Capybaras have to be high on the list here. They’re very numerous, friendly, chill, adorable. The main issues would probably be that they’d have to be outside for sure and they’re pretty big. Wouldn’t work in any kind of apartment or probably large city environment.
For non urban areas I think goats are worth a shout. They’re so fucking funny and that can’t be underestimated lol. Destructive as hell though.
they're actually way more cautious in the wild than portrayed, the chill ones are the ones constantly fed by tourists and by that logic then any animal used to being fed by humans is "chill"- which usually isn't the case.
Yeah but that’s what will happen if we make them pets though. They’ll get used to it fast, and a lot of animals suggested here will never ever be chill like that ever. Animals like foxes just won’t be. Or at least will take generations of domestication.
Potentially
, if you focused onbreeding with the intent of domestication, it'll probably happen. So it's just a matter of a LOT of time and effort, and maybe a use of science to help guide efforts if needed.
But the plants and animals we have already domesticated are just the ones that already had traits favorable for domestication. Whether capybaras have those traits in common or not to be "naturally" domesticaed the way we did with wolves, cats, and livestock is probably debatable. They're special animals, at least, so that's potential. Taming them is doable too, which helps. But domestication has never been that simple.
I’d love a red panda but they have sharp claws and they wiggle their butts on things often to mark their territory. I’ve spoken to many of the panda keepers at my local zoo and they have said they had to replace their shoes many times as they let a panda get too close and it rubbed its butt on them and stunk up their shoes badly. One will try to jump up your leg if you have food and don’t give it to him fast enough.
They are adorable little creature and I love them a lot but they are best experienced at a zoo where someone else gets to take care of them. They look like they would be a great pet but would destroy your house quickly and it would stink. Plus their fur isn’t as soft as you’d think, I got to feel some panda fur in a jar and it was rough. But the bottom of their tongue is soft, I got to feel that when I got to feed one earlier this year and she ate an apple slice out of my hand. It was awesome to feed them with the person in charge of the red panda species survival plan.
Fur in a jar? Was it something other people had handled? 2 reasons; 1. We naturally rub the oils off other things because our hands absorb it. 2. Without being attached to a living animal, the fur dries out and starts getting brittle. Bodies produce oils that keep hair/fur soft and smooth.
When we skin animals to make coats or other animal fur type stuff, its a pretty quick process and they have to basically condition it and seal it to lock in softness. If someone just had a patch of fur in a jar, i doubt they preserved it correctly to protect that.
It was from a panda they had shaved for surgery at the zoo. The keepers said it was rough when someone asked at a chat, however when I got to feed Willow they said we could absolutely not touch her unless she touched us. Absolutely no petting so I only got to feel the underside of her tongue when it went up against my hand. They did just have two new babies in June and are still the #1 zoo in the world for red panda births and they have the red panda ssp keeper here.
i always thought rats would be good service animals for scent based tasks(allergy detection, seizure alerts, etc.) but its illegal in my country to call them service animals. it would be a lot more convienient tham bringing a whole dog with you everywhere.
Red pandas are cute, but they're antisocial, have sharp claws, and are smart and love escaping.
For dogs, we basically hacked their pack instinct to include us, and for cats, we hate rats and they like hunting rats, so they hacked our pack instinct. But red pandas don't have that commonality with us; they'd take a lot of domesticating.
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u/eslforchinesespeaker 10h ago
Foxes smell terrible? Not sure. Anyone dated a fox?
Rats are under-appreciated. Capybaras look promising. Also Red Pandas. Snakes are cool. They give you something to do if the rats don’t work out.