#pet keeping

[headlessandhellbent]

baby boy update 25.08.31

tomorrow is his ONE YEAR gotcha day !!

it's so cute Emmett and his plants grew together and now they're all so big and beautiful 🥺

[raggedybitchboy]

I feel like ranting about something

So here's a rant about how there's no such thing as an "easy pet"

I work at a pet store right? And many people come in asking for the easiest pet to have.

There's no such thing...

But hamsters are easy?

WRONG!!! they need a HUGE tank with shit ton of bedding and even more enrichment. And of course your attention and quality food.

Fish then?

WRONG again. They usually need to live in groups so you'll need a big tank. Which means a lot of care for the fish, tank, filters, maybe heaters etc.

Well I've heard Betta fish are easy?

Biggest wrong. Not only do they need everything other fish need (filter, heater, big tank) BUT they're suckers for routine and hate change. From what I've read you have to feed them a tiny bit every day at the same time. When doing a water change you should do it routinely and not all the water. They need specific temperature and pH and all that stuff, it changes? Betta gets mad. Also I've heard due to overbreeding they don't live very long anymore which is sad..

Well cats are easy? They don't need much

LOUD INCORRECT BUZZER. My credentials? I've lived with cats literally my entire life. And I have two beautiful babies right now. They're domesticated animals. House cats. So 1. Keeping them outside is in my opinion irresponsible and cruel. 2. Keep them inside? Oh boy. For feeding you CANNOT just give them random kibble and call it a day. That spells health issues, mainly urinary. When cats eat in the wild they get the majority of their hydration from food (blood for example). So only giving them dry kibble is not good. You should also feed them good quality food otherwise, again, health issues. Mine currently have specific wet and dry food for each one, salmon oil and kelp powder. Cats also need a LOT of enrichment and contrary to popular belief a LOT of attention too. They need places to scratch, toilets for each cat plus one more. So I have 2 cats and 3 toilets. Lots of toys, hides and places to lounge. Regular vet checkups, vaccines. You also need to adjust your home for the cats. Which means no pretty plants, open trash, small things they could eat (generally if it fits in their mouth = hide it). No decorations they could knock over and break. And if you have a smartass you also need to baby-proof your place ://

Reptiles/bugs don't need much?

That's a BIG depends. Would you consider usually a large enclosure, lamps, keeping the temperature and humidity at the right levels at all times and potentially having to feed them live insects daily (which you also need to take care of btw) a lot? Cleaning too but I don't need to tell you that. For this category I'd say THEORETICALLY keeping a scorpion, spider or bugs could be a bit easier? They don't need much interaction. You just gotta keep their home the right way and feed them when you need to.

But that's not what you want is it? You want something cuddly and cute. Something you can show off and interact with. Not gonna happen

If I said anything wrong please correct me!!!!

I haven't covered things like birds, other rodents, dogs etc because I think it's pretty well known they're not an easy pet

In the end. All pets are living breathing things that will need a lot of care. If you want something easy get a toy.

I'm not an expert I just have to know a bunch about pet keeping cuz of my job😅

[troythecatfish]

Here’s my personal recommendation of a YouTube video to check out:

[skeleslime-phantom]

Hi! I know you have quite a few reptiles. I am considering a leopard gecko myself and am trying to gather some good resources. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction for some beginner information? I would appreciate it! Thank you!

Sure do, and yeah! I can give a few tips for Leopard Geckos.

(Below is my Mack Snow female, Cookie!)

https://reptilesmagazine.com/leopard-gecko-care-sheet/

The care sheets on Google are pretty good, but I'm not a fan of anyone looking to Petco/PetSmart for advice.

Stick to websites that focus solely on giving reptile information. (Rather than websites trying to sell you stuff)

Leopard Gecko Care Sheet - Reptiles Magazine

Care sheet for the leopard gecko lizard (Eublepharis macularius).

That link should set you on the right track. Honestly Leopard Geckos are probably THE easiest beginner lizard out there.

They have a pretty basic setup and don't need any UVB lighting.

*20 gallon tank or can go slightly bigger

*2 hides: 1 with wet moss, 1 dry

*can use a Ceramic Heat Emitter, or a heat lamp bulb, or an under tank heat mat (with the mat you NEED to use a thermostat probe so the underside doesn't get too hot)

*can have an optional shallow water dish (my Cookie likes having water access. But Geckos get their hydration from bugs so do whatever)

*THIS GECKO STRICTLY EATS INSECTS. Please do NOT feed your Leopard Gecko vegetables, fruit, or dehydrated bugs. You need to be comfortable with handling live bugs.

*Leopard Geckos should have a main diet of crickets, small dubia roaches, or black soldier fly larvae. Meal worms aren't that great in terms of chitin to protein ratio, but still doable. Wax worms should be treated as treats. (Bugs should be dusted w calcium powder every other day)

And honestly that's all I can think of off hand.

Read multiple care sheets! Some will say one thing, others something different. Plenty of videos out there too. Keep up to date with information if you decide to get any reptile.

Hope this helps!

[humunanunga]

We evolved bare skin so we can feel how soft our pets are and how delicately their noses and whiskers inspect us and how gently they give us little kisses. We evolved to love.

[a0mu]

https://discord.gg/R5W48TkQEA

Hey so. I made a Discord server recently It's an animal-based server primarily focused on zoology, marine biology, conservation and any similar scientific fields. We also have an entire section for petkeeping. Overall it's for educating people and being informed about anything to do with animals in a welcoming, friendly environment. We encourage healthy debate and discussion and intend to stay as well-informed as possible, keeping up to date with the latest news on climate change, endangered species and more.

If that's not quite your thing but you still like animals you're free to join and just chill out with people who also like them, and we have a bunch of channels made so you can discuss, share and infodump about things like your favourite wildlife, your pets or less on-topic things like a book you enjoy or a game you played recently.

Some examples of neat stuff we have:

- Miscellaneous section that has channels for topics like mycology, vulture culture, speculative biology and more

- A species identification channel where you can post pictures of animals you need help figuring out taxonomically

- Channel where you can ask for advice and help regarding your pets

- Pluralkit and Tupperbox for systems

- Clean and organised layout, but we have a channel specifically for creating shortcuts to other channels if you end up having trouble finding anything.

I've been wanting to do something like this for a while so if people could boost this I'd appreciate it a lot! Also this is my first time really trying to grow a server and community so I'm not opposed to anyone making suggestions or throwing some advice.

Hope you enjoy your stay if you join!

[unsuspectingfish]

“It’s common” is not the argument people think it is in pet care. There’s a lot of incredibly outdated care that’s still common, both because it’s also common for people to just not keep track of (or care about) changing care standards and because care standards can change so quickly and frequently. If you’re not willing to keep learning and refuse to change your pet keeping methods simply because they’re still common, even when faced with evidence that they’re no longer good methods, it may be time to get out of the hobby.

[thatshortszoo]