We have a dog called Rufus who likes to bark…a lot.
Thankfully we got him after moving out of our old two-bed apartment.
You can try and soundproof the dog crate as much as you want but having a noisy dog in an apartment simply doesn’t work.
If you live in an apartment you need a quiet pet that won’t cause your neighbors to hate you and that will be happy without regular garden access.
Below are 10 great options listed (roughly) in order of noisiness from very quiet to quite quiet:
1. Fish
While they’re not the most exciting pet, fish are the quietest pet you can possibly get.
They also create a great visual centerpiece for any room and will keep curious kids (and cats!) distracted.
They are very low maintenance, they don’t make any noise, they just swim around quietly in their tank.
Be aware that you will need a filter for your fish tank and if these are not cleaned and well maintained it is not uncommon for a noisy aquarium filter to disturb your peace.
2. Snakes
While not the most social of pets snakes are very quiet.
They are barely audible at all beyond an occassional gentle hissing sound which your neighbors certainly won’t be able to hear.
They are ideal for apartments because they don’t require a lot of space.
They are also relatively low maintenance with mature snakes only needing to be fed once a week.
Snakes don’t like loud noises so are best suited to largely quiet environments, so don’t put their crate right next to the TV.
3. Geckos
Geckos are small lizards which can be found in most warm countries.
They live between 10 and 20 years and in recent years have become a popular choice of pet.
There are many different types of Geckos, the most common types to have as pets are:
- Common house geckos
- Leopard geckos
- African fat-tailed geckos
- Crested geckos
- Tokay geckos
Geckos aren’t completely silent but as a general rule they are fairly quiet.
They do make some peculiar noises (listen to some of them here and here) but they are certainly not noisy enough to disturb the neighbors or wake the kids up, providing you keep them in a different room.
4. Turtles
What noise does a turtle make?
You probably don’t know as they are very rarely vocal (this is the sort of noise they make if you are interested).
They don’t run around particularly fast on noisy exercise wheels and they won’t jump off pieces of furniture…they are almost silent most of the time.
They do need more space than you may imagine and they enjoy having access to the outdoors from time to time.
They are best suited large apartments with a secure balcony or at least access to a ground floor garden.
Also, be aware that turtles live for many decades with box turtles and terrapins typically living to an average age of 35 so getting a turtle is a long-term commitment not to be taken lightly.
5. Mice
Have you ever heard the phrase “as quiet as a mouse”?
The phrase exists for a reason…they are very quiet.
Because they are so small they are incredibly light-footed so you will rarely hear them running about.
They also aren’t particularly vocal, unless they’re playing or enjoying some food (in which case they may sound something like this).
They certainly won’t be disturbing your neighbors or kids at night!
6. Hamsters
Hamsters are clean, very easy to tame with regular handling and for the most part are fairly quiet.
Hamsters are renowned for their love of running on a noisy exercise wheel all night long.
This can create quite a bit of unwanted noise, however, there are ways to fix that (read our article on how to quiet a hamster wheel or just buy a quiet hamster wheel if this is a problem for you).
Just make sure you don’t keep them in a bedroom and they shouldn’t disturb you.
If you are renting an apartment that doesn’t allow you to keep pets chances are they will allow hamsters.
7. Hedgehogs
Hedgehogs are extremely quiet during the day when they pretty much just sleep.
They will wake up in the evening (giving you time to interact with them before you go to bed) and are very active during the night.
Many pet hedgehogs are actually overweight due to a lack of opportunity for exercise.
Hedgehogs need a lot of exercise to stay in good health.
An exercise wheel is ideal.
The exercise wheel is the one thing which can potentially be noisy.
Ensure that you keep your wheel well oiled and it should be fine, however, we recommend that you don’t keep your hedgehog in the bedroom!
Other than that hedghogs are very quiet pets even when they are up and about, beyond a bit of grunting and snuffling they don’t make much noise at all.
Hedgehogs are very solitary creatures so should be housed on their own.
Their solitary nature can make it difficult to bond with them.
Ideally, you should get a hedgehog when it is young and handle it regularly to build a good rapport.
8. Rats
Rats are very intelligent animals that love to interact and play with kids, in fact they actually enjoy human friendship.
Rats are not particularly vocal unless they are scared or in pain (then they will emit a high pitch squeaking noise).
They are very active during the night though and should be given plenty of opportunities to exercise.
Climbing ropes, exercise wheels, tubes and more provide plenty of stimulation for them.
These can make a small amount of noise with the wheel squeaking, or the thud of your rat dropping off the rope.
Providing you don’t keep them in a bedroom the noise will not be sufficient to disturb anyone.
9. Cats
Most cats are fairly quiet with the bulk of their time spent sleeping.
One thing to be aware of with cats is that they are prone to climbing up on, on top of a wardrobe or shelf and then eventually jumping off.
This will create a dull thud that will vibrate through your floor and may disturb your downstairs neighbor.
To minimise this you can prevent your cat from going into bedrooms and remove any high shelves or perches from areas that they have access to.
You could also create walkways that make it easy for your cat to get down without having to jump down.
10. Guinea Pigs
In at number ten are guinea pigs.
These cute chubby little creatures are generally very quiet…until feeding time comes, then they will let out a high pitched excited squeak.
This noise is quite cute and, unless you have paper thin walls, won’t disturb your neighbors or kids.
Just make sure not to feed them when everyone is asleep!
As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small fee from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. This helps us run the site, so thanks for your support!
