I'm not sure, it would be neat to have robo hamsters but since they aren't very friendly; I'd want my good old snuggly Syrian first.

Hedgehogs are adorable! At summer camp as a kid they had one they had rescued and I loved looking at it.

My son wants a tarantula. For a kid with major spider issues, this is interesting.

I am content with our two sweet (and occasionally ornery) little dogs.

Hi Califmom,

I had a rosy-toed tarantula as a kid. He was a very nice pet, but he gave me a rash. They have a mild toxin on their villi. If you decide to let your boy have one, I would recommend letting him handle one first (low to the ground! Spiders can get hurt or killed from even a small fall, so for the spider's sake, he should definitely be sitting on the floor in case he freaks and drops it).

My parents were content with the more 'normal' pets, too.

I wouldn't mind having a wild cat of some sort that is too injured to rehab into the wild. But I"m pretty cat obsessed, so. . . 

What I'd love, but will not prolly ever get as they are wild animals, would be a sand cat- they were my favorite animal when I was little after I read about them in a book all about Felines, which confused a lot of therapists! They didn't believe they existed! But they do- Felis Margarita. Go ahead, take a moment to laugh about the species name, it is indeed also the name for an alcoholic beverage.

There's two at the Erie Zoo, but it is hard to see them at their best because sand cats are nocturnal. There's a sad note about them on the Erie zoo website:

On a sad note, the female sand cat gave birth to three stillborn kittens on April 8th . It was necessary for two of the kittens to be taken by C-section by Dr. Polumbo, when the sand cat failed to give birth naturally. Due to the infection involved, it was necessary to spay her to ensure her survival. She has since fully recovered and has been put back with the male. Lab reports could not explain why the kittens died. We are awaiting a decision from the Sand cat SSP as to whether another female will be recommended to be sent here to pair with our male. Since he is an imported male, it is important that he be put in a breeding situation.

 June 29. 2009 11:23AM

On the up side they were due to get a new outdoor exhibit last summer. Haven't been up in a while, though, maybe I should take my niece? I do know that Instead of spending the proper amount of time on studying my primate for anthropology, I might have spent a portion observing the sand cat. (Both exhibits made me sad- the Sand cat because she looked sad and the enclosure small, and my primate's because their enclosures DID NOT simulate their natural environments- most of my paper ended up being on how it was not possible to properly study primate behavior in such conditions as to make them NEED to adapt- a sparse, ground based exhibit is NOT right for an arboreal primate!!! Because of this, I was unable to observe typical behavior of my primate.)

Full grown, a sand cat may weight between 4 and 8 lbs/1.8 - 3.6 kg. For comparison, the Domestic cat (Felis silvestris catus) is on average between 8 and 11 lbs/4-5  kg (though certain breeds like the Maine Coon Cat can get be 25 lbs/11kg!).

Their paws are covered with long hairs that allow it to tolerate and easily maneuver the hot- and at night, bitterly cold- sand of its environment. It also allows them to leave fewer footprints, which both allows them to better catch prey and to hide from larger predators. They spend the days burrowed under the sand, conserving energy for dusk, when they cme out to hunt. They often hunt by listening for the sound of burrowed rodents using their HUGE EARS and will then dig the rodent out, a bit like a rodent hunting dog might. They get nearly all their water from their prey, and so don't hang out around water holes. Unlike many other wild cats, the sand cat is not territorial, though still solitary. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Cat

http://www.bigcatrescue.org/cats/wild/sand_cat.htm

I think she's Beautiful!

Some Sand Cat in the wild footage:

http://www.arkive.org/sand-cat/felis-margarita/video-00.html

http://www.arkive.org/sand-cat/felis-margarita/video-02.html

. . . um. obvious spectrum-y post is obvious?

I want an otter!  And now, after seeing Savannah's post, a sand cat :)  My cat is only about 5-6 lbs, so she is little, but we think she is an egyption mou, and also probably a runt.

Jacoby, please post a photo of your hedgehog. Can't wait to see.

Savannah, my brother has a coon cat which is 18 pounds, a bit on the small side for that breed. 

Dare2Dream, I loved otters as a child, couldn't wait to visit them at the zoo.

I think an otter or maybe a horse. :)

I've had fish (they were boring), a hamster (he wasn't very friendly), and now I have a cat and dog. I eventually want guinea pigs, a ferret and a turtle. Maybe I can pass the turtle down to my kids because turtles live for ages.