Yes I'm serious. Yes, I'm weird. I dig badgers, what can I say?

I mean the north american sort. Possibly even an african honey badger if it's legal. European badgers are nice, but I like american badgers.


Personally I think they should have made them the national emblem. Would have given a whole new meaning to "Don't tread on me". :-)

Yes I'm serious. Yes, I'm weird. I dig badgers, what can I say?

I mean the north american sort. Possibly even an african honey badger if it's legal. European badgers are nice, but I like american badgers.


Personally I think they should have made them the national emblem. Would have given a whole new meaning to "Don't tread on me". :-)

Ok .... ;)

Hey E-boy! I have had me a few of the non-traditional pets myself, but never a badger. So please take what I say as an extension my own personal experiences, ok?

First off, I considered very carefully what the pet's nature was like outside of captivity. I can offer 2 very different examples:

Caged birds, hookbill variety (IE Parrots) are flock animals, with good reason. They are PREY animals and are hardwired to know that. Many of the more irritating behaviors a parrot can exhibit are perfectly normal in light of that knowledge. Take screaming or calling at sunrise and sunset. They do this to alert the flock that they are aware of the change in "danger level" and to and to say "I'm here, where are you?" So some degree of calling out at those times is to be expected, and the solution to that is for me to become the flock, go to them and speak to them: "I, too, know the night is falling and I am here. I am also glad I know where you are.". I few minutes of petting and all becomes right in the bird's world and they quiet down. This is one simple example, if you want more examples please ask (or I fear I may type forever on this topic alone) :D.

Snakes, constrictor variety (non venomous). These are creatures mainly wired to operate on instinct alone. Any form of learning they are able to do is extremely limited and has absolutely nothing to do with gratifying any of my needs. They are PREDATORS, and react most strongly to sense of smell. Solution to that is to expect very little emotional gratification from them other than observing them and in meeting their needs.

Next I would consider the exact environment the animal needs to be happy (or in the snakes case, thrive) in captivity. Birds require companionship, a large enough cage to be comfortable when caged and lots of playtime. Birds MUST play, or they can develop anxiety, leading to all sorts of unproductive behavior such as biting, screaming, and plucking their own feathers. A snake needs enough room to grow at a normal pace as well as objects for exercise, a source of heat in order to digest it's food or it will become ill, a place to hide and so on. If I cannot provide what the animal need to thrive, no matter how cool it is? It would be irresponsible for me to obtain the pet. The animal never asked to be in captivity after all.

The cost of providing the proper care would have to factored in, naturally, as well as (in my case) who would be willing and able to treat the animal properly in my potential absence.

There might be more but for now I am stalled out. Hope I have been a bit helpful and if not? I apologise for intruding on your thread.

I don't consider your post any kind of imposition at all. I've given a great deal of thought to exactly how or even if an american badger (not especially territorial, but not especially happy to see any of even it's own kind except for brief periods during mating season) could be socialized. I know it can be done because I've seen people who have them. Honey badgers are supposed to be very social if raised early and socialized to other animals and people. They are however of suspect legality and I'm pretty sure they are also a protected species so I would avoid them on that basis (why encourage poaching?). Badgers need to dig. They are among the strongest mammals pound for pound you'll find and extremely curious so if left to their own devices in a home they will destroy it. They need an enclosure (preferably outdoor but with warmth and shelter easily available) that keeps dogs and other potential threats (although really, god help them if they see fit to attack a badger!) predators away and them in. This means having a barrier that either completely encapsulates the enclosure or at minimum goes several feet deep. People have claimed to have badgers dig through up to four inches of asphalt and two inches of concrete so the enclosure would have to be sturdy. There are no commercially manufactured "Badger foods" available so I'd have to provide a close approximation of it's natural diet the hard way. As badgers are opportunists this isn't especially difficult, but they do require a widely varied diet for health (as that's what they're adapted for).

To be truthful, my ideal would really just involve owning land that wild badgers lived on. Then I could observe and enjoy them without complicating their lives. I still think it would be cool to have a pet badger though. :-)

I follow ya E-boy. What you are saying about different types of badgers and the responses they might have to socialization is similar to the issues involved in deciding which parrot to obtain. So many of them, so similar and yet so different!

Mind if I ramble? :D

Ya ever seen the cartoon where the baby bird pops out of the egg and calls the dog (or rooster or whatever) "Momma"? Birds really are like that! They imprint on what they hear and feel upon hatching and see upon opening the eyes. So a parrot hatched in an incubator and hand-fed formula by humans would imprint on humans (accept them as the flock) and respond accordingly. Of course hand-feeding a hatchling is an intensive process and so, not for me. People who can manage hand-feeding of hatchlings naturally want to be compensated well for their time! Means tame and gentle bird at a significantly higher cost. Parrots cannot be domesticated (I assume badgers cannot be either), they are born "wild" and can be tamed. In addition different breeds of parrots have different natures and respond differently to everything in general. All parrots must chew to trim the bill? But a cockatiel is going to be easily satisfied with some wooden toys and might chew up a treasured book, whereas an improperly supervised cockatoo with little to chew on is fully capable of gnawing the molding right off the wall.

I have done both in the past. I have paid more for a handfed bird and also purchased "broncos" (raised from hatching by parents) and proceeded to tame them with pretty good results, if I do say so myself! I loved them all for who they were. Any type of thing going on like that for badgers? I am so curious now! Badgers are so fiesty and really cute.

I don't know much about badgers...would wonder how well they would do as pets.

I really want a white-faced capuchin!! They are soooooooo cute! :D

get the next best thing as a badger - a guinia pig. aside from size they're ezactly alike . also they are solitary animals like the badger and pity the dog that messed with a guinia pig

Basdgers are not ver social. I think you will find tha tyou will need a net and some body armor to puck the littl;e bugger up. :p


Me :D


Yes I'm serious. Yes, I'm weird. I dig badgers, what can I say?

I mean the north american sort. Possibly even an african honey badger if it's legal. European badgers are nice, but I like american badgers.


Personally I think they should have made them the national emblem. Would have given a whole new meaning to "Don't tread on me". :-)

On second thought.. you might find a running chainsaw to be about as affectionate as a badger. Maye even more docile than a badger. :eek: :faint:


ME :D

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/


hehehe

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com/


hehehe:eek: Great jumpin' JIMINY Crime_Scene! Thanks for the new earworm...but warn a person to cut the speakers DOWN first! LMAO....