Josh Rabinowitz, perhaps better than anyone else on campus, knows piranhas can jump."Before I got the cage on top of the water, Johnny managed to jump out of the tank and onto the floor," the interdisciplinary studies in social science sophomore said. "I don't know if 3 or 4 feet is a huge fall in fish terms, but I picture that being a lot of momentum. Thankfully my roommate was able to scoop him up."

Rabinowitz recently bought Johnny, his first piranha, to add to the atmosphere of his Emmons Hall room.

"It's kind of informal. I call him Johnny, I really don't know the gender of the animal so it's a guess," he said. "For a fish it's really big, almost the size of my hand."

He says taking care of the piranha is a little harder than he thought it would be.

"It's a lot more work than I expected," he said. "I came in completely ignorant on how to take care of it or the supplies necessary."

As far as Rabinowitz and Johnny's relationship in the future, the two may be heading separate ways.

"I don't really say nice things to it," Rabinowitz laughed. "Sometimes he'll freak out and splash water out the top and I'll just throw in a couple cuss words at him, but that's the nice thing about a fish, he doesn't know the difference between when I'm saying something nice or mean."

And without someone to care for the fish - which eats at least six smaller fish a week - over the upcoming spring break, Rabinowitz says he may be looking to sell it.

"My roommate doesn't like him," he said. "One issue is that if you don't clean out the water regularly the thing will stink up the room. Plus there's the issue that he intermittently flips out and darts across the water and that can scare the crap out of us in the middle of the night."

Kati McVey, an East Asian languages and cultures junior, said she spends about five hours per day with her two pet rabbits, Shainobi and Violet.

"I do my studying in here so I can lay on the floor with them and play with them," she said. "They're really good. They're both litter-trained."

McVey said it wasn't a hard decision to bring her rabbits with her when she moved from her hometown to attend MSU.

"I just really love animals and I've been getting more involved in learning more about them," she said. "But you really have to understand how much time you need to spend with them and the bills you have to pay because of them."

On average, McVey said she spends at least $100 per month taking care of the two rabbits.

"You should do it for the animals, not just for your own personal benefit," she said about adopting a pet. "You can't expect them to act human and know not to make a mess. You have to be understanding. Sometimes you even have to put them as a priority. If they're sick you have to really go out of your way to take care of them."

But some experts say it might be in a student's or an animal's best interest to wait until after graduation or after settling down before purchasing a pet.

"Because of landlord or moving situations, many of our animals come from the MSU and Lansing Community College areas," said Greta Hardin, adoption supervisor for the Capital Area Humane Society. "Unfortunately most of the college housing doesn't allow pets so we have to make sure that their landlord allows them. Plus, we really stress that it's a lifetime commitment. Cats often live up to 20 years."

Plus, Hardin said the average college student's lifestyle isn't exactly pet-friendly.

"A lot of students don't realize the commitment and the time you need to devote to a pet," she said. "Plus, it can be really, really expensive, especially if you've only got a part-time job or if you're going to school full time."

To ensure the safety and well-being of the animals adopted from them, the Humane Society will not adopt a pet to a household that has five or more non-family members.

"It's not good for an animal to have so much change with different people coming in and out of the house," Hardin said. "It really puts stress on the animal."

And finding a place where you can legally have a pet isn't the easiest thing to do in a college town, said Jennifer Adams of Oaks Apartments in East Lansing.

"The only place we allow pets are at 144 Highland. We allow small dogs up to 20 pounds and that costs $25 a month extra," she said. "In our other apartment complex, we only allow cats because there are a lot smaller of units with much smaller hallways."

But students such as McVey say all the extra work is nothing when it comes to having a companion, or two in her case.

"It can be really calming to have a pet when you're a student," she said. "Animals are a great source of stress relief."