Kathryn Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 DS has wanted a mouse forever. That creeped DH out, so we've tried one pet after another. We got two rabbits. They died two days and several hundred dollars later of hepatic coccidia. We adopted a cat. It bit and scratched and caused such a horrible infection in my mother that her hand swelled up to three times its normal size and we had the government called on us. We got a puppy. She ran away. Finally, after this run of bad luck, DH agreed to the mouse. We went to the pet store. He picked out the one he wanted. And, despite the fact that we'd read all about them and that males would fight, DH decided to get another one so YDS would have one too. After all, he said, they were in the same cage at the store. YDS's mouse has been constantly picking fights with ODS's mouse. We woke up this morning to find Ralph belly up, with his face eaten off. I'm so sad for ODS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmhearn Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 This post was funny and depressing at the same time... That is some terrible luck. Really, it just sounds like bad luck, though. I'm sure you'll find a match for your family soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Oh my goodness. Maybe YDS's mouse read the story about that guy in Miami. Okay, sorry, I just couldn't resist. That is really sad. I hope you can get a pet that works for you guys. Have you tried fish? We've had these same fish forever. Everyone told me they would not live long. They were wrong. I'm waiting for these things to croak so I don't have to clean the tank anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted July 6, 2012 Author Share Posted July 6, 2012 I thought about fish, but we had a saltwater tank as well as turtles before kids, and I did not enjoy cleaning tanks. Actually, we had pets galore and I'm just done with pets, but the poor little guy wants something to love so much. And it is so unfortunate, it's comical--I know. The plan is to take Miami Mouse (the mouse formally known as "House Mouse"--yeah, my 2yo is really original) back to the pet store and get ONE dwarf hamster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tmhearn Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 We recently got those tiny aquatic frogs. They are almost no maintenance but super cute and funny to watch. We already have 3 dogs and 3 kids, plus a baby due next month. My dd wanted a fish. I really couldn't handle anything else to take care of. The frogs only have to be fed twice a week. The "tank" is almost self-maintaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassoonaroo Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Sorry about the mice. Get yourself a pair of girl rats. If possible from a breeder with "good health, longevity" as goals. Find a vet who'll treat them by looking in yellow pages for "exotics" in the ad. Upside: Clean and friendly, come when you call (or at least will poke her head out of a box upon hearing her name), fun to play with. Amused with empty toilet paper rolls, packing paper, empty tissue boxes. A lot more fun than mice. Downside: Short (2-3 years) lifespan, sometimes develops respiratory issues or mammary tumors (spaying helps -- but tumors can also be removed). Requires a cage that is bigger than that mouse cage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 Sorry about the mice. Get yourself a pair of girl rats. If possible from a breeder with "good health, longevity" as goals. Find a vet who'll treat them by looking in yellow pages for "exotics" in the ad. Upside: Clean and friendly, come when you call (or at least will poke her head out of a box upon hearing her name), fun to play with. Amused with empty toilet paper rolls, packing paper, empty tissue boxes. A lot more fun than mice. Downside: Short (2-3 years) lifespan, sometimes develops respiratory issues or mammary tumors (spaying helps -- but tumors can also be removed). Requires a cage that is bigger than that mouse cage. :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruby Rose Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 What kind of sick people are we??? I laughed too! Sorry. :confused: Just don't accidentally get a preggo hamster. What's grosser than gross? A hamster eating its bald babies. GAG! It's something you will never forget! I know because it is still ingrained in my memory from 25+ years ago! :scared: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 If you can find a winter white hamster, they are the friendliest. Robo dwarfs are insanely hyper and fast. Russian dwarfs are mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 What a run of bad luck! Reminds me of my childhood. The only pets we had luck with was spayed cats. The unspayed cats ran off. Someone gave us a dog, it ran off after a couple of months. I had a rabbit, it dislocated its hip and died. I had an anole lizard, it wouldn't eat any of its mealworms and promptly died. I had a parakeet, it got a tumor while I was away on a trip and I came back and its cage was empty. I had a gerbil, but I was scared to death of it because it bit. I'm sorry your cat experience was bad too. :( That kind of depends on the individual cat - most aren't like that. Our cats now are both spayed and indoors, and quite cuddly. I think I agree with the others that a rat might be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 What kind of sick people are we??? I laughed too! Sorry. :confused: Just don't accidentally get a preggo hamster. What's grosser than gross? A hamster eating its bald babies. GAG! It's something you will never forget! I know because it is still ingrained in my memory from 25+ years ago! :scared: Yeah, same experience 25 years ago only with a gerbil. And she had escaped while pregnant (which we didn't know she was) and had her babies on the loose and we found a head in the bathroom. If you can find a winter white hamster, they are the friendliest. Robo dwarfs are insanely hyper and fast. Russian dwarfs are mean. He picked out a robo dwarf. It's insanely cute. I don't think there will be a lot of handling involved anyway since the 2yo wants to do everything his brother does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitten18 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 :grouphug: That is just awful luck! We adopted a cat. It bit and scratched and caused such a horrible infection in my mother that her hand swelled up to three times its normal size and we had the government called on us. We had a cat that ONLY liked DH, he hated everyone else. He bit my mom on the hand and the infection got so bad that she spent a week in the hospital, had 2 surgeries to clean out the infection and almost had her finger amputated.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 If you can find a winter white hamster, they are the friendliest. Robo dwarfs are insanely hyper and fast. Russian dwarfs are mean. :iagree: If it makes you feel any better, after my parents divorced my father bought me a gerbil to keep at his apartment for when I visited. Its s3x mysteriously changed at one point. Fortunately for dad I was young enough to buy the we must have been wrong when we tried to determine whether it was male or female the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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