Weird pet habits

For your first pet, I'll rate their habit as a 3. It's kind of gross if it gets in your mouth lol but I think it's pretty cute that they are excited to play with you.

For the second one, I'll rate it a 7. It's pretty gross but not too uncommon in dogs (I know a couple people with dogs who do this). It can be a sign of anxiety or not getting enough exercise but also like you said it could just be because they are a puppy and still settling in.

For my weird pet habit, I have a leopard gecko that eats his skin when he sheds. It's actually normal for them to do this but can seem weird to people who don't have reptiles lol

 

Ah well, I'll be one of the exceptions here who knew a healthy Gecko often eats his own shed, but that's because I'm a Herp Nerd too! LOL. I'd rate it as a 2/10, since it's typical behavior but imagine the nasty texture! Blegh.

I have two snakes. They are, however, pretty typical in their snakey ways. The weirdo is the dog.

My dachshund has to check on me every time I shower. She comes into the bathroom about halfway through my shower and just watches my blurry shape for a minute or so before she'll go back to hanging out in my room. She doesn't bark or try to reach me, just... looks Concerned. She does this without fail, every time.

 

I'd say 2/10 on the weirdness scale because I've had dogs with separation anxiety who did similar "checks" to make sure they hadn't been abandoned.

My dog (chi-weenie) has a lot of funny habits. One is that she does NOT like it when I have my back to her on the bed. She sleeps on my bed beside or in front of me. If I ever turn around (even in my sleep) so that my back is towards her, she crawls over me so she will be in front of me again. And I mean literally crawls. She drags herself over me with her back legs splooting. Her preferred place to crawl over me is via my head.

 

I'll call that about a 3 on weird, but also pretty cute!

One of my cats is very weird about her litterbox habits. She uses it just fine, that's not an issue, but after she's done with her business, instead of pawing at the litter to cover it, she paws at literally everything else. Sides of the litterbox, walls, the litter genie, the bag of litter for refills, the litter mat... and it's not just a couple of swipes, she'll sit there doing it for a solid minute or two (which seems like forever when you're listening to her flick the edge of the plastic litter bag). I don't actually mind it, because my previous cat (passed 6 years ago) did the same thing, so it reminds me of him in a good way, at least.

 

solid 2, cats are funky little creatures.

I have a little long haired chihuahua... I think his craziest habit is that he doesn't bark..or howl, he straight up screams (however he is getting there and has barked normally a few times!) when my mom gets home he's especially loud, he loves her to bits- you an hear him from the street almost.

 

Does he scream like this?

 

I am going to hop on this train because my newest little gremlin is full of odd/gross habits that I can't help but share.

As far as the screaming pooch, I'll give that a 4/10 for being odd, not gross, because it is rare to meet a pooch that doesn't bark.

Now, for the gremlin, when we adopted him we were told he was a longhair domestic cat but I'm pretty sure he's an alien from outer space. When it comes to odd: He -will not- jump onto anything. He can jump, we have seen him jump after birds and have had him checked out by a vet, he is fine. However, instead of jumping onto the bed or the couch he will CLIMB, like paw over paw pull himself up the furniture rather than jumping. Its awful, but at this point we have just accepted it and put blankets on the furniture to protect it from his claws. Also, he does what my daughter likes to call 'puddling'. Instead of jumping down or stepping off of the couch, chair, or even someone's arms when he is done he just goes limp and hangs like he's dead before slowly managing to slip from the area. Usually, by then he magically remembers he has bones and lands on his feet perfectly. Oh, and much like the screaming dog, he doesn't meow...we've had him two years and he's never meowed. Instead, he makes this noise similar to baby babble...which can be terrifying in the middle of the night when your only child is a preteen.

For gross, the little gremlin has a thing for eating -everything-. Yes, again I have taken him to the vet and had him looked at, everything is normal/fine. Brush him and pull the loose fur off of the brush? Better have it in your hand or he will flip around and try to eat it. Loose thread on your shirt? Yep, he'll try to eat that too. I've even caught him trying to chew on the carpet (when we moved in they had just installed it so there were a few parts where a few strays were loose but not quite broken off. It was fixed after vacuuming). If it fits in his mouth he will eat it and I have caught him licking the floor before. All it means is I spend a few more minutes a day making sure everything is cleaned and safe for the little bugger.

I also want to stress, I have taken (and continue to take) him to the vet regularly and he is a healthy boy with odd habits. The vets cannot explain anything physically or mentally wrong with him that would cause such behaviors and attribute it to him being a curious "toddler" even though he is almost three years old.

 

Sometimes actually!!! Not that consistent thought lmao!

 

Odd pets…..haha, I don’t think I’ve ever had a normal one. I always end up with the weirdos.

Well @errinreynolds I think your feline friend is probably a solid 5/10 on the oddness scale and I’d give him 6/10 on the not so much gross but definitely worrying for you scale! I know some cats have a thing about sucking and chewing on woollen things, they think it’s a comforting habit maybe derived from being separated from their mother at too young an age, but physically eating it is very unusual!

Hmmm out of my current animal companions I’d probably say Luna, my female Parrotlet, is the oddest. She has so many quirks for something so tiny. Parrotlets are odd at the best of times (shove an angry T-Rex with a split personality and hormonal mood swings into a body smaller than that of a Budgie then give it a rage trigger set off by rustling and you get the picture) but Luna likes to go that extra mile. Her idea of a bath is to stick her butt in one of the other bird’s water dishes, she likes to stick her head through the hole in the fish tank lid and chirp angrily at the fish, if she’s on the floor she will look at you to pick her up but if you try to touch her at any other time she will bite, she likes to sit on your shoulder but you can’t turn to look at her if you value your face, she will sit, chirp and stare at you to get the stick in order to transfer her literally about a few feet from the coffee table to the top of your head when she could easily fly there, randomly she will fly over and start chewing holes in your clothing then fly off again, she hates tissues (so much rage) and anything that rolls about.

One of our other birds, Walter, likes to chatter to curtain labels while clutching them in his foot.

The gross one is my Crested Gecko who loves nothing more than to poop in his clean water dish!

 

I'm gonna give Luna a 6/10 just for the sheer amount of weirdness, though I'm not well versed in birb oddities. I love them, but would never get one, as a pet who is gonna live longer than me is too much for myself. Walter gets a 1/10 cause who doesn't talk to inanimate objects? XD The crested gecko....that's just what them reptiles do xD

My munchkin fold, Turkey (Turkleton Burger of the Burgerton Burgers is his full name), is gonna be the odd story for me. I use coconut oil as a face moisturizer, I have for years. He never cared. Until about a year ago, when he decided that he loved the taste of it. But just when licking it off my fingers. So twice a day he will hop up onto the bathroom counter (because he's a munchie, this involves hopping onto the toilet and then hopping onto the counter) and wait patiently for me to finish washing my face. He's not interested in the jar of coconut oil when it's open, he just stares at my fingers while I'm applying and then starts purring the instant I put my fingers down for him to lick. He gets every last little taste, including anything that's hiding under my fingernails. And then I scoop him off the counter and set him on the floor, his purr disappears and he leaves me like he doesn't care who I am at all lol.

If for some reason I have the door closed while I'm washing my face (say, don't want to wake up my partner sleeping in the bed), I have to open it again before applying the oil. Turkey will be waiting patiently outside, and will go immediately to the counter so he can get his treat.

(anyone worried about cats re: coconut oil. I checked when this was a thing he wanted to start doing, and it's fine for them in small quantities though if he did decide to start eating it directly out of the container he might get some nasty poopies)