Okay...so they are relatively boring pets in some aspects, that is true. But they are pretty low maintenance, and that has to count for something.
First let me say that I am not much of a pet person. Your standard issue pets are generally not for me. Let's peruse the list of standard pets and I will tell you why.
Dogs: Well, I am just not a dog person. I am sure some people will think less of me for saying so. But that is just life. My grandparents had a dog from hades when I was young, and even though we had a couple of perfectly good dogs that I loved growing up, that little white ball of fluff that lived at Grandma's house ruined dog ownership for me forever. I am pretty much afraid of every dog I see. Dogs also equate to a responsibility that is almost equal to having another child. They have to be bathed, taken to the bathroom, fed, taken to the vet, and paid attention to. You can't expect to have a good dog if you don't pay attention to it. (Hmm, quite like having children). Also, if you want to go on a vacation, you either have to go on a dog friendly vacation, or you have to find someone to watch your dog. That equals money, and energy spent. So, I don't expect to ever have a dog. I could also go into the torture it would be for a dog to live here with our five rambunctious boys, but I think I have enough reasons without that.
Cats: Okay, so I love cats. Cats are great. But I am allergic to them. I have to say that I would get one anyway because I love them that much, but several of my children are also allergic to cats, and even though I am willing to go through torture myself to have a cat, I am not willing to put them through it as well. Also, the torture for a cat to live with my five boys does factor into it. Maybe when all the kids are grown up I will think about getting a cat, but until then I will just enjoy other people's cats when I can.
Birds: We have a parakeet. We used to have two, but I think one of them starved the other one to death by never letting it near the food. Growing up we had a great parakeet that we could let out and he would fly around the house, and sit (and unfortunately poop) on our shoulders and he would perch in the rim of our drink cups when we played board games. His name was Charlie and he was a great bird. The bird we have now is named Oscar, and he came to us with a healthy fear of people. We can't let him out of his cage, and he freaks out when his cage is approached...so he leads a boring existence stuck in his cage. It makes me kind of sad actually. Having a bird takes work too. Of course Oscar is pretty easy to care for, but I think his quality of life depresses me. I do not plan to get another bird when he is gone.
Fish: I grew up with fish. I love fish. They were a big part of my growing up years. I had goldfish, and I still remember when my first fish died when I was in first grade. We have had fish over the years since we got married. We had goldfish, and we had tetras. Unfortunately the goldfish ate the tetras. Then we just had tetras, and we got frogs to go with them. Frogs fall into another category, and they are not one of your standard pets. There is nothing wrong with having fish, and I will probably get some later in life, but there are some hassles about owning fish. We have chlorinated water, so we have to dechlorinate it. Changing the fish water is a hassle. Our tank was tucked back in a corner of our room to keep it out of the hands of the boys (I will just say that a couple of fish were squashed by eager little boy hands that wanted to hold them, and while that particular boy has probably outgrown that phase, he still has two younger brothers). Having to keep the tank away from the boys equals out to me not really being able to enjoy the fish. So it became just another responsibility. Eventually the fish died, and we just had the frogs. Then the frogs got sick and died, and I am not replacing them because with African Dwarf frogs it seems to take getting several before some of them will live beyond a couple of weeks, and its too much hassle.
So what is our perfect pet? I find virtual pets to be great because they don't die if you don't feed them, (some of our virtual pets can be see on my other blog). But our other pet besides the bird is a garden snail. It was something #1 son got at the end of third grade last year as part of a science thing. He brought it home in a plastic cup and named it Claireford (since snails are both male and female he named it for Clifford and Claire Huxtible from the Cosby show) I usually call Claireford a he, just because I can. Claireford lives in a one gallon fish bowl with a little dirt, some rocks and a shallow water dish in the bottom. I put a screen over the top. He only has to be fed about once a week, usually a baby carrot, some lettuce or whatever other veggies we have in the fridge. I also spritz a little water in at that time to fill his water dish, and to keep the dirt a little moist. That's it. Its easy, low maintenance, and if Claireford feels like it he can even have a family of his own without me having to get another snail. He is so easy to take care of that I think I overdo it sometimes. For instance when it got cold he stopped eating and just stayed stuck up on the lid/screen for days at a time. I was worried he would starve so I pried him off periodically and put him next to his food. Only he would just go back to the top and go back to sleep. I finally figured out that he was hibernating. So I just put the food in and he eats it if he wants to. If we go on a vacation, I know that we can be gone for a week, and he will be fine. And if we do get sick of him, or he has babies, we can always put him out in the woods without guilt. So if you are looking for a good pet for a little boy, one he can watch but won't probably want to touch...a snail might be just the right pet for you.
First let me say that I am not much of a pet person. Your standard issue pets are generally not for me. Let's peruse the list of standard pets and I will tell you why.
Dogs: Well, I am just not a dog person. I am sure some people will think less of me for saying so. But that is just life. My grandparents had a dog from hades when I was young, and even though we had a couple of perfectly good dogs that I loved growing up, that little white ball of fluff that lived at Grandma's house ruined dog ownership for me forever. I am pretty much afraid of every dog I see. Dogs also equate to a responsibility that is almost equal to having another child. They have to be bathed, taken to the bathroom, fed, taken to the vet, and paid attention to. You can't expect to have a good dog if you don't pay attention to it. (Hmm, quite like having children). Also, if you want to go on a vacation, you either have to go on a dog friendly vacation, or you have to find someone to watch your dog. That equals money, and energy spent. So, I don't expect to ever have a dog. I could also go into the torture it would be for a dog to live here with our five rambunctious boys, but I think I have enough reasons without that.
Cats: Okay, so I love cats. Cats are great. But I am allergic to them. I have to say that I would get one anyway because I love them that much, but several of my children are also allergic to cats, and even though I am willing to go through torture myself to have a cat, I am not willing to put them through it as well. Also, the torture for a cat to live with my five boys does factor into it. Maybe when all the kids are grown up I will think about getting a cat, but until then I will just enjoy other people's cats when I can.
Birds: We have a parakeet. We used to have two, but I think one of them starved the other one to death by never letting it near the food. Growing up we had a great parakeet that we could let out and he would fly around the house, and sit (and unfortunately poop) on our shoulders and he would perch in the rim of our drink cups when we played board games. His name was Charlie and he was a great bird. The bird we have now is named Oscar, and he came to us with a healthy fear of people. We can't let him out of his cage, and he freaks out when his cage is approached...so he leads a boring existence stuck in his cage. It makes me kind of sad actually. Having a bird takes work too. Of course Oscar is pretty easy to care for, but I think his quality of life depresses me. I do not plan to get another bird when he is gone.
Fish: I grew up with fish. I love fish. They were a big part of my growing up years. I had goldfish, and I still remember when my first fish died when I was in first grade. We have had fish over the years since we got married. We had goldfish, and we had tetras. Unfortunately the goldfish ate the tetras. Then we just had tetras, and we got frogs to go with them. Frogs fall into another category, and they are not one of your standard pets. There is nothing wrong with having fish, and I will probably get some later in life, but there are some hassles about owning fish. We have chlorinated water, so we have to dechlorinate it. Changing the fish water is a hassle. Our tank was tucked back in a corner of our room to keep it out of the hands of the boys (I will just say that a couple of fish were squashed by eager little boy hands that wanted to hold them, and while that particular boy has probably outgrown that phase, he still has two younger brothers). Having to keep the tank away from the boys equals out to me not really being able to enjoy the fish. So it became just another responsibility. Eventually the fish died, and we just had the frogs. Then the frogs got sick and died, and I am not replacing them because with African Dwarf frogs it seems to take getting several before some of them will live beyond a couple of weeks, and its too much hassle.
So what is our perfect pet? I find virtual pets to be great because they don't die if you don't feed them, (some of our virtual pets can be see on my other blog). But our other pet besides the bird is a garden snail. It was something #1 son got at the end of third grade last year as part of a science thing. He brought it home in a plastic cup and named it Claireford (since snails are both male and female he named it for Clifford and Claire Huxtible from the Cosby show) I usually call Claireford a he, just because I can. Claireford lives in a one gallon fish bowl with a little dirt, some rocks and a shallow water dish in the bottom. I put a screen over the top. He only has to be fed about once a week, usually a baby carrot, some lettuce or whatever other veggies we have in the fridge. I also spritz a little water in at that time to fill his water dish, and to keep the dirt a little moist. That's it. Its easy, low maintenance, and if Claireford feels like it he can even have a family of his own without me having to get another snail. He is so easy to take care of that I think I overdo it sometimes. For instance when it got cold he stopped eating and just stayed stuck up on the lid/screen for days at a time. I was worried he would starve so I pried him off periodically and put him next to his food. Only he would just go back to the top and go back to sleep. I finally figured out that he was hibernating. So I just put the food in and he eats it if he wants to. If we go on a vacation, I know that we can be gone for a week, and he will be fine. And if we do get sick of him, or he has babies, we can always put him out in the woods without guilt. So if you are looking for a good pet for a little boy, one he can watch but won't probably want to touch...a snail might be just the right pet for you.
1 comment:
didn't I leve a comment about the pet snail? didn't I???
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