Getting a new pet - something rare/unusual but intelligent?

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A chinese water dragon. I have one, and she's the most lovable and intelligent pet I've ever owned. She's actually about as smart as a cat, almost the same amount of personality, expressiveness, but unfortunatly just about as trainable as a cat too. She does what she what wants.

Bearded dragons are similar in intelligence and personality, but water dragons seem just a tad sharper IMO. They're also prettier and more exotic looking. At first glance, they appear to be baby iguanas, but several details are different. One of the most obvious ones is their big bright golden brown eyes that make them seem puppy like, or like a cartoon baby dinosaur. Iguanas, like most other lizards, have little beady eyes, making their stare seem dull. Water dragons just seem to have so much more curiosity beaming out of their eyes too.

They are high maintainance though, and I don't recomend them as pets to anyone that can't commit to building an acceptable habitat, and clean their water every day.

I also was going to suggest a monkey. I want one actually, but I'm not sure they'd make the best pets, or else they'd be more available as pets here in the states. If I were rich and had a jungle for a back yard, I'd get all kinds of monkeys.

Can't go wrong with a Sphynx, they are super smart!

Dr Evil's cat.

I've got a Mexican Hairless who exhibits a lot of AS traits herself.
She looks so much like a Chupacabra, I named her Maya la Chupacabra de Guadalupe. I've had a Chinese Crested before and they're great dogs, too. Both hairless breeds tend to be a bit timid, but who wouldn't be, if you were constantly naked in a world full of giants? No allergic reactions to fur dander and no flea problems, either. Great lap dogs.

If not a dog, what about a bird? You might not be able to use a leash, but some birds are smart and 10% of them actually talk. You can train them to do tricks. There are rare and unusual birds out there but if you never owned one before, you should start with a parakeet or a cockatiel. I had a parakeet that talked and he was the smartest bird ever! He used language appropriately and understood what he was saying. At 20 months old he had a 250 word vocabulary and he picked things up after one time of hearing it. He died at 20 months old. If he lived to his full potential, he would have been in the record books!

Rats are depressing because of their short lifespans..I had a friend who had really tame rats that she was really attached to, and when one developed a tumor and died...the same one she would walk around the neighborhood with it on her shoulder...she was so traumatized..

I can't believe this has not been mentioned!....A Prairie Dog!! !! I have never owned one, but I would stop at the pet store on the way to the bus to gawk at how awesome they are...
They are basicly like squirrels who burrow underground and have stubby tails...never mind...further research seems to indicate that they make bad pets....

then again.....you could have a pet skunk...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_skunk
that sounds interesting....

better yet...a pet squirrel
http://www.mary.cc/squirrels/unreleasable.htm

I agree about the rats. I like rats and mice, but their lifespans are way too short. The record is about five to seven years, only half as long as the average cat or small breed dog. I was sad when I lost my Siamese cat, who lived to be 20.

I just thought of something you may like, tegus! Do you like lizards,have plenty of space, and some money? If so you should really look into tegus, I believe colombian black and white tegus are the most friendly. They can be litter box trained,they are one of the few reptiles that truly enjoy human contact and can show affection,they are also extremely intelligent. They grow fairly large, up to around four and one half feet i believe, around the size of an iguana. I know of one guy that had one that would run in circles when ever he got home until he sat down in a chair so the lizard could crawl into his lap and let him rub its chin. I read about someone else that had one that would cuddle with his cat, and the lizard and cat would jostle for the closest position to the owner for affection. This is a link to a breeder that also has a pretty informative website. tegus
This is a great video to show you that they are friendly.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz5mvOpCnvI[/youtube]

As for the rats and life expectancy i think that you should enjoy things while they are here. Give them a comfortable life and accept things for what they are. I keep quite a few spiders,centipedes,millipedes,etc and some of them only live for a year or two, IF nothing bad happens to them. But i suppose most people would be more attached to a rat than a spider, I'm weird.

Pig's are extremely intelligent, and you can get them in rare breeds, I'm sure. It was a celebrity trend a while back, unfortunatly a lot of people gave them up when they grew up