Looking for fun recommendations for my next pet

[HarryG]

I am looking for another exotic animal to add to my collection. I am properly permitted. I live in Wisconsin, a state where such a thing is legal. I am looking for recommendations. For the most part I should be able to properly care for any animal you may recommend. Though I have kept a big cat in the past I learned I am not properly equipped to care for one in terms of space, nor would I want another one as they are difficult to maintain even when they are small enough to handle properly and extremely dangerous. I could most likely not care for an elephant or giraffe. I would like something preferably that could mingle with my current animals and something that I could let roam free when I am in the house. I currently possess a meerkat, a tiger salamander that stays in its terrarium, two cats, and an English bulldog. Thank you for any and all input, guys.

 

 

 

-HarryG

[Erik]

Do you have a Meerkat or a Meerkat? Since the ones with red text often appear to be more valuable

[HarryG]

Do you have a Meerkat or a Meerkat? Since the ones with red text often appear to be more valuable

I have a meerkat who I learned enjoys teething as he chewed through my router cable whilst i was buying red text one night. Fun times at the HarryG household.

[Happysedits]

is snake exotic? if yes then some snake

[Cult✓]

Yes. Get danger noodle

[ThePickleCat]

bearded dragon

[HarryG]

is snake exotic? if yes then some snake

 

I would love a burmese python. Used to own one, fun animals to have and feed.

bearded dragon

I love lizards. My friend has a beardy and it is adorable.

 

Good suggestions, keep em' coming!

[ThePickleCat]

I would love a burmese python. Used to own one, fun animals to have and feed.

I love lizards. My friend has a beardy and it is adorable.

 

Good suggestions, keep em' coming!

I have one, they can be cuddly, which is weird to say about a reptile, ball pythons are good snakes too i hear

[Z ;)]

Are you objectifying animalssss

[MrDeepDarkmind]

Fox

Iguana or a bearded dragon

[steel-toed-sloth]

dog

[TheWiz]

A pig or chipmunk

[Kote]

I can verify pigs are fabulous as a owner of two, but ferrets are also a quite fun tamer option.

[° ͜ʖ °]

I would recommend an exotic fish since most are very pretty to look at and also you can buy a pretty nice tank for it and decorate it to look even better. Either that or an iguana since they're good too. =^)

[HarryG]

I would recommend an exotic fish since most are very pretty to look at and also you can buy a pretty nice tank for it and decorate it to look even better. Either that or an iguana since they're good too. =^)

I've looked into a lot of exotic fish. Lionfish and/or piranhas are something I'd like to get.

[The One]

Not really exotic but a well illuminated jellyfish tank is fantastic. 

[Explosion-chan]

I would personally love to have a fox but I've heard they smell horrible

[HarryG]

I would personally love to have a fox but I've heard they smell horrible

Fox musk is one of the worst smells on the planet. My uncle used to have one on his farm and let me tell you, off screen all the characters in Fox and the Hound were vomiting from that horrid smell

[unstopaBULLY]

IF you get fish lemme know. I used to have a ton of fish and I know a ton too.

For fish I would reccomend getting a group of Amazon imported Phetorophyllum Scalare (I'm bad at spelling) (Wild angelfish)

Or a group of freshwater discus fish.

If you have ever seen an aquascape in an aquarium they are one of the coolest peices of natural artwork I have ever seen and they make great fish habitats as well. With the right fish you can recreate the amazon river and have tons of cool fish. Here's an example if you're interested: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fb/b7/95/fbb79566f018bfaa2a277f52047d76d2.jpg

 

ANother choice with less work would be an Arrowana/Ray tank. Arrowanas and Rays are some of the coolest freshwater big fish you can keep IMO. US has some restrictions on what you can import though. If you get the right combination of Arrowana's and rays in a tank the fish are amazing and really cool to see. Although it won't be cheap. Cheaper than a big cat though lol.

Example:  https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc69%2Fbabymack_88%2Fdynamicred-1.jpg&hash=20a85f167895c48133dad8b3ca069272

 

Fish are actually a lot more interactive than you would think and are some of the coolest creatures I've had the pleasure to keep. Can't recommend them enough, especially because you don't seem to have fish. P.S. Don't reccomend saltwater, much more expensive even for a small tank. Freshwater may be expensive as well, but definitely less risky and easier than SW especially for a beginner.

[HarryG]

IF you get fish lemme know. I used to have a ton of fish and I know a ton too.

For fish I would reccomend getting a group of Amazon imported Phetorophyllum Scalare (I'm bad at spelling) (Wild angelfish)

Or a group of freshwater discus fish.

If you have ever seen an aquascape in an aquarium they are one of the coolest peices of natural artwork I have ever seen and they make great fish habitats as well. With the right fish you can recreate the amazon river and have tons of cool fish. Here's an example if you're interested: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fb/b7/95/fbb79566f018bfaa2a277f52047d76d2.jpg

 

ANother choice with less work would be an Arrowana/Ray tank. Arrowanas and Rays are some of the coolest freshwater big fish you can keep IMO. US has some restrictions on what you can import though. If you get the right combination of Arrowana's and rays in a tank the fish are amazing and really cool to see. Although it won't be cheap. Cheaper than a big cat though lol.

Example:  https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2Fi25.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fc69%2Fbabymack_88%2Fdynamicred-1.jpg&hash=20a85f167895c48133dad8b3ca069272

 

Fish are actually a lot more interactive than you would think and are some of the coolest creatures I've had the pleasure to keep. Can't reccomend them enough, especially because you don't seem to have fish.

My entire collection is cheaper than keeping a big cat for 6 months, just saying. You're talking stingrays right? I have experience with a japanese wobbegong shark that I used to keep in a huge 300G tank in my living room.That was years ago and from what I could presume I'd need a different tank as rays usually swim in large shallow water areas from what I've seen. Know anything about cost for rays or care? I'd like a ray but don't know much about them. Do you think I'd have enough experience for one? Obviously small sharks are different from rays but again I'm clueless.

[unstopaBULLY]

My entire collection is cheaper than keeping a big cat for 6 months, just saying. You're talking stingrays right? I have experience with a japanese wobbegong shark that I used to keep in a huge 300G tank in my living room.That was years ago and from what I could presume I'd need a different tank as rays usually swim in large shallow water areas from what I've seen. Know anything about cost for rays or care? I'd like a ray but don't know much about them. Do you think I'd have enough experience for one? Obviously small sharks are different from rays but again I'm clueless.

Tbh Rays are cool but it won't be easy to keep them. I'd start a tank with angel fish or something hardier but not too easy so you can get used to what parameters are necessary for certain fish/the paramters they need/when you should do water changes/cycle tanks etc. If you want to start with something cool try an archerfish and once you get too the level where you think you can keep a ray aliveI'd go for it. But until then you shoudn't get rays. And yes from what I know, they do prefer shallow tanks with lots of area. I'd reccomend looking up guides and how to keep rays on youtube. CHeck out the channel King of DIY he keeps arrowana and stringrays he might know some about them, but I have minimal/basic experience about rays. REally interesting creatures though. So are archerfish.

[MrDeepDarkmind]

Tbh I think a miniature pigs are great and adorable, or a toucan

[unstopaBULLY]

The guy I'm talking about: 

He doesn't talk about his fish that much but he really knows what hes doing and his fish are pretty cool.

Blue angelfish and Red angelfish are very cool as well.

[HarryG]

Tbh Rays are cool but it won't be easy to keep them. I'd start a tank with angel fish or something hardier but not too easy so you can get used to what parameters are necessary for certain fish/the paramters they need/when you should do water changes/cycle tanks etc. If you want to start with something cool try an archerfish and once you get too the level where you think you can keep a ray aliveI'd go for it. But until then you shoudn't get rays. And yes from what I know, they do prefer shallow tanks with lots of area. I'd reccomend looking up guides and how to keep rays on youtube. CHeck out the channel King of DIY he keeps arrowana and stringrays he might know some about them, but I have minimal/basic experience about rays. REally interesting creatures though. So are archerfish.

I love archerfish, just biologically I find them fascinating. I believe they don't always do the water spitting thing in captivity though, do you know if that's true? How amazing would it be to watch your fish hunt and feed that way every morning!? That WOULD be an awesome start!

 

Tbh I think a miniature pigs are great and adorable, or a toucan

Toucans and tropical birds in general I like but I do know that many of the species I've looked into in the past are critically endangered due to the pet trade and I don't want to contribute to that. I'm going to further delve into "safe" species that are considered ok to keep as pets in terms of their status. The Amazon has it bad enough with deforestation, you know?

[unstopaBULLY]

Decent article about Archerfish, they're brackish not my area of expertise so I found what seems to be an accurate article: https://www.petcha.com/setting-up-an-archerfish-aquarium/

 

If you do end up getting one I'd reccomend checking out multiple articles. Not the easiest fish to keep but definitely easier than rays or SW stuff. Not that many tankmates you can keep with them mollies I think, gobies and puffers might actually work and are really cool (I think you'll really like puffers, it's cool to watch them eat since they snack on snails.) and most puffers stay small and are decent tankmates. At least from what I've seen, don't take my word on it though. Bigger the tank the better, the guy in the article used a 55 for two, I'd reccomend a bit bigger.

 

If you like big, colorful interactive fish check out african shell dwellers and african cichlids as well, ton of different type of cool cichlids out there.

 

BTW, what big cat did you keep?