When I posted this video of me giving my hedgehog a bath I got a bit of guff from the YouTube nuts. A few non-hedgehog owners insisted that hedgehogs are naturally clean and don’t need baths and that bathing a hedgehog is abuse. Any hedgehog owner’s reaction to that would be: “I wish!”

Hedgehogs are so far from being naturally clean. Their favorite hobbies are running, pooping and digging. Hedgehogs can get really dirty really fast and you should bathe them every few weeks using ‘no tears’ baby shampoo to keep them healthy and happy. Otherwise they’ll be susceptible to bacteria that can make them sick. They also really enjoy baths–it’s the least spiky you’ll ever see them. Sometimes I’ll give Max a quick rinse in the water just to calm him down.

And the best part of giving Max a bath is that he looks SO CUTE and snug drying off in his facecloth:

Max has been a bit not-so-energetic lately with the seasons changing. African pygmy hedgehogs are not fans of winter, so I’ve been making sure he gets all the rest he needs. Not that he doesn’t sleep 90% of the time anyway (the other 10% is spent running a marathon on his wheel every night at 6 am and then going back to bed) but he’s been especially pooped lately.

So I’m going to give Max a break this week and instead focus on other adorable exotic animals. Some of them can be owned as pets, but most of them are more fun to just admire on the Internet. Here we go!

Species: Tasmanian Devil
Can I own one? Nope, they’re non-domesticable and endangered!

Tasmanian devils are adorable but they’re not really pet material. A lot of times you’ll hear that animals are nothing like how they appear on TV, but the Looney Toons character Taz is a pretty good representation of Tasmanian devils. They’ll eat pretty much any animal including cats, dogs, fish, birds, and even sheep.

They’re cute, but they’re endangered! Unfortunately, as of the mid-1990s, tasmanian devils have been slowly going extinct due to a rare form of transmissible cancer. You can’t own them as pets, but you could help save them! (via OMG Blog)

Species: Giant African land snails
Can I own one? They’re illegal in the US but they’re popular pets in the UK.

Giant African land snails make great pets! They’re super smart and affectionate to people. They don’t leave slime trails (at least not all the time) and grow about the size of a kitten. You can see more pictures and videos of pet snails on this older Snuzzy post.

Species: Anteater
Can I own one? Though legal in some areas US, you probably shouldn’t!

Anteaters are surprisingly adorable. Apparently they’re totally different from ‘aardvarks‘, the kings of jokes about the dictionary, and the idea that ‘aardvark’ is a synonym for ‘anteater’ is a common misconception. They’re related to sloths and armadillos, and have weird sloth-like arms. They’ll sometimes stand on their hind legs and wave their arms around for attention. They make for weird pets, in fact, Salvador Dali owned one, and he’s super weird:

The above picture of the anteater in a sweater is of Pua, a rescued anteater living in Oregon (via Telegraph). The sweater keeps her warm, as she’s used to living in a tropical climate. Her owner says she smells badly and eats weird things and releases weird odors and fluids. But she’s so cute! Here’s a video of Pua begging for treats in her own weird anteater way:

Creepy! And adorable! Exotic animals can sometimes make fun pets, but they’re exotic for a reason. They usually have special needs like being out of commission most of the time (Max) but they’re often adorable! Do any Snuzzy readers have weird pets, or a favorite weird animal?