The Best Pets To Own In An Apartment

By Elana Goodwin on June 15, 2014

This article is brought to you by the Uloop Housing search service. Ready to make the move off campus? Search through the Uloop housing listings to find your next apartment, condo, town home, or house for rent.

Having a pet is a huge responsibility, especially when juggling its care along with your classes, homework and having a social life. Additionally, students living in apartments also face space constraints that can limit what kind of pet they can have at college (as well as what their lease agreement and landlord will allow them to have on the premises). Here’s a list of some of the best and/or easiest pets to keep in your apartment.

Photo Credit: zanoren.blogspot.com

Fish. Perhaps the easiest pets to have, fish are pretty low-maintenance, cheap, and don’t take up a lot of room or attention. Getting a couple of fish from a pet store is easy to do and the only supplies needed are some kind of tank or bowl and some food. Depending on how many fish you want to keep as pets, you may need to invest in a larger bowl or tank with a filter to make keeping it clean easier.

There are also many different kinds of fish and some get along better than others (which sounds crazy, but it’s true). Also, if you’re getting more than one fish, make sure to ask at the store that they not give you a male and female unless you want to end up with baby fish. Easy freshwater fish to keep as pets include guppies, goldfish, tetras and mollies, which are “community” fish and are usually much happier when kept in groups or schools with others of their species.

You can also add color to your apartment with vibrant colored fish or colorful gravel for the bottom of the tank or bowl, along with fun little embellishments to decorate the inside of the bowl and give the fish something to swim through or around in their habitat.

Photo Credit: Duncan Smith/Photodisc

Birds. While some kinds of pet birds can be very loud (which could cause trouble if your apartment neighbors don’t like the noise or the walls are too thin), there are also some bird species which are smaller and quieter.

Parakeets, for example, live well in smaller spaces, are not very loud and are smaller than many other birds.While of course they still need a cage, because of their smaller size, their enclosure wouldn’t be as large as one needed for, say, a parrot.

Finches and canaries are also small birds but are typically louder than parakeets. However, their voices can go unheard by those not in their immediate vicinity, so they also would make ideal apartment pets. Birds are also very intelligent, easy to train and pretty cheap to feed.

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Cats. Cats can make great apartment pets as many are content to just do their own thing, meaning they require less work and attention than other pet animals and yet provide you with a furry companion. Some breeds of cats are better than others for apartment living, such as the British Shorthair, Russian Blue and Ragdoll. These particular cat breeds are quiet, friendly, gentle, fairly low maintenance and typically adapt well to living in an apartment.

Cats do need some kind of vertical thing they can climb or hang out on, which will also make them feel like your apartment is bigger than it really is. Their litterbox will also take up some room in the apartment and if you don’t keep it clean, can cause unpleasant smells to waft through your home.

Cats also need various toys to keep them entertained but don’t need you to take them for walks, which is a plus as they are fine to stay in your apartment while you’re on campus in classes or out at night.

Photo Credit: petsclan.com

Dogs. Of course, man’s best friend is one of the best pets to have, no matter where you live. However, living in an apartment means space is limited which can factor into what kind of dog you can get as some are bigger than others or will need more of a bigger area to be able to play in. Also, landlords don’t always allow dogs on the property, so you have to be aware of the terms of your lease agreement and follow them accordingly.

Dogs, no matter the breed, also require lots of attention, checkups, more costly food than many other pets and exercise. Smaller dog breeds like Boston terriers, Pugs and Yorkshire terriers are fairly well-behaved and less bark-y than many other breeds and may be easier to accommodate in an apartment.

Smaller mixed breed dogs and mutts can have good temperaments as well. Additionally, if you want to keep your apartment neater and do not want to have to worry about your dog shedding hair all over, look into dog breeds that don’t shed a lot or are hypoallergenic.

Overall, any pet requires time, attention, usually training and are a big responsibility. Make sure you have the space for whatever pet you choose to live comfortably, the ability to balance being a pet owner with your schedule and other commitments and that your roommate and landlord don’t mind you having a pet in your apartment.

Make your next move easy by finding a place to live near campus using the Uloop Housing search service full of students needing Roommates and Sublets or people ready to rent you a great Apartment or House.

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