2 minutes!!!

October 11, 2006 7:33 PM

Help me find a pet for my dorm.

My roommate and I really want a pet. The only problem is that, according to the Dormitory rules, the pet must be able to hold its breath underwater for at least 2 minutes. We something besides some goldfish and turtles.. We were thinking a duck, but apparently they don't hold their breath for more than 30 seconds. Any interesting ideas?

posted by lain to pets & animals (21 comments total)

First choice would be a dolphin, but an otter is probably more practical.
posted by econous at 7:39 PM on October 11, 2006

River Otter
posted by davey_darling at 7:43 PM on October 11, 2006

Artemia salina
posted by neda at 7:45 PM on October 11, 2006

Axolotls. They're not as easy to care for as goldfish (or any standard aquarium fish), though, and they can live for 15 years. They don't do well in hot weather, so if you won't always be living someplace with air conditioning, it's probably a bad choice.

I took two eggs home from my developmental biology lab, one of which hatched and survived. It may be hard to find them if you don't have a biology lab that raises them nearby, though.

Unfortunately, mine died because I didn't have a good tank setup (you need some sort of filtration system, but not one that circulates the water too much). He did pretty well considering the un-ideal conditions, though. I regret not putting more effort in--they're cool animals.
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:56 PM on October 11, 2006

Armadillos can hold their breath for up to 6 minutes.
posted by langeNU at 7:57 PM on October 11, 2006

according to the Dormitory rules, the pet must be able to hold its breath underwater for at least 2 minutes.

May I ask why?
posted by catburger at 8:15 PM on October 11, 2006

Newts? I have a friend who kept two, although if you don't feed them enough they will start going after each other. Also, you could go for a fancy fish tank - a huge saltwater tank, with sea urchins and coral and so on. You can get some strange and gorgeous-looking things, if you're willing to do upkeep on a saltwater tank.

I'm assuming that the "underwater" rule is to prevent people from having largish mammals, like dogs, cats, etc. [Thankfully my undergraduate dorms were fine with cats {and rats, and rabbits, and...}]
posted by ubersturm at 8:21 PM on October 11, 2006

second newts. but, you may run into problems if they share an aquarium with each other or fish, because they may become food.

my mom read the question, and latched on to your duck idea. have you considered a cormorant or merganser???
posted by n y my at 8:29 PM on October 11, 2006

That's a weird requirement -- my college's is sort of the opposite (potential pets can't be able to breathe without water) because they don't want anything to escape successfully and start living in the walls.

If fish and turtles won't do, how do you feel about an aquatic frog or salamander?

Comedy option: manatees, seals, dugongs, sperm whales, humans, etc.
posted by booksandlibretti at 8:38 PM on October 11, 2006

Crabs! Fun little things to watch, and the jokes write themselves. "Hey, want to come back up to my room and..."
posted by mendel at 8:48 PM on October 11, 2006

If there are no provisions against venomous animals, get a platypus!

Or, more realistically, Triops!
posted by lekvar at 8:52 PM on October 11, 2006

Seconding booksandlibretti's suggestion of aquatic frogs. I own two right now and they're great. They're 100% aquatic, meaning they stay underwater all the time. Yes, like fish. They're prety small (mine are a little bit longer than an inch from nose to butt, though the legs add another good inch when they stick them out). They have fun quirky habits and are pretty damn cute. Plus everyone else gets a kick out of them too.

Though what b1tr0t says is true... (In my case, I'm taking enough classes and finding taking care of pets to be a chore sometimes). You have to clean the tank and if your frogs are picky and dense like mine are, you have to feed them each bloodworm one by one (instead of just dropping in frog food).

E-mail is in the profile if you want to know more about aquatic frogs. By no means am I an expert but I could help with basics, etc.
posted by mittenedsex at 9:10 PM on October 11, 2006

ubersturm: I'm assuming that the "underwater" rule is to prevent people from having largish mammals, like dogs, cats, etc.

that would make sense, but what about small animals like hamsters or mice?
posted by catburger at 9:27 PM on October 11, 2006

You may want to ask yourself whether this would be a humane place to keep a pet. I don't see any problem for fish, but more interesting animals might bring the question more front and center. University towns are teeming with abandoned pets.
posted by ontic at 9:31 PM on October 11, 2006

catburger - hamsters and mice can escape and live in the walls. It sounds like they're trying to avoid things that might be able to live outside of their tank/cage and thus make a nuisance of themselves if they escape. Things that can survive for more than a certain amount of time underwater are more likely to be aquatic or at least amphibian, and thus are less likely to survive out of their tanks. It's a pretty strange way of stating that requirement, though. [As evinced by suggestions for aquatic snakes, dolphins, and platypuses {platypi?} there're more than a few loopholes.]
posted by ubersturm at 10:12 PM on October 11, 2006

Ah - good thinking. On your part, and of the administrators. (I had a hamster who escaped once in the dorms and I panicked trying to find her because pets weren't allowed. Thankfully, I found her within a few minutes.)
posted by catburger at 10:21 PM on October 11, 2006

get a platypus!

I think the laws about that are a touch more onerous than anything your Uni is going to enact.

I second axolotls. Apparently my SO used to have a book on the care and feeding of them, with a section at the back full of recipes in case you mess it all up.
posted by pompomtom at 10:53 PM on October 11, 2006

See, this is why dorms need to flat out state their rules and the reasons for them, rather than being all smart-assed about it. Smart-assery breeds smart-assery in return. I would definitely go for axolotls. Damn those look cool.
posted by antifuse at 2:41 AM on October 12, 2006

Another vote for newts. I bought a pair and put them in a 10 gallon tank with some rocks and water and plants. We had one escape after about 4 years, and the other lived another two with the tank all to himself. At once point we had a goldfish in the tank with them, but they terrorized poor Goldy and she ended up getting moved into her own tank.
posted by chickygrrl at 6:18 AM on October 12, 2006

I had two crayfish (named Carnelius and Caligula) in my dorm room. They were excellent pets. They eat a variety of foods (they're scavengers) but occasionally enjoy grabbing goldfish (if you don't mind them being killed.)
posted by nekton at 9:28 AM on October 12, 2006

Please don't get amphibians, reptiles, or other exotics if you don't have the resources in money (especially equipment) & time.

Crayfish are awesome, unusual enough, and the fact that they can tear feeder fish and shrimp apart might be bonus points for certain college sets.

Amphibians are very cool pets. But you have to avoid handling them (membranous amphibian skin + oily salty ouchy humans = bad combo). I second the aquafroggies and the axolotls (if you can find them), but know that the latter can live up to 15 years. Fish are pretty easy, and there's all sorts of variety.

Some animals are hardier than others, but you just have to pay attention to water quality and temperature, and you're good. It's easy with the right equipment.
posted by zennie at 7:54 PM on October 19, 2006