Best Inside Low-Maintenance Pets

If you’re a member of a busy household, yet long for a pet to care for, we would encourage you to consider one of the following options. Each of these is best kept inside and is as low-maintenance as a pet can be. 

Full disclosure: no pet is 100% low-maintenance. Vet bills, cost of a cage, food, and bedding, and the additional work you may have to put in to arrange pet-sitting when you’re out of town will—and should—factor into your decision to bring a pet into your home.

With that said, let’s dive right in! Browse the following fluffy, fanged, scaled, and slithering suggestions to see if one of these delightful creatures is right for you!

1.) Hamsters

Long considered the default, best choice for a busy household, hamsters are certainly adorable. Fully nocturnal, a teddy-bear like hamster will be happy to welcome you home from your 9 – 5 workday. There are several varieties of hamsters to choose from, each with distinct size and personality differences. 

While hamsters do usually enjoy interacting with people, too much handling, especially from active children, can cause them significant stress. It’s best to first bond with a fluffy hamster by handing it delicious snacks, then slowly progress to short handling sessions.

Hamsters are solitary, meaning that they cannot be housed together with other hamsters. Each hamster you own will require plenty of room to run around, hide and play, as well as a wheel, fresh water daily, plenty of food, and deep bedding to permit nesting and digging. All soiled bedding must be removed daily, and waste must be removed at least as often. 

Most hamsters live 2 – 3 years.

2.) Guinea Pigs

If you would like to own a larger rodent, consider a guinea pig. Even better, consider owning several! These highly social creatures must be kept in at least pairs. In fact, a solitary guinea pig will likely suffer from depression and anxiety if housed alone. Because they are diurnal, guinea pigs are awake during the standard 9 – 5 workday and need companionship during these hours.

Their social nature makes guinea pigs eager for gentle cuddles, playtime, and grooming, making them excellent pets for anyone who longs to scoop up a pair of loving pets. They very rarely bite and have a low odor when compared to many other rodents.

Overall, guinea pigs are quite easy to care for. They require a substantial habitat, plenty of clean hay, snacks, vitamin C, fresh water daily, and daily spot cleaning of their home. Their lifespan varies widely, ranging from 4 – 8 years.

3.) Rats

Rats are controversial animals. Despite their somewhat dubious reputation, fancy rats (domesticated Norway rats) are social, extraordinarily clean creatures. Like guinea pigs, they must be kept in at least pairs, though most rat fanciers suggest groups of 4 – 5 for maximum harmony within the mischief (group of rats).

Domesticated rats are very fond of people, usually racing over like eager dogs to greet their people after any length of time apart. They love interaction, cuddles, playtime, and are capable of learning highly complex tricks. In fact, lab rats have been known to drive small cars for fun! 

Rats require specialized, large cages, flying saucer running wheels, large water bottles, hammocks, and fresh food daily. Their cages must be tidied daily, though many rats will choose a designated waste area, making clean up quite a bit easier.

Rats usually live 1 – 3 years.

4.) Snakes

Snakes certainly aren’t for everyone, but these smooth, slithering animals are an excellent low-maintenance pet for those who enjoy serpent-kind. Corn snakes, milk snakes, and rat snakes are excellent for beginners, especially once they are a little older than babies. 

Snakes are solitary creatures and must be housed alone. 

They require food every 1 – 2 weeks, a habitat large enough to permit a full-size adult to stretch out straight, a large water bowl (they love to soak in them), a proper heat source, at least two hides, lush fake foliage, and bedding. 

Once you’ve delivered your snake to its carefully constructed vivarium, you may interact with your snake several times a week, or not at all! 

Consider, though, that a snake that you do not handle is likely to be unhappy about being picked up, which you’ll have to do for habitat cleanings and vet visits. It is easiest to get used to handling your snake as it gets used to you.

In captivity, corn, milk, and rat snakes may live between 15 – 20 years.

5.) Leopard Geckos

If a snake is not your cup of tea, consider a leopard gecko! These adorable, velvet-skinned reptiles look like they are always smiling. However, their sweet faces are a bit deceptive: they do not like sharing their habitat with other geckos, so it’s best to keep only one per cage.

Your gecko’s cage should be large enough to permit the creation of a heat gradient. Provide several hides, reptile soil for digging, fake plants, plenty of water, and insects dusted with vitamins every other day, and your cute gecko is sure to thrive. 

Leopard geckos live up to 20 years in captivity, so be sure you want to dedicate time and space to your little critter before you take the leap.

6.) Tarantulas

If you’re one of the brave individuals who love 8-legged creatures, nothing beats the incredibly vibrant colors and varying behavior patterns of pet tarantula species. 

Most modern tarantula keepers do not handle their pets, so a willingness to let a tarantula crawl on you is definitely not required.

A truly low-maintenance pet, most tarantulas need food once per week, a cage 4x their size, a water dish, substrate, a hide, and are happy at any room temperature that’s comfortable for you. If your home tends to dip down into very cold winter temperatures, however, you’ll need to provide heat to keep these invertebrates alive. 

Each family of tarantula requires slightly different setups, so be sure to research the one that catches your eye before you begin preparing the habitat. Hobby species range from practically non-venomous to very dangerously venomous, which is a huge consideration for any homes shared with children.

Tarantulas have an impressive lifespan, ranging from 4 years to 30 years, depending on sex and species.

We hope this guide has inspired to you research some simple pets further. Do you have any additional suggestions for your fellow Tennesseans? Please leave us a comment below. We love to hear from our readers!