Hello everyone, just interested to learn what pets you care for at home. There is a poll that you can participate in to see what other members have ! Please feel free to post all about your pets below
Hopefully this is asking about real pets; gonna be a little embarrassing otherwise.
Mammals: Jasper - Jasper is a black and tan miniature dachshund. He's the oldest of my pets, around fourteen years old, born in March 2004. Not much to say about him, other than that he's pretty much my best friend. Definitely my favorite of the dogs.
Tosha - Tosha is a blue merle Australian shepherd. She belonged to my step dad. I'm not sure how old she is, but I would guess around nine or ten. She's probably not the healthiest dog, a little overweight. But she goes nuts for tennis balls and walks.
Jack - Jack's the youngest of our dogs, though we don't know his exact age as we got him from the shelter. He's probably around two, maybe three. He's a mutt, mainly white with black and brown, but definitely has some hound in him. His eyes are two different colors - one being brown while the other blue. He's got anxiety issues, and has literally been spooked by his own shadow. Hates kids, they terrify him. I believe he was living on the streets prior to being caught by the shelter, but we don't know for sure. He's got a lot of Jack-related nicknames ["Jack-Attack", "Jack Daniels", "Handsome Jack", etc.].
Nemo - Nemo's our cat. We found him in a parking lot and kept him. I would guess we found him in late 2014, and he was a kitten at the time. So he would be around three or four now. He's an orange tabby, short furred. Not the most active, but annoyingly loving and sheds enough for a dozen cats.
Marshall - Marshall is my only ferret. Honestly, probably the real favorite out of all my pets. Not that I pick favorites. He's around the same age as Nemo, so probably also around three or four. He's mainly white, with gray markings, and has dark eyes. He's pretty chunky and probably needs to lose some weight. He's suspected to be deaf, but even after having him for all these years, I still don't know for sure. He's happy and active and always willing to play. He climbs the bars of his cage instead of using the ramps - giving him the nickname "Monkey". He's probably got the most nicknames of all the pets, some being "Marsh", "Marshie", "Stinky", "Stinker", and as mentioned before, "Monkey".
Mist - Mist is my spiny mouse. She's regular color, with no real distinguishing or outstanding features about her appearance. I've had her since May [26th?] last year, but she sat in the pet store for months prior to me purchasing her. She's not hand tame or friendly, and I doubt she ever will be. She's got a wicked bite, and has left me a few scars. I'm hoping to get her cagemates eventually, but finding more spiny mice is proving difficult.
Pepper - Pepper is a guinea pig, specifically a hairless one, aka a skinny pig. He's black and pink, but mostly black. He's really my mother's, but she gave him to me to care for shortly after getting him. We got him sometime in 2017, after waiting on a list for a litter to be born.
Toby - Toby is a brown and white guinea pig, this time with hair. He was purchased to keep Pepper company after mother learned they needed friends to be happy. He's likely just a few months younger than Pepper.
Reptiles: Annabelle - Annabelle is a corn snake, not sure what morph. I would assume normal. We got her off of Craigslist, I'm not sure when. I haven't a vague idea of her age. She was my dad's prior to his passing, and is now mine. She's a little over three foot long.
Invertebrates: Roach - Roach is aptly named, seeing as she's a roach. An American cockroach is her exact species. She's only got one wing [well, one and 1/4]. Don't actually know if she's female. She's wild caught.
Others - Animals I live with but don't own / care for include Stan, my brother's mutt dog, Mama, my sister's black and white cat, and Izzy and Ozzy, my sister's ferrets [Izzy is brown, Ozzy is albino].
Last Edit: May 2, 2018 19:12:04 GMT -5 by Blueblood
Ah yes it is real pets that you own, i'll update that so it will be more clear and oh my, thats a lot of pets! i wish that i could have more than what i already have, but having the space at mine is becoming a problem to do so, if you dont mind me asking, where do you keep all of them? also, loving the fact that you own not just your 'everyday' pets, but exotic pets as well! im a huge sucker when it comes to all types of exotic pets, especially any kind of reptile <3
Hahah, yeah, I have a good amount. I plan on getting a hamster [of undetermined species] within the next couple weeks, as well. What all pets do you have currently?
It always throws me off a little when people refer to my animals as "exotics". To me, exotics are things like skunks, foxes, otters, etc. But I've realized that to most people, and to all vets, if it isn't a dog or cat, it's an "exotic". But the only animal I own that I would personally consider exotic would be Mist.
Jasper, Tosha, Jack, and Nemo get free reign around the house. Nemo more so than the dogs, as the dogs are confined to the front two rooms and hallway, while he gets to go anywhere. Can't exactly keep a cat in with baby gates, hahah.
Marshall, Mist, Pepper, Toby, Annabelle, and Roach all live in my bedroom. I'll talk about their cages a little, but note that while I have my animals in these, it doesn't mean I recommend them. Many cages, such as the ferret's and the pigs', I got before knowing the proper cage size for these animals. In Marshall's case, I got him when I was young. In the guinea pigs', they were not originally mine so I did not do research in preparation for them.
Marshall's cage is a smallish cage with four "stories". I did a little searching around online, and I think this is actually the exact cage I have. It's okay, I guess, but I'm really not a big fan of it. I would prefer something with a lot more floor space, but seeing as room is limited, even a taller cage with bigger platforms would be better. Ferrets in the US don't live as long as in some other countries, but I'm hoping to upgrade Marshall before he's too old to enjoy it, or just passes away. Marshall's cage is located between my headboard and my dresser.
Mist's cage is the only cage I'm really pleased with. It's 617 square inches, I believe. She's super active and seems happy in it. This is the exact cage. I just got it a couple weeks ago and I feel we both absolutely love it so far. As reviews on there read, some bars are bent out of place so I have to be careful to check them frequently. She's a mouse, and can escape easily if the bars get bent. Her cage is located on the center of my dresser, and takes up most of it.
Pepper and Toby share a cage. I think it's this one? Don't know for sure. It's a smidge smaller than Mist's cage. I don't know much about guinea pigs, and while I don't see any obvious signs of distress from these two, I feel that this cage likely isn't big enough. Dunno though, guinea pigs aren't my thing. But if they follow the typical trend of rodent cage sizes, they likely need much larger cages than people tend to believe. These two are fairly young, so I should be able to upgrade them once I rearrange my room. I plan on getting a "play pen" and attaching it to their current cage, making that their entire habitat. Not sure how I'll set it up yet. I'll have to make sure it's ferret proof. Their cage is actually sitting on top the rocking chair in my room, haha, which is at the foot of my bed.
Annabelle is in a tank. No clue how large it is, since she came with it off Craigslist. As far as I know about snakes, she should be happy in it. It's a pretty big tank, also around the size of Mist's cage. Her tank has its own stand and is placed next to my door, in between it and my dresser.
Roach sits to the right of Mist in a bin cage. Wouldn't be able to tell you the size, but I don't think it matters too much. Cos she's a roach. Something tells me they aren't real picky. But, it is a decent sized bin. Mist lived in it prior to getting her new cage.
Ah yes, well to me exotic pets are something that isn't native/doesn't originate from the country or is something that is seen as a rare/unusual pet to keep in captivity, but it differs between most countries. So here in the UK we would consider most reptiles to be exotic, with the exception of some snakes and lizards who can be found throughout the country, whereas we dont see foxes as exotic due to having a lot around, i get 1-3 foxes sleeping in my garden every week, so its not really a rare sight to be seen. As for the pets i currently have, its not a lot, but its enough for the time being:
Mammals:
Mille [ British shorthair ] she came from a family who weren't the kindest of people, she was ridden with fleas and had really sticky eyes and was quite afraid of everyone. The family who we got her off had mislead us to believe that she was 6 weeks, but when we took her to the vets, they said she was too small to be that age and said that she was most probably around 4 weeks. When we got back, my parents decided to put both me and the kitten in the kitchen, where it was going to be quiet enough and ended up sitting down for 3-4 hours, until she finally came over to say hello, and after that she began to build her confidence more and more. now she struts around, basically owning the house XD Anyway, she is coming up to three years, and has black and white fur in the pattern of a tuxedo. She isn't the most social cat, but from time to time she will let you stroke her, and can be a little sensitive when you touch her on her sides, but nonetheless we still love her as much as we love the others.
Marely [ British shorthair ] he was born around valentines day, when we first got him he hadn't had much human contact, however this was due to the owner going into hospital for a few weeks and only had someone going in to feed and water them. He would hide in the corner and was very afraid of everyone, i tried the same technique with him as i did with mille, but no improvements were made during the past two days so i ended up just picking him up and placing him down on my legs, to which he appeared to have calmed down a little and ended up falling asleep on my lap. He is over a year now and is the more sociable one out of the two cats, however from time to time he can be a bit weary of everyone, but again we love him as much as we love the others.
Reptiles:
Aussie [ Bearded dragon ] Now, firstly we were told that this scaly baby was a male by the pet store that we brought them off, however about five or six months later they began to scratch around their vivarium, which basically drove me up the walls, so i consulted a group page on social media discussing what had been happening and double checking that i had my set up the viv, temps, feeding, etc correctly, which i did and soon later found out that the he, was most certainly a she when she laid 22 infertile eggs in the corner of her tank. I dont think i ever felt like such a proud mother? XD I just remember panicking because she wouldn't eat, wouldn't want to be handled and just frantically scratched and acted abnormally, but once that had happened it relieved a lot of stress of both me and aussie. She was born in october, so she is coming up to being two years this year, she is a beautiful orange color and loves to be handled and have free run of the bedroom and the front room, but she inst so keen going out in the garden, but thats a work in progress and aim to get her use to going outside and not panicking, but feel like its going to take a lot of time, but its something that i wont ignore, when it comes to any of the animals im always up for the challenge! She likes to terrorize the cats sometimes, often hissing or chasing them away, although by that point she is normally taken back upstairs so then it doesn't stress her out. Her favorite veg is broccoli, her favorite fruit is banana and her favorite bugs to eat are locusts! When i turn her lights on, i often find her sleeping in the most bizarre places/positions, honestly i do question myself if its really that comfortable to sleep the way she does, but she sleeps like a rock, so it cant not be comfortable.
Morty [ Horsefields tortoise ] named after the tv show - rick and morty, this shelled creature is around a year old, who was also born in october, making them be two years this year as well. they're the newest addition to the family, although i did get them last year in september?november? one of them months. Due to not being at least two years old just yet, its hard to sex them, although im kinda hoping its male, otherwise i might have to change the name to something else. They love going outside to chow down on the dandelion leaves and petals, they basically just act as our lawnmower, but they're the size of the palm of my hand so it may take a while before its all eaten lol. They're favorite veg is probably cucumber and broccoli, favorite fruit is probably strawberries or apples. They love the cats, although the cats are a little unsure of them, but i make sure that im close by when they interact with each other just in case something happens, nothing has happened yet, but you can never be too sure, especially with cats..
thats the animals i have as of now, in the future i plan on getting either a mexican black kingsnake or a hognose because i think they are stunning, and such lil cuties, plus they are pretty easy to look after if im being honest so hopefully at some point in the future i will have either one of the two snakes or one of each! I also love hissing cockroaches and millipedes, not sure why, i just find them rather interesting and cool looking, although, they would have to be gotten when i have the money, space and time. Anyway thats all i really have to say, no need to apologize about writing loads, i think that it's always nice to chat to people on here about pretty much anything <3
Yeah, to me anything that isn't real common or widely accepted as pet material is "exotic". So while foxes live here, would still definitely consider them an exotic pet.
Your babies all sound adorable. I'm guessing your thing is reptiles? Mine is rodents. It's such a diverse group and I just want to own... all of them lol. One of my main goals is zebra mice, but honestly I have never seen one mentioned anywhere for sale - not in rodent groups, not in exotic groups, not even in exotic rodent groups. So I may have to choose something else, hahah. Honestly, I'm getting ready to go set some traps and get some native species. Not sure if it's legal, tbh, but I'm doing it. Once I have room, at least. Little packed right now.
And I love millipedes. Would love to have some one day; I've seen tons of different species posted on the roach forum I'm on. They come in so many beautiful varieties. Centipedes, on the other hand, gross me out.
Last Edit: May 4, 2018 8:02:01 GMT -5 by Blueblood
Zoey- Zoey is a 4-year-old American Red-nose Pit-bull, but she is the sweetest thing on planet earth (honestly, my neighbor has a chihuahua that is meaner than her). She has brown fur with a white belly and folded ears. She ripped the tendon of her hind leg a few years ago, so she cant do strenuous activities like carrying things or running for long periods of time, but we still take her out on normal walks.
Fish
Dory- Dory is a goldfish, about 3 years old I want to say? She's one of the first living of a beta fish and many other goldfish, because of a defective filter. Her eyes are clear-ish because of something or another, not sure.
Last Edit: May 10, 2018 20:04:05 GMT -5 by sh00kerth