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'Exotic' pet owners, what are some things about your pets you wish more people knew about? (beehaw.org)

submitted 1 year ago by ericbomb@beehaw.org to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I own red eared slider turtles, while not exactly exotic it's funny that the three things they are known for by owners are things normal folks would not expect.

Turtles are escape artists. Because they need so much water to swim in and need basking areas, you'll generally want to fill your tank up as high as you can, and then have a basking platform up there. They will use those and filters to try to escape. They may succeed. There are a ton of questions/guides online to address this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHbV5nsDCb8&ab_channel=TheTurtleGirl
They are destructive. You will want to have a filter for them, and they will attack the filter with the fury of a bored creature attacking the thing making a noise. Many filters will fall to their wrath. If you google it you'll find ton of stories of turtles destroying filters/water heaters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnD3cKuFOa0&ab_channel=HMoore
They smell. How can such a small creature smell so powerfully? Magic.

Any other pet owners have secrets about their type of pet?

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[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Huh. This comment and the other below just made me realise I won't have a ferret. I love cats, but kittens wear me out, not so much because of their energy but because they don't understand they are being annoying (I guess that's why one can't be mad at them ha). I love the smart, energetic cat breeds though. I've heard a lot of praise for ferrets from ferret owners, but nobody mentioned their smell or that they would be like kittens.

[–] DJDarren@beehaw.org 2 points 1 year ago

kittens wear me out

100% this. They're cute as fuck, but there's a reason why my wife and I just adopted a pair of 6yo cats. Might get a few years less with them, but as least they won't drive me insane for a year.

[–] VoxAdActa@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nobody mentioned the smell? Holy shit, that sounds like the setup to an awful prank.

The smell is an intense sensory experience. We had ferrets for a few years, and at no point did I ever go nose-blind to them. They are the stinkiest things anyone otherwise sane has ever willingly let into their home. Cleaning their litter boxes practically requires a respirator. And that's after their musk glands have been removed (which, at the time, was standard practice; you couldn't hardly get ferrets from anywhere with their musk glands intact).

They're fuckin' adorable, and playful, and fun, but man, the smell. All the other problems with them being only-just-barely-domesticated wild animals aside, the smell is probably the most important thing to know about them.

[–] Mothra@mander.xyz 1 points 1 year ago

Well! Thanks for clarifying. I just crossed out ferrets from the list of potential future pets in my life :)