Hi kind souls of r/pets!
I've always wanted a pet, but as I was going through college, getting settled in a new job, I have been holding myself back from getting a pet. Now that I've been enjoying my job after 1.5 years, having my own apartment all to myself, I think I am pretty ready for a pet. Now the real question comes: which pet should I get?
I am in Singapore, have a 9-6 job, currently working from home, but will end up going back to the office probably next year. I do enjoy staying at home most of the time if I could, and I think I can spend 1-2 hours daily on weekdays and >4 hours daily during weekends with pets. I do love some physical interactions with pets, but not necessarily cuddling.
My first choice was a pair of chinchilla. I am able to provide 24/7 air conditioning to them by keeping them in my guest bedroom. I love the fact that they can have fun themselves, and they are pretty independent as a pair in terms of emotional support. The concern is mostly about how noisy they would be. My parents do come to visit and stay for 1 month or so for vacation, and my mom is a very light sleeper. I usually let them stay in the master bedroom and I would move to the guest bedroom during the period of time. That means, I would have to sleep with the chinchillas for 1 month once in a while. Even if I could tolerate the noise, I am worried if the noise would be audible in the master bedroom on the other side of the wall. Another concern that I have was in fear of a black-out. Singapore is constantly hot and the indoor temperature is always above 28C most of the time. A black-out could be life-threatening to chins, and I really don't want to expose them to such situation.
The second choice was a getting a bunny. Now the temperature issue is out of the way, the only question is whether they would get bored when I eventually gets back to working in office. That would mean absolute silence from 8am to almost 8pm. I stay next to a natural reserve, bird sound and occasional car noise is about the only noise you get. I know that you get get a pair of bunnies so they can play together, but I am just not sure about the maintenance effort. If I am getting a bunny, I do plan to let he/she free-roam in my house once we get to know each other and bunny-proofed my house. This actually put my mind at ease knowing he/she has lot of space to go around when I am out.
The last choice I have is cats. I know cats are independent, and there are just much much more resources and technologies for cats. I will get my windows cat-proofed, but I am so darn worried about my other stuff! My kitchen, study, and living room are all open and connected, there is no way for me to block off these spaces without building a wall. There are dozens of bottles of condiment, drinks etc on my kitchen counter top, and a full vinyl collection and a turntable in my study. Knowing cats are particularly curious, I am pretty sure that they WILL attempt to knock something off. This worries me as there won't be anyone at home if I am out at work, and accidents could happen! (imaging the cat turning on my stove gas and let the gas running the whole day...)
I have ruled out dogs as I stay alone and don't really have the energy to walk the dog daily.
The most logical and sensible choice seems to be bunny, they are super cute, seems to fit my foreseeable lifestyle, but I don't know. Chins are really darn cute and odorless, and cat was what I've been wanting for years. Just to add on, I can provide the minimum of 1000 x 2000 mm playpen space for young bunnies, or 600 x 450 x 1600 mm cage space for chins.
Edit: forgot to mention, if I am getting a cat, I would be adopting instead of buying. there seem to be a lot of cats for adoption here in Singapore, and I should really be helping a cat in need haha
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/nudyhl/what_pet_should_i_get_as_a_first_time_pet_owner/
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