Unusual Pets on Boats?

[Starcoaster]

African Pygmy Hedgehogs and other modern exotics are a terrible pet idea for anyone. They are non-native wild animals, and it is illegal to keep regular hedgies as pets in the UK because they are simply not suited to it. They live very short lives in captivity, not enough is known about how to care for them correctly in captivity, and you cannot get veterinary care from them without visiting an exotics specialist.

They are the latest fad pet, which will soon go the way of the terrapin and every other hot exotic convenience pet craze.

[Doodlebug]

We have an African pigmy hedgehog who lives in a 1.8 m wide cabinet on the wall of the boat.

[Doodlebug]

Just read star coasters post.

 

I must disagree, she's very happy on the boat. We use the central heating in winter admittedly as the main heat source to keep her warm but our boats no different in temperature to a house. She comes out in the evenings to run around and explore and enjoys using her wheel. The cabinet also has two floors so really she has twice the area.

 

And when you say short life's, how do you describe that? In the wild animals get eaten so pretty hard to say how long they live for in the wild and also African pigmy hedgehogs don't excist in the wild.

 

And she enjoys the human interaction. If we don't pick her up she sits in her pouch so she's half in half out to make sure we notice her.

[Starcoaster]

I don't think having one in a house is any more appropriate than having one on a boat, other than that the animal is not subjected to the additional stress of moving.

They are another unnecessary human affectation, a designer pet that will peak in popularity, is not a species natural to a small confined caged environment, was literally created for the vanity and novelty of the pet trade and likely cannot survive in any country in the wild, is already of concern to veterinary staff and the RSPCA.

 

The history of domestication of this hybrid breed only came about as recently as the late 1980's in small numbers, and in the UK their average lifespan based on RCVS figures is 3 years, as opposed to the 4-10 year averages of their two component breeds in the wild, because people simply don't know how to keep them/the fact that hedgehogs are not good domestic pets/cohesive and comprehensive veterinary care is not available. They are virtually impossible to insure, and with veterinary care such as it is for them needing to take place in specialist exotics referral clinics or zoo vets for which just the referral fee is several hundred pounds, I am intrigued as to how anyone can justify keeping one, knowing they stand little to no chance of being able to get them treated if they became unwell.

 

I am aware that veterinary care is not available in the wild either, but neither is the dramatic difference from their natural environment that can create problems of its own. In regular, non- specialist practices, exotic care is a very peripheral area of the work, and take in anything as common as even say, a ferret or a parakeet, and vets will refer to "the exotics bible" to find out its natural health, common conditions and how to treat it. Hedgehogs aren't even in it, and other than the short term or emergency care of wild hedgehogs before re-release (such as feeding up before hibernation, treating for fleas and ticks and minor injuries) vets simply do not have a handle on dealing with caged hedgehogs in the pet trade and their associated health issues.

Hedgehogs in the wild roam large distances every night, love to run, get to catch/dig their own food and hibernate annually, behaviors that domesticated hedgehogs cannot/do not display.

 

Why anyone would seek to own a recently bred hybrid exotic when not much is even known about the natural habitats and habits of the two component breeds, there is little to no veterinary knowledge available about them and their domestic living conditions are dramatically different by necessity than what the species is used to in the wild, is beyond me.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Starcoaster

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

To my mind,

Most animals were wild & free,or simply didn't exist at all at one stage or another. We (Human Beings) have Hunted,Killed imprisoned / Domesticated,Inter bread or Genetically messed about with most of them over the ages.

Don't forget the 'Exotic Pets' of yesteryear was a Wolf. Then Cave man put one in his Canoo, put some sides a roof on it to stop it escaping. Fitted an old Lister that he had laying about. Then Hay Presto the Canal Boat was born.& the Domesticated Dog was the side product.& now it's the common norm.

From that,,we have now got all sorts,Shapes,Sizes of Boats & Dogs.& I'm not saying it's for the best,it's just the way we are.

 

I just thank the heavens he couldn't fit a T Rex aboard his dugout.

 

I guess what ime trying to say is, well actually I don't know,I haven't had my coffee yet !.

Oh yes, So this Hedge hog although may be an unusual pet to have today,give us time and it could be the norm in a few years.

 

Like

Horses, Fish, Birds, Dogs, ime not going to include Cats,because they do what they want anyway & I still haven't worked out if they have I'm fact Domesticated us.

Edited February 22, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[Doodlebug]

I'm not so convinced star coaster. The additional stress of moving? She's got no idea. She's asleep, and where she is she could hardly feel the engine if at all. And not being able to roam free? Think about all those poor dogs who could be taking the selfs on 30 mile walks every day but instead are hemmed into a boat. (I'm not against dogs on boats at all by the way but using it to make the point). As Paul says all animals used to be wild and we domesticated them.

 

You make it sound like we have her because we want to be 'cool' so bought a designer pet. This wasn't the case. We saw the advert for her before we researched it.

 

African hedgehogs don't hub innate and doing so could kill them. So your right she never hybinates. This is one reason they live less than a European hedgehog. Also Europe hedgehogs are larger and therefore live longer.

 

The smaller an animal is the less time it lives for.

 

You are correct as far as vets go, although a zoo is not the place to take her. They don't excist in the wild at all. Unfortunately my experience with vets has been that they play a large part in the suffering of the animal. Medications all we'll and good but as soon as any of our cats or dogs have been for an operation they have died within a week or two.

 

We give her a varied and natural diet. She has puzzles to complete to get food (designed like the wild I.e. She has to move a pebble to get to the food) and so it's not much different from keeping cats and dogs.

 

I do accept though that there are people who don't know what they are doing. To be honest I think keeping fish is the worst example due to small tanks, toxic chemicals and you deffo can't take a fish to the vet. Most fish people buy die soon after.

[Bunny]

We have a rabbit ( our second on board bunny) .........Rodney he is almost 8yrs old now and has been with us on the boat for 5yrs . His cage is inside beside our armchairs. We have put it on a couple of boxes, so its the same height as our chairs,the cage door is open all day and he hops onto the chair and out of his cage and back in when he needs his litter tray. He runs around inside wherever he wants, always clean, plays ball, asks for 'treats', lays out in front of the fire in the winter , has his own fan in the summer and is as bright as a button. He is a rescue rabbit, was in there for fighting, so has to be kept by himself. He is a big chap, with attitude, very vocal ,grumbles , squeaks and grunts, he is about the size of a Jack Russell. Never goes outside as he is scared of the big outdoors. There are good points and bad points to having a rabbit on a boat . Electric cables make a nice lunch if they are left dangling down , carpets can be dug up ( soon get out of that habit ) and storage for hay and straw can take up a bit of space. Having said that he is no trouble, quiet, don't have to look far for him , goes to bed when told , listens to all the outside night noise lets you know (by turning an ear ) if anyone is around before they are near the boat and if you need to go out for the day , just leave him plenty of food and water a blanket or the fan. Bunny

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

House Rabbits are great fun, my mate has got one.

It's funny because he won't even go in the back garden when the door is left open !, he just sits on the door mat looking out.

He makes us smile.

[Bunny]

Had a wild rabbit ( from a 4wk baby) for almost 3 years on the boat and he was quite happy looking at the outside from the dinette table but didn't want to go outside, much happier in our bed during the day, charging down the boat for the litter tray , then charging back to our bed afterwards . Had to go to the vet every 6-8 weeks for his teeth, that's why we didn't put him back in the wild. Bunny.

[Retro69]

its a shame to cage or confine any animal

[Chop!]

its a shame to cage or confine any animal

Then why put a human in a narrowboat?

Actually, if a lot of the domesticated pets were set free, they would die PDQ

 

We don't have any pets and when we do get our 3 chickens they will be free to range on the towpaths and have a great and loving life from Glenda (I'm not even allowed to eat them!)

Edited February 24, 2014 by Chop!

[patty-ann]

"We don't have any pets and when we do get our 3 chickens they will be free to range on the towpaths and have a great and loving life from Glenda (I'm not even allowed to eat them!)"

 

My sons partner brought 4 chickens, he ask to be allowed to name one........called it Christmas dinner........and no he didn't get to eat it!

[nailora]

Thanks everyone for your input,

 

Edible pets are great ideas and I'll consider those suggestions carefully, but technically, ALL pets are edible.

 

@Fatboat, thanks for your very detailed and relevant information! I'm glad to hear that you felt confident letting your ferret play on the boat with supervision, which is what I would want to do. And I would probably want to walk it along the towpath just for the joy of it. Beautiful image!

 

@NB Watersnail, thanks for this - I admit I've been concerned about the temperature fluctuations & my first instinct is that budgies wouldn't do well on our boat. Cockatiels are awfully attractive, though, and that information is very useful! thank you!

 

@Caprifool, Rats do make lovely pets. Sadly not the right pet for our situation, but I think they'd do beautifully as narrowboat pets and would recommend them in the future.

 

@Nulife Micro pigs are a lovely idea

 

@Starcoaster Thanks for your informed source-cited opinion, I do appreciate that! I think ferrets would do well, especially as they are suitably narrow. Ferret-proofing will definitely be interesting.

 

@Chop! WELL DONE CHOP! That is a really interesting and unusual solution.

@patty-ann Chipmunks are wild animals where I come from - I've never understood the attraction of keeping them as pets! They are terribly adorable, though

 

@Doodlebug/Starcoaster Thanks for the input on hedgehogs; I'd considered them but am not attracted to them as pets, though I think there are many valuable reasons to promote awareness of the animal and conserve its genetics! Very educational conversation, though. (Also Doodlebug - thanks for understanding about fish; people say "Get a fish!" and I'm like, "Oh, I love fish! I used to raise and breed rare fish and was involved in a very cool zebrafish genetics project! Do you know how much constant 240V power, space, filtration, heat, maintenance and care they require, and would you like to see the spreadsheet in which I worked out how that doesn't factor into our current power audit? And how fish need to be protected from temperature fluctuations and rocking and woodstoves are very dehydrating, creating a high-ammonia - you were talking about keeping a half-dead fish in a teacup, weren't you.")

 

@Bunny, thank you so much for these useful tips about keeping Bunnies! The temperature tips are particularly useful. (I would love chinchillas but feel that I couldn't keep them cool enough... but I LOVE the image of your Bun with his fan!)

 

Other suggestions that I haven't responded to: it's probably because they were so good I was embarrassed not to have come up with them myself.

[BargeeSpud]

Back in '03 I came across a guy on the Shroppie with a Macaw on board. Well at the time the bird was on a perch on the towpath, but you get my drift I'm sure, just a shame I didn't think to take a piccie at the time. I've also come across ferrets, rabbits & chooks on boats in my time whilst cruising.

 

Personally, the only thing unusual about the pets I have on board is that they are a pair of well behaved boxers. Now that IS unusual!

Edited February 24, 2014 by Spuds

[patty-ann]

My chipmunk ended up as wild as it did a runner, not my choice of pet either, my children had a habit of collecting others waifs n strays to keep me busy. We had hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs, ducks, dogs. mice--later obtained as daughter had a project to do on Beatrix Potter and wanted to photograph a mouse in her dolls house(as you do), then left it with me as she swanned off to uni. I think edible pet good idea.