Pets

Tools    





It benefits three animal welfare charities, and I'm personally matching all donations.
Wowser!

Was it a success?
__________________
I’m here only on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. That’s why I’m here now.



A massive success: we raised just over $2,300 when all was said and done (pre-matched funding!). That's over triple what I'd had in mind for a "successful" event. The generosity (including donations from several MoFos: Austruck, Allaby, Takoma11, and mark f) was overwhelming.



The Adventure Starts Here!
Wowser!

Was it a success?
Let's just say that he brought in about three times what he had hoped for! Yay! And I gotta admit, since I had the marathon livestream open on my computer all day long (1 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.), Yoda didn't flag once and stayed on point all 10.5 hours.

Well, except for when he had to eat banana bread topped with yogurt, peanut butter, olives, and hot sauce as part of a stretch goal. That alone was worth donating for.



Let's just say that he brought in about three times what he had hoped for! Yay! And I gotta admit, since I had the marathon livestream open on my computer all day long (1 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.), Yoda didn't flag once and stayed on point all 10.5 hours.
He’s quite the son.

My house is like a zoo. We have:

1 gerbil
1 cat
1 rabbit
2 giant centipedes
7 Giant African land snails
4 goldfish
1 Hermans Tortoise
4 rats




.
The cat is mine
I was thinking how cute until I got I the rats. @Miss Vicky loves rats, but I don’t think I could overcome my fear of them.



The Adventure Starts Here!
I was thinking how cute until I got I the rats. @Miss Vicky loves rats, but I don’t think I could overcome my fear of them.
Despite a fear of undomesticated rats, I could get used to pet rats, for sure. My daughter had them for a time, although I never got to actually hold one. I would, though.

It was the giant centipedes in that list that made me go, "NOPE."



@Yoda Sorry I missed your charity drive due to ill health (sadly I wouldn't have been able to contribute as I've no internet payment method at the moment anyway). Glad it went well and congrats on raising so much for worthy causes



My house is like a zoo. We have:

1 gerbil
1 cat
1 rabbit
2 giant centipedes
7 Giant African land snails
4 goldfish
1 Hermans Tortoise
4 rats
Quite the menagerie. I'd certainly enjoy looking at the centipedes and snails, not sure how I'd feel about handling them, though. How's the gerbil as a pet? They're illegal in California and I've never met one. Are they similar to rats in personality?

I was thinking how cute until I got I the rats. @Miss Vicky loves rats, but I don’t think I could overcome my fear of them.
Centipedes are cute? That's one I've not heard before.

Rats are great. Currently have four, plus two cats and a whole bunch of fish, shrimp, and aquatic snails.

Fidget and Twiddle:



Quite the menagerie. I'd certainly enjoy looking at the centipedes and snails, not sure how I'd feel about handling them, though. How's the gerbil as a pet? They're illegal in California and I've never met one. Are they similar to rats in personality?
Why are gerbils illegal? I'm not really a fan of rodents or rabbits although they seem to be ok as pets I suppose. Smell a bit though.

Since my last message we seem to have acquired another tortoise



The Adventure Starts Here!
Why are gerbils illegal? I'm not really a fan of rodents or rabbits although they seem to be ok as pets I suppose. Smell a bit though.

Since my last message we seem to have acquired another tortoise
I was wondering the same thing about gerbils being illegal. That seems "off," even for California. Here in Pennsylvania, I know hedgehogs as pets are illegal, but not gerbils. And if you want chickens, you have to check with your local municipality. Some allow chickens in your yard; others do not.

I, however, do not want chickens, so this doesn't apply to me. The two guinea pigs (Carl and Steve) are plenty, and although I discovered that guinea pigs have quite the engaging personalities (and loud voices!), they have always been cat-substitutes for me. (Hubby hates cats, so...) So once they are gone, I won't be replacing them. They turned five years old in March, so I conceivably have a few more years with them both. (They're brothers.)

The fun thing about guinea pigs (compared to other rodents as pets) is that they have no tails (NO tails, not just short tails) and they are NOT at all agile. So I don't need a lid on their cage, and they can't crawl out. I've been known to accidentally leave the cage door open and they are still there in the morning, staring at me in horror as if to say, "Are you trying to KILL us with that open door?"

Carl and Steve when they were babies (Carl is under the hammock; Steve is in the hammock; and that's the front cage door open--horrors!:




The Adventure Starts Here!
Carl and Steve. That's brilliant.
Sadly, my favorite, Bob, passed away about a year after I acquired Carl and Steve.

Also, Carl is a bit of a drama queen. Go figure.

Bob, doing his ONE trick (begging for food):


There is a rare thing that guinea pigs can do, called "singing." And it definitely sounds like a bird singing. Guinea pig experts (no kidding--there ARE such things) aren't sure why they do it, or why they do it so rarely. BOB sang for me once (ONCE) and it went on long enough (a few minutes) that I had time to grab my camera and record it. I had four piggies at the time (Carl, Steve, Bob, and Frid), and the other three just stopped in their tracks to listen.

Friends who played this clip in front of their dogs or cats reported that the animals acted as if they were hearing a bird. I'll have to dig up the video and post a link here.



@Austruck - Steve's not THE Steve that sometimes 'runs' this forum in Yoda's absence is it?????



The Adventure Starts Here!
@Austruck - Steve's not THE Steve that sometimes 'runs' this forum in Yoda's absence is it?????
I've been sworn to secrecy on that issue. Just be thankful that it's not CARL. He's high maintenance.



I've been sworn to secrecy on that issue.
Fair enough.
Just be thankful that it's not CARL. He's high maintenance.
Good point, TWO high-maintenance administrators would probably be a nightmare



Why are gerbils illegal?
It's to prevent them from becoming an invasive species. Our climate is similar to the desert they come from. Gerbils are also illegal in Hawaii.



The Adventure Starts Here!
It's to prevent them from becoming an invasive species. Our climate is similar to the desert they come from. Gerbils are also illegal in Hawaii.
How about hamsters? Apparently hamsters in the wild are desert-like creatures, which is why their urine is thick and somewhat infrequent (reserving bodily fluids and liquids). Still, who ever sees a hamster in the wild?



How about hamsters? Apparently hamsters in the wild are desert-like creatures, which is why their urine is thick and somewhat infrequent (reserving bodily fluids and liquids). Still, who ever sees a hamster in the wild?
Hamsters are legal. Gerbils, hedgehogs, and ferrets are illegal, but ferrets are still pretty popular despite the law. Never known anyone here with a gerbil or hedgehog.