Unusual Pets: Hermit Crabs

Did you know that some people keep a hermit crab as a pet? Hermit crabs, by the way, are neither hermits nor crabs. They have a long, soft, spirally coiled abdomen, which ends in a hooked tail. Hermit crabs are nocturnal – so they’re most active at night and least active during the day. Though they don’t bite, they give a nasty pinch and can even draw blood. Around eight hundred species of hermit crab are found the world over. In the pet industry, however, you generally find either the purple claw crab or the Ecuadorian crab. Though they are quite social animals, hermit crabs do show some aggression toward each other. While the Ecuadorian crab has a quite sweet and trusting temperament, the purple claw crab can be quite edgy and pinch you. Just remember that if you plan to get a hermit crab, they need to be bathed every week to remove the sand and dirt from their shell.

Unusual pets: stick insects

Have you ever considered buying a stick insect as a pet? Stick insects can hide in plain sight, because their camouflage makes them blend in with almost any surrounding. If you blow on them, they can even swing back and forth on their legs so as to mimic the movement of a twig in the breeze! You get nearly three thousand species of stick insects. The Australian spiny leaf (scientific name, extatosoma tiaratum) can grow to resemble an eight inch long branch with dead leaves for legs. The only stick insect that should be avoided is the American walking stick (scientific name, anisomorpia bupestroides). This insect is characterized by the two stripes you will find on its back. What makes it slightly more dangerous than other stick insects is that it can spray an acidic compound that may cause temporary blindness.

Tarantula trouble

I had friend who once had a tarantula for a pet. Although they seem menacing, tarantulas are not usually very dangerous. Their bite is somewhat venomous, but tarantulas will not bite you unless provoked. In fact, their venom is not lethal at all, and is thought of more as a bee sting than an actual bite. Tarantulas overpower their prey through sheer physical size and strength rather than through poison and toxin. Some tarantulas, in fact, can grow to be as big as dinner plates when stretched out. They are truly beastly spiders. The only especially fragile part of them is their abdomen. If you have them as a pet, take care not to drop them from too great a height. This can often happen by accident while handling them. Some tarantulas can live up to twenty years or more in the case of the female. Male tarantulas have a much shorter lifespan: from a few months to two or three years.

Unusual Pets: the piranha

One of the most infamous choices for an unusual pet is surely the piranha. Piranahas can reach about eight to ten inches. They have a silvery and gold colour, a red throat, and their mouth has teeth like razors which are specifically designed for tearing flesh. Piranhas are very aggressive fish. What enhances their aggression is that they live in schools, leading to a kind of feeding frenzy - so much so that their prey can be devoured in a matter of seconds. Piranhas will only eat meat, and they prefer live prey. For those that keep them as pets, Piranhas will often accept certain types of goldfish, earthworms and beef heart. The most important thing for piranha owners to remember is to not feed these fish by hand: they can easily bite you and leave a serious and sore wound.

Unusual Pets: the Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Sometimes, people adopt the most unusual pets. One of the more popular, but still unusual, pets is the Madagascar hissing cockroach. This cockroach can grow up to three inches long and over an inch wide! But this isn’t an ordinary cockroach. The Madagascar hissing cockroach is clean, odourless, docile and completely harmless. They do not bite, and in fact are commonly mistaken for beetles. Besides being an unusual pet, the Madagascar hissing cockroach makes a quite unusual sound, too. Its hissing noise is aroused during mating rituals and in aggressive fights with other males, though sometimes it will hiss for no obvious reason. Female cockroaches tend to be attracted to the tone and strength of the male’s hissing. The hissing is created by forcing air through a pair of breathing pores, which are found in the abdomen, which stands in contrast to insects like the cricket which create noise by rubbing their legs together.

Unusual Pets: the potbellied pig

On the subject of unusual pets, a popular choice is the potbellied pig. Potbellied pigs are very easily trained, are alert, and high affectionate. They’re considered smarter than some of the smartest dogs. They house-train very quickly are in general clean and odour-free. They don’t bark, they don’t chew and they shed very little. And although their eyesight is not very good, they have a very keen sense of smell. Potbellied pigs can live anywhere from twelve to thirty years. They are, however, not maintenance-free. Their high intelligence level often means that they can work out what’s in the refrigerator, and how to open certain draws, so a certain amount of training is essential. Unfortunately, thousands of these pigs ended up shelters because, although they were trendy at one time, the fad passed and people said they preferred the pig when it was still young and not as an adult.