GENET!

May 25, 2007 4:11 PM

thanks to this question about genets, I now *need* one. Help me find a breeder!

google isn't turning up anything useful. I suppose what I need is more associations and clubs devoted to this sort of animal that might be able to put me in touch with a breeder.

Though any help would be appreciated.

FWIW - im in the pacific northwest and would rather not ship a delicate baby animal.

posted by Tryptophan-5ht to pets & animals (18 comments total)

Here is a site with considerable information about keeping the critters as pets.

If they themselves won't sell them, they probably can point you in the right direction. Also, they have a state by state breakdown regarding the legality of owning one. They are considered exotic pets and some areas require licensing for that.
posted by quin at 4:33 PM on May 25, 2007

Please do not try to own one unless you're ready to commit to some serious caretaking.

I don't know much about genets, but I do know that animals that are not domesticated need a ton of care and cannot be "trained" like you would a dog or cat.

If you're really the type of person who can commit to some time consuming and serious caretaking, then do what you've gotta do... it just frightens me a little bit when someone says "omg so cute i have to have one", because it's a very real phenomenon for those animals to be either treated poorly or abandoned.

The number of 1-4 year old dogs sent to pounds near college campuses, for example, is tremendously depressing.

Please do your research and decide if this is the right choice.
posted by twiggy at 5:12 PM on May 25, 2007 [6 favorites]

This is almost certainly a bad idea. Just get a raccoon instead.
posted by DarkForest at 5:26 PM on May 25, 2007

why do you think you need one?

because there is no reason on earth why anyone would need a genet or any other exotic and/or non-domesticated animal. it's rare for people who do obtain these kinds of animals to keep them and care for them in a proper way. many of these animals inevitably end up being surrendered or worse. and because they are exotic, it's even harder to find a shelter or rescue organization that will take them in.

are you prepared to care for this animal for the entirety of it's life? for when it does things that are natural to it but that you may not care for? you need to think carefully about getting an animal like this. i am just not understanding why, beyond the fact that you probably think they are cute and would be a "cool" thing to have. enough people dump dogs and cats when they are no longer "cute" or when they have neglected to properly train them, resulting in unwanted behaviours—and those are easily trainable animals.

sorry, but i equate anyone who feels like they need to have an exotic pet to paris hilton and her kinkajou, which she got rid of as soon as it started biting her and exhibiting other un-cute behaviours. and no matter how you slice it, paris hilton is an idiot.
posted by violetk at 5:27 PM on May 25, 2007 [5 favorites]

You gotta visit one in a zoo first because the scent that comes off this animal has to be experienced to be believed. Roughly, it's the scent of 100 housecats simultaneously pissing on a burnt skunk. Purportedly, they get even smellier when scared (oy).
posted by jamaro at 5:35 PM on May 25, 2007 [4 favorites]

You know what is just as cute as a genet? An adopted kitten from the pound.
posted by rossination at 6:23 PM on May 25, 2007

Wait six months and then see if you still want it.
posted by fire&wings at 6:24 PM on May 25, 2007

ok, a bunch of answers from people who probably haven't even looked up a genet with the same pov and doing nothing to answer my question. Do you people ever get tired of reinforcing the image of mefites as pedantic assholes?

re: "this is a WILD animal! think VERY carefully!": Im not running out to adopt every animal that looks cute. I read the temperament/behavior profile and it sounded like a match for my lifestyle. I would urge you to do at least the same cursory amount of research before offering your sage advice. Further more, its needs and requirements are very manageable - about equal to a ferret.

re: "get a dog/cat!": I will be waiting for you people in the thread where someone asks how to care for their sick tarantula.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 7:55 PM on May 25, 2007 [3 favorites]

Do you people ever get tired of reinforcing the image of mefites as pedantic assholes?

I was wondering the same about you, refusing to consider the possibility that you're running off half-cocked and angrily denouncing anyone that would suggest otherwise.

Besides, your question states "any help would be appreciated." So here's some help ... do more research before making a purchase. There's a reason you see so few wild animals made into pets, and it's not because people think dachshunds are more cute than genets.
posted by frogan at 9:13 PM on May 25, 2007 [1 favorite]

Further more, its needs and requirements are very manageable - about equal to a ferret.

First of all, I did do some reading about caring for Genets before responding.

Secondly, the above statement is incorrect based on my readings. I've known many ferret owners, and there's a few key points to keep in mind:

1) Ferrets are a colossal pain in the ass.
2) Ferrets are one of the most "given up" semi-exotic pets there is because of #1 - the "OMG CUTE" factor causes lots of people to get them. Then they realize that they reek, they shit everywhere, they live for stealing objects, etc, and they get rid of them.
3) Despite the above, based on what I've read of caring for Genets, they'd be even more work than a ferret.

Why would they be more work than a ferret?

1) There's loads of "ferret food" on the market. To properly feed a genet, you need crickets, mice and other stuff that satisfies the diet of a carnivore.
2) Ferrets live 6-8 years, Genets live up to 20. This is a huge, huge difference in commitment.
3) Ferrets sleep about 18 hours a day, Genets are primarily nocturnal and sleep less.
4) Genets are way more agile than ferrets. Good luck chasing him around when you need to get him in his cage.

There's a plethora of other reasons why a Genet is harder to take care of than a Ferret.

You can get mad that people are warning you rather than telling you where to go buy one, but part of the MeFi community is that we're not robots and some of us care about the well being of both animals and the people posting the questions.

You made it obvious that you know nothing about caring for Genets before you made the post (you just saw it for the first time and "NEED" one).

You couldn't be bothered to do a google search for "genet breeder"...

I understand your initial reaction. They're freakin' adorable. Squirrel monkeys are too, and you can get them as pets. But for 99.9% of people, getting one as a pet would be a really bad idea.

We respond the way we do not to get your panties in a bunch, but to make sure that you're not about to make a big mistake that hurts both you and a little animal.

My initial response to you was not smart-assed, snarky, etc. I just suggested that you do some thinking before grabbing an exotic pet if you don't know what you're getting yourself into.

As of this posting, 4 people have favorited that response and a few have favorited others with similar messages. Why? Because the overwhelming sentiment from the community is that you should heed that advice. As such, not directly answering your question in this case is not really a mefi crime. That's why it's a community.
posted by twiggy at 9:40 PM on May 25, 2007 [2 favorites]

Please don't acquire a wild animal on a whim. I too, saw the picture, and thought: "I want one!"

But it's probably not a good idea to have one. Really.
posted by Savannah at 10:12 PM on May 25, 2007

"Please don't acquire a wild animal on a whim. I too, saw the picture, and thought: "I want one!""

please don't assume I'm going to buy one on a whim and for fuck's sake I already have twelve cents saying the same thing. spare me your two.

listen, I only provided enough information for you to answer my question. I didn't mention any of my past experience with exotic animals or any of the preliminary research ive done. Don't assume im just jumping into this with my eyes closed.

it would be unseemly to answer "DON'T GET MARRIED!" if someone was asking where to buy rings. "Getting married is a big comitment!"

lastly, "You couldn't be bothered to do a google search for "genet breeder"...":

I might have indicated that I did look for breeders but found nothing useful by saying something like "google isn't turning up anything useful." If you repeat the search, you'll see its largely out of date forum posts and old breeding pairs.
posted by Tryptophan-5ht at 11:43 PM on May 25, 2007

Hey Tryptophan-5ht, I spent almost all doing nothing but researching civets, genets and linsangs.

I’ve got bad news: You can’t legally buy a genet in the US. They’re endangered and may spread SARs, strictly a taboo import right now.

But I have good news! The critters in that post weren’t genets! They were linsangs!

But I’ve got more bad news, they are so close to being the same I may be the only guy on earth who could actually tell them apart, and they’re banned too. Sorry.
posted by BostonJake at 12:26 AM on May 26, 2007 [3 favorites]

[any further namecalling really needs to take place in metatalk]
posted by jessamyn at 5:51 AM on May 26, 2007

If what BostonJake says is true, the reason you're having a trouble finding genets or linsangs is because they're banned. Ergo, breeders are not listing them freely on the internet. Ergo, it's going to be incredibly hard for you to spend time with the wee thing to see if you can actually hack dealing with one.

This is a bad idea.
posted by fujiko at 7:02 AM on May 26, 2007

Wow.

Thing is, whether or not I believe that you should buy an exotic animal or not? Your attitude towards the people in this thread forces me to think that you're not the most patient of people and that you should possibly start out with fish. I mean seriously, dude. The name-calling really was totally unnecessary & weird.

Basically, you asked 50,000 people for their opinions and now you're clearly angry. Nobody said what you wanted to hear, dammit. AskMe is about people giving honest opinions though, and that's what you've gotten... so if you didn't want that, you probably made a bad choice by asking 50,000 people who are on the ready to give you all of the heartfelt honesty and insight they possess.

So Greg, seems you have two choices from here. Either just forget about this post & stick your head in the sand while trying to find a black market breeder of genets so you can break a federal law & spread SARS (But who cares, you'll have a cute exotic animal! Chicks'll love it!)... OR just take a deep breath and respect the answers people are giving you EVEN THOUGH nobody's saying "Yay! Go buy a genet! I want one too! You and your genet will be totally awesome!" Unfortunately Greg, that just wouldn't have been the mature answer from any animal lover.

I'm really sorry that you're so disappointed because I can tell your heart is really in love with the idea of owning this animal. It just might not be what's meant to be or what is right to do for the animal though. And I know that sucks, but you might want to consider/respect that maybe there are solid reasons that people aren't encouraging or agreeing with you here.

Just maybe.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:23 AM on May 26, 2007 [1 favorite]

Just something else to consider if you did, hypothetically, get a genet (or any other exotic pet): what do you plan on doing for its health care? You can't just take such an animal to any vet; they won't treat them. Even very common pets like rabbits and ferrets are considered "exotics," and you need to see a special veterinarian for them (and I know from experience that exotics vets can be hard to find, especially good ones). I can't begin to imagine what kind of veterinarian you'd need for a genet, but it would be wise to consider where these specialists are located and how you're going to get your pet to and from the vet for check-ups and emergencies. Also, exotics vets are more expensive than regular vets. If you can't afford to drop $1000 on vet bills every time your pet, say, mysteriously stops eating, then you realy need to re-think this (in addition to all of the reasons other posters have brought up).

I know you're sick of the nay-sayers, but really, you have to consider the interests the pet in question, not just your own. It is a living thing, after all.
posted by AV at 8:28 AM on May 26, 2007

i couldn't help but notice the lack of knowledge upon entering this site and reading up on the responses to the topic. I happened to come upon this topic when roaming about the web looking for toys for my nala, who is a genet.

I'v had nala for almost two years, not to mention i am a 2 time ferret owner and i also currently own a hedgehog.

Genet Info:
Genets are very loving, though much like hedgies they are extraordinarily timid at first, and they also are often found to attach themselves to one person at a time. Genets will eat almost all types of cat food and ferret food, but unlike the ferret genets are very clean animals by nature and mine, even when she was a kitten, has been a pretty consistent user of her litter pan. a genets urine releases almost no odor, nor does their skin or fur, which is to say that they do not stink. I would also like to add in here that if you own a ferret you have to be extremely careful upon introducing a genet and a ferret as they are likely to not like each other, again much like hedgehogs and dogs. and as far as vets go most normal check ups, boarding and problems that are more common such as mites can be handled by a local vet due to the fact that cats are close relatives of the genet, and as ferret popularity increases more vets are becoming familiar with them.

Travel:
don't be an idiot, how do cats travel, in a travel cage, dogs? ditto. ferrets? ditto. hedgies? ditto. so through a common evaluation process called THINKING one could guess that a genet also travels to andfrom vet visits, to and from places, to and from anywhere in a...DING DING DING travel cage. good job moron.

The only real downfall:
you were correct in saying that genet care is similar to ferret care. the difference is they are not caged, so therefor you have to make your house "genet-safe' genets are fast, curious, and can climb extraordinarily well, so anything you dont want them to knock over or get into or step on needs to be put in some sort of cabinet that they cannot get into.

i hope that all of you are now better informed and will maybe ACTUALLY look the shit up before talking about it.

on the opriginal topic:
and on the original topic about a breeder, genets are prone to shipping stress, but their are captive breeding programs in every state in america, not to mention that adoption is always a good option, i happened to be lucky and got mine from a local breeder.
posted by Manda Malpractice at 12:14 PM on January 1