Any ideas on a good pet for a college student?

Snake, lizard, crab, spider, etc

If you must have a pet, which I advise against, then go for a rat or a guinea pig. You will need to learn about the habits of both. A rat is probably more interactable with, but both are handleable. Rats are supposed to be really smart. Guinea pigs are very fuzzy. Both require lots of care. You can’t leave them alone. You must clean the cage and feed and water them and make their lives interesting.

But unless school is terribly boring and easy, I don’t know if you’ll really have time for a pet, unless you are prepared to get Cs, or have zero social life and don’t watch TV or go to the movies.

Get a praying mantis. Fun in a dorm room when you dump a dozen crickets in it once a week.

Guinea pig.

Mice do well in a ten gallon tank and are super fun pets. A guinea pig will not do well in a ten gallon tank. My sister has a few and even a fifty gallon tank is small for them.

Some people don’t like fish because they don’t see them as interactive. A goldfish would be easiest to keep in a dorm room (cold water fish) and just look what you can do . . ..

Guinea pigs make an annoying squeaking sound, so if you have a roommate, you may want to opt for a quieter pet. When my son was younger, he had green anole lizards that were pretty cool – they ate baby crickets, and the pet store near us bred feeders that didn’t chirp. He also had mice for a while, they have those habitrail-type tanks, so they are fun.

@zenvelo I love the idea of a praying mantis.
@beckk: If a guy pisses you off you can always throw a male mantis into the tank.

Rats are a great pet but you need two of the same sex; they are very sociable and get depressed if kept alone. They will also need regular playtime outside of their cage. Aside from that, they are very easy and cheap to care for. Don’t use wood-based litter in the cage; it can cause them to develop respiratory problems. The best litter for them is paper-based cat litter.

If you do decide on rats, PM me for more info. I kept them for years.

I think either a hamster, fish, or guinea pig would be good… or just something small that is easy to take care of.

I would get something like a snake that can be ignored for long periods of time, but can then be handled in your time. That way when you are studying for finals and the only thing on your mind is how much caffeine you might need and how to acquire prescription study aids without the prescription or the prerequisite ADD, it can be alright on its own for a week. They don’t even need to be fed every day.

I don’t think you should get a pet.

Guinea pigs do need room. Not sure what ten gallons looks like. When we had one, I think the pet got twelve to sixteen square feet of floor space. One foot tall.

@wundayatta :: My computer monitor has more floor space than a ten gallon talk. Ten gallons for a few goldfish is fine. For a guinea pig it would make Gitmo look like a vacation.

I have had them. A ten gallon tank would be horrible. They shit and piss a lot and they aren’t keen on doing it in the same place twice.

But if you have the space guinea pigs are a great pet. We would let ours run around the house all day. The pee and poop was easy to clean since we had hardwood floors. They never tried to bail.

Make sure that your roommate is ok with whatever pet you get. It’s not really a good situation when you have a pet that freaks them out.

Turtle. Really easy going. Doesn’t usually escape or make any noise and you don’t have to worry about any roommates having allergies to them. Easier to feed as well. Anything in the rodent family can sometimes already arrive pregnant and give your more and more. Plus many dorms may not allow rodents of any kind.

Guinea pigs and hamsters are nocturnal and are noisy at night. Not good it you or your house mate is a light sleeper. And don’t get a parrot. They are really noisy.

Wait until you are settled in your schedule before you get a pet. Check with your university and see if they have a program for training assistance animals. I went to school at a university with a no pet policy, but their seeing eye dog program was exempted. The only downside is once you have the animal trained you have to give it up.

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