Your pets

[Sophie 378]

I don't have any pets at the moment. When we bought the house it came with a pond full of 14 enormous Koi carp and two goldfish (five have died) and a massive array of wildlife.

The fish need daily feeding (as well as a wonderfully complicated filtration system), and we now feed hundreds of wild birds. Yes, hundreds. I counted them for the RSPB's survey last year.

My parents grow half an acre's worth of fruit and vegetables, and since those get daily tending I suppose you could call them pets. The only cat we've had died before I was born, although my sister lived in a Spanish flat with cats in for her Year Abroad.

I've had a total of four hamsters (sequentially as they only live a couple of years ). When I've left Uni and housing regulations (Thou Shalt Not do anything fun, like having pets or firearms or parties or ballgames or cars), I'll get either a kitten or a hamster.

 

[Bozo Erectus]

Speaking of 'your pets' everybody is aware of the contaminated pet food from 'Menu Foods', right? If not google and look for the list of contaminated, recalled brands of pet food.

 

[Kan' Sharuminar]

Similar to Sophie, we don't have any pets, but maintain a small feeding ground for birds - blue-tits, robins and sparrows and two fat pigeons, among others. There are also at least two mice (one named Hamish) who use the feeders (Hamish himself is quite the acrobat when groping along the twigs and reaching out for the feeder), and this in turn has attracted at least three cats and a hawk.

The latter scaring the bejesus out of Hamish during one attack run

 

[schmiddi]

Right now it's just one stupid and lazy cat, but I had also several birds, cats or dogs ind the past when I still lived with my parents.

 

[Firstlady]

I love bettas. Most of my fish are female bettas, and they refer to me as "the betta girl" at my pet shop. They're such awesome little fish, they're so curious about everything.

Do you know of any other cool fish? I am trying to see if I can possibly get another...but I'm not exactly the most knowledgable person when it comes to fish.

 

[Ansar]

I used to have a cat.

Sadly, I do not own one now.

 

[LucyDuke]

I don't have any pets at the moment. When we bought the house it came with a pond full of 14 enormous Koi carp and two goldfish (five have died) and a massive array of wildlife.

It came with two goldfish... and five died? I know, I know, but that's how I read it at first.

Do you know of any other cool fish? I am trying to see if I can possibly get another...but I'm not exactly the most knowledgable person when it comes to fish.

Long answer:

Spoiler :

I'm not all that knowledgable myself. I got a betta about three years ago, and got another one within two months. Separate tanks, of course. When one died, I got another two, except females this time, which can be kept together. I got crazy hooked on she-bettas, and have had mostly those since then. I've had neon tetras, because they don't grow very large so you can keep a ton of them in one tank without overcrowding, and a few peppered corys, a kind of catfish, to live in the betta harem. Corys are great to keep the whole tank interesting, because bettas tend to spend more time in the upper tank, and they eat on the surface, where the corys spend most of their time on the bottom, and they eat anything that falls on the gravel (saves you some cleaning). So other cool fish, nah, I don't know much, but I'd definitely recommend female bettas. I am not a very good aquarist, my fish have very average lifespans, but bettas are really, really hardy and easy to take care of. My second fish, Ufo, lived for almost two-and-a-half years, which is very respectable for a betta. The biggest pain, as I guess you know, is that you can't keep multiple males together, but the females are just as curious. If you have a regular aquarium, you can get these floating plastic "breeders" that you can keep fish in, you need to get decent-sized ones or it's kind of unpleasant, but that's a way to keep multiple males "together". I'm sure you've shown a mirror to your betta, their flaring is even neater when there are a few of them.

Short answer:
Nah, I just really like bettas. Because they rock!

 

[Firstlady]

Actually, I haven't shown a mirror to my betta. The pet store guy told me that bettas are fairly inactive fish and to get them going you can show them a mirror but mine seems to be pretty active without having to show him one, so I haven't ever done that yet. I have been curious at times to see his reaction.

I didn't know you could put two females together. Guess females are the friendlier gender.

I shall keep that in mind the next time I get a betta.
I think I like the males though because of their more attractive appearance, but that is just a personal opinion.

 

[LucyDuke]

Actually, I haven't shown a mirror to my betta. The pet store guy told me that bettas are fairly inactive fish and to get them going you can show them a mirror but mine seems to be pretty active without having to show him one, so I haven't ever done that yet. I have been curious at times to see his reaction.

I didn't know you could put two females together. Guess females are the friendlier gender.

I shall keep that in mind the next time I get a betta.
I think I like the males though because of their more attractive appearance, but that is just a personal opinion.

The pet store guy probably has seen a ton of sad fish in way-too-small bowls. Even a gallon of water is small for a betta, and if he's cramped in the tiny containers they keep them in at the store, he's not going to have much to do. The mirror, though - make a point to do it! (Just don't leave it there for hours or he'll get stressed out.) It's one of the coolest things about bettas. Whenever they see other bettas, they flare their fins and their color actually intensifies. When a male sees a female, he might flare at her, too. When a female sees a male, and she is interested in fishy-mating, horizontal stripes will show on her sides. (I imagine a lot of guys wish this would happen with humans, it would certainly simplify things!) Keeping a female with a male might end in fish fry or a dead fish.

Females will fight sometimes, but generally they're okay together. If you see many of them together, you'll see a very definite pecking order. They're certainly not as flashy as the males, but I'm pretty fond of them. Thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about them.

 

[Firstlady]

The pet store guy probably has seen a ton of sad fish in way-too-small bowls. Even a gallon of water is small for a betta, and if he's cramped in the tiny containers they keep them in at the store, he's not going to have much to do. The mirror, though - make a point to do it! (Just don't leave it there for hours or he'll get stressed out.) It's one of the coolest things about bettas. Whenever they see other bettas, they flare their fins and their color actually intensifies. When a male sees a female, he might flare at her, too. When a female sees a male, and she is interested in fishy-mating, horizontal stripes will show on her sides. (I imagine a lot of guys with this would happen with humans, it would certainly simplify things!) Keeping a female with a male might end in fish fry or a dead fish.

Females will fight sometimes, but generally they're okay together. If you see many of them together, you'll see a very definite pecking order. They're certainly not as flashy as the males, but I'm pretty fond of them. Thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about them.

Thanks for indulging me more so than the pet store guy did about betta fish when I first got mine.

 

[Bluemofia]

I voted reptile and fish, though I am only responsible for the 3 fish (the major stuff, such as cleaning the filters. I go to school too early to feed them, so my mom or my brother feeds them). My brother is supposed to take care of his reptile (a Uromastyx), but I end up doing some of it at times.

I've had the fish long enough (3-4 years?) so that the fish know how to, and often do beg for food. And they have a nasty habit of digging up the fake plants to make them float up to the top. Annoys me quite a bit.

 

[Tykinruoka]

Spiders(Phalangium opilio). They roam freely in our house, keeping other annoying insects at bay. One of them kept me company through the winter, which is quite rare since these spiders move around only in the summer(I named it "Leggite"). It enjoyed running around in my room and also on me while I was playing with my comp. I found it dead from a spiderweb recently though. Well, it lived through the winter which is quite a feat. The most cool thing however, is that I found few infant ones soon after from a place where I had seen "Leggite" many times before.

 

[Technocactus]

I keep fish in my room.

 

[Abaddon]

Lots of pets, even in students halls.

 

[Sophie 378]

Tykinruoka, that looks more like a harvestman than a spider.

 

[LucyDuke]

Spiders(Phalangium opilio). They roam freely in our house, keeping other annoying insects at bay. One of them kept me company through the winter, which is quite rare since these spiders move around only in the summer(I named it "Leggite"). It enjoyed running around in my room and also on me while I was playing with my comp. I found it dead from a spiderweb recently though. Well, it lived through the winter which is quite a feat. The most cool thing however, is that I found few infant ones soon after from a place where I had seen "Leggite" many times before.

I don't kill spiders that I find in the house, either. There's one that lives in my shower, I call him Mitch. Mitch is probably many different spiders that have died and replaced each other, but it's like replacing the four-year-old's hampster. I don't notice, and I don't care, and neither does Mitch.

 

[Truronian]

At uni we used to 'have' a couple of squirrels called Rosie and Jim. Unfortunately, we think a fox got them.

 

[Tykinruoka]

Tykinruoka, that looks more like a harvestman than a spider.

It is, but that word wasn't included in my english vocabulary until now.

 

[Darkness]

2 Norwegian Forestcats and 4 fishtanks....

 

[Guangxi]

i have pets named Dog, Cat, and Ornament. the names are fairly descriptive, the last ones a goldfish.