Illegal Pets: Paper the Hamster and Laddy the Leopard Gecko

College students can barely take care of themselves, much less their pets. This hasn’t stopped a few brave souls though—read their horror stories, their delights, and that one time they brought their mouse to Lowell Lecture Hall in a Starbucks cup. Enjoy the third part in this miniseries here!:

PAPER THE HAMSTER

Flyby: How did you name your pet?
Pet owner: When we got Paper we were looking at all the hamsters and I was like, ‘Wow, I’ve never seen such a white hamster!’ So then my friend asked ‘What are you gonna name her? You have to name her based on how white she is like, like Snowball or Paper or something.’ And Paper was so stupid that it stuck.

Flyby: Is it hard keeping your pet a secret?
Pet owner: Um, no, my proctor actually knows. He walked in once and said, ‘Is that one of those hamster cages where there’s not actually a hamster and it just makes you feel like you’re more at home?’ And my roommate said, ‘Yeah..um...uh no, I think there’s no animal in there.’ And then [Paper] just comes out of her wheel and starts running, and my roommate tripped up on himself and said, ‘Oh wait, I guess there actually is. I don’t take care of it that much, so I don’t really know!’ And my proctor was like, ‘That’s fine. I’m not Yard Ops so I don’t care.’

LADDY THE LEOPARD GECKO

Flyby: When did you first get your pet?
Pet owner: I got Laddy in January 2010. About four and a half years ago. One of my friends from school back home had a lot of pets and he took in the gecko, but then realized it was one too many. He asked if anyone wanted it and I had been looking for a lizard or gecko, so I said ‘Yeah, sure!’ It was a very easy decision.

Flyby: How easy is it raising a pet? How do you find time to take care of it?
Pet owner: They’re very low maintenance. It’s just a matter of going on the T and going to a pet store every week or two to get crickets, which is kind of a pain in the ass because there’s no where to get crickets around here. It’s an hour out of the way. That’s the main thing. Also just cleaning out the cage and kind of getting him out and letting him crawl around me every once in a while. But, you know, it’s nothing terribly difficult at all.

Flyby: Is it hard keeping your pet a secret?
Pet owner: Not really. It’s in a cage and if anybody thought about it, they might ask why I have a red light in my room. Even though it’s pretty blatantly obvious I have a red light, no one questions it. When I’m gone or if there are room inspections I always worry about it, but nothing has come of it.