What pets do you have?

[Queen Amaranthine]

What kind of pets do you have? What are the benefits and drawbacks of that kind of animal as a pet? Any good or funny pet stories to share here?

 

Also, what would you suggest for young kids? My kids, ages 5 and 6, are asking for a pet.

 

We sort of share a terrier dog with grandma who lives down the street. We dogsit him sometimes and claim him as our own too. He's great with kids but is definitely grandma's baby. My son has a mild allergy to dogs, so we don't want one at home full time. We love cats, but my son and I are too allergic. I would like a cuddly rabbit, but the dog would go after it in a split second, and I don't want to risk anyone forgetting to make sure the rabbit is securely put away when grandma and the dog come over.

 

A few weeks ago my son asked for a pet snake. While I have no objection to a small pet snake itself, after doing a little reading I found out that they have to be fed mice. That was the deal breaker. What snakes do out in the wild is their own business, but I don't see myself purchasing live mammals to be something's food. There aren't any vegetarian snakes, are there?

 

Currently we're thinking about a turtle or fish. Maybe a gerbil? I might not object to a tarantula, depending on what it has to be fed.

[smells like flowers]

This is funny timing! We had a bit of a pet tragedy last night. My daughter has (had) two pet mice, which are a bit smelly but overall they're cute, low-maintenance pets. Last night I noticed that one of the mice was looking dazed, breathing very shallow, and seemed completely out of it. She was 2, and mice are said to live 1-3 years, so the timing fit. Anyway, it soon became apparent that she had died. We wanted our daughter to be able to see her (and understand that she was really dead), so we left her in the cage with the other mouse. BIG MISTAKE! We learned the hard way that mice eat their dead! By this morning, the dead mouse had no head and the other one probably had a belly-ache. Did a bit of googling and found that indeed, mice eat their dead -- either for supplemental nutrition, or to get rid of the remains before they start to decompose and smell, which would expose their burrow to predators.

 

Good luck with your new pet, whatever it is, Amaranthine! Just make sure if you get rodents, remove their dead carcasses before the others have a cannibalistic feast.

[Heart full of holes]

We have had a turtle for nearly five years now. He's an Easern Box Turtle my daughter adopted via a local rescue group. He was one of a group turtles that someone was hoarding; he has only three claws (victim of a lawn mower hit-and-run apparently), and can't be released into the wild. We've had gerbils and fish, too, and by far, Turtelini is the easiest to deal with, least expensive to feed, and probably the most intelligent. Plus, he hibernates from December to March, so we all get a break. He loves roasted sweet potatoes (who doesn't?) and earthworm, slugs, or anything else he can dig up. He spends most of his time basking under a lamp, and we can leave him for a few days at a time with no problems. As pets go, he's a winner in my book.

[SarahC]

Be careful with reptiles in general, because in some states it is illegal to keep them as pets, and also if you go the reptile route make sure you go through a reputable dealer, some pet companies don't have good practices with reptiles, and the animals are often mistreated. Easten Box Turtles are great, and on an average they live 10 years.

 

Have you ever considered a leopard gecko or any sort of lizard? They are fairly common commercial reptiles kept for pets. On average they live 10 years in captivity if they've got a good diet and stuff. They require heat lamps, and an enclosure with sand (also a place that they can use for shade, a quarter of a hollow log works well) and they're fairly low key. They eat crickets and meal worms mostly with some reptile vitamin pellets, and all those things are very inexpensive. The only thing to watch out for with them is that you don't want more than 2 in one enclosure, because they'll get aggressive with each other. Especially if they're opposite sex. Females get along okay with each other, but 2 males is also trouble because of their aggression. I work with these lizards at the aquarium, and the 5-6 year old kids LOVE to pet them.

 

Good luck!

[choo-choo-charlie]

Two dogs. Well, they're still puppies. Their names are Sargent Pepper and Abbey Road -- Sarge and Abbey for short. I posted a pic of them a while back. Here they are catching a nap this weekend:

 

[Winston Legthigh]

My wife and I got a pug a little less than 2 years ago.

We love the little guy. We don't have kids, but he's always been great with greeting other kids. He's never growled or snarled at anyone, actually. Very social, very happy little dude. We were petless before him, and now I can't imagine life without him.

[Queen Amaranthine]

Just make sure if you get rodents, remove their dead carcasses before the others have a cannibalistic feast.

 

That reminds me of the hamster I had when I was 8, who had babies shortly after I got her. She escaped from her cage shortly after giving birth. She didn't return and we couldn't find her anywhere and were worried about the young. In the meantime, my mom helped me use a medicine dropper to feed the babies warm milk, which was probably stupid to do in the first place. Soon we found the hamster and put her back in the cage, where she promptly ate her young. I was horrified.

 

Cannibalism aside, mice do sounds like good pets and we might look into that!

 

Adorable dog picture above! Love the names! As for pugs, I have a couple of friends who have pugs and they are wonderful, happy pets.

 

Good to hear that turtles sound like great pets. My kids would probably like a lizard, which we should look into as well.

[bleedorange]

You can't go wrong with a Lab (see avatar), unless the allergy is too bad. We got him shortly after we were married and our daughter (who came three years later) and he are best friends. We won't even be gone a day on a vacation before she starts telling us how much she misses him. Also, in my opinion, the bigger the dog, the better. Especially with young kids.

[ih8music]

We have fish as our "pets." In reality, they're little more than room decorations that you need to feed regularily (not a big deal) and clean their tank regularily (huge PITA). The kids (6 & 8 now) have about as much interest in the fish as they have in the flowers growing in the back yard. Seriously, unless you have some deep, emotional attachment to fish -- or really like their visual/decorative appeal -- do not get your kids a fish tank. WAY too much work for what tiny amount of pleasure they bring.

 

I'm working on getting a dog as our real pet. Wife is opposed right now, but I have the 8yr old on my side & I'm working on the 6yr old. Once I get her, I'll have the votes to override the 'mommy veto.' Will probably get a small mutt from the pound and have it be a house dog -- that's what I had growing up and some of my fondest memories of childhood were playing with my dog. (My wife also had a dog when she was young... but theirs was an outside/guard dog and they would never play with it or integrate it into the family. Completely different experience that she doesn't quite appreciate... yet!)

[mpolak21]

 

Jack is primarily black lab, we think there may be a bit of greyhound or whippet in him because of how he runs, he may have a bit of dalmatian (in the shape) too. Very well tempered, basically my shadow. Tried to teach him how to "Tebow" during the playoff game last night, but he was having none of it. Must be a Steeler fan.

 

--Mike

[bleedorange]

All dogs should be house dogs...but that's another topic.

[tinnitus photography]

two cats. and some fish (whose population has been dwindling).

[calvino]

You can't go wrong with a Lab (see avatar), unless the allergy is too bad. We got him shortly after we were married and our daughter (who came three years later) and he are best friends. We won't even be gone a day on a vacation before she starts telling us how much she misses him. Also, in my opinion, the bigger the dog, the better. Especially with young kids.

 

I always thought your avatar was an extremely large jack rabbit.

 

(your dog's mouth were the ears...)

[bleedorange]

I always thought your avatar was an extremely large jack rabbit.

 

(your dog's mouth were the ears...)

 

That's funny! I can kind of see that with the small picture.

[PopTodd]

My youngest is very allergic to cats and dogs but wanted a pet, so, we got a bearded dragon.

His name is "Poopie Von Poopie" and he's pretty cool.

At first, until you get the hang of regulating the temperature in the enclosure, it's a lot more difficult to take care of one of these guys than you might think. But then, once you get it right in there, it's not so bad. He eats greens, berries, and live crickets (which we have to keep in a separate enclosure, and feed their own food) just once a day. His poop is pretty nasty, but he only goes a couple of times a week, so it's not too terrible.

My wife gives him baths to help keep him hydrated, and we let him out of the enclosure every now and then to play on the floor and climb up on our legs and shoulders.

He's very tame and, after a while I've even come to think of him as cute, in his own lizard-y way.

 

This is Poopie, just after we brought him home. He's much bigger now:

[choo-choo-charlie]

 

Jack is primarily black lab, we think there may be a bit of greyhound or whippet in him because of how he runs, he may have a bit of dalmatian (in the shape) too. Very well tempered, basically my shadow. Tried to teach him how to "Tebow" during the playoff game last night, but he was having none of it. Must be a Steeler fan.

 

--Mike

 

What a good looking boy.

[Moss]

 

So bummed right now, we had to put our cat Emma to sleep today. The one on the right with the smashed face. She was spoiled and treated like a queen and had a great life and we loved her. Funny how attached you can get. Breaks my heart that her little basket next to the computer is empty. They never live long enough but I guess that's part of the bargain you sign up for when you adopt them. I hope this didn't bring the mood down, pets are wonderful and worth every second.

[kidsmoke]

Aw, sympathies, Moss! So sorry for your loss. I'm not very sure about what the afterlife holds for us, but if I don't get to see some beloved pets who've passed on, it'll be an absolute deal-breaker for me. I'm completely counting on some sort of overjoyed reunion.

 

Pets can be one of the very finest, sweetest things in life. Rest in peace, Emma, until you and Moss meet again.

[chisoxjtrain]

This is Tank.

 

4 weeks:

 

4 months:

[choo-choo-charlie]

This is Tank.

 

4 weeks:

 

4 months:

 

Awesome.

[Guest Jules]

I want one of those backwards Blackhawks shirts.

[uncool2pillow]

Damn, Moss, sorry about the cat.

[Moss]

4 weeks:

 

 

Thanks for the kind words but I kind of feel like I brought things down so let me just say, this is one of the cutest damn pictures I have ever seen. What breed is that? I would give a days pay to nuzzle that muzzle.

[chisoxjtrain]

Thanks for the kind words but I kind of feel like I brought things down so let me just say, this is one of the cutest damn pictures I have ever seen. What breed is that? I would give a days pay to nuzzle that muzzle.

 

Tank is an Olde English Bulldogge. Olde English Bulldogges are different than the English Bulldogs as they are much healthier. Their faces aren't smushed so they have an easier time breathing and they don't really have bowed legs which is great for not having hip problems. They are also a bit taller than the English Bulldog, as they are being bred back out to how they used to be in the 1800s.

[jff]

Three cats and a dog. Used to be four cats, but we adopted one out to a friend before we moved to a much smaller house last month. I need to go visit that little maniac and see how he's doing.