@@squireltag1000 I agree-- hey! In trying to get Clint to show us an entire video of his bloopers!🤣 I think it would be so fun to watch. Help me out here Cpt Otis!! I love your name. Ate you a captain of a boat? A fishing/ crabbing boat per chance? I'd like to know the story of your name. ☺
I was thinking a "cool and cute" category taranchulas are cool and budgies are cute. Something like a lil fish isn't really either of those (even if I love them).
I can't speak to birds, but other than dogs and maybe... Ferrets? Idk if many mammals do much of anything close to love. Cats are murder machines that live in your house, rodents just kinda exist to reproduce... Correct me if I'm wrong tho? I will say there's some reptiles (larger lizards, arguably a couple snake species) you can bond with just not in the same way 2 mammals might (you and a dog lol) Interesting concept tho.
"Am I gonna kill this thing? At number 6, birds. It's very likely that you will." And then you immediately you moved on. This should not have made me laugh as much as it did. But the honest truth is also very important for people to know especially if they don't have a bird specialized vet nearby.
As someone who loves all animals and has cared for all of these, yeah I agree. I WOULD add a category of "will it love me as much as I love it?" in order (bottom to top) arthropods, amphibians, fish (there are smart species that are fun to interact with who can really like people but i wouldn't call it love),reptiles (tegus and some monitors seem REALLY into people and species like crocodilians can form good balances with people but it's not love), mammals and birds can entirely love and are VERY social. you could argue either for the top spot. Birds are like a toddler that never grows up or makes any extra friends and become immensely attached so if you want "loves me" that's the winner. But mammals were domesticated for people or domesticated themselves. So if you want "loves humans in general" I think they win. Overall this still has reptiles winning bumping the scores but gives a slice of humble pie to the arthropods and adds for why people like mammals and birds so much while highlighting why a lot of people DON'T want them aside from the fact that a lot of people are skeezed out. It also shows the versatility of reptiles as just because they "tolerate" people doesn't mean they "like" or even "love" people.
Wrong, my pet ants comes and give my hand kisses and hugs when I put it in their outworld. They even leave their nest to greet me if I'm close enough. P.S. I do not own any animal. It is all a joke and I even agree with you, but crawly bois are still my favourite animals.
Bird keeper here. While I don't think this would have saved birds from last place (they are needy pets!), I think in the "joy of handling" category if you also considered how often the animal wants to be handled (or how sociable it is) then birds and mammals would have at least gotten some more points than they have here. Birds and mammals are more work as pets because they NEED attention and socialization for thier mental health. But there are plenty of people out there that don't even want a pet at all if that pet doesn't appear to like or care about them. Which is why these animals are more common as pets even if they are harder to care for. It all depends on what you value and what you find rewarding.
Yes, yes, yes, exactly. I mean I don't mind my parrots being loud and pooping all the time at all. Them being these lovely, lovable, beautiful, intelligent and sociable creatures (members of the family) faaar outweighs all of the minuses. p.s.: having said that, I find most animals fascinating and beautiful, but not all of them are really very keen on socializing or at least to a certain (limited) extent.
I would also disagree with the "easy to kill" part. I haven't kept invertebrates or amphibians, but fish are incredibly easy to lose. Especially if you buy one that happens to be sick and then your entire tank is lost. Birds? In 20+ years, I've lost one to drowning (I was a stupid kid and forgot the tank lid), and one to a congenital problem. That's it. This is from lovebirds to macaws. As long as you take some safety precautions (or just keep them in aviaries) and feed them properly, birds are incredibly hardy.
Birds are definitely in the right place. I own several rescued parrots and they are an incredible amount of work and care. I work for a local pet store and I spend a lot of time convincing people that they don't want a parrot. Yes it talks and that's adorable, but they are a LOT more work than most people are looking to put into a pet. And is why I end up with rescues. On that note though, as you announced the category "Loud, smelly, and obnoxious" I hear from the other room my B&G macaw "HIIIIII! MOOOOOM!!! MOOOOM!!!! HIIIIII!" So yes, very accurate.
Yes, a lot of people take poor care of their birds, but some people are fabulous owners whose bird or birds adore them. It is definitely a lifestyle and lots of work, but birds can be the most rewarding, too
@@suspiciousbird487 definitely birds are life style & lots of work, I saw people getting bird just because they can speak 😕 I just love my cocktails,budgies albs & greys they speak or not I don't care but we do communicate with each other, my greys will always approach me & they will give head for head scratches or play with fingers & when not in mood they will worn with gentle bite, taiels are like you do what you want but don't stop head scratches just love them all😘 I had kept almost everything apart from amphibian & they all are amazing, well least I did for my ball python & scorpions
As an owner of one of the worst birds to have as a pet- a Major Mitchell Cockatoo, I agree 100% with the bird placing. They're the best pet for a very tiny minority of people, and absolutely the worst for the majority.
Oh lord you have one of those? I've been keeping and fostering parrots for 20 years now and after a Moluccan cockatoo foster I said I was NEVER keeping or fostering a cockatoo again (I took an Umbrella in a legit emergency once after that but only because it was for less than a month. Only time I've breathed a sigh of relief and not shed a tear after the bird found a home). Seriously that's my only rule and condition for fosters: No cockatoos. I'll take the handicapped Macaw, the constantly screaming Conure, the Amazon with rage issues that constantly bites and screams swear words, the neurotic feather picking African Gray. No cockatoos. I've dealt with a lot of parrots, and a lot of issues and "problem" birds. Cockatoos nearly broke me and my passion for parrots. Gorgeous birds but it's the equivalent of fostering a mood disordered special needs teenager. God bless those that can do it because I can't.
@@lionqueensavanna have had her for 5 years and she's an absolute monster! But she's my monster haha. Everyone who meets her says that they want a bird now, and I always try and talk them down from it. Especially cockatoos. If I can even talk them down to a Galah then that's a win to be honest. They see this playful, beautiful and affectionate bird for the 20 minutes that they visit, but then they miss the non stop screaming and chewing and need for attention almost 24 hours a day. The equation of cockatoos to a special needs teenager is pretty apt. I always tell people that it's like I've adopted a 3 year old that will never grow up, and who happens to have bolt cutters attached to their face.
I live in Southern California, and the parrots that wake me up each morning (invasive species) just prove how loud parrots can be. Birds simply aren't good pets. The fact that some species can live upwards of 50+ years with good care doesn't help. I think tortoises might make a better pet if you want a friend that lives for a very long time. Birds are simply too much, expensive, loud, messy, don't get me started on the vet bills and the toys.
As someone who’s owned/cared for pets in every category you listed, I totally agree with the results! I now only have one pet, and it’s a bearded dragon. He’s the best, most easiest, most awesome pet ever.
I would love to have a Bearded Dragon , if I didn't have dogs that I'd have to keep away from it I would already have one. I love lizards and bearded dragons seem like the coolest. I'd love to have a Tegu also. For now I have to settle for the lizards in my front yard that I've tamed to a degree. I hand feed them and they will crawl around on my hands but that's about it. They are broad headed skinks.
@@Coelacanth_yes, I'd love a Tegu,....unfortunately they'd play tug of war with it. I'm just going to have to wait. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my turtle. I have an Alligator Snapping Turtle. He's pretty cool.
I lost it at domestic mammals being "large and full of weapons" as I sit on the couch between my two 70 lbs dogs lol they are indeed large and full of weapons (and luckily for me, very fond of people)!
It's also I think worth noting if you get a dog that doesn't do well seeing other dogs, you could easily have a dangerous situation on your hands when you find that out on a first walk. Mammals are definitely one of the more dangerous animals to keep. Sure some scorpions are deadly, but a long pair of tongs keep you out of harms way, an 80 pound dog rips the leash out of your hand and you have to deal with while throwing yourself directly in harms way.
Sometimes I think about how weird it is I have two only slightly scaled down artificially neotenic wolves just wandering around the house getting into things.
Our family used to have one presa canario and one english mastiff. who have both since passed. The presa, on all fours, was just below my waist and almost 100 lbs. The English mastiff was actually a smaller boy by mastiff standards, and he was still, on all fours, just below my belly button and almost 140 lbs. On his hind legs, he was well over six feet tall. They both were both very well behaved dogs, extremely well trained, and weren't a threat to anyone at all, and were especially great with toddlers. But it's still wild to think we had them both, overall, for over 16+ years, and if they wanted to at any point, EASILY could've killed us with probably very little effort.
i think the reason mammals are lower is that they often bite or scratch. dogs do the least, but they aren't the only popular mammal pets. meanwhile, clint works with reptiles and has only been bitten by a snake a few times in his whole career. reptiles simply aren't as active and so they wont attack unless they are preying or in real danger.
Yes, the homage to Mr. Rogers was indeed ‘pretty darn legendary’! This was a great and entertaining look at the merits and shortcomings of various pets! Merry Christmas to all! 🎄 🎄 🎄
You can't hate all mosquitoes. Toxorhynchites, the elephant mosquito, is colourful, doesn't bite, an effective pollinator, and its larvae eat other mosquito larvae. It's like the perfect mosquito.
As a person who has worked extensively with horses and dogs, I can’t disagree with the score for mammals. If you count horses as pets, the score should be a LOT lower than it is. I think they might even beat out human children for lowest score ever!
I agree, when people say I want a horse, I say, NO! You should not get one, most people cannot and do not give them the time and attention they need. They don't even brush/curry their cats and dogs on a regualr basis, let alone the horse! They might want a horse and say they will ride it, but that comes with a need for tack, knowledge of tack and care of tack, it has to be maintained too. What about taking care of the male...yup! There's a lot of work that goes into having a horse!
I don't necessarily disagree with the ranking of the groups, but there is a lot of overlap on suitability as pets. A common boa is a better pet than a mink, but a domestic cat is a better pet than a dwarf caiman.
wickens wicked reptiles had helped me understand that It's impossible to create a perfect list. There are always exceptions and there are always more categories and more details that can change a ranking system. The only way to make these types of videos possible, is to draw a line and stick to it.
Good point. The domestic cat is certainly is a better pet than a dwarf caiman. The small crocodilians do not make good pets. That's why you want a black caiman or orinoco crocodile. Much more cuddly and certainly a step up from a house cat.
I'm still not sure that a cat is any better than a caiman. I feel like I'd be much less likely to be bitten handling a crocodilian would be easier to avoid for sure
As a bird owner, I feel birds show up way too often at the bottom of each category. It being a lifestyle is pretty damn accurate though, but I'm lovin it.
Well, its okay and not at the same time. It always come up to a question how dedicated you are to keep X animal as a pet, and what can you sacrifice for the idea of keeping it. I know many people keeping different types of pets, and the list is quite accurate to be honest. The unability to take pet for a walk is the biggest hit for me- of course you can train birb to be with you, but that is not the same as casual dog/cat, or even reptile
I love birds but the noise/intrusiveness singularly kills owning one for me. To me they are basically loud reptiles, but that's also one of my favorite reptile features - generally silent lol. Birds cool tho.
I owned a house sparrow(he passed away several months ago sadly) but, there is really nothing like owning a bird. Having them fly to you on que is the most rewarding thing about owning a bird. I look forward to any birds I own in the future because I don't think I chose this lifestyle, I think it chose me.
Great video like always, but I am starting to think we need category for companionship, as this is why many people do keep pets. Cat or dog may require much more care than a snake, but for most people it would make for a much better companion. Still, yay for reptiles winning!
That's pretty hard to quantify, and many bigger lizards are just as companion-y as plenty of other mammals, even dogs. Personally I think noise and intrusiveness should be a category lol. Otherwise birbs would be a higher possibility for me as a pet.
@@reptilez13 No way a reptile is even close to anything a dog can be when it comes to companionship. Either you did not have a dog or you antropomorphisise reptiles. We are talking about a group of animals that live in packs and have complicated social structures and sophisticated interactions and one that are mostly solitary, but even when not, they just have loose connecting groups without a cooperative nature. I have reptiles, I love them. But claiming something like that is just simply not true.
@@anotherhistoryenthusiast5874 Clint is just a scientist that has to look at things objectively. I think that skews his ratings. This competition just didn't take into account how much people love dogs and cats
I find it amusing that the best pets tend to be the most misunderstood… often, people fear snakes and spiders. I used to be afraid of spiders, and now I keep tarantulas, 28 in total. People like you help educate us and teach us to respect these creatures. I discovered your channel while researching tarantulas a year ago, and have broadened my horizons to snakes and other reptiles… thank you for all you do! ❤️
What would be the worst amphibian? I'm guessing the worst Reptile may be a salt water crocodile, komodo dragon, or maybe that impossible to care for dragon snake. Worst bird would most likely be a condor or something impossible to keep. A cassowary could just be penned up like an ostrich if you lived in a tropical climate. Worst fish could be something like a great white shark. Worst mammal? I'm guessing a large marine mammal like a whale or maybe a hippopotamus. Arthropod? Gosh lol I have no idea....maybe an executioner wasp, maybe a mosquito.
A playtime category would have been nice. Something that rates how much you can play with the pet, or how easy it is to train, maybe how much of a challenge it can solve. I Think qualities like that are what makes some birds so appealing and some mammals and birds even activly useful. Also I stand by my point that Joy of handeling should have gone to the mammals.
Yeah, mammals are soft. The best tactile sensations I've felt for touching any animal has been touching mammals. And it's not just a few standouts - a lot of mammals have really pleasant fur textures, and are quite happy to let you touch their fur (assuming proper socialization of course) for a long period of time.
I’d add that the venomous outliers of the reptile group should put them in second. Not to mention lizards and some turtles can scratch as well as most mammals. (I’m speaking from experience)
Watching your videos has really made me think a lot more about the specific needs of most animals and made me realise just how much effort and care's required to have a pet not just survive but thrive as part of your family, and I'm definitely gonna be a lot more prepared for a pet when I get one of my own as a result, so thanks!
So many people have this crazy idea that birds are easy, low-maintenance pets... which couldn't be further from the truth. Thank you for giving them their proper score!
I can't remember all the categories but emotional reciprocity would raise the averages for mammals and birds. There is no debate over whether dogs, cats, and parrots love their owners (or love somebody else in their house hold lol). I love my eclectus parrot and I know that he loves me too, he even says it back! 💚 There is definitely a disparity in companionship between different types of pets.
I'm a critter person in general, and up until about a year ago doggos were my critter of choice - then because I'm not in a position where having a dog is realistic or fair to the dog, I started researching other options. I'm highly allergic to cats, ratties don't live long enough etc etc and then I started talking to a co-worker who has reptiles... I saw a picture of a baby Ball Python and I was done, that was going to be my new pet... I researched breeders and then just watched what became available. My boys picture showed up and I had a deposit on him within 15 minutes of seeing him and I haven't looked back - he is charming, great company when I need company, very low maintenance (other than fighting with humidity in a very dry climate really easy to care for) and quite honestly the best all round critter I've had the opportunity to have as a pet. I have recommended noodles to friends for first pets for their kiddos because their care is just so easy and especially with a socialised BP they are just the most patient critters. So I'm a convert and completely agree reptiles are just the best pet. Happy Holidays!
Nice, many many maaaany people never think about the ramifications and consequences of adopting a dog, IMO they are easily as hard to care of as a young child but they never grow out of it, they smell even after bathing, they molt their fur all of the time and you gotta take them on decently long walks every single day 3+ times a day(+spending time playing with them) if you don't want crap in your living room, if you live near another person with a dog their noise level is even above birds', all in all they are BUILT to live in the countryside or to be watched over pretty much 24/7, keeping dogs in an apartment is like keeping a big tortoise inside your house, ya can, it's just not ideal and most people are not capable of handling such a responsibility and end up having mean, untrained, dogs. Ideal if you are retired and at home all of the time though, for your average person with a job/who doesn't know what to do with their life and is still in college, hell no. Source: had a dog and met other dog owners often.
Sounds similar to my story. My dog died years ago and I wanted to wait for my life to get more stabile before getting another one. That still hasn't happened and I really wanted a pet. Then I suddenly remembered how much I loved reptiles as a kid but never got one because my parents didn't want one. Well, I'm an adult now, so I can make my own decisions. My gargoyle gecko is a year old now and I love him. Still a bit of work but not nearly as much as a dog.
This. I would rather have a pet rat than a pet spider largely because the rat recognizes me, will nuzzle me, will groom my hair and give other social signs of affection.
Small comment on fish. A hungry fish is a happy fish... been keeping fish for decades and I would never feed fish every day. Also if your tank is large enough and cycled and stable, 1 week is a ridiculously small amount of time to limit yourself to for water changes. Unless your bioload if unreasonable, a water change once a month is usually sufficient. But I get it, you have to account for all situations and experience levels ;-) Thanks Clint!
Totally agree. As both a fish and reptile keeper, I think fish lost a few points to reptiles that they shouldn’t have. Maybe not enough to change the final score, but there is a reason so many people keep fish.
agree also thing they were placed wrong in the noisy category as most tanks 9i have come across are not disturbingly noisy and the fish them selves pretty quiet. frogs are far more disturbing to be honest.
While I'm super happy that reptiles are number 1, I agree with some of these comments about adding another category "will it love/bond with me?" Might bring some of the other categories up a little and give a more accurate result. :) I'm sure my Cali Kingsnake does not care in the least bit who brings the food haha!
Even if that was added reptiles would have still won, them didn’t even win most in every category. It just would of gave birds and mammals a higher score.
@@martelchestnut2829 yes you're right and like I said, I'm pretty happy and not that surprised that reptiles won. I just agree that it would be a good category to add.
As a bird owner, I truly hope that people listen when he talks about birds. I love my bird and it’s the best pet I have ever had but it is truly life altering! As much as I love mine, I would never recommend having one as a pet!
I would add one category an that would be trainability. Mammals and birds may be the most difficult to look after but be most rewarding when properly trained... but i'm biased.
I imagine that could be a double-edged sword, because higher intelligence can allow for greater trainability, but it can also cause an animal to become bored more easily and require greater stimulating enrichment. Then again, Clint pointed out that such tradeoffs between categories are to be somewhat expected.
I thought that the Arthropods were gonna win it, but I’m not surprised that the reptiles were triumphant in the end. Now I just have to get myself a reptile so I can say I have one of the best pets!
This was an absolute delight! I loved the extra content at the end. "Stupid whales!" 😂 I'm very surprised though that amphibians did as well as they did! (I love them, but they're not for everybody.) Although people can debate some of your rankings, I think the only serious critique I could offer of your ranking system is in the weighing of each category. For example: I basically have to build my life around not only my dog's needs but also his freakin' DESIRES . . . but he is also the best cuddler and my best friend. And so that greatly outweighs everything else. Know what I mean?
....I keep seeing this with people about their dogs. 1st- what about cats?? ;) I had both and my cats were as loving as my dogs! 2nd- you guys say it like you can't or don't get back from your reptiles. I do! Depending on the species and personality of the animals and they type of interactions you have and the time you take the experiences and value of them vary based on you, for the most part. I have a friend that does not like any pet. She has had two cats in the 20 years I have known her (they were gotten at the same time). They are outside cats, over the years she lets them in from time to time now. I don't think she would rate any animal very high, not dogs, snakes or spiders for sure.
As a bird person (my most beloved budgierigar is a memorial tattoo on my chest now) I don't think any bird person will argue this rating for them. If anything, I'd love them to be acknowledged MORE as the difficult delicate pets they are. I don't keep any right now and have been looking at reptiles because birds ARE such a commitment of time and space, as much as I adore them and always will
The best really depends on the type of pet keeper that you are. Some people like to have pets to cuddle, some just want a companion, others have to collect them all, and some want to show & tell. I have kept animals from every category over the years. These days I'm more of an observer. I like to set up large natural enclosures and enjoy watching my pets do their thing. So naturally I favor fish. I would give them a higher score in a few categories, but having 33 years of experience in fishkeeping takes a lot of the cons out of the picture for me. Maybe a list of "bests" for different types of pet keepers? Or a "What kind of pet keeper are you?". If you are looking for another fish to do a video on the polypterus genus is very interesting.
Don't they only live like 2-7 years? I think they are really good for parents who don't want a long term project that have a bird obsessed kid though. I actually plan on keeping a flock once I have a yard.
Well, "fluffy" can also correlate (though not exclusively) with "does it actually *want* to be around me?" Dogs, rats, bunnies, ferrets, and a select group of cats are social mammals capable of forming social bonds with humans. Being social mammals (so...fur) like humans is obviously a plus for what humans select as pets.
“I’m looking for love” the way you said this and the face you pulled Clint had me in stitches 😆🤣 shame amphibians we not higher but go reptiles for the win 🐢
What about pigeons (homing pigeons for example): - They’re domesticated - Quiet(er) than other birds - They enjoy company - Their biting doesn’t hurt - Pretty clean And some other stuff I may be forgetting
Birds are also _annoyingly_ good at hiding their illnesses. By the time you notice your bird showing symptoms that they're sick, it's usually too late for them.
I feel like there was a category missing, I would call it "I love it, but does it love me?" I think that category would explain why mammals and birds are so popular as pets, as although it wouldn't change the rankings, it would be the most important category, or at least a tie breaker, for a lot of people.
As someone who owns/has owned every catagory of pet -- I agree. I can customize their enclosures and be creative, take out my boas for a stretch and show them off, make little tropical salads for my lizards, leave them while im on a weekend trip, there is a reptile for every lifestyle, they're beautiful, live a good amount of time, super low maintenance The best and the most underrated.
I was once playing Call of Duty with my buddy, and we thought the cricket noises were really loud in the game, then we looked at my lizard's cage and started laughing
Many will probably argue "he made reptiles the best pets because they're his favorite" but make sure you guys consider the alternative, the reverse, that perhaps they are the best pets and that's WHY they are his favorite. Also everyone is going to be different of course.
agreed. how ive felt looking at most people who made comments like that. there is a small bias but that’ll be the case for anybody because for example clint might not like the sound of a bird who wont stop yelling throughout the day and another will find it to be comforting. however to me it’s clear clint did a great job at keeping it as unbiased as it possibly could be.
I think this list really points out "what are the most practical animals to own for the largest number of people," rather than "what makes the best pet." This is because it slants heavily towards practical concerns like noise, cost, and maintenence while totally ignoring capacity for companionship, personality, etc.
@@jameswoodard4304 Even in practicality I would argue that reptiles lose out to arthropods, especially tarantulas. The list was quite biased towards reptiles although I don't really take the list seriously because it is too generalizing. There are species of the amphibians, fish, reptiles and arthropods that can get a pretty much perfect score in all categories, and others which would be more demanding than a mammal. Then there are the birds, rightfully placed at the bottom. Their only redeeming factor is their character. Everything else is a massive chore compared to the others.
This video is great for people looking for the right pet for them. I love that reasons were given for the scoring. We won't all agree on the rankings here but this video as a whole helps us make an informed decision
There is another category that needs to be added. The mutual emotional connection between you ad your pet. That is a HUGE part of having a pet. That would change the final tally greatly.
It's argumeable though! Those that haven't had reptile pets or just kept them in an enclosure to look at would say they give you nothing back. I will definitely argue and even argue that snakes, maybe not all species but multiple species form attachments. Not only among their own but with their humans. They have different personalities. They definitely can form bonds, attachments and are worthy of love. As much as I love our dog, if she killed one of my reptiles, I would consider putting her down (depending on what happened) she is a rat terrier, so I am sure it goes against her instincts to let our other animals live but she's also a very smart dog, so she knows not to do it.
@@amandastakeonit7402 would you kill a pet snake if it ate your dog? it wouldn’t be your dogs fault for doing that, YOU should be making sure that they are kept separate because you are the responsible owner. a dog is still an animal, and they still have instincts. there is no need for your dog to interact with reptiles. i had a dog who was aggressive to other dogs and even bit a human once. but instead of putting her down, i took the responsibility for not training her properly or properly helping her through trauma from previous owners, and worked with her. if you are not willing to do the difficult things with your pets and work through behavioural issues, you should not be a pet owner. they are a responsibility, not unlike have a child. and just like a young child, you are responsible for their actions just as much, if not more than they are.
Having kept all categories avidly, with the exception of amphibians which I have less experience with, I'd agree with the overall results and individual scores for the most part. I think birds and mammals could have gotten higher scores, or maybe I've just been lucky and had easy-to-care-for ones.
You weren’t just lucky. There are reasons mammals and birds are so popular, and it was totally left out of these videos: emotional connection. Reptiles, fish, and amphibians will never come close there. Dogs are the best pets imo because of that one factor.
The amount of care required for reptiles is a bit understated here and overstated for mammals and birds. My cat may have his cat trees and litter box, but other than that I don't really need to think about building and mantaining an enclosure for him or providing UVB bulbs or sunlight, let alone finding live prey for him to eat. The care I provide for my cat takes about a minute in terms of feeding and maybe 5-7 minutes in terms of playtime (and only when he requests it, which is not every day). Preparing fresh veggies for my iguana (by comparison) is about 5 minutes, taking her and picking her up from the garden (combined) is about 6 minutes, turning her UVB lights on and off is about 2 minutes (as I'm not always where her enclosure is), she also free roams a part of the day so I sometimes have to make some time to pick her up from wherever she is. From what I see in Clint's videos there are many reptiles that may be even more demanding than her.
Awesome! Reptiles and a couple select mammals I prefer for a variety of reasons, tho I will say the "loud and obnoxious" category really is a clincher for me. Otherwise I may have a birb. Also, I notice many talking about a category for "bonding" or "love" helping birds and mammals, but I think that's such a debatable, easily anthropomorphize-risk of a topic rabbit hole that it really becomes a wash. Mammals are so varied, birds too, and there's select species of other animals that you can build a mutual relationship with that sometimes they can't even do with others of their own species, like some larger lizards etc. Interesting topic, tho.
I remember keeping crickets in college and my roommate would walk in, shake the cricket keeper in frustrated rage, and walk out. Of course that only silenced the chirping fir maybe 5 mins.
Personally, when I leave for a few days I am way more worried about my reptiles than I am about my fish. Most freshwater fish van be left alone for about a week without food as long as they are healthy and a water change is done before you leave. I would leave my lizards without food for more than a few days.
I do not agree with a few of the categories regarding fish, but probably because I keep fish 😅 Edit: To elaborate> "I'm going on a trip" > I, for sure, thought fish would be first. You can setup an autofeeder and be gone for a month or so! If you set it up right, Maintenance doesn't need to be done weekly. "Yeah but it lives too long" > there are also Fish for every lengths of time you want to keep them, like some Killifish which only live a year, a lot of fish live 3-5 or under 10 years, or some i.e. catfish and marine fish which live over 40 years! "Loud, Smelly, or Obnoxious" > my 2 aquariums are dead silent (only DC powered Pumps) and mostly odorless (activated carbon)
I would like to argue that fish deserve a better score for Loud, Smelly, and Obnoxious category. Loud filters *exist* but you don't *have* to get one, there are also less noisy filter setups and having a loud one is your choice. I also don't think I could consider water changes to be that obnoxious when it takes up at most an hour of my time once a week for a 55 gallon fish tank. I think they deserve to be 2nd in that category, passing the amphibians that actually do make noise. It's also worth noting that you can reduce the amount of water changes that you need to perform by having tons of live plants in your fish tank, which also happens to look gorgeous so there's really nothing to lose there.
What I love about my fishtank is that it's 50 per cent a biology experiment, and 50 per cent a chemistry experiment, and I can ask a neighbour to cover me for a couple weeks if I need to.
'There's no group where I hate all of them, except for mosquitoes' - I refuse to believe that Clint had ever heard of the beautiful and very well behaved Toxorhynchites mosquitoes before making this statement. Toxorhynchites are wonderful and beautiful and eat other mosquitoes.
That's, your biased opinion, if you haven't had reptile pets. I get a lot back from my reptiles. I also appreciate them more. I like that they have never annoyed me, but my dog does. You stop petting her, she taps you, again and again, you can't stop or she will tap, nudge whatever. Apparently I am alpha because she always has to come to me, even if I ask someone else to call her over, she comes right back to me. She is probably the easiest, best breed there is but starting from scratch, not rescuing anyone etc. I would go for the snakes and crested geckos, before the dog. I have had multiple dogs and cats and fish even, I loved them all, but reptiles are by far the best. In my opinion. I also had five kids, I would do that again.
@@amandastakeonit7402 cool. Like I said , reptiles and non-primate mammals would top MY list. I absolutely adore each of my various snakes and their personalities, and enjoy having them partner with me to teach classes to kids. Wouldn’t want life without them! But I feel the same way about my border collie who I do herding with. That is a whole different connection. So if you want to put time in to training an animal and watch it’s intelligence as it tries to please you and figure out what you need it to do, a dog is totally worth the work, especially when they are sleeping in their favorite corner most of the day because they have been mentally challenged and are content. But reptiles are super nice because they can take or leave extra attention. That’s why I didn’t put one group over the other.
I have done this examination with animals I’ve thought about keeping since my car accident and have kept prior to my car accident. Birds and fish are off my list now. Too much care requirements for my abilities. But dogs, snakes and isopods are on my list I am debating a millipede or 2. Dogs only because there is a pay off with them they are trained to preform tasks for me so they help in my care in return for theirs. One of my dogs will even bring me my pages from the printer, they help me with laundry and picking up the house. Haven’t figured out how to teach them to sweep or mop yet though, lol. Snakes are usually ok if you check them daily but can’t for a day as long as they were good yesterday they are probably going to be ok today. My Isopods honestly I forget I have them until one of my snakes shed and I feed them the shed. They live with my plants that is pretty much self sustaining at this point, i water it once a month throw in some leaf litter for the isopods and some bug grub occasionally usually when I water.
I know most mammals are hard to keep, but for me, cats are like the best pets ever! They are easy to care, and if yoy dont care for them, they will let you know. They arent very noisy, but the noises they do make are very cute! Their purring is very relaxing. And they love you, my cat follows me around the house all the time but doesnt care if I dont give him attention. Easy to handle if socialized properly. And they have vertical slit pupils and a third eyelid, like reptiles! Its like a snake living inside the body of a tiny lion. Exept they can love you. Five stars, would recommend.
As both a fish and reptile keeper, I would have scored fish higher on the feeding category and danger category. Maybe not enough to change the final score, but at least beat out arthropods.
Arthropods really are the perfect pet for me. I don’t need love from my animal, they are comfortable in a glass box, they need almost nothing from me, they don’t bark or drop smelly poops, the ones I keep (tarantulas, spiders, large scorpions, and colonial insects) won’t kill me if I make a mistake, and they live for 10-20 years which means I get my moneys worth without the long term investment. I honestly thought arthropods would win but I remembered that centipedes, some true spiders, and some scorpions will hospitalize or kill you. They’re so effortless that I thought surely nothing could beat that, but fish really do just live off flakes.
Great video, but I think it’s hard to say it’s accurate. In general, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who would prefer a spider over a cat. There needs to be a category on how much people like them in general. Also a category for companionship. Also maybe some category for how often they can leave their cage/ if they can walk around the house.
@@ClintsReptiles yeah but in my opinion you could maybe do another one of these, but only ranking the actual animals people “should” keep as pets. Like only include popular pets for each category, for example no crocodilians, no lions, no sharks, no eagles. Like maybe just remove the ones that only hurt their groups score, and that also 99% of people wouldn’t want. I think this would give a more accurate representation. That way it’s all about the best the group has to offer, not just one group being so minimal that it wins like half of the categories despite the fact that they are terrifying to many people.
My bird was sitting on my shoulder, pooping on me, screaming in my ear, and chewing on my ear/ hair while watching this. Birds do kinda suck haha I feel like a masochist for having one. Every time birds came in last I would laugh at my bird, but she would bow her head and ask me to give her neck scritches and I can't help but forgive her.
I think the list is perfect. But maybe could have been one more category, can it bond its owner? Many like mammals or birds because their ability to "love" owner. While an arthropods or most reptile,amphibians cant show any bond, they are just there
I'm neutral at this. But I'm gonna act as if I disagree (for argument's sake): But that depends on the individual not the groups (or even species). Yes mammals and birds more likely to "love" you. But it technically depends on the individual not the group. There's a lot of cats that scratch, hiss, etc at their owner for example. (and personally, one of my cat seems indeferent towards me).
I think the idea behind leaving “will it love me?” out and adding “accessory or lifestyle” instead is that not all people who want a pet want/need a companion. Some people want to love and care for something, but don’t need that pet to love them back. I think a lot of reptile and invert keepers (as I am) are this way. We love them for what they are, not based on the condition of it they can love us back or not, (not that there’s anything wrong with that, though).
well, many reptiles and amphibians bond a lot. But its mostly in a "I know this human will provide me with food" type of way". Some are even more than that. Plus you could make an argument that cats would just abandon you if you werent a heat and food provider (not all cats ofc). Really it boils down to "is this animal social in wild" and if the answer is yes then they will usually bond to some degree. Thats why animals that are very social in wild (like parrots and dogs) are pets even tho they may not be the best when it comes to actual care
As a guy with 5 aquariums, I believe that fish got a bad rap. Freshwater fish are not venomous and even piranhas are safe and docile contrary to popular belief. They're in the Tetra Family. I also have a canister filter which is whisper quiet and it doesn't need a lot of maintenance because I have an ecosystem in all my tanks with tons of plants. The plants act as filters. I have cleanup crews of snails, shrimp, loaches, and corydora catfish. If these factors are considered, the fish would tie or beat the reptiles. (I might be a lil grumpy and biased but I'm still right. lol) Great video nonetheless and sorry for the 2 year late comment. :)
As for birds, if you want one but want to reduce the bad sides, don't go with parrots, i have parrots, budgies and cockatiel, the parrots are the hardest to take care of, they scream the loudest, make the most mess, they do way more damages if they bite and they got bad temper (at least mine), i don't go on vacation mostly because of them, i don't feel good/confident letting someone taking care of them I also can't let any birds fly in the room because if they land on the parrots cage the parrots will try to bite them So far the cockatiel is my favorite, it's small but not too small, fun to be around, not as destructive as a parrot, and their scream are not bad at all, they are the less noisy of my birds
And if you want to fully reduce the bad side effects and get ready made breakfast - get chickens. I have an old english bantum who loves people and coos when you pet her and is as quiet as my rabbits. My rooster isn't quiet and would win the loud smelly and obnoxious award but you don't need a rooster to get eggs unless you plan on hatching chicks.
I read zebra finch are a relatively easy bird. At least they dont have a huge space requirement (even if you assume they should have space to fly and live in a pack), and dont need that much attention from owners, as long as they are with others of their kind. But they also aren't trainable, and cant "talk". I read about different birds as pets, and it generally seems like the smarter the bird, the more work with them, and of course the bigger they are.
@@zakosist I'm not a fan of straight beak birds, my conures are probably the smarter ones, but god-damn they are annoying, parrots are nice, but take a lot of effort and time, kinda like babies
Ok I totally LOVED this! I was looking at maybe getting a leopard gecko for my middle school classroom and I ran across your channel! This was the funniest thing I’ve watched in so long!!! Oh my goodness I’m laughing so hard! And the lady who hates whales “it’s almost like they’re street cats” 🤣🤣🤣 love you!
This is a little biased... There are also mammals who have short/Long/middle livespans. To name one example.. There are even arthropods who live ten years or longer.. But some of the most common pet reptiles, turtles, con outlive oneself.
I'm surprised amphibians didn't come out higher, but then they are fragile in some ways. These 2 videos were super fun-- as was the reptile only version!
I'm surprised they came out as high as they did! Most people don't find them "cuddly" or they actively find them a bit repulsive. Upkeep can be difficult because you have to keep their enclosures humid, which can breed problems with things like mold and an ever-present damp smell. That being said, I personally love them! Salamanders have cute little puppy faces, and newt life cycles are fascinating to watch! Even frogs croaking in the middle of the night--perhaps along with chirps from their cricket dinners?--can give your home a peaceful naturey vibe if you're into that.
I totally thought it was going to be buggos. Also Clint, thank you so much for having a wonderful sense of humor and playing in to how everybody who sees your show immediately without prompting calls you the Mr Rogers of herpetology. XD
I would enjoy if you add an interaction category (that's one of the best parts of pet owning for me) though I could see how this could be difficult since not all people like lizard climbing on them or dogs sleeping with them (I LOVE both) ps I just adopted a preowned crested gecko because of your videos his name is scooter and he is lovely
"I love all animals exept for mosquitoes" is a big mood. Well, maybe we can include all hematophages in that category. Ticks and lice are not fun either.
Mammals got short changed in the lifespan category. They run the gamut from short to long lives. Short: rats, mice, hamsters. Medium: guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets. Long: cats and dogs. And some breeds of dog would go into the medium category. There's a lot of diversity there.
I was thinking the same thing watching this video in that category. The one reason he gives for the reptiles to win the category is honestly far better applied to mammals
So I think the takeaway here is that there’s a 12th category that is weighted a fair bit higher than the rest, but also can only be scored by each individual: will it bring me joy, and am I willing to put in the effort. The scoring in the video is pretty heavily weighted towards maintenance, and rightly so. The “best” part of the title is perhaps a bit clickbait-y, but it is Clint’s thing so we’ll give that a pass. What’s really being measured is “How much do I really have to love these animals to make keeping them as pets worth it.” With the highest score meaning “you just have to have shelf space” and the lowest being “more than your own children”
Really enjoyed this series. The only thing I slightly disagree with is the lifespan score for fish. Realistically you are keeping a mixed tank of fish as opposed to a fish. Due to this, you have the unique luxury of keeping it as long or as short as you want. You can run a tank for 30 years and then break it down or keep it for 2 and easily rehome your remaining stock. Should be top for that category IMO
Lifespan was being counted by individual, not group. And if you're including rehoming animals, well, you can rehome pretty much anything at any point in its life if you really want to. You could even volunteer as a foster home for many animal species, with the express intent of them being rehomed. You can also keep obtaining new individuals pretty much indefinitely. I've had cats for 32 years, even though no cat lives that long, simply because when one of my cats die, I buy a kitten.
I would say cats are the overall best because you get the interactivity and intelligence that comes with mammals but are very easy to keep. Full water bowl and food dish and clean litter box once daily and you're good. They don't live 70 years like a parrot but not 3 or 4 either. Some of the really intelligent lizards like monitors and tegus are a close second only because you can't just let them roam your house but they can be very interactive and are more exotic.
I think I'd rate Doves above Cats. They are way easier to care for than other birds, especially parrots. Our cockatiel was like an extremely anxious puppy, but the dove was much more catlike in her demeanor. She could be irritable right after laying eggs, but was normally quite chill. She could be super affectionate and want to cuddle, often laying on you and pulling her feet in completely until she was just a ball of fluffy feathers. She also did not mind being completely ignored for days on end though, which would drive the cockatiel crazy. It was not hard to train our dove to always fly back to her cage when she was about to poop, basically using it like a litterbox with a perch and compartments for food and water. We could go a week between changing the paper in the tray at the bottom of the cage and a month or two between cleaning the cage more thoroughly. We only had to give her more seeds about once a week and fresh water every couple days. Doves and cats have pretty comparable lifespans, so long as you keep them apart. In the wild doves rarely live more than a year or two, due to predators such as domestic cats, but in captivity doves commonly live about 19 years. I think our pet dove was about 23 when she died. We only took her to the vet once, when she flew directly into a moving ceiling fan and needed stitches after her cage got knocked over. (I was planning to take her back when she started making a strange coughing sound the day she died, but the time between the onset of symptoms and her death was not long enough for me to get dressed.)
Part of the way thru this, Willie the African Grey started asking to be covered up. When I asked the problem he replied "the fix is in, The fix his in"
implying bias. would you make your ranking system different and put them at different rankings? and are you so sure your scoring system wouldn’t be bias either.
@@rodneybever9583 I'm really trying to get over my fear. We've had a Rose Hair Tarantula for the past year (she's still pretty small) to help me work through it. I'm a long way off, but I'm at least ok with the fact that there's one of these monsters in my house...
I keep 4 of those categories: Mammal (dog) Bird (chickens) Fish(fish, aquatic snails and shrimp) and Arthropods (Isopods, springtails, super worms and a worm farm) My dog is by far the best, but he's more like my child than a pet. I totally agree about the down side of the birds/chickens. They are not a lot of work, but do need regular, unpleasant attention. If it wasn't for the eggs, I wouldn't keep them, they are extremely messy., loud and obnoxious, especially the rooster. The arthropods were mainly started as feeders and cleanup crew for enclosures, but I find keeping super worms very interesting. The beetle stage (darkling beetle) are a lot like cockroaches. So for me its mammal number 1, fish number 2 and the rest I could easily live without. I've never really been into reptiles, but I did have a terrapin when I was a kid, it seemed very boring to me. I guess it comes down to what you want out of a pet and what you are willing to sacrifice, or how much work you want to do, or put up with in order to have the experience you want. I honestly think that these videos give mammals a bad rap, especially in the category of handling and danger. It very much depends on the individual pet I think.
The whale story is HILARIOUS. lol
I'm wondering if I'm the dude he's talking about. I live on a boat and dolphins wake me up CONSTANTLY.
So unexpectedly funny 🤣
I want to see their vlog
@@squireltag1000 I agree-- hey! In trying to get Clint to show us an entire video of his bloopers!🤣 I think it would be so fun to watch. Help me out here Cpt Otis!! I love your name. Ate you a captain of a boat? A fishing/ crabbing boat per chance? I'd like to know the story of your name. ☺
There's just one category missing that might help birds and mammals catch up! "Will it love me?"
Yes!
I was thinking a "cool and cute" category taranchulas are cool and budgies are cute. Something like a lil fish isn't really either of those (even if I love them).
I can't speak to birds, but other than dogs and maybe... Ferrets? Idk if many mammals do much of anything close to love. Cats are murder machines that live in your house, rodents just kinda exist to reproduce... Correct me if I'm wrong tho? I will say there's some reptiles (larger lizards, arguably a couple snake species) you can bond with just not in the same way 2 mammals might (you and a dog lol) Interesting concept tho.
Hey hey, tegus….savanah monitors…boas… any bigger smarter species seems to like a little attention
I don't know about love haha more like "will it want to interact with me".
"Am I gonna kill this thing? At number 6, birds. It's very likely that you will." And then you immediately you moved on. This should not have made me laugh as much as it did. But the honest truth is also very important for people to know especially if they don't have a bird specialized vet nearby.
As someone who loves all animals and has cared for all of these, yeah I agree. I WOULD add a category of "will it love me as much as I love it?" in order (bottom to top) arthropods, amphibians, fish (there are smart species that are fun to interact with who can really like people but i wouldn't call it love),reptiles (tegus and some monitors seem REALLY into people and species like crocodilians can form good balances with people but it's not love), mammals and birds can entirely love and are VERY social. you could argue either for the top spot. Birds are like a toddler that never grows up or makes any extra friends and become immensely attached so if you want "loves me" that's the winner. But mammals were domesticated for people or domesticated themselves. So if you want "loves humans in general" I think they win. Overall this still has reptiles winning bumping the scores but gives a slice of humble pie to the arthropods and adds for why people like mammals and birds so much while highlighting why a lot of people DON'T want them aside from the fact that a lot of people are skeezed out. It also shows the versatility of reptiles as just because they "tolerate" people doesn't mean they "like" or even "love" people.
That's a good category!
Wrong, my pet ants comes and give my hand kisses and hugs when I put it in their outworld. They even leave their nest to greet me if I'm close enough.
P.S. I do not own any animal. It is all a joke and I even agree with you, but crawly bois are still my favourite animals.
@@gallowpole9455 Well they are the dominant species on planet Earth.... so they got that going for them.
This is a good category and would be highly weighted by most people. That's why so many people put up with dogs, which are an insane amount of work.
I like this one! Companionship is a big factor in why some people choose pets, after all.
Bird keeper here. While I don't think this would have saved birds from last place (they are needy pets!), I think in the "joy of handling" category if you also considered how often the animal wants to be handled (or how sociable it is) then birds and mammals would have at least gotten some more points than they have here. Birds and mammals are more work as pets because they NEED attention and socialization for thier mental health. But there are plenty of people out there that don't even want a pet at all if that pet doesn't appear to like or care about them. Which is why these animals are more common as pets even if they are harder to care for. It all depends on what you value and what you find rewarding.
Yes, yes, yes, exactly. I mean I don't mind my parrots being loud and pooping all the time at all. Them being these lovely, lovable, beautiful, intelligent and sociable creatures (members of the family) faaar outweighs all of the minuses. p.s.: having said that, I find most animals fascinating and beautiful, but not all of them are really very keen on socializing or at least to a certain (limited) extent.
I would also disagree with the "easy to kill" part. I haven't kept invertebrates or amphibians, but fish are incredibly easy to lose. Especially if you buy one that happens to be sick and then your entire tank is lost. Birds? In 20+ years, I've lost one to drowning (I was a stupid kid and forgot the tank lid), and one to a congenital problem. That's it. This is from lovebirds to macaws.
As long as you take some safety precautions (or just keep them in aviaries) and feed them properly, birds are incredibly hardy.
I agree. I wouldn't want to keep a pet that doesn't want me back
Birds are definitely in the right place. I own several rescued parrots and they are an incredible amount of work and care. I work for a local pet store and I spend a lot of time convincing people that they don't want a parrot. Yes it talks and that's adorable, but they are a LOT more work than most people are looking to put into a pet. And is why I end up with rescues. On that note though, as you announced the category "Loud, smelly, and obnoxious" I hear from the other room my B&G macaw "HIIIIII! MOOOOOM!!! MOOOOM!!!! HIIIIII!" So yes, very accurate.
Yes, a lot of people take poor care of their birds, but some people are fabulous owners whose bird or birds adore them. It is definitely a lifestyle and lots of work, but birds can be the most rewarding, too
@@suspiciousbird487 definitely birds are life style & lots of work, I saw people getting bird just because they can speak 😕
I just love my cocktails,budgies albs & greys they speak or not I don't care but we do communicate with each other, my greys will always approach me & they will give head for head scratches or play with fingers & when not in mood they will worn with gentle bite, taiels are like you do what you want but don't stop head scratches just love them all😘
I had kept almost everything apart from amphibian & they all are amazing, well least I did for my ball python & scorpions
birds are not meant to smell bad in any way unless they are sick, or their food is off, what is wrong with yours???
@@sleepyninjarin7971 They poop a lot and that gets smelly even with regular maintenance.
With how long they live and how much attention they require, you might as well marry them.
As an owner of one of the worst birds to have as a pet- a Major Mitchell Cockatoo, I agree 100% with the bird placing. They're the best pet for a very tiny minority of people, and absolutely the worst for the majority.
They’re soooo smart! And that’s the problem. Lol
Oh lord you have one of those? I've been keeping and fostering parrots for 20 years now and after a Moluccan cockatoo foster I said I was NEVER keeping or fostering a cockatoo again (I took an Umbrella in a legit emergency once after that but only because it was for less than a month. Only time I've breathed a sigh of relief and not shed a tear after the bird found a home). Seriously that's my only rule and condition for fosters: No cockatoos. I'll take the handicapped Macaw, the constantly screaming Conure, the Amazon with rage issues that constantly bites and screams swear words, the neurotic feather picking African Gray. No cockatoos. I've dealt with a lot of parrots, and a lot of issues and "problem" birds. Cockatoos nearly broke me and my passion for parrots. Gorgeous birds but it's the equivalent of fostering a mood disordered special needs teenager. God bless those that can do it because I can't.
@@lionqueensavanna have had her for 5 years and she's an absolute monster! But she's my monster haha. Everyone who meets her says that they want a bird now, and I always try and talk them down from it. Especially cockatoos. If I can even talk them down to a Galah then that's a win to be honest. They see this playful, beautiful and affectionate bird for the 20 minutes that they visit, but then they miss the non stop screaming and chewing and need for attention almost 24 hours a day. The equation of cockatoos to a special needs teenager is pretty apt. I always tell people that it's like I've adopted a 3 year old that will never grow up, and who happens to have bolt cutters attached to their face.
I live in Southern California, and the parrots that wake me up each morning (invasive species) just prove how loud parrots can be. Birds simply aren't good pets. The fact that some species can live upwards of 50+ years with good care doesn't help. I think tortoises might make a better pet if you want a friend that lives for a very long time. Birds are simply too much, expensive, loud, messy, don't get me started on the vet bills and the toys.
@@lionqueensavanna And those are the reasons I have only had pet chickens,budgies and a java temple sparrow.
As someone who’s owned/cared for pets in every category you listed, I totally agree with the results! I now only have one pet, and it’s a bearded dragon. He’s the best, most easiest, most awesome pet ever.
Same.
I would love to have a Bearded Dragon , if I didn't have dogs that I'd have to keep away from it I would already have one. I love lizards and bearded dragons seem like the coolest. I'd love to have a Tegu also. For now I have to settle for the lizards in my front yard that I've tamed to a degree. I hand feed them and they will crawl around on my hands but that's about it. They are broad headed skinks.
@@rottweilerfun9520 If you want a lizard than get a tegu tegus get up to four feet long though but that also mean that your dogs won't hurt it
@@Coelacanth_yes, I'd love a Tegu,....unfortunately they'd play tug of war with it. I'm just going to have to wait. Meanwhile I'll enjoy my turtle. I have an Alligator Snapping Turtle. He's pretty cool.
@@rottweilerfun9520 I own a bearded dragon and a dog and a tegu and if your dog would attack it just keep it away from your dog
I lost it at domestic mammals being "large and full of weapons" as I sit on the couch between my two 70 lbs dogs lol they are indeed large and full of weapons (and luckily for me, very fond of people)!
Me too my dog is super nice but when we first got him he bit me right in the thigh and wooooow that hurt (he is great now)
It's also I think worth noting if you get a dog that doesn't do well seeing other dogs, you could easily have a dangerous situation on your hands when you find that out on a first walk. Mammals are definitely one of the more dangerous animals to keep. Sure some scorpions are deadly, but a long pair of tongs keep you out of harms way, an 80 pound dog rips the leash out of your hand and you have to deal with while throwing yourself directly in harms way.
Sometimes I think about how weird it is I have two only slightly scaled down artificially neotenic wolves just wandering around the house getting into things.
Our family used to have one presa canario and one english mastiff. who have both since passed. The presa, on all fours, was just below my waist and almost 100 lbs. The English mastiff was actually a smaller boy by mastiff standards, and he was still, on all fours, just below my belly button and almost 140 lbs. On his hind legs, he was well over six feet tall.
They both were both very well behaved dogs, extremely well trained, and weren't a threat to anyone at all, and were especially great with toddlers. But it's still wild to think we had them both, overall, for over 16+ years, and if they wanted to at any point, EASILY could've killed us with probably very little effort.
i think the reason mammals are lower is that they often bite or scratch. dogs do the least, but they aren't the only popular mammal pets. meanwhile, clint works with reptiles and has only been bitten by a snake a few times in his whole career. reptiles simply aren't as active and so they wont attack unless they are preying or in real danger.
Yes, the homage to Mr. Rogers was indeed ‘pretty darn legendary’! This was a great and entertaining look at the merits and shortcomings of various pets!
Merry Christmas to all! 🎄 🎄 🎄
Man, Clint should have added a category of "Best Exoskeletons.."
I am definitely not biased or anything....
Definitely no bias indeed :p
Is that calcium carbonate in your substrate, or stardust? Because you just created a 5🌟 category.
Best exoskeletons:
1. Arthropods.
2. Reptiles (crocs, gators, etc.)
3. Mammals (rhinos).
4. Fish.
5. Amphibians (exo"skeleton" of poison).
6. Birds.
You can't hate all mosquitoes. Toxorhynchites, the elephant mosquito, is colourful, doesn't bite, an effective pollinator, and its larvae eat other mosquito larvae. It's like the perfect mosquito.
You've convinced me!
Anyone else watch "true facts about mosquitoes"?
As a person who has worked extensively with horses and dogs, I can’t disagree with the score for mammals. If you count horses as pets, the score should be a LOT lower than it is. I think they might even beat out human children for lowest score ever!
I agree, when people say I want a horse, I say, NO! You should not get one, most people cannot and do not give them the time and attention they need. They don't even brush/curry their cats and dogs on a regualr basis, let alone the horse! They might want a horse and say they will ride it, but that comes with a need for tack, knowledge of tack and care of tack, it has to be maintained too. What about taking care of the male...yup! There's a lot of work that goes into having a horse!
Parrot may beat children too or be equaly as a children because of their extreme intelligence, lifespan, need for constant brain stimulation.
I don't they can beat human children, but rest I agree with.
@@amandastakeonit7402 What do you mean "taking care of the male"????
I don't necessarily disagree with the ranking of the groups, but there is a lot of overlap on suitability as pets. A common boa is a better pet than a mink, but a domestic cat is a better pet than a dwarf caiman.
wickens wicked reptiles had helped me understand that It's impossible to create a perfect list. There are always exceptions and there are always more categories and more details that can change a ranking system. The only way to make these types of videos possible, is to draw a line and stick to it.
Good point. The domestic cat is certainly is a better pet than a dwarf caiman. The small crocodilians do not make good pets. That's why you want a black caiman or orinoco crocodile. Much more cuddly and certainly a step up from a house cat.
Lol a Dogs a better pet than Dwarf Caiman.
@@zacg_ A Dogs a step up from a cat but get yourself a badass dog like a Doberman or Rottweiler.
I'm still not sure that a cat is any better than a caiman. I feel like I'd be much less likely to be bitten handling a crocodilian would be easier to avoid for sure
As a bird owner, I feel birds show up way too often at the bottom of each category. It being a lifestyle is pretty damn accurate though, but I'm lovin it.
Well, its okay and not at the same time. It always come up to a question how dedicated you are to keep X animal as a pet, and what can you sacrifice for the idea of keeping it. I know many people keeping different types of pets, and the list is quite accurate to be honest. The unability to take pet for a walk is the biggest hit for me- of course you can train birb to be with you, but that is not the same as casual dog/cat, or even reptile
My aunt has a extremely cute bird that has now started to talk, it’s super super cute. She can say “were is the ball?” In Swedish xD
I love birds but the noise/intrusiveness singularly kills owning one for me. To me they are basically loud reptiles, but that's also one of my favorite reptile features - generally silent lol. Birds cool tho.
I owned a house sparrow(he passed away several months ago sadly) but, there is really nothing like owning a bird. Having them fly to you on que is the most rewarding thing about owning a bird. I look forward to any birds I own in the future because I don't think I chose this lifestyle, I think it chose me.
Parrots rule!
Great video like always, but I am starting to think we need category for companionship, as this is why many people do keep pets. Cat or dog may require much more care than a snake, but for most people it would make for a much better companion. Still, yay for reptiles winning!
That's pretty hard to quantify, and many bigger lizards are just as companion-y as plenty of other mammals, even dogs. Personally I think noise and intrusiveness should be a category lol. Otherwise birbs would be a higher possibility for me as a pet.
NVM I'm an idiot, he added it I forgot haha
companionship score would also nerf the arthropods
@@reptilez13 No way a reptile is even close to anything a dog can be when it comes to companionship. Either you did not have a dog or you antropomorphisise reptiles. We are talking about a group of animals that live in packs and have complicated social structures and sophisticated interactions and one that are mostly solitary, but even when not, they just have loose connecting groups without a cooperative nature. I have reptiles, I love them. But claiming something like that is just simply not true.
@@anotherhistoryenthusiast5874 Clint is just a scientist that has to look at things objectively. I think that skews his ratings. This competition just didn't take into account how much people love dogs and cats
"There's no group of animals where I hate them all - except for mosquitos 😤"
LOL Clint is spitting straight FACTS 😂
Only female mosquitos bite so we only hate half of them
I find it amusing that the best pets tend to be the most misunderstood… often, people fear snakes and spiders. I used to be afraid of spiders, and now I keep tarantulas, 28 in total. People like you help educate us and teach us to respect these creatures. I discovered your channel while researching tarantulas a year ago, and have broadened my horizons to snakes and other reptiles… thank you for all you do! ❤️
Now we need to see how THE best of each compared as well as the WORST of each compared.
I second this!
@RetroTrash Night Cinema Falcons can't even compare to cassowaries!
Hmmm, hard to pick best and worst species of each group, especially worst, I guess you could do sub groups.
@RetroTrash Night Cinema Oh you innocent sweet child. You think those are the worse?
What would be the worst amphibian? I'm guessing the worst Reptile may be a salt water crocodile, komodo dragon, or maybe that impossible to care for dragon snake. Worst bird would most likely be a condor or something impossible to keep. A cassowary could just be penned up like an ostrich if you lived in a tropical climate. Worst fish could be something like a great white shark. Worst mammal? I'm guessing a large marine mammal like a whale or maybe a hippopotamus. Arthropod? Gosh lol I have no idea....maybe an executioner wasp, maybe a mosquito.
A playtime category would have been nice. Something that rates how much you can play with the pet, or how easy it is to train, maybe how much of a challenge it can solve. I Think qualities like that are what makes some birds so appealing and some mammals and birds even activly useful.
Also I stand by my point that Joy of handeling should have gone to the mammals.
Yeah, mammals are soft. The best tactile sensations I've felt for touching any animal has been touching mammals. And it's not just a few standouts - a lot of mammals have really pleasant fur textures, and are quite happy to let you touch their fur (assuming proper socialization of course) for a long period of time.
I’d add that the venomous outliers of the reptile group should put them in second. Not to mention lizards and some turtles can scratch as well as most mammals. (I’m speaking from experience)
Watching your videos has really made me think a lot more about the specific needs of most animals and made me realise just how much effort and care's required to have a pet not just survive but thrive as part of your family, and I'm definitely gonna be a lot more prepared for a pet when I get one of my own as a result, so thanks!
Thank you for being an educated, responsible future pet owner.
I have 4 budgies. They are loud, they are messy and they need a lot of care. But I love them so much. They make me happy.
So many people have this crazy idea that birds are easy, low-maintenance pets... which couldn't be further from the truth. Thank you for giving them their proper score!
I can't remember all the categories but emotional reciprocity would raise the averages for mammals and birds. There is no debate over whether dogs, cats, and parrots love their owners (or love somebody else in their house hold lol). I love my eclectus parrot and I know that he loves me too, he even says it back! 💚 There is definitely a disparity in companionship between different types of pets.
I'm a critter person in general, and up until about a year ago doggos were my critter of choice - then because I'm not in a position where having a dog is realistic or fair to the dog, I started researching other options. I'm highly allergic to cats, ratties don't live long enough etc etc and then I started talking to a co-worker who has reptiles... I saw a picture of a baby Ball Python and I was done, that was going to be my new pet... I researched breeders and then just watched what became available. My boys picture showed up and I had a deposit on him within 15 minutes of seeing him and I haven't looked back - he is charming, great company when I need company, very low maintenance (other than fighting with humidity in a very dry climate really easy to care for) and quite honestly the best all round critter I've had the opportunity to have as a pet. I have recommended noodles to friends for first pets for their kiddos because their care is just so easy and especially with a socialised BP they are just the most patient critters. So I'm a convert and completely agree reptiles are just the best pet. Happy Holidays!
Nice, many many maaaany people never think about the ramifications and consequences of adopting a dog, IMO they are easily as hard to care of as a young child but they never grow out of it, they smell even after bathing, they molt their fur all of the time and you gotta take them on decently long walks every single day 3+ times a day(+spending time playing with them) if you don't want crap in your living room, if you live near another person with a dog their noise level is even above birds', all in all they are BUILT to live in the countryside or to be watched over pretty much 24/7, keeping dogs in an apartment is like keeping a big tortoise inside your house, ya can, it's just not ideal and most people are not capable of handling such a responsibility and end up having mean, untrained, dogs.
Ideal if you are retired and at home all of the time though, for your average person with a job/who doesn't know what to do with their life and is still in college, hell no.
Source: had a dog and met other dog owners often.
Sounds similar to my story. My dog died years ago and I wanted to wait for my life to get more stabile before getting another one. That still hasn't happened and I really wanted a pet. Then I suddenly remembered how much I loved reptiles as a kid but never got one because my parents didn't want one. Well, I'm an adult now, so I can make my own decisions. My gargoyle gecko is a year old now and I love him. Still a bit of work but not nearly as much as a dog.
You should’ve included a category called: “Does it love you back?”
This. I would rather have a pet rat than a pet spider largely because the rat recognizes me, will nuzzle me, will groom my hair and give other social signs of affection.
Small comment on fish. A hungry fish is a happy fish... been keeping fish for decades and I would never feed fish every day. Also if your tank is large enough and cycled and stable, 1 week is a ridiculously small amount of time to limit yourself to for water changes. Unless your bioload if unreasonable, a water change once a month is usually sufficient. But I get it, you have to account for all situations and experience levels ;-) Thanks Clint!
Totally agree. As both a fish and reptile keeper, I think fish lost a few points to reptiles that they shouldn’t have. Maybe not enough to change the final score, but there is a reason so many people keep fish.
@Ben McEntire Yeah. I say it was fixed cuz Clint loves reptiles. 😂 I don't mind tho, you and me know the best pets!
agree also thing they were placed wrong in the noisy category as most tanks 9i have come across are not disturbingly noisy and the fish them selves pretty quiet. frogs are far more disturbing to be honest.
While I'm super happy that reptiles are number 1, I agree with some of these comments about adding another category "will it love/bond with me?" Might bring some of the other categories up a little and give a more accurate result. :) I'm sure my Cali Kingsnake does not care in the least bit who brings the food haha!
But wouldn't it depends on the individuals and not the groups ?
Maybe something more like personality (how much personality they (usually) have).
Even if that was added reptiles would have still won, them didn’t even win most in every category. It just would of gave birds and mammals a higher score.
@@martelchestnut2829 yes you're right and like I said, I'm pretty happy and not that surprised that reptiles won. I just agree that it would be a good category to add.
As a bird owner, I truly hope that people listen when he talks about birds. I love my bird and it’s the best pet I have ever had but it is truly life altering! As much as I love mine, I would never recommend having one as a pet!
I would add one category an that would be trainability. Mammals and birds may be the most difficult to look after but be most rewarding when properly trained... but i'm biased.
I imagine that could be a double-edged sword, because higher intelligence can allow for greater trainability, but it can also cause an animal to become bored more easily and require greater stimulating enrichment. Then again, Clint pointed out that such tradeoffs between categories are to be somewhat expected.
I thought that the Arthropods were gonna win it, but I’m not surprised that the reptiles were triumphant in the end. Now I just have to get myself a reptile so I can say I have one of the best pets!
This became my favourite channel so far 👏 I simply love how enthousiastic you are about those animals and its real fun listen to you
Great job!
This was an absolute delight! I loved the extra content at the end. "Stupid whales!" 😂 I'm very surprised though that amphibians did as well as they did! (I love them, but they're not for everybody.) Although people can debate some of your rankings, I think the only serious critique I could offer of your ranking system is in the weighing of each category. For example: I basically have to build my life around not only my dog's needs but also his freakin' DESIRES . . . but he is also the best cuddler and my best friend. And so that greatly outweighs everything else. Know what I mean?
....I keep seeing this with people about their dogs. 1st- what about cats?? ;) I had both and my cats were as loving as my dogs! 2nd- you guys say it like you can't or don't get back from your reptiles. I do! Depending on the species and personality of the animals and they type of interactions you have and the time you take the experiences and value of them vary based on you, for the most part. I have a friend that does not like any pet. She has had two cats in the 20 years I have known her (they were gotten at the same time). They are outside cats, over the years she lets them in from time to time now. I don't think she would rate any animal very high, not dogs, snakes or spiders for sure.
As a bird person (my most beloved budgierigar is a memorial tattoo on my chest now) I don't think any bird person will argue this rating for them. If anything, I'd love them to be acknowledged MORE as the difficult delicate pets they are. I don't keep any right now and have been looking at reptiles because birds ARE such a commitment of time and space, as much as I adore them and always will
The best really depends on the type of pet keeper that you are. Some people like to have pets to cuddle, some just want a companion, others have to collect them all, and some want to show & tell. I have kept animals from every category over the years. These days I'm more of an observer. I like to set up large natural enclosures and enjoy watching my pets do their thing. So naturally I favor fish. I would give them a higher score in a few categories, but having 33 years of experience in fishkeeping takes a lot of the cons out of the picture for me.
Maybe a list of "bests" for different types of pet keepers? Or a "What kind of pet keeper are you?".
If you are looking for another fish to do a video on the polypterus genus is very interesting.
Nothing can beat my pet button quail, they beat every category 😄
Don't they only live like 2-7 years? I think they are really good for parents who don't want a long term project that have a bird obsessed kid though. I actually plan on keeping a flock once I have a yard.
Wrong. My vinegaroon beats your quail in the cool category because it shoots acid from its butt.
The part where you mention Danger! Danger! Danger! I laughed at where the birds were placed. It is correct, but I can't help but think of Angry Birds.
The kinds of pets people own in real life are heavily skewed towards "Is it fluffy."
Depends, I prefer smooth medium to furs (probably shedding and allergy pet peeve?). Most girls I know do prefer fluffier animals
Well, "fluffy" can also correlate (though not exclusively) with "does it actually *want* to be around me?"
Dogs, rats, bunnies, ferrets, and a select group of cats are social mammals capable of forming social bonds with humans. Being social mammals (so...fur) like humans is obviously a plus for what humans select as pets.
@@jameswoodard4304 That's a good point considering that there are also fluffy animals which don't like being touched, like tarantulas for example.
“I’m looking for love” the way you said this and the face you pulled Clint had me in stitches 😆🤣 shame amphibians we not higher but go reptiles for the win 🐢
What about pigeons (homing pigeons for example):
- They’re domesticated
- Quiet(er) than other birds
- They enjoy company
- Their biting doesn’t hurt
- Pretty clean
And some other stuff I may be forgetting
The only thing I didn't agree with is fish are easier to kill than birds haha but great video as always
No, birds are CRAZY easy to kill. Accidentally leave the pan on the stove with the heat on?
Sorry, but your birds in the next room are dead.
Birds are also _annoyingly_ good at hiding their illnesses. By the time you notice your bird showing symptoms that they're sick, it's usually too late for them.
Fish can die easily but if you know what they need and are able to provide, they'll live. Can't say the same for birds.
I feel like there was a category missing, I would call it "I love it, but does it love me?" I think that category would explain why mammals and birds are so popular as pets, as although it wouldn't change the rankings, it would be the most important category, or at least a tie breaker, for a lot of people.
it would be biased tho, cuz only 2 of the competitors will commonly show love, the others can but not always do
@@Alatreon2435 That isn't really bias, not when you are dealing with comparison and ranking.
@@Alatreon2435 how in tf is it bias if it's reality
As someone who owns/has owned every catagory of pet -- I agree. I can customize their enclosures and be creative, take out my boas for a stretch and show them off, make little tropical salads for my lizards, leave them while im on a weekend trip, there is a reptile for every lifestyle, they're beautiful, live a good amount of time, super low maintenance The best and the most underrated.
I was once playing Call of Duty with my buddy, and we thought the cricket noises were really loud in the game, then we looked at my lizard's cage and started laughing
Many will probably argue "he made reptiles the best pets because they're his favorite" but make sure you guys consider the alternative, the reverse, that perhaps they are the best pets and that's WHY they are his favorite. Also everyone is going to be different of course.
agreed. how ive felt looking at most people who made comments like that. there is a small bias but that’ll be the case for anybody because for example clint might not like the sound of a bird who wont stop yelling throughout the day and another will find it to be comforting. however to me it’s clear clint did a great job at keeping it as unbiased as it possibly could be.
I think this list really points out "what are the most practical animals to own for the largest number of people," rather than "what makes the best pet." This is because it slants heavily towards practical concerns like noise, cost, and maintenence while totally ignoring capacity for companionship, personality, etc.
@@jameswoodard4304 monitors and tegus:
Allow us to introduce ourselves
@LiquidLar ackies and other dwarf monitors are still have lower maintenance than average mammal/bird, plus tegus are relatively easy to tame.
@@jameswoodard4304 Even in practicality I would argue that reptiles lose out to arthropods, especially tarantulas. The list was quite biased towards reptiles although I don't really take the list seriously because it is too generalizing. There are species of the amphibians, fish, reptiles and arthropods that can get a pretty much perfect score in all categories, and others which would be more demanding than a mammal. Then there are the birds, rightfully placed at the bottom. Their only redeeming factor is their character. Everything else is a massive chore compared to the others.
This video is great for people looking for the right pet for them. I love that reasons were given for the scoring. We won't all agree on the rankings here but this video as a whole helps us make an informed decision
There is another category that needs to be added. The mutual emotional connection between you ad your pet. That is a HUGE part of having a pet. That would change the final tally greatly.
It's argumeable though! Those that haven't had reptile pets or just kept them in an enclosure to look at would say they give you nothing back. I will definitely argue and even argue that snakes, maybe not all species but multiple species form attachments. Not only among their own but with their humans. They have different personalities. They definitely can form bonds, attachments and are worthy of love. As much as I love our dog, if she killed one of my reptiles, I would consider putting her down (depending on what happened) she is a rat terrier, so I am sure it goes against her instincts to let our other animals live but she's also a very smart dog, so she knows not to do it.
it really wouldnt. only thing close is arthropods and you know that is straight to the bottom. not enough at all to flip top spot
@@amandastakeonit7402 give up your dog for adoption.
My tegu liked me, I think..... maybe.... I don't know. My pitbull adores me. I know this as fact.
Reptiles are cool, fun pets, dogs are family.
@@amandastakeonit7402 would you kill a pet snake if it ate your dog?
it wouldn’t be your dogs fault for doing that, YOU should be making sure that they are kept separate because you are the responsible owner.
a dog is still an animal, and they still have instincts.
there is no need for your dog to interact with reptiles.
i had a dog who was aggressive to other dogs and even bit a human once. but instead of putting her down, i took the responsibility for not training her properly or properly helping her through trauma from previous owners, and worked with her.
if you are not willing to do the difficult things with your pets and work through behavioural issues, you should not be a pet owner.
they are a responsibility, not unlike have a child. and just like a young child, you are responsible for their actions just as much, if not more than they are.
Having kept all categories avidly, with the exception of amphibians which I have less experience with, I'd agree with the overall results and individual scores for the most part. I think birds and mammals could have gotten higher scores, or maybe I've just been lucky and had easy-to-care-for ones.
You weren’t just lucky. There are reasons mammals and birds are so popular, and it was totally left out of these videos: emotional connection. Reptiles, fish, and amphibians will never come close there. Dogs are the best pets imo because of that one factor.
@@aaronhumphrey3514 yup, they are definitely on another level!
The amount of care required for reptiles is a bit understated here and overstated for mammals and birds. My cat may have his cat trees and litter box, but other than that I don't really need to think about building and mantaining an enclosure for him or providing UVB bulbs or sunlight, let alone finding live prey for him to eat. The care I provide for my cat takes about a minute in terms of feeding and maybe 5-7 minutes in terms of playtime (and only when he requests it, which is not every day). Preparing fresh veggies for my iguana (by comparison) is about 5 minutes, taking her and picking her up from the garden (combined) is about 6 minutes, turning her UVB lights on and off is about 2 minutes (as I'm not always where her enclosure is), she also free roams a part of the day so I sometimes have to make some time to pick her up from wherever she is. From what I see in Clint's videos there are many reptiles that may be even more demanding than her.
"It's almost like they really don't want to be pets" TRUE
Clint: Birds are noisy
Also Clint: Those loud frog sounds in the middle of the night? Adorable
My bearded dragon watched this episode with me and he approves the results 🦎 YAY for reptiles!
Y’all are the best. I love to learn, but y’all keep it safe and I don’t ever worry ab hearing something even remotely unkind. Thank you. ❤
Awesome! Reptiles and a couple select mammals I prefer for a variety of reasons, tho I will say the "loud and obnoxious" category really is a clincher for me. Otherwise I may have a birb. Also, I notice many talking about a category for "bonding" or "love" helping birds and mammals, but I think that's such a debatable, easily anthropomorphize-risk of a topic rabbit hole that it really becomes a wash. Mammals are so varied, birds too, and there's select species of other animals that you can build a mutual relationship with that sometimes they can't even do with others of their own species, like some larger lizards etc. Interesting topic, tho.
I remember keeping crickets in college and my roommate would walk in, shake the cricket keeper in frustrated rage, and walk out. Of course that only silenced the chirping fir maybe 5 mins.
Personally, when I leave for a few days I am way more worried about my reptiles than I am about my fish. Most freshwater fish van be left alone for about a week without food as long as they are healthy and a water change is done before you leave. I would leave my lizards without food for more than a few days.
I do not agree with a few of the categories regarding fish, but probably because I keep fish 😅
Edit: To elaborate>
"I'm going on a trip" > I, for sure, thought fish would be first. You can setup an autofeeder and be gone for a month or so! If you set it up right, Maintenance doesn't need to be done weekly.
"Yeah but it lives too long" > there are also Fish for every lengths of time you want to keep them, like some Killifish which only live a year, a lot of fish live 3-5 or under 10 years, or some i.e. catfish and marine fish which live over 40 years!
"Loud, Smelly, or Obnoxious" > my 2 aquariums are dead silent (only DC powered Pumps) and mostly odorless (activated carbon)
I would like to argue that fish deserve a better score for Loud, Smelly, and Obnoxious category. Loud filters *exist* but you don't *have* to get one, there are also less noisy filter setups and having a loud one is your choice. I also don't think I could consider water changes to be that obnoxious when it takes up at most an hour of my time once a week for a 55 gallon fish tank. I think they deserve to be 2nd in that category, passing the amphibians that actually do make noise. It's also worth noting that you can reduce the amount of water changes that you need to perform by having tons of live plants in your fish tank, which also happens to look gorgeous so there's really nothing to lose there.
What I love about my fishtank is that it's 50 per cent a biology experiment, and 50 per cent a chemistry experiment, and I can ask a neighbour to cover me for a couple weeks if I need to.
'There's no group where I hate all of them, except for mosquitoes' - I refuse to believe that Clint had ever heard of the beautiful and very well behaved Toxorhynchites mosquitoes before making this statement. Toxorhynchites are wonderful and beautiful and eat other mosquitoes.
You'd be correct! Thank you for teaching me!
@@ClintsReptiles Now you have to research and do a video on them. :)
According to the bird results, on the twelve days of Christmas somebody's true love chose violence.
Balancing care and interactive enjoyment, reptiles and non-primate mammals would top my list.
That's, your biased opinion, if you haven't had reptile pets. I get a lot back from my reptiles. I also appreciate them more. I like that they have never annoyed me, but my dog does. You stop petting her, she taps you, again and again, you can't stop or she will tap, nudge whatever. Apparently I am alpha because she always has to come to me, even if I ask someone else to call her over, she comes right back to me. She is probably the easiest, best breed there is but starting from scratch, not rescuing anyone etc. I would go for the snakes and crested geckos, before the dog. I have had multiple dogs and cats and fish even, I loved them all, but reptiles are by far the best. In my opinion. I also had five kids, I would do that again.
@@amandastakeonit7402 cool. Like I said , reptiles and non-primate mammals would top MY list. I absolutely adore each of my various snakes and their personalities, and enjoy having them partner with me to teach classes to kids. Wouldn’t want life without them! But I feel the same way about my border collie who I do herding with. That is a whole different connection. So if you want to put time in to training an animal and watch it’s intelligence as it tries to please you and figure out what you need it to do, a dog is totally worth the work, especially when they are sleeping in their favorite corner most of the day because they have been mentally challenged and are content. But reptiles are super nice because they can take or leave extra attention. That’s why I didn’t put one group over the other.
Parrots are definitely a lifestyle but nothing is going to love you as much as a parrot that you give proper attention to.
Reptiles are the best pets
Snakes are the best pet reptiles
Corn snakes are the highest rated pet
I knew my baby Udon was the best there could be
Udon is such a cute name for a snake!!!
I totally agree with the results! Loved these videos! Was super fun!
Mr. Rogers meets Steve Irwin.
I have done this examination with animals I’ve thought about keeping since my car accident and have kept prior to my car accident. Birds and fish are off my list now. Too much care requirements for my abilities. But dogs, snakes and isopods are on my list I am debating a millipede or 2. Dogs only because there is a pay off with them they are trained to preform tasks for me so they help in my care in return for theirs. One of my dogs will even bring me my pages from the printer, they help me with laundry and picking up the house. Haven’t figured out how to teach them to sweep or mop yet though, lol. Snakes are usually ok if you check them daily but can’t for a day as long as they were good yesterday they are probably going to be ok today. My Isopods honestly I forget I have them until one of my snakes shed and I feed them the shed. They live with my plants that is pretty much self sustaining at this point, i water it once a month throw in some leaf litter for the isopods and some bug grub occasionally usually when I water.
He's litterally wearing a ring that means "Chose the Reptile."
I wish that's what it meant... :/
I undoubtedly think your bias to reptiles still shows through a little but this is awesome and I loved these videos!
Merry Christmas Clint and family 🎄🎄🌲🐢🦎🦖
I know most mammals are hard to keep, but for me, cats are like the best pets ever! They are easy to care, and if yoy dont care for them, they will let you know. They arent very noisy, but the noises they do make are very cute! Their purring is very relaxing. And they love you, my cat follows me around the house all the time but doesnt care if I dont give him attention. Easy to handle if socialized properly. And they have vertical slit pupils and a third eyelid, like reptiles! Its like a snake living inside the body of a tiny lion. Exept they can love you. Five stars, would recommend.
As both a fish and reptile keeper, I would have scored fish higher on the feeding category and danger category. Maybe not enough to change the final score, but at least beat out arthropods.
get a tame tarantula and you will change ur mind on arthropods
Arthropods really are the perfect pet for me. I don’t need love from my animal, they are comfortable in a glass box, they need almost nothing from me, they don’t bark or drop smelly poops, the ones I keep (tarantulas, spiders, large scorpions, and colonial insects) won’t kill me if I make a mistake, and they live for 10-20 years which means I get my moneys worth without the long term investment.
I honestly thought arthropods would win but I remembered that centipedes, some true spiders, and some scorpions will hospitalize or kill you. They’re so effortless that I thought surely nothing could beat that, but fish really do just live off flakes.
Great video, but I think it’s hard to say it’s accurate. In general, I think you’d be hard pressed to find someone who would prefer a spider over a cat. There needs to be a category on how much people like them in general. Also a category for companionship. Also maybe some category for how often they can leave their cage/ if they can walk around the house.
Most people would prefer a jumping spider to a tiger. If they don't think that was the case, one real day keeping them would convince them.
@@ClintsReptiles yeah but in my opinion you could maybe do another one of these, but only ranking the actual animals people “should” keep as pets. Like only include popular pets for each category, for example no crocodilians, no lions, no sharks, no eagles. Like maybe just remove the ones that only hurt their groups score, and that also 99% of people wouldn’t want. I think this would give a more accurate representation. That way it’s all about the best the group has to offer, not just one group being so minimal that it wins like half of the categories despite the fact that they are terrifying to many people.
I’m so hyped I’ve been waiting for this 🎉
My bird was sitting on my shoulder, pooping on me, screaming in my ear, and chewing on my ear/ hair while watching this. Birds do kinda suck haha I feel like a masochist for having one. Every time birds came in last I would laugh at my bird, but she would bow her head and ask me to give her neck scritches and I can't help but forgive her.
Aww
Love the Mr. Rogers tribute! Could you do an African House Snake video? They're such amazing little snakes.
I think the list is perfect. But maybe could have been one more category, can it bond its owner? Many like mammals or birds because their ability to "love" owner. While an arthropods or most reptile,amphibians cant show any bond, they are just there
I'm neutral at this. But I'm gonna act as if I disagree (for argument's sake):
But that depends on the individual not the groups (or even species). Yes mammals and birds more likely to "love" you. But it technically depends on the individual not the group. There's a lot of cats that scratch, hiss, etc at their owner for example. (and personally, one of my cat seems indeferent towards me).
I think the idea behind leaving “will it love me?” out and adding “accessory or lifestyle” instead is that not all people who want a pet want/need a companion. Some people want to love and care for something, but don’t need that pet to love them back. I think a lot of reptile and invert keepers (as I am) are this way. We love them for what they are, not based on the condition of it they can love us back or not, (not that there’s anything wrong with that, though).
well, many reptiles and amphibians bond a lot. But its mostly in a "I know this human will provide me with food" type of way". Some are even more than that.
Plus you could make an argument that cats would just abandon you if you werent a heat and food provider (not all cats ofc).
Really it boils down to "is this animal social in wild" and if the answer is yes then they will usually bond to some degree. Thats why animals that are very social in wild (like parrots and dogs) are pets even tho they may not be the best when it comes to actual care
@@PondScummer And that's why I want a Tegu.
As a guy with 5 aquariums, I believe that fish got a bad rap. Freshwater fish are not venomous and even piranhas are safe and docile contrary to popular belief. They're in the Tetra Family. I also have a canister filter which is whisper quiet and it doesn't need a lot of maintenance because I have an ecosystem in all my tanks with tons of plants. The plants act as filters. I have cleanup crews of snails, shrimp, loaches, and corydora catfish. If these factors are considered, the fish would tie or beat the reptiles. (I might be a lil grumpy and biased but I'm still right. lol) Great video nonetheless and sorry for the 2 year late comment. :)
As for birds, if you want one but want to reduce the bad sides, don't go with parrots, i have parrots, budgies and cockatiel, the parrots are the hardest to take care of, they scream the loudest, make the most mess, they do way more damages if they bite and they got bad temper (at least mine), i don't go on vacation mostly because of them, i don't feel good/confident letting someone taking care of them
I also can't let any birds fly in the room because if they land on the parrots cage the parrots will try to bite them
So far the cockatiel is my favorite, it's small but not too small, fun to be around, not as destructive as a parrot, and their scream are not bad at all, they are the less noisy of my birds
And if you want to fully reduce the bad side effects and get ready made breakfast - get chickens. I have an old english bantum who loves people and coos when you pet her and is as quiet as my rabbits. My rooster isn't quiet and would win the loud smelly and obnoxious award but you don't need a rooster to get eggs unless you plan on hatching chicks.
@@bigsprucerabbitry6238 I don't have space for chicken but I'll probably get some later in life
Eggs are a plus
I read zebra finch are a relatively easy bird. At least they dont have a huge space requirement (even if you assume they should have space to fly and live in a pack), and dont need that much attention from owners, as long as they are with others of their kind. But they also aren't trainable, and cant "talk". I read about different birds as pets, and it generally seems like the smarter the bird, the more work with them, and of course the bigger they are.
@@zakosist I'm not a fan of straight beak birds, my conures are probably the smarter ones, but god-damn they are annoying, parrots are nice, but take a lot of effort and time, kinda like babies
Ok I totally LOVED this! I was looking at maybe getting a leopard gecko for my middle school classroom and I ran across your channel! This was the funniest thing I’ve watched in so long!!! Oh my goodness I’m laughing so hard! And the lady who hates whales “it’s almost like they’re street cats” 🤣🤣🤣 love you!
This is a little biased... There are also mammals who have short/Long/middle livespans. To name one example.. There are even arthropods who live ten years or longer.. But some of the most common pet reptiles, turtles, con outlive oneself.
I loved this 2 part video! Great work Clint & the team, keep up it up!
I'm surprised amphibians didn't come out higher, but then they are fragile in some ways. These 2 videos were super fun-- as was the reptile only version!
I'm surprised they came out as high as they did! Most people don't find them "cuddly" or they actively find them a bit repulsive. Upkeep can be difficult because you have to keep their enclosures humid, which can breed problems with things like mold and an ever-present damp smell. That being said, I personally love them! Salamanders have cute little puppy faces, and newt life cycles are fascinating to watch! Even frogs croaking in the middle of the night--perhaps along with chirps from their cricket dinners?--can give your home a peaceful naturey vibe if you're into that.
I totally thought it was going to be buggos. Also Clint, thank you so much for having a wonderful sense of humor and playing in to how everybody who sees your show immediately without prompting calls you the Mr Rogers of herpetology. XD
I would enjoy if you add an interaction category (that's one of the best parts of pet owning for me) though I could see how this could be difficult since not all people like lizard climbing on them or dogs sleeping with them (I LOVE both) ps I just adopted a preowned crested gecko because of your videos his name is scooter and he is lovely
My favorite cameo, Gus Gus!
"I love all animals exept for mosquitoes" is a big mood. Well, maybe we can include all hematophages in that category. Ticks and lice are not fun either.
Vampire bats are awesome, though.
@@ettinakitten5047 Fair enough. I didnt consider them.
Bed bugs are the worst! They are totally useless for the ecosystems as well, unlike mosquitoes. They just exist to torment humans
Mammals got short changed in the lifespan category. They run the gamut from short to long lives. Short: rats, mice, hamsters. Medium: guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets. Long: cats and dogs. And some breeds of dog would go into the medium category. There's a lot of diversity there.
I was thinking the same thing watching this video in that category. The one reason he gives for the reptiles to win the category is honestly far better applied to mammals
And horses and donkeys are pets, and can live for 30+ years. Camels (hardly extreme since Clint mentioned some extreme outliers) 40-50 years.
So I think the takeaway here is that there’s a 12th category that is weighted a fair bit higher than the rest, but also can only be scored by each individual: will it bring me joy, and am I willing to put in the effort.
The scoring in the video is pretty heavily weighted towards maintenance, and rightly so. The “best” part of the title is perhaps a bit clickbait-y, but it is Clint’s thing so we’ll give that a pass. What’s really being measured is “How much do I really have to love these animals to make keeping them as pets worth it.” With the highest score meaning “you just have to have shelf space” and the lowest being “more than your own children”
Really enjoyed this series. The only thing I slightly disagree with is the lifespan score for fish. Realistically you are keeping a mixed tank of fish as opposed to a fish. Due to this, you have the unique luxury of keeping it as long or as short as you want. You can run a tank for 30 years and then break it down or keep it for 2 and easily rehome your remaining stock. Should be top for that category IMO
Lifespan was being counted by individual, not group. And if you're including rehoming animals, well, you can rehome pretty much anything at any point in its life if you really want to. You could even volunteer as a foster home for many animal species, with the express intent of them being rehomed. You can also keep obtaining new individuals pretty much indefinitely. I've had cats for 32 years, even though no cat lives that long, simply because when one of my cats die, I buy a kitten.
He did mammals dirty bruh 🤨
I love my dogs but hes right
I would add how environmentally friendly each pet can be. Some to several pets have become invasive species and/or endangered various wild animals.
I would say cats are the overall best because you get the interactivity and intelligence that comes with mammals but are very easy to keep. Full water bowl and food dish and clean litter box once daily and you're good. They don't live 70 years like a parrot but not 3 or 4 either.
Some of the really intelligent lizards like monitors and tegus are a close second only because you can't just let them roam your house but they can be very interactive and are more exotic.
Definitely the best beginner pet.
I think I'd rate Doves above Cats. They are way easier to care for than other birds, especially parrots. Our cockatiel was like an extremely anxious puppy, but the dove was much more catlike in her demeanor. She could be irritable right after laying eggs, but was normally quite chill. She could be super affectionate and want to cuddle, often laying on you and pulling her feet in completely until she was just a ball of fluffy feathers. She also did not mind being completely ignored for days on end though, which would drive the cockatiel crazy. It was not hard to train our dove to always fly back to her cage when she was about to poop, basically using it like a litterbox with a perch and compartments for food and water. We could go a week between changing the paper in the tray at the bottom of the cage and a month or two between cleaning the cage more thoroughly. We only had to give her more seeds about once a week and fresh water every couple days.
Doves and cats have pretty comparable lifespans, so long as you keep them apart. In the wild doves rarely live more than a year or two, due to predators such as domestic cats, but in captivity doves commonly live about 19 years. I think our pet dove was about 23 when she died. We only took her to the vet once, when she flew directly into a moving ceiling fan and needed stitches after her cage got knocked over. (I was planning to take her back when she started making a strange coughing sound the day she died, but the time between the onset of symptoms and her death was not long enough for me to get dressed.)
Part of the way thru this, Willie the African Grey started asking to be covered up. When I asked the problem he replied "the fix is in, The fix his in"
It’s almost like a reptile fanatic came up with the scoring system and did the grading, lol.
implying bias. would you make your ranking system different and put them at different rankings? and are you so sure your scoring system wouldn’t be bias either.
@@beanz2621 Oh I’m sure mine would be biased. :)
@@aaronhumphrey3514 yeah it’s a bit hard not to be. ik i would be too
There's bias, and there's ignoring why many if not most people even keep a pet (companionship), which is strangely left out of his scoring system.
@@Scruffed monitor lizards and tegus request silence
If you remembered that antfarms exist, perhaps arthropods would be quite a bit higher on your observation category.
Great video! Arthropods scored far too high for my liking. I'm trying, but holy cow, spiders and centipedes make it tough!... shudder.... 😧
Haha they’re already your pets! Love your channel
I think the opposite. I love my creepy crawlers so much because they get so much hate.
@@hunterkarr LOL. thank you!
@@rodneybever9583 I'm really trying to get over my fear. We've had a Rose Hair Tarantula for the past year (she's still pretty small) to help me work through it. I'm a long way off, but I'm at least ok with the fact that there's one of these monsters in my house...
I keep 4 of those categories: Mammal (dog) Bird (chickens) Fish(fish, aquatic snails and shrimp) and Arthropods (Isopods, springtails, super worms and a worm farm) My dog is by far the best, but he's more like my child than a pet. I totally agree about the down side of the birds/chickens. They are not a lot of work, but do need regular, unpleasant attention. If it wasn't for the eggs, I wouldn't keep them, they are extremely messy., loud and obnoxious, especially the rooster. The arthropods were mainly started as feeders and cleanup crew for enclosures, but I find keeping super worms very interesting. The beetle stage (darkling beetle) are a lot like cockroaches. So for me its mammal number 1, fish number 2 and the rest I could easily live without. I've never really been into reptiles, but I did have a terrapin when I was a kid, it seemed very boring to me. I guess it comes down to what you want out of a pet and what you are willing to sacrifice, or how much work you want to do, or put up with in order to have the experience you want. I honestly think that these videos give mammals a bad rap, especially in the category of handling and danger. It very much depends on the individual pet I think.
I'd rather deal with mammals than a fish tank, especially a salt water tank.
Yaaaay !!!! I knew it. OMG and the whale thing .... I have no words . Love you so much !💗💗💗