Anyone Have Pet Prarie Dogs????

[KellyHM]

I had 2 when I was a kid. One of them was the sweetest thing ever and the other one was a complete brat that would bite you just for fun. LOL. I really did like having them though. They use a litter box which is fantastic.

 

[CityChicker]

They are really popular in Asia and were here in the US several years ago. There are a couple books about them as pets (one of which I have somewhere). They were even being bred in several different colors. They were, however, made illegal gosh, probably like ten years ago (not sure if they still are). I think they were just made illegal to sell. I am not sure if that affected people that already owned them. I don't remember the whole story, but it was something related to disease risk. If I remember correctly, a group of prairie dogs had been exposed to some disease I think from some type of exotic rat and they were afraid the disease would spread. Anyway, I don't remember all the details, but I'm sure someone could find the info online. Supposedly though, some of them can make pretty good pets.

 

[Skyesrocket]

I remembered that ban too and found this online:
In mid-2003, due to cross-contamination at a Madison, Wisconsin-area pet swap from an unquarantined Gambian pouched rat imported from Ghana, several prairie dogs in captivity acquired monkeypox, and subsequently a few humans were also infected. This led the CDC to institute an outright ban on the sale, trade, and transport of prairie dogs within the United States.[18] The disease was never introduced to any wild populations. The European Union also banned importation of prairie dogs in response.[19] While largely seen by exotic pet owners[who?] and vendors[who?] as unfair, the monkeypox scare was not the only zoonosis incident associated with prairie dogs.[citation needed]

Prairie dogs are also very susceptible to bubonic plague, and many wild colonies have been wiped out by it.[20][21][22][23] Also, in 2002 a large group of prairie dogs in captivity in Texas were found to have contracted tularemia.[24] The prairie dog ban is frequently cited by the CDC as a successful response to the threat of zoonosis.[citation needed]

Prairie dogs that were in captivity at the time of the ban in 2003 were allowed to be kept under a grandfather clause, but were not to be bought, traded, or sold and transport was only permitted to and from a veterinarian under quarantined procedures.[citation needed]

On September 8, 2008, the FDA and CDC rescinded the ban making it once again legal to capture, sell, and transport prairie dogs effective immediately. Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 174 Although the federal ban has been lifted, several States still have their own ban on prairie dogs in place.[citation needed]

 

[lasergrl]

Yup the ban was lifted and they are legal again since last year. The unusual colored ones are naturally occuring mutations that are trapped in the wild. Its very rare for them to breed in captivity but happens occationally.

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you, Skyesrocket! Interesting information. I remember seeing some people advertising them several years ago like in solid white and some spotted colors. I thought, at the time, they looked really cool, but my Daschies would love to have a prairie dog lunch so none of them for me, LOL.

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

When I was in High School I worked at a feedstore that also stocked some small pocket pets. They had a resident prarie dog and that little thing was mean. If you blew in its face it would lunge at your face. And this wasnt personal either, cause my breath isn't that bad. He would get mad at who ever did it. I did it twice only, it was kinda funny. But I felt bad for him too.

 

[spectrumranch]

Quote:
Is there anything that likes it when you blow in it's face?????

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

Quote:
Is there anything that likes it when you blow in it's face?????

Nope. don't think so.

 

[NicInNC]

DH and I had a pet prairie dog back in 1995 when we first got married. Her name was Dixie and we got her from a pet store. She was SUCH a cool little pet. We kept her in a 3 story ferret cage and when I would get home from work, she would stand on her hind legs and "yip" (her way of barking). Her little tail would be wagging like crazy. She used the bathroom in one of those corner ferret litter boxes. I also had a leash and would walk her. I got a lot of strange looks.

Petsmart was doing free photographs one year and I got photographs made of her. I'll have to dig through my photos and scan them so you can see. One is of her in a basket with a bandana, one is of her in a bowl with the words "Killer" on it and the other is a beach scene.

We gave her to the Wildlife rescue after she bit a little girl in the apartment complex that we lived in. They can bite REALLY hard and deep. Their teeth are like razors.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
You took the words out of my mouth LOL. If I got a pet prairie dog i'd have a divorce on my hands.

Rumour around here is that Ted Turner released black footed ferrets on his ranch, then prairie dogs as food for them. Many of the surrounding ranches have suffered significant damage as a result.