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[Arachno-capitalist]

im getting a single next year (meaning a dorm room without a roommate). So for that and other obvious reasons Id like to get a fuzzy roommate. The problem is that I cant figure out which creature to get. I want one that is smart enough to recognize me as its owner, not produce infinite amounts of smelly crap, not make strange annoying noises , and be large enough to hold such as a bunny sized animal or slightly smaller.
Any ideas?

[theinevitable]

hm. I am living in a single, too... but I do not think I am allowed to have pets.

I am not sure, I was never allowed to have small furry pets.

[jaydub]

I want one that is smart enough to recognize me as its owner, not produce infinite amounts of smelly crap, not make strange annoying noises , and be large enough to hold such as a bunny sized animal or slightly smaller.
Any ideas?

It sounds like you've answered your own question...
The ladies like them more than rats, too.  Failing that, you could get a ferret.  Their poop stinks, but is modest in quantity.  They are quite clever, and although they make strange noises its more cute than annoying.

[wombat]

As a former small mammal professional I am highly in favor of guinea pigs.  There are lots of places where you can adopt one rather than buying it - lots of links here, for example:http://www.guineapighome.com/

I interviewed a person who runs a guinea pig rescue recently and she warned that you should not trust the information you get at pet stores about diet and housing requirements. There is lots of information available from guinea pig rescue sites on the web and she recommended this site for cages: http://www.guineapigcages.com/. You need a bigger cage than most pet stores will recommend or have room to keep in stock.

Rats are also great pets - rat people are fanatically enthusiastic about them.  Very intelligent and personable. Here's a start if you want to adopt one: http://www.kimsarkrescue.org/

But, if you want something only slightly smaller than a rabbit, and in the same point on the cuddliness scale, a guinea pig is more suitable, I think.  You do need to be prepared to keep up on the cleaning though, because although their poop is not very smelly - nice clean herbivore poop - they do pee a fair amount.

[wombat]

Oh, and as far as noises: make sure the biology of the animal you pick coincides with your schedule.  You don't want to share a single room with a nocturnal animal if you sleep normal hours.

[V-Adore]

Guinea pigs are pretty damn stupid, but they are cute. Rats are certainly smarter, and if I get an apartment next year that will allow me to keep rats, I'll probably pick up a couple.

[wombat]

Pigs are not geniuses, but it's worth remembering that that has a bright side.  Animals that are smart (primates of all types and certain breeds of dogs, for example, and probably ferrets) need a lot more entertainment to keep them from getting into trouble.  Some amount of dumbness = much lower maintenance lifeform.

I can't swear if my pig recognized its owners, but it certainly recognized the sound of the refrigerator door being opened. So they can learn some things. 

However I do think it's worth pointing out that if V is not sick of rats by now, that speaks very well of them.

[side_show]

Ferrets are smart, but holy hell do they stink.  They are not dorm-pet material in my book.

As for Guinea Pigs, this video always makes me want one, but I do worry about the dire consequences.

As for a rabbit, my friend had one that was litter trained, which always struck me as sorta cool.

[Ben-San]

I'm casting another vote in favor of guinea pigs. They are super cute and while not all that bright they will eventually learn "this human gives me delicious vegetables".

[jaydub]

Damn, Sideshow!  I almost didn't even make it past the opening credits because of this:



Punch is a bastard.

[side_show]

Punch is a bastard.

Totally.  Punch instigated the whole situation by bringing out both bags of money.  Also, Judy is stupid for not demanding both bags, rather than just the bigger of the two.

[wombat]

Those monkeys were too horrible for me to watch, so I can only assume that guinea pigs were involved later in some dreadful way that I didn't want to see anyway?

[V-Adore]

Actually, wombat, the guinea pig is about the only thing that does not come to grief in that video. The guinea pig actually does pretty well for itself, after a fashion.

[linnea]

When I lived in the dorms, zero pets were allowed. I thought it was pretty retarded.

I tried to get guinea pigs once. I built them a huuuuge open-top enclosure (8 feet by 4 feet) so they could run laps. I read and read about them on knowledgeable internet pig-centric sites and thought they were adorable. I read cute stories from happy 'pig owners who adored their little guys and bought them fresh veg all the time. I got a metric-shit-ton of Carefresh and alfalfa. I got cute little piggy-igloos for them to sleep in, water bottles, treats, food, chew toys, a book on 'pigs, the whole nine yards.

When I brought them home...

I just looked at their beady little eyes. They looked at me and scampered about. It became readily apparent that one of them bullied and bit the other one. I realized, "these things are raised like chickens in South America for food." and "I cannot love these animals." I hung my head in shame, then packed them back into their cat carrier and took them back to the store.

My little sister cut out a little infographic of "Guinea Pig Returned For Store Credit" from The Onion and sent it to me recently.



*****EDIT: Would I feel this way about other animals, such as a pug dog? I see Drew and Natalie's pugs Charles and Chester, and they are so dang cute I can hardly stand it. The Onion has another amusing article about pugs here. Drew and Natalie also have a bunch of awesome pug videos on their YouTube space, drewtoothpaste and oldnataliedee.

[Golfhaus]

Feel free to disabuse me of the concept if I'm wrong, but my general impression from childhood ownage and adult interactions with the pigs has left me with the sense that they are essentially dumb as a rock (which they will eat and make strange croakings from).

I dunno, the one they got on Wonder Pets! seems pretty intelligent to me.