Why do people see pets like budgies, finches, rats and fish expendable? (2 Viewers)

[Mark Zimmer]

I wouldn't lump budgies, finches and rats together with fish. Despite one's best efforts, if everything's not just absolutely perfect in the tank, fish will die. It's a fact of life. It makes one wonder how they survive in the wild, though I suppose the fish breeding operations result in fish that can't really survive very well under any circumstances. Once fish establish themselves and acclimate to new conditions, they do fine, but I can't remember EVER bringing home fish from the store and not having at least one of them croak in 24 hours. Salt water fish are even more picky as to their living conditions. So I can see why people don't get attached to fish.

On the other hand, I've had some that were very successful; I had a plecostomus named Scud that got to be absolutely huge and lived for years and years. It got to the point where I could barely keep the thing in sufficient algae.

 

[Jay H]

I guess next time I want a "pet" I'm going to hold open auditions and see if they:

1)Love me
2)Wont die tomorrow
3)doesn't eat other animals/insects
4)Has a personality...


Sheesh!

Jay

 

[NicholasL]

Wow, some of you guys are some hardcore animal lovers. Take the time to understand a bird or fish's personality? Either you have the skills of Dr. Dolittle, or...I don't know.

 

[David Baranyi]

Since small pets do not live that long, they are expendable to most people. Also the fact that most people consider pets to be "property"--they are bought, used, and disposed they are not needed, died, or served their purpose.

I had ask whether local laws intended to call pets "companions" will improve their treatment.

 

[Philip_G]

small pets? I've known people to keep clownfishes for 10+ years.

 

[Steve_Tk]

p.s. Steve, I'm not saying you are like what I just described, but there are a lot of people who are like that out there

When I had my tank, my fish always died. Regardless of the work I put in with working on it, asking for advice from people, they still would die.

Eventually I got fed up of having to replace them so I sold my tank. My next pet will probably be a cat, if I owned I house it would be a dog.

I would never treat an animal poorly, except for spiders and roaches in my house, and the fish I had were nice as pets, but I think now I want something that can come running up to you when you get home from work and that you can play with.

 

[MarkHastings]

Take the time to understand a bird or fish's personality?

Have you ever had a bird? If you haven't, you have no idea about their personalities.

 

[Steve Schaffer]

When I was a kid my mom had a Mynah bird. She took the time to bathe it in the sink and otherwise interact with it the same as one would a dog or cat. Sloppy did indeed have a personality and loved her very much.

I once had a pet rat named Bogie who would come when I called him, was housebroken, and seemed every bit as intelligent as most dogs and cats. He quickly figured out how to get out of his home (a large converted aquarium) and would sneak out while I was at work, but knew when I was due home and never let me catch him wandering around the house. My neighbors told me they'd seen him looking out the window when I was away, though.

My Dad's had some fish that were downright ornery.

 

[Rain]

It is a sad fact that many people do treat their animal companions poorly. Unfortunately it is not limited to the animals you mention. There are way too many people out there who think that dogs and cats are some sort of toys or were put on this Earth to perform stupid tricks. They just don't feel any emotional bond to the animals.


But there is good news, too.

Working in a pet supply shop, I've seen just about every animal you mention come into the store at one time or another. There's lots of people out there who love their rats or birds or guinea pigs or whatever, just as other people love their cats or dogs. This I can assure you.

(It's always fun when "The Rat Man" shows up, always with a companion riding on his shoulder, particularly at the odd times when there is a mother in the store with her young children. More often than not, mom takes a big step back and the kids are utterly fascinated. It's a wonderful thing to see little kids pet some animal they've never touched before in their life.)


My advice to anyone would be don't have an animal living in your home just for the sake of it. They aren't playthings for our amusement; they are living, feeling creatures. Take good care of them.

 

[Zen Butler]

There are certain animals more sensitive to captivity. It is your resposibility as co-inhabitant to provide the best possible environment.
I took(rescued) my iguana Deckard from a man who held him in a 40 gal. aquarium without proper heating or lighting. This was not his lack of caring but of knowledge. He never took the time to learn about this wonderful animal. Unfortunately, Deckard passed on last month, she (yes, she) was one of the most amazing animals I had come to know.

Instant gratification doesn't mean lack of personality.

Mark really nailed it here. I would add, if you can't treat a rat, finch, fish, feline, canine or any animal with care and love, please don't breed humans.

 

[Jason_H]

I can't believe that some people are so tied to the idea that only cats and dogs can make loving, long-living pets. Although I love dogs, I don't want one quite yet until I'm sure I want to make the commitment to take care of one properly, I don't take such things lightly.

My girlfriend and I have a quaker parrot named Cosmo who is about a year old. That little bird has loads of personality. He loves to be held, LOVES to have his head scratched. He talks to us, and we talk to him. He loves to sit on our arms or shoulders and watch what we do, and enjoys some of the same music that we do. When we are away for a couple of days, he gets hurt feelings for a while and ignores us, but then all is forgiven and he comes right back out to step up on our fingers.

The bird is just as integrated into our family as a dog would be (though we intend to get a dog hopefully in the near future as well!) Quaker parrots have a lifespan of up to 30 years, so we expect Cosmo to be a part of our lives well into middle age!

 

[JonZ]

I was considering getting a snake, but I think Im gonna have to settle for tropical fish. I dont have alot of room right now.I might have a problem feeding it mice and rats.I knew a guy who used to feed his crickets.

Id love to get some saltwater fish - a small shark or seahorses.

Anyone have a idea how hard they are to take care of?

Also I never kill Spiders. I always put them on the floor in the kitchen somewhere - they kill the other bugs in the house.

Why the way, theres been a mouse in the office here terrorizing the women for months. I caught him monday and now my officemates daughter has a new pet.

About 6 months ago, a bird got in our office and I spent the afternoon trying to catch him.he kept hiding in a whole in the wall. we used crushed graham crackers to lure him out.The girl I share a office wiuth had a scoreboard up (Nice Woodland Bird 4 Jon 0) I finally did, but not before he pooped on and ruined my favorite chair.We let him go.

 

[ScottMac]

My wife has had her budgie named Sprite for 12 YEARS!! It stays in one of our spare rooms and has free reign of the room. In captivity budgies usually only live for 1-2 years, but in the wild can live for 15-20 years.

And yes, this budgie has her own personality, won't take any crap from our little dog Maxx.

 

[Jay H]

FYI, just thought I'd like to add this. Although most spiders count their life in days or weeks, many tarantulas can like 20+ years, more so if they're female. Certain female tarantulas are known to live 30+ years.

JonZ, I don't think a snake needs that much more room than tropical fish (unless you're thinking of adult Anaconda, for example, and many snake keepers feed their snakes frozen pinkies so there's no need for a separate mouse tank. Just freezer space.

Speaking of fish though, I talk to my loaches and my betta.

Jay

 

[MarkHastings]

but not before he pooped on and ruined my favorite chair

I read that quickly and thought it said "not before I pooped"

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

A bit off topic:

I would add, if you can't treat a rat, finch, fish, feline, canine or any animal with care and love, please don't breed humans.

Several years back I had a fairly young Indian woman professor teaching the Sociology 101 class I was taking. She often used her own experiences as examples for the class. Recently married, she was under intense pressure from her parents back in India to have kids. She told her mom she wasn't going to have any. She explained her reasonsing to the class in this way:

"I have a cat. When the cat misbehaves, I lose my patience and throw my slippers at it. The cat is constantly on my nerves. If I feel that way about my cat, how could I ever raise children?"

I had great respect for honesty.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

> I think now I want something that can come running up to you when you get home from work

I thought you said you were getting a cat. That's more typical dog behavior. A cat won't necessarily care that you showed up.

 

[Rain]

I thought you said you were getting a cat. That's more typical dog behavior. A cat won't necessarily care that you showed up.

I get greeted at the door by my cats most of the time.

 

[Steve_Tk]

I've had cats before and they all come running up after seeing the cars come driving in.

These were also always indoor cats. The one outdoor cat we had didn't really care.

 

[MarkHastings]

How about the Seinfeld bit about how happy dogs are when you come home:

Everytime you come home they have to do that "happy dance" where they get all excited and jump around...then, if you walk out of the room for 2 seconds and come back, they gotta do the "happy dance" all over again

(Singing) "He's back! He's Back! The guy who was here before!"