General Discussion

@orchidemily Stick insects! You can get huge ornate ones as pets.

@Zaptrac I briefly considered getting some but I'm not really into rodents/mustelids/lagomorphs as much as other critters. :)

@Foo

Interesting you mention black widows! We had one for a while- a big female with a red stripe on her back, as well as her hourglass. They're native to where I used to live and were easy keepers as summer pets, though not everyone was as tolerant of them and a few neighborhood boys were more interested in placing bets on spider v. mantis or scorpion matches.

We kept fence and alligator lizards, bull snakes, and mantises as pets too, though on a catch-and-release basis rather than a pet-shop bases. Joys of backyard native wildlife. I'd love to keep bull snakes again sometime and am kind of a nerd when it comes to pattern genetics. The wild ones we'd pick up were naturally tame enough to just chill in your hands or around your neck; not nearly as active as corn snakes or garters, and very rarely aggressive, and there was some very clear color/pattern variety in the wild populations in tan/red/brown/black ranges.

@Kaljaia

I'm pretty addicted to pattern genetics... At some point I really want to start breeding ball pythons because some of the mutated genes they have are just gorgeous. At the same time I think it might be a little expensive of a hobby lol. I'm sinking most of my excess cash into freshwater aquariums at the moment.

@Cacti

Oh gosh yes, some of the python patterns are stunning. I don't have the cash to spring for them either, not on top of building a physical setup that would do justice to keeping/breeding snakes- which is why I'm kinda setting my sights on a common, local, native species for some point in the nebulous future :)

Aquariums are fun :) Had a great big one in our apartment in college, but we were cheap about stocking it and most of our fish were just feeder goldfish from the local PetSmart. They... didn't last very long. I'd love to build a good terrarium/aquarium setup someday that could comfortably house amphibians, but that's also up there with the 'nebulous future' plans.

I have a canary winged parakeet which is a rather rare species to get a hold of ever since importing them to the US was banned. My uncle and aunt have a lot of odder animals. They have peacock pheasants, miniature deer,a red fox, sugar gliders, and a lot of other kinds of exotic birds. They also have two of some kind of deer from europe I believe. They are the sweetest things. I love giving them pets when i'm there :3 They are always having some kind of new odd animals whenever I show up.

Aw, cute, I love those little salamander dudes they look so cool. X3

I'v got a Degu named Shoichi, not many people tend to know what they are or mistake them for large gerbils. so I guess he counts.

I guess lizards are considered an exotic pet, so in 10 days my sister in-law is selling me a little leopard gecko, his names Wyatt, he was climbing all over me last week and licking me, sooo cute. X3 I'v always loved and wanted a reptile, my mother wouldn't let him in the house if he wasn't cute like a salamander, thus she loves him.
And I guess that's it, all my other pets are pretty common.

@Kaljaia I just love aquariums. I have a community tank set up with a betta, 2 frogs, 5 catfish, 3 neons and just a bunch of snails and shrimp. A terrarium setup is my dream though, nepenthes on top and water on the bottom. I'd keep a betta in the tank part and poison dart frogs in the plants above. One day....

@Kirion I was in the same position for awhile. My mom isnt' too big on the more unusual end of the pet spectrum but I'm out of the house now. When I get a nice steady place (and income, I'm an artist so I need to do quite a bit of work to make solid cash) I can't wait to start a huge salt tank.

@sinilisko They aren't too hard! Just do tons of research before committing to one. :)

Sadly, my more exotic pets died. I used to have shrimp but one died of old age, another from radiation, and the other two just died randomly. Right now I have an albino budgie/parakeet though :o