[The Ornery One]

Pets: my specialty! There aren't to many pet species that I haven't taken care of at one time or another. For a quiet, low-maintenance apartment pet, the best choices are reptiles, tarantulas, and non-exotic rodents.
The best types of lizards to get (that are relatively low cost and don't grow more than a foot or two) are geckos, skinks (check about the species first), and anoles. If they are insect eaters, you can get their food free for most of the year (but no mealworms for anoles). Drive along most country roads or go on a fishing trip to find box turtles (mud turtles have bad smells).
Tarantulas have no smell and their container won't either as long as you pick out the empties (insect husks) after a few hours. Just make sure you have a container that has a lid that leaves NO gaps for escaping. They can get through smaller spaces than they look like they can.
Mice and rats have life spans of only about 3 or 4 years and will eat just about anything, so if you run low on their food, they can get by with low salt crackers, chips or bread. Also, they love fox tail weeds. EDIT: And yes I still have Edmond contained. He loves teasing the cats.
Fish aren't as boring as I used to think, but there is high cost and maintenance for anything other than goldfish (which my experience shows them to be having qualities of the inbred).

[ 06-12-2003, 01:15 AM: Message edited by: The Ornery One ]