Can I Bring a Hamster or Gerbil to Sober Living?

Although not too common of a question, people wondering, "Can I bring a Hamster or Gerbil to sober living?" We have the perfect home and answer for you.

Can I Bring a Pet Hamster or Gerbil to Sober Living?

Most sober livings do not permit animals. Whether they are small or large. But here at Pet Friendly Sober Living, we are proud to offer you the option to bring cats, smaller or mid-sized dogs, hamsters, gerbils, bunnies and several other small pets to sober living with you. As your sobriety companion, we believe pets have a therapeutic healing power unparalleled by much. In fact the only thing that can parallel the connection of pets early in recovery is building a connection with other persons in recovery. So while an addict or alcoholic is building their support circle, we have found that pets offer a short-term and long-term supplemental support system.

What About a Pet Snake or Spider?

This one is one of the areas that we unfortunately can not accommodate in most cases. The reason being simple, more or less. Unfortunately these types of pets, although very cool, can make other people uncomfortable or nervous. The thought of having a reptile or arachnid in their living space could be counter-productive for some. That would defeat the purpose of the healing with pets thesis. So no, at the time being we are unable to accommodate snakes or spiders.

What About Marsupials?

What is a marsupial? Maybe that question is the best place to start, marsupials according to Wikipedia are mammals such as kangaroo, Tasmanian devils or certain opossum species. These, although quite cute, we would not be able to accommodate at this time. For several reasons such as legality in ownership of some, vaccination obscurity, etc. The good news is this is probably not a question you or anyone will be asking anytime soon. Nor is it a question we have yet to receive. However, according to ChatGPT as much as 9% - 13% of US households have an exotic specie as a pet. Although that category comprises more than just marsupials, it suggest an oddly large amount of citizens may fall into the category of owning a marsupial. 

What About Bird?

This one is another tricky one and although birds are considered as a safer pet option as far as data on "attacks by birds." They could be considered a nuisance when it comes to noise levels and peace in the house. So unfortunately, at this time we would be unable to accommodate birds as a pet that a resident could bring.

Take Aways

The main takeaways from this informational post are two things:

1.) That pets may play a powerful therapeutic role for people in early recovery.

2.) The pets we are able to accommodate are those that are more traditional and deemed safe for the other residents in the home.

If we skipped over a pet type, by all means drop us a line, we love to talk about recovery and we love to talk about pets. We have a friendly and knowledgeable staff waiting and ready to talk to all those in need. Just drop us a line here at our sober living contact.

Wondering if you're a good candidate for sober living? Check out our brand new Relapse Rick Calculator!