# Opinion- lowest maintenance pet



## cookiebear<3 (Aug 2, 2013)

Aside from pet rocks and plants  this is NOT because I intend on getting another pet- just curious to what people think. I do understand there is no such thing as a true low maintenance pet and that they all have needs, but which are the easiest to fill? (even if it just _your personal _lowest due to your situation)
For example people tend to say fish but to me its very difficult

Or on the flip side the highest maintenance pet that is still rewarding to you!

Personally my lowest is cats since they blatently demand what they want ;D


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

Blech, I can't keep plants alive. To me, those are way too high maintenance. XD

Gerbils are very low maintenance. They do best in an aquarium and, depending on the size, it only needs cleaning once a month or so. They of course need feeding and watering daily, and if they are tame enough, it is good to get them out in a playpen every day or so (I can't with mine because they hate me ). Dust bathes are good to offer semi often as well.


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## LilCritter (Feb 25, 2014)

Tarantulas can be pretty low maintenance once you have them all set up.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Snakes are pretty low maintenance. Lizards can go either way depending on if they're live insect eaters or not. I also have a millipede that may qualify as the lowest maintenance pet I've ever had (since I can't bring myself to handle it for some reason...all those legs >.<).


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## blakeduhh (Aug 9, 2015)

In my opinion low maintiance pets are gerbils, beta fish, and snakes.


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## MissSix (Jul 8, 2014)

Tarantulas. 
Only need food a couple times a month (depending on species and individual appetites). Some substrate, keep them warm and keep the tank relatively moist and they are perfectly fine.


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## artgecko (Nov 26, 2013)

Snakes and my dwarf hamsters... I feed both once a week (the dwarfs get a weeks' worth of food at a time). Snakes also don't smell (unless they have pooped) and you only need to clean their cage 1-2 times a week... Some of mine only eat every 2-3 weeks and will eat once a month as adults. You work a lot on the front end though, getting the temps and humidity right and buying the appropriate heating and housing isn't cheap...But they make great pets with little time commitment and don't need interaction to be happy.


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## Fu-Inle (Jan 22, 2015)

Insects


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## BlackZarak (Apr 18, 2015)

Had several Emperor and Black Asian scorpions, and apart from feeding them crickets and gelled water every week, it was ridiculously low maintenance. I enjoyed freaking the crap out of my guests with those, my first Emperor was over 8 inches long.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

We've had a lot of pets over the years and sometimes I'd say it depends on the individual pet regardless of species.

Lets see we've had-fish, Hamster, mice, cats, chickens, house bunny, rats, ponies, striped possum, sugar glider, skunks, horses, ferrets, mink, squirrels, dogs and then house birds-parakeets, conure and starling.

From easiest to most time consuming listed. I count all things time consuming-feeding, handling, cleaning, walking ect. I don't count financial or health care time cause that just depends on the individual critters health and if an accident has occurred. We have had a lot of farm critters when I was young, but I only counted the layer chickens as pets, because they are with perks. 

Currently we are owned by 2 dogs, 15 rats, a conure, starling and 3 chickens. If I counted our current rats as a whole then rats might be higher on the maintenance list, but that is just cause we've got 15 of em.  Our two dogs are way high maintenance right now but that is due to old age health issues.


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## Ezray (Aug 15, 2015)

My dad has stick insects, which just need a mist of water and some brambles to munch on, which is about as low maintenance as you get I think! Not exactly cuddly though  it's definitely about lifestyle as well- I live in a fairly small rented flat, so a lot of pets feel like more work because I have space constraints (eg no garden, small rooms, unable to put shelves up etc) whereas if I could buy my own house, I could have a garage and garden space, which makes things just a little bit easier!


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## cookiebear<3 (Aug 2, 2013)

Anyone had experience with roaches? 
I want to ask all of you questions! 

To the snake owners- any moral dillemas? Feed frozen or live? Would you ever feed one of your ratties? (I'm kinda assuming it's safe to feed deceased unfrozen rodents, but not really sure)
To owners of.. Non mammal 'insect' type creatures- taranchulas, centipede, stick insects and scorpions- how is care? Do you handle them? Are they fun to watch?

Also I might have to recommend a low maintenance (ish) pet for my aunt (for the children although the adults would care for it) who has it in her head that one cute little rat would be low care... I tried to explain otherwise but I told her a bit about mine and she thinks I'm over indulgent of my babies....
Gerbils, mice? They want cute but are somewhat open to lizard so maybe I can convince for something !else mainstream.. They've had monarch butterflies atcone point but they want to be able to keep it for a bit longer than that?
Edit:they do take very good care of the animals they have, so that is not a concern

@mimsy -I'd love to hear your experience with pet skunks! It's something that I want when I move to a state where that's legal.. Also have you had alpacas?


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## FallDeere (Sep 29, 2011)

Gerbils are very low maintence, but not good for small children. They are very fun to watch, though, for all ages. Just as long as the kids don't want to hold them and play with them. Good socialization could make a gerbil friendly, but even so, they are flighty.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

cookiebear<3 said:


> Anyone had experience with roaches?
> I want to ask all of you questions!
> 
> To the snake owners- any moral dillemas? Feed frozen or live? Would you ever feed one of your ratties? (I'm kinda assuming it's safe to feed deceased unfrozen rodents, but not really sure)
> ...


I raised dubia roaches for my bearded dragon for a while. They're pretty cool little critters and I'd often find myself "playing" with them though I didn't consider them pets. They're about as low maintenance as you get; dog food and some veggies to eat and water crystals and that's about it. 

Feeding live animals to snakes is a really bad idea. I'm not sure if you've ever been bitten by a large rat, but it can do a lot of damage and if a rat is fighting for its life...well you can probably imagine. I've heard of rats killing snakes. I feed frozen thawed to my ball python and he's never had a problem with eating. 

My only "insect" at the moment is a millipede that I found my dogs harassing in the back yard. I like watching him (on the rare occasion that I catch him moving) but I just can't bring myself to let him crawl on me...something about all those legs lol Kind of odd since nothing usually freaks me out.

As far as a pet for your family members, do they want something hands on or something they could just watch? Mice are good for watching (they're not really as social as rats typically, though they can be friendly with time and effort; my lab mice are friendlier than some of the rescue rats I've taken in lol), gerbils are even better for watching and they have such cool cages for small critters like that. If they want something hands on, maybe a house rabbit? Two rats wouldn't be too terribly hard to take care of (coming from the person who had 11 until recently lol). Either has its caveat whether it's proper diet or housing. I'd be wary of reptiles if they're not super meticulous about their pets (even if they do take good care of them). Leopard geckos are a good starter as long as you can find healthy ones to begin with (not petsmart -_-); I'd stay away from anything high maintenance as far as diet or housing needs for first time reptile owners. Snakes are easy if they can stomach the feeding, but they're another that needs at least a little attention to their housing pretty much on a daily basis. Ball pythons are good, hardy starters, but they can get pretty large.


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## BlackZarak (Apr 18, 2015)

> scorpions- how is care? Do you handle them? Are they fun to watch?


Emperor scorpions are fairly docile and can be handled, I'd usually take mine out and keep him on my shoulder while gaming and such. I got stung a few times in the beginning, which is about like a bee sting. Venom isn't an issue as all Emperors sold as pets are devenomized. They are notorious climbers and even my 8 inch Emperor was an acrobat. Not very fun to watch otherwise, as most of the time they stay in hiding or idle.Black Asian scorpions are MUCH more aggressive and I do not recommend handling and I would not recommend them for first time owners. They look wicked under a blacklight, though, with am amazing turquoise blue glow. Watching them shedding exoskeletons is also quite the experience.


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## cookiebear<3 (Aug 2, 2013)

@kksrats- that's great info, thanks! She has three dogs and a cat, and her children are toddlers. She wants it for when they are just a 'little older' so I think a just watching would be better as they can be a little rough with the dogs and cats if their mom isn't right there (they are incredibly gentle animals) and I worry that knowing that the rats are so friendly and out of the cage during freerange time that they will want to handle them, and quite potentially accidentally hurt or kill them if unsupervised at some point. 
What do you feed the millipede?

@blackzarak that's really cool!
What do you feed your emperor?


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

My millipede gets any wilted veggies that I have lying around.

I should edit this to say not rotten veggies...just stuff that's slightly wilted.


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## BlackZarak (Apr 18, 2015)

> @blackzarak that's really cool!
> What do you feed your emperor?


Crickets, fed with a commercial mixture of high nutrition food whose name eludes me right now. The process is known as gut-loading and the scorpions benefit greatly from ingesting those enriched crickets. Occasionally I liked to mix things up and give them some mealworms as well, which are plentiful in pet stores. You can keep crickets in the same vivarium as the scorpions, or in a different tank. Emperors are very passive to the presence of crickets and only pick them off when they are hungry. Asian Forest Scorpions are a different matter, being much more aggressive than Emperors they would quickly decimate the cricket population even when satiated.

Emperors can be kept in groups with no problems assuming that multiple hiding spots are available. Asian Forests are MUCH more aggressive and they do not play well with cohabitation, it is possible, but there is a risk of cannibalism. Asian Forest scorpions are very similar to Emperors and sometimes are mistakenly sold as such, and rule of thumb, if a scorpion is smaller and behaves more aggressively, it will be a Forest scorpion. Observe the pincers as well, Emperors will have granulated, chitinous pincers while Asian Forest have smoother, less granulated ones.


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## Smilebud (Jul 31, 2012)

I honestly find dogs and cats to be more low maintnaince than rats.. Once you train a dog after the first year, you don't really have to put work in. Food and water, everthing else already part of everyday life that you just invclude the dogs in. Ctas only need food water and litter chnages, everything else is everyday life.

With rats you have to feed, water, clean cage, have out time for like three hours instead of a 20 minute walk, you get scratched up like an axe murderer was after you, everything you own gets chewed or peed on. 

That's just me though!


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## Roonel (Jan 27, 2014)

Cats. We have gone in holiday for up to two weeks at a time and left them with dry food and water only (they have outside access) and they have been happy and purring on our return. You can't beat that! And super rewarding of course. I love rats but find them (comparatively) very high maintenance.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

Smilebud said:


> I honestly find dogs and cats to be more low maintnaince than rats.. Once you train a dog after the first year, you don't really have to put work in. Food and water, everthing else already part of everyday life that you just invclude the dogs in. Ctas only need food water and litter chnages, everything else is everyday life.
> 
> With rats you have to feed, water, clean cage, have out time for like three hours instead of a 20 minute walk, you get scratched up like an axe murderer was after you, everything you own gets chewed or peed on.
> 
> That's just me though!


I think the amount of maintenance that goes into a dog after the first year really depends on the breed. My 5 year old heeler/border collie/pitbull mix needs A LOT of exercise which she doesn't get on her own so I have to take her running. My pitbull on the other hand (same age) couldn't care less about exercise as long as he has food and a blanket to sleep on, but he still demands attention every day. The chihuahua in my home (not mine) is extremely demanding of a lap to sit in which means little paws scratching on your leg when you're trying to cook, clean, work on your computer, etc. 

Cats are definitely lower maintenance than dogs. I think a cat is the only animal I'd ever leave alone in my home while I go out of town for a few days. Dogs either have to be kenneled or come with us and rats have to be looked after by someone who will feed and water them. My reptiles are ok alone, I just don't like leaving heat lamps on while I'm away for extended periods.


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## cookiebear<3 (Aug 2, 2013)

Thanks for all the awesome answers guys  
@kksrats- I was wondering how one would go about adopting mice from a lab after their tests are over? Does the lab you work in only keep pew? Are there any autopsy requirements for those adopted out? 
Have you had any problems with leaving heat lamps on? One of our cats managed to catch her tail on fire (no more than a second or two, she wasn't hurt) and woke everyone up with her tail smoking (we had a small heat lamp over a section of a gerbil cage) 
Yeah I could leave my lab mix at home with someone to stop by and feed, water and take him out for the bathroom, while he needs attention he'd be fine for a few days but our German Shepard eats drywall and furniture when she isn't getting enough attention and playtime...


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

cookiebear<3 said:


> Thanks for all the awesome answers guys
> @kksrats- I was wondering how one would go about adopting mice from a lab after their tests are over? Does the lab you work in only keep pew? Are there any autopsy requirements for those adopted out?
> Have you had any problems with leaving heat lamps on? One of our cats managed to catch her tail on fire (no more than a second or two, she wasn't hurt) and woke everyone up with her tail smoking (we had a small heat lamp over a section of a gerbil cage)
> Yeah I could leave my lab mix at home with someone to stop by and feed, water and take him out for the bathroom, while he needs attention he'd be fine for a few days but our German Shepard eats drywall and furniture when she isn't getting enough attention and playtime...


Our lab does not have an adoption policy unfortunately and retired behavioral animals are used as sentinels (they are tested regularly for infections that would compromise research if our animals became ill). I've talked to the head of the animal facility about adopting and she doesn't really know how they'd go about setting that up either. You can probably call any universities in your area that do research and inquire about if they have an adoption policy. The mice in our lab come in black, agouti, nude (likely not adoptable anywhere), and PEW. The black mice we use are just a typical unmodified (much) strain. I'm unsure of what the other mice are as far as genetics but any modifications would have an impact on whether they're adoptable or not. The only rats I typically see here are sprague-dawleys which are PEW. I have to say though, they are the sweetest male rats I've ever met and really don't take much to socialize with humans. Our mice have been surprisingly easy to tame as well and actually changed how I felt about mice (I didn't like mice because I thought they couldn't be socialized).

I've never actually had an issue with the heat lamps, I'm just paranoid lol. Luckily most of the times we go places it's during summer and it's warm enough to just cut the AC off to the room and turn off the lamps.


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## loveabull (May 28, 2015)

Lowest upkeep are the Koi, suction the tank and change the filter when the cat hair backs it up. Throw in some food every day or two and happy fish. Cats are pretty easy. Toys, food, water and a clean litter tray and they're good. The rat's we feed nightly, top up the water bottle and cuddle whoever comes to the door. The dogs are the neediest creatures. I love them more than life itself. But dogs mean feeding and watering and walking and letting them in and out. If you walk out of the bathroom it's the second coming. Dogs are by far the most maintenance.


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## cirice (Nov 15, 2015)

Frogs in my opinion. They don't really like handling, most (species where I live) don't need misting for humidity, and they only need feeding once every 2-4 days depending on the species. You do need to make sure their water is clean though, but with a half and half tank, that's like once a week of refilling the water portion.


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## mimsy (Jun 8, 2014)

cookiebear<3 said:


> Anyone had experience with roaches?
> 
> @mimsy -I'd love to hear your experience with pet skunks! It's something that I want when I move to a state where that's legal.. Also have you had alpacas?


I just caught this. one of my biggest heart animals was Elliot a big dark eyed white skunk. We had two, Elliot and his girlfriend (both were spayed/neutered) Flower who was a chocolate. legalities I'm sure you have seen are all over the place from state to state in the US. 

Both were rescues and prior to being rescued were outside in a cage, so they needed a lot of time to become comfy house skunks. Flower was always pretty nervous, and strangers just made her panic.

Elliot was a squishy sweetheart that loved everyone. Anyone in the kitchen had a skunk that would flop on t heir foot, in hopes of being given some food. (they are very very food orientated) he slept in our bed and my husband built a ramp for him to climb up to it. When he got really old we had to put railings on the ramp.  Sometimes he would decide he was hungry in the middle of the night and hug my neck with his arms and give kisses, he actually made human type kissy sound when he did this. Hard to be mad, when woken that way. From what I've seen, more are closer to Flower in personality than Elliot..but boy my little man was special. He fought obesity most of his life, though he did outlive the normal age of around 7 and made it a very old 12 year old skunk before he passed. He could go outside with supervision and stuck right with me. He can't see far though and would panic if I was outside of sight. (lots of thumping till he could figure out where I was) 

Every once in a while he'd get hold of the dog food...now t hat was an ordeal. He'd stomp at the dogs, which usually sent dog food flying everywhere and when you picked up the bowl he'd be holding on with his front feet for dear life.

I'll stop, cause I could really just go on and on about him. Here is a pic of him, though he was pretty old so he had some discoloration happening.


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## 461537 (Nov 15, 2015)

I had a pet weta once, and a couple of cockroaches - they are about as 'low maintenance' as you can get. Wetas don't make good pets, but cockroaches are relatively fun. I had a cockroach called James that I glued a tail and antlers onto. I think another cockroach must have eaten him though, because he disappeared and the antlers and tail ended up mixed in with the bedding material I was using.

...oh, for all you non New Zealanders, this is a weta...


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