breed of cat which will grow to be big (not simply fat) and are known to have a friendly temperment? No need to be good with small children or strangers.
I'd consider a Ragdoll or Maine Coon, but I would prefer a cat with short, dark hair, as most of my clothes and carpeting are various shades of black, and I'd like them to stay that way.
I do not deploy Linux. Ever.
I currently have 2 ferrets. My lifetime total for ferrets is 5.
My first advice is that if you're even a little bit wary of a ferret as a pet then DON"T get one. I personally know the owner of a ferret shelter that's just full of good animals they weren't prepared for.
First off and I hope this is all you need to change your mind. Ferrets are not really potty or litter box trainable. Yep, for thier entire lives you'll be cleaning up thier shit. Deal with it.
They only live about 6 years or so AND they are very prone to health problems. You'll love them as much or more than a cat or dog and loose them on 1/3 the time, usually to an accident or very expensive health condition. You MUST search out a good ferret vet in your area, don't use any old vet, they won't have a clue. This I know from painful experience.
They're perpetual 1+1/2 year olds. Imagine a mobile crawling baby that can climb. Hell bent on dumping any trash can, glass of cool-aid, papers, anything. A ferret can get into your girlfriends purse and scatter the contents over a 10^2 foot area in 2 minutes. And they'll probably hide thier favorite stuff where you can't find it. They are trouble, you have to watch out for them like children. Ferret proofing your home is the first step before they even get home.
The up side is that they're very happy in a large cage and spend all but about 2-3 hours a day in thier cage sleeping. So they're out of your hair most of the time and you can be prepared for "ferret time".
Pet store ferrets are HORRIBLE. DO NOT EVER BUY A FERRET FROM A PET STORE! Look I lost 2 ferrets primarily due to MASSIVE (read ~$1000-$3000 in vet bills) mainly due to the poor breeding and genetics of the Marshal Farms ferret farm. My latest pair I have from an excellent breeder and they simply LOOK much healthier, and I haven't had a single problem with them yet.
Oh yeah, you DO realize of course that ferrets stink, yes? As in, ferrets are cousins of Skunks and have a similar scent gland and musky odor. Even when descented thier natural "musk" is still in strong effect. My current 2 ferts are not descented and there is no difference in oder from the ones before, that were. Trust me, they stink. Go find a ferret and press your nose up against one and inhale deeply, didn't like it? move along.....
They're a handful, most of the time I tell people to please don't get one. I firmly believe most people won't like them in the long run even if they think they're cute now. They're stubborn, intelligent, tenacious as hell. Unless you're the kind of person who would enjoy babysitting 2 toddlers every night for years don't even think about it. Ferrets and kids are a NO-NO. ferrets are FRAGILE. and you can easily break thier backs if you're not careful. A child will usually hurt a ferret by not understanding this.
So all I'm saying is don't get one, please. If you think you really want one, spend some time around some first. They are nothing like a cat, dog or (grrrr... ) rat. There's no comparison.
Sure, people have recommended a fish. But how about a specific kind of intelligent fish? I would recommend a single Oscar.
Why single? Because they are messy fish that grow to be a bit big. They also will pay more attention to you (when there isn't another fish in the tank... besides feeders), and that makes them more easily trainable.
Why an Oscar? They are one of the most intelligent freshwater fish. Read up on them. You'll see that people say they have personalities, and that they really are trainable to do all sorts of things. It really is quite amazing.
Thus, it would be a perfect geek pet, to bring out the intelligence in a fish and to demonstrate the specific skills you were able to train it to do. And most people don't have fish that'll do anything but nibble out of their hand. This'll be a cool thing.
A friend of mine had several ferrets, as well as a computer that was prone to overheating. So in any case, when the weather got hot he took the sides off his case and put a box fan next to the case (which was about the height and depth of his tower case) to gain some additional cooling. In any case, the largest and smartest of the ferrets thought it was just the _neatest_ game to go and yank all the IDE cables from his drives when he was at work. So he'd get home and his computer would claim to have no drives, he'd look at it, and discover that the fan had been wedged aside and next to his disconnected cabling were some droppings from the ferret. From that point on the fan was duct taped inside and out to the case.
Ferrets don't only chew cables, they like to unplug them, and even steal them to make nests out of. This ferret was also a master keyring theif/pickpocket and liked to take people's keyrigns out of their pockets and wind them down the spiral of the couch springs... (i can see why it could be entertaining).
So if you live in an evironment that contains any shiny objects weighing less than 2-3 Kg that aren't bolted down, you may want to be wary of the ferrets...
---
Play Six Pack Man. I
Always had pets but always had allergies too so my pet experience veers away from the usual cat or dog dillema. All the following have been very rewarding pets..
;-)
Hamsters - Cute, cheap and clean they are friendly (but nibbly) and you can go all out buying them all the plastic-tube-modular-habitat stuff you like. Need to be handled daily though. Mine tend to live three to four years.
Dwarf Hamsters - as above and can be housed in pairs. Smaller and cleaner than 'normal' hamsters but can be harder to handle due to size and speed.
Gerbils - Make great tunnel complexes in an earth filled aquarium. Best housed in a community. Fun to watch, can be handled. Relatively clean.
Rats - Very friendly, highly intelligent and relatively clean. Can be trained to do all sorts of cool things. Need stimulation, companionship and space.
Lizards - Very cool to look at, a couple of dragon-like star agamas in a desert styled vivarium look great. Practically untrainable (though mine used to sit on my shoulder happily) and can be quite hard to care for although most lizards should be relatively low maintainence.
Snakes - Very cool but often grow too big - I ended up with my 15ft Burmese Python trying to swallow my whole right hand once and was typing one-handed for a week. Can be easy enough to look after depending on breed. Many can be handled and are happy to hang around your neck whilst coding. Many potential mates get put off by the frozen mice in the fridge though..
Scorpions - Look great in a well appointed tank, low maintainence, easy to feed. Some can be handled but consider the 'yuk' factor if looking for someone to share your new apartment.
Spiders - More boring than most people think. Can be hard to care for. You will be hard pushed to find a flat-mate who finds large, hairy spiders attractive.
Tropical Fish - Require patience (allow three weeks to set up a tank before adding fish). Relaxing, undemanding and unlikely to make you sneeze. Lots of great hardware to play with.
Tropical Frogs - Very hard to care for but look great in a well set up vivarium.
Alternately get into BEAM robotics and build your own low maintainence pets
-= Never enter a battle of wits with an unarmed man =-
Except possibly two dogs like I have.
But only if your willing ot make the
commitment.
It will get you off your ass every day too
which is good for every geek.
Get a dead one, like me.
You don't have to feed me, water me, or even clean my cage.
And I'll always listen to you when you talk. Or at least look like it. Just put me you-know-where, and we'll be fine.
If I weren't nailed to the penis, I'd be pushing up the daisies!
Sea People!