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Getting a pet
Topic Started: Apr 1 2009, 07:49 PM (792 Views)
dolmansaxlil
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HOLY CARP!!!
Sigh.

Liam wants a pet.

To be fair, Liam's wanted a pet for some time. But I'm actually entertaining it.

Some kid at science fair had a red eared turtle there. Liam decided he wanted one. Having no idea what having a pet turtle involves, I told him that he needed to research turtles and convince me.

He went to school and asked Mr. T if he could research turtles. He stayed in at recess to do it. On the way home from school I got a 15 minute lecture on how to care for a turtle - including a spirited argument about how turtles aren't necessarily good pets for kids but he thinks he's responsible enough etc etc. He produced 6 pages of info from the internet and I read through it, asking him questions. The little bum knew every single tidbit of info about turtles.

But turtles are NOT an easy pet, as it turns out. So I talked about some of the issues, and said that I wasn't against getting a pet, but perhaps we should rethink what kind of pet. He then asked about a lizard.

I'm thinking that he thinks he's more likely to get a non-furry pet. I'm thinking lizards are not the best pet for a kid. Not cuddly. Not playful. The just sit there. And he's a little grossed out by the idea of it eating bugs.

However, he's shown quite a bit of dedication to the idea. He did do exactly as I asked and did an amazing job with his research. The kid needs a pet.

So I'm considering bringing up the idea of a rabbit. They are caged a lot of the time, but they come out to hop around and exercise when supervised. They can be litter trained. They are cuddly and cute and apparently can be very attached to their owners.

And they don't eat bugs.

Has anyone ever had one?

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Aqua Letifer
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ZOOOOOM!
I didn't, but my neighbor did growing up. I remember them crapping pretty much all over the place but other than that I think they're really cool as pets.
I cite irreconcilable differences.
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Renauda
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HOLY CARP!!!
dolmansaxlil
Apr 1 2009, 07:49 PM
He then asked about a lizard.

I'm thinking that he thinks he's more likely to get a non-furry pet. I'm thinking lizards are not the best pet for a kid. Not cuddly. Not playful. The just sit there. And he's a little grossed out by the idea of it eating bugs.

However, he's shown quite a bit of dedication to the idea. He did do exactly as I asked and did an amazing job with his research. The kid needs a pet.

There's always Iguanas. They are vegetarian lizards. I had secretary when I worked for the government who had an iguana; it lived on a diet that consisted mostly of petunias. The only thing I recall her saying is that she could not cook in any pot or pan with a teflon coating as the vapour from heated teflon is lethal to iguanas. Don't know if its true or just an urban legend though.


Rabbits are a bit like cats they shed like crazy and, I am told, can be litter trained. They will not jump up on your countertops or scratch your carpets and chesterfield. The downside is that because they are rodents their incisor teeth are always growing and they will gnaw at anything made of wood such as table and chair legs if not watched. I think there are some congenital heath issues too with the various breeds.
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bachophile
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HOLY CARP!!!
http://www.imeem.com/katapiesi/music/szmPDnut/bill-cosby-my-pet-rhinoceros/
"I don't know much about classical music. For years I thought the Goldberg Variations were something Mr. and Mrs. Goldberg did on their wedding night." Woody Allen
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NAK
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dolmansaxlil
Apr 1 2009, 07:49 PM
He went to school and asked Mr. T if he could research turtles.
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Newpianoplayer
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An escaped pet rabbit ate my entire rock garden of precious plants. It looked like someone had taken a hedge cutter and trimmed the whole garden down to 2". A mixture of water and pepper sprayed on the plants will keep the rabbits away.
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Riley
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HOLY CARP!!!
NAK
Apr 1 2009, 09:09 PM
dolmansaxlil
Apr 1 2009, 07:49 PM
He went to school and asked Mr. T if he could research turtles.
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:spit:
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
dolmansaxlil
Apr 1 2009, 07:49 PM
Sigh.

Liam wants a pet.

To be fair, Liam's wanted a pet for some time. But I'm actually entertaining it.

Some kid at science fair had a red eared turtle there. Liam decided he wanted one. Having no idea what having a pet turtle involves, I told him that he needed to research turtles and convince me.

He went to school and asked Mr. T if he could research turtles. He stayed in at recess to do it. On the way home from school I got a 15 minute lecture on how to care for a turtle - including a spirited argument about how turtles aren't necessarily good pets for kids but he thinks he's responsible enough etc etc. He produced 6 pages of info from the internet and I read through it, asking him questions. The little bum knew every single tidbit of info about turtles.

But turtles are NOT an easy pet, as it turns out. So I talked about some of the issues, and said that I wasn't against getting a pet, but perhaps we should rethink what kind of pet. He then asked about a lizard.

I'm thinking that he thinks he's more likely to get a non-furry pet. I'm thinking lizards are not the best pet for a kid. Not cuddly. Not playful. The just sit there. And he's a little grossed out by the idea of it eating bugs.

However, he's shown quite a bit of dedication to the idea. He did do exactly as I asked and did an amazing job with his research. The kid needs a pet.

So I'm considering bringing up the idea of a rabbit. They are caged a lot of the time, but they come out to hop around and exercise when supervised. They can be litter trained. They are cuddly and cute and apparently can be very attached to their owners.

And they don't eat bugs.

Has anyone ever had one?

A friend of mine has a rabbit. She says that they eat, and poop, and poop while they're eating. Her rabbit is also not very friendly ... it bites anyone who comes near. She says she'd never get another one.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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Frank_W
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Resident Misanthrope
After discussing it at length with T3h B34r, we've both come to the unanimous conclusion that the best pet for Liam would be a Great Pyrenees. :yes:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
I've also heard that they can be housebroken, but never knew anyone who had, and have always had trouble believing that.

I had two rabbits, which I got when I was 8 or so. My dad built a hutch for them. They were never biters, and I really enjoyed them in the beginning, but after a while it got to be such a chore to clean up their crap. Every other weekend I had to change the straw in the back of their hutch, and it would be literally encrusted in crap. It was like mucking a horse stall, I'd imagine, although maybe even a bit grosser, because instead of being able to keep my distance with the length of a shovel I had to use gloves and dig it out with my hands.

It got to be a huge argument between me and my parents to clean that thing out. Towards the end I started to feel bad for them because their cage was just disgusting from so many years, and it just seemed like such a sad existence being in that cage.

Aside from the cleaning aspect, they really weren't bad pets. I'd ask around to see if you know of anyone who could actually housebreak a rabbit. I'm pretty skeptical.
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blondie
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What's wrong with the short haired, short lived, ever social guinea pig?
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Frank_W
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Cuddly goldfish. :D
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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George K
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Finally
Daughter #3 has a bunny, "Mr. Whiskers." She got him after he had been neutered, and he was housebroken - litter box - from day one. Even when she brings him to our house, he never has an accident. He's friendly, never bites, comes up on the couch for a visit. You have to be careful with wires (they chew them).

Sweet bunny.

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QuantumIvory
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Rabbits are dumb and boring. Unlike the highly intelligent and lovable....rat.

Rats make great pets. Their inquisitiveness alone is a reason to get one. (Actually, you have to get at least two, as they are highly social animals. But, hey, that's twice the fun!)

I guarantee that you won't regret getting rats for pets. In fact, you'll probably find yourself interacting with them more than your son. :whistle:

(And resist the urge to name one of them: Willard

Edit: Oops....with all due respect to daughter #3's bunny, George.
"I regard consciousness as fundamental. We cannot get behind consciousness." -Max Planck

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RosemaryTwo
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HOLY CARP!!!
A cat? Too much? Find a small little guy who needs a home?
"Perhaps the thing to do is just to let stupid run its course." Aqua
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Frank_W
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"Ohai.... We's lukkin' foar a home! Nobuddy luvs us..."

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Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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Optimistic
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HOLY CARP!!!
Cute, George! I wish I could have gotten my bunnies to live like that. It would have been so much more enjoyable for ALL of us!
PHOTOS

I must have a prodigious quantity of mind; it takes me as much as a week, sometimes, to make it up.
- Mark Twain


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
-T. S. Eliot
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apple
one of the angels
i kind of like parakeets.

they are cheap and can be quite friendly.
it behooves me to behold
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Radu
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Katz und Dogz !!!!

Lots of them !!!!

Kids love them and IMHO they are better persons because of the katz and dogz.

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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
RosemaryTwo
Apr 2 2009, 04:52 AM
A cat? Too much? Find a small little guy who needs a home?
I'd get a cat too. You can get a lot out of them (at their discretion, obviously), and they're pretty self-suffiicient. Only real problems are the shedding and scratching the furniture. Plus, if you're lucky you'll get free mice and birds for Liam to dissect.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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QuirtEvans
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I Owe It All To John D'Oh
QuantumIvory
Apr 2 2009, 04:49 AM
Rabbits are dumb and boring. Unlike the highly intelligent and lovable....rat.

Rats make great pets. Their inquisitiveness alone is a reason to get one. (Actually, you have to get at least two, as they are highly social animals. But, hey, that's twice the fun!)

I guarantee that you won't regret getting rats for pets. In fact, you'll probably find yourself interacting with them more than your son. :whistle:

(And resist the urge to name one of them: Willard

Edit: Oops....with all due respect to daughter #3's bunny, George.
The friend who has the bunny also has rats. Her (13 year-old) daughter loves, loves the rats. When her first two died, she made her mother buy two more.

They're a little fragile ... one has a broken leg right now ... but they are very friendly, very playful. When I had the 105-pound German Shepherd over her house one day, the rats were playing with him. (They were in their cage ... they'd run to one side, he'd chase them, they'd run back to the other side, he'd chase back, they'd stick their noses through the wires to sniff him. And they could have hidden in their little house if they were scared.)

The 13 year-old girl uses the rats as a test. Anyone new who walks in the door gets a rat dropped on their shoulder. If they don't screech or faint, they're allowed in.
It would be unwise to underestimate what large groups of ill-informed people acting together can achieve. -- John D'Oh, January 14, 2010.
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George K
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Finally
Stephanie (daughter #1 - she's posted here once or twice) has two rats, Karen and Lucy. Sweet, inquisitive and playful. One problem: They piss all over the place, and you. So, if you like rat urine on your clothes, they're OK.

As to cooking utensils, teflon cooking materials can be fatal to birds (can't speak to reptiles) if the pan is allowed to get very hot empty. We have all kinds of teflon utensils, and Sidney the Macaw is fine. We just have to be careful that we never, ever let one of them sit on a burner with nothing in it.
A guide to GKSR: Click

"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

I'd rather listen to an hour of Abba than an hour of The Beatles.
- Klaus, 4/29/18
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lb1
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Fulla-Carp
Chickens, they make great pets and even provide food.

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lb
My position is simple: you jumped to an unwarranted conclusion and slung mud on an issue where none was deserved. Quirt 03/08/09
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The 89th Key
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Hamsters.

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Frank_W
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Hamsters. Definitely. My cats LOVE hamsters! :devilgrin:
Anatomy Prof: "The human body has about 20 sq. meters of skin."
Me: "Man, that's a lot of lampshades!"
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