#humankeeping

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

Let's Talk About Enclosures

For most keepers, it is best to allow your humans to freely roam your hab (obviously, outside time should be supervised). However, for their safety, it may be wise to keep humans in enclosures if you are above a certain size. If you're big enough to easily accidentally step on a human (typically, if an adult human can fit in your palm), no matter how gentle you are, it is genuinely better safe than sorry.

The average adult human is about knee-high for me, so I let mine roam my hab freely. But if you need to keep humans in their own space, the ABSOLUTE MINIMUM is 50 square meters per human, and of course, more space is always better. If you are working with minimum space, your humans absolutely need supervised outdoor time to exercise and explore.

An enclosure for humans should have beds, places to sit, enrichment activities, somewhere to prepare food (if you choose to involve your humans in their own food prep, windows to see outside, places to do their business (ideally sectioned off from the regular living space), and constant access to clean fresh water.

If your humans free roam in your hab, be sure to have human essentials throughout.

[chiguirolover]

if you wanna make your human happy, you must give it:

sunlight

walks

other (real) humans

tasty food

space to be funny/have fun

something to work for

feel they're a part of something bigger than them (this can actually apply to the previous thing !!!)

something to hyperfocus or like engage actively for some time

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

Human Care Tips: Sleep

Humans' home planet has a 24-hour day/night cycle, and humans need to sleep for around 8 of those hours (though some need more than that). This means they spend 1/3 of their lives asleep! You may want to invest in equipment that will help simulate a 24-hor day/night cycle in your hab, but the jury is still out on whether that is strictly necessary.

There are a variety of different kinds of beds available for humans, but features to look out for include soft bedding (humans find this comfortable) and support for their spines. Let your humans try out and approve new beds, because they do have their own preferences.

Speaking of preferences, some of your humans will prefer shared beds and others will prefer solo beds (some even benefiting from box beds, which allow greater privacy). A preference one way or another is not anything to be concerned about!

Most humans sleep on their sides (though some sleep on their backs or stomachs). Sleep position is nothing to be concerned about except in medical exceptions. Humans who have had abdominal surgery need to be monitored so they sleep on their backs.

Humans are a highly cooperative species, so different individuals will naturally be drawn to sleep at different points in the day/night cycle. This is normal, and an adaptation so that they can guard each other while in this vulnerable state!

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

Human Care Tips: Feeding

Humans are omnivores that require a varied diet to stay mentally and physically healthy. They should be fed other organic organisms, preferably ones from their home planet.

One interesting thing about humans is that they have adapted to eat food that has been cooked, rather than raw. This essentially kickstarts the digestion process and allows for increased nutrient uptake. Some plants can be fed raw, others cannot. Meat should not be fed raw unless it is freshly killed and free of parasites.

Food for organics goes bad! If you see mold, it is NOT like rust, you can't just scrape it off! If you see mold, it has most likely permeated the entire food item, and I don't think I should need to explain why you shouldn't feed your humans rotten or moldy food.

Humans, like other primates, ancestrally lost the ability to synthesize Vitamin C. However, Vitamin C is still necessary for them to function, and a deficiency can cause their bodies to fall apart. Fortunately, many fruits are high in Vitamin C, and most humans are happy to eat fruit.

Speaking of fruit, there is a database on which Terran fruits are safe for humans to consume and which are poisonous. Same with other parts of plants, as well as fungi.

Perhaps because of the sheer variety of things they can eat, some humans can be picky about what they will eat. As long as you can find sources of carbohydrates, fats, protein, fiber, and vitamins and minerals that your humans will eat (you may need to experiment with combinations and cooking methods - for example, some humans don't like raw vegetables, even ones that are safe for them to eat, but will eat them cooked and mixed with other food), your humans should be fine.

Like other organics that use water as a solvent, humans should have access to fresh, clean water at all times.

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

humans' apparent desire to get into potentially life-threatening trouble for entertainment never ceases to amaze...

i do not keep any of them but i live near them, and somehow i always encounter them doing something dangerous in the wilderness. they are so fragile and yet seem to have an innate desire to climb tall things.

is there an explanation for this or are the humans near me outliers? they are so stressful to watch. i do not want to see them hurt and they seem very persistent.

I think the issue is that many humans don't realize how fragile they are, and they are also at the level of intelligence where boredom is a highly motivating factor to their behavior. An insufficiently entertained human can become destructive, even to themself, just for something to do.

It is also highly likely that the humans you see putting themselves in danger are juveniles or subadults, which are more likely to engage in risky behavior due to their lack of experience. Humans also become more likely to take risks under the influence of certain substances (which is why intoxicated humans should be supervised).

The desire to climb is likely inherited: their closest relatives have arboreal tendencies, and their ancestors most likely lived life in the trees. In a captive setting, it's standard to provide humans with safe opportunities to climb, cushioning the ground in case they fall.

It definitely is stressful to see humans put themselves in danger though, because they're such charming little organics!

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

Pinned Post

We all know humans are cute. However, sometimes they are put into situations that aren't cute. I'm Meteorfire, and I've kept humans for 20 vorns, and I'm here to educate my fellow mecha on the proper care of our organic friends. Feel free to send in any questions you have about human care!

Cuteness Ratings

Cute: There aren't any problems! This human is safe and not experiencing distress or discomfort!

Dubious: This human may be experiencing mild distress, discomfort, or danger. Do not deliberately put your humans in these situations, and supervise them if they get into them by themselves.

Not Cute: This human is in a dangerous or stressful situation. If your human is in this situation, rectify immediately.

ooc below cut

I am playing in the space of an AU where Cybertronians don't know humans are sapient and keep us as pets. They assume we're about as intelligent as, like, an African Grey Parrot or something. Still very smart and absolutely NOT for beginner keepers, but not unethical to keep as a pet. In this AU, humans first started being "wild-caught" for pets during the last glacial maximum, about 20,000 years ago. For ease of running this blog, I'm gonna pull out of my ass that appearance mutations that happened since then also happened independently in the "pet" population on Cybertron (many humans are captive born (not captive bred per se, because the idea of selectively breeding humans is Icky. However, it is a known fact that if you put a bunch of humans together you do usually eventually end up with more humans)). Also that technology more advanced than what they would've been working with on Earth was provided by their keepers.

I also noticed that @is-the-human-video-cute is deactivated and @isthehumanvideocute hasn't posted in ages, and I thought I should pick up that torch. For fun.

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

hi, same anon who asked about humans climbing a while ago!

the situation has elaborated and now my wife (it/its) is helping the local adolescent and young adult humans with activities (despite it making sad eyes at me, i haven't joined in).

it's been snowy here lately and most of the humans are excited about going out and playing. they keep clumping up as much snow as they can carry and just throwing it at each other? and my wife? is that... like. a good idea?

i always feel like i overestimate how squishy humans are, and the young ones especially underestimate how squishy they are, but the older humans seem fine with it. i'm used to winter being dangerous enough that even i have to be careful, so i have no clue really!

they're not my humans of course but my wife would be very sad if anything happened to its humans, is there anything in particular we should look out for?

(thanks much for your advice last time, by the way!)

Hi! The humans should be fine if they're just throwing clumps of snow, because snow is soft (if it is ice, that's a different story, but you'd typically see signs of distress like crying before any actual serious injuries). The adult humans typically are aware of how much force is too much for play and will usually let the young ones know they went too far.

Obviously humans should be dressed warmly to play outside when it's cold outside, and slipping and falling is a concern if the snow has gotten icy. But humans are typically fine if a soft object is thrown at them with a typical amount of force they can produce. Harder objects, like chunks of ice, would usually just cause bruising and discomfort, but the hit human would not appear to be having fun anymore (they'd probably be doing things like trying to leave or making upset noises).

If you see any signs of distress (crying, yelps of pain) or signs of a non-play fight (aggressive yelling, hitting with force), then it's a good idea to step in.

[isthehumanvideo-cute]

In between human video posts, would you like to also see other miscellaneous posts on human care?

Posts other than cuteness ratings

Yes please!

No thank you!

I don't care either way

Voting ended onMar 4