Best pets (my family has had them all)

Agree. I have had budgies, but “birds” could also include endangered or wild birds.

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When I still lived in England, I have certainly raised masses of Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars up into butterflies on many occasions, and I have to say, that is really rewarding and fascinating!

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I could talk for hours about the pets I had when I was young. Guinea pigs that would gnaw through the wooden wall separating males from females, gerbils running around in the bathroom, the goldfish that gobbled a piece of putty my dad accidentally dropped into the tank (it swelled up and finally died), not to mention all the wild birds that somehow found their way into our yard before dying. We had a nice little grave site going. None were marked though, so a couple of times I dug up the skeletal remains of a prior deceased rodent. I had a garter snake that I took to a cottage, and my dad had to hunt for worms before driving back out after work to feed the snake. Inexplicably, neither mum nor dad could or would not find someone to take care of them if we went away (which was not often), so we’d take the whole lot of them with us.

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Well, cats, of course. They are complicated little beings, but so very generous with their affection and responsiveness. And, they are relatively easy to care for as they sleep 14-20 hours a day. Mind you, I love dogs, too. Pre-pandemic I walked dogs for a local rescue. I have not had a dog of my own since I was a child though, as I live in urban settings and most of the time did not have a fenced yard. Now, I live in a place with a small yard, but my husband is averse getting a dog.

A surprisingly satisfactory pet I had in recent years were Triops. I raised a couple of batches in a large coffee press before I got a tiny aquarium. They grow from the size of a grain of salt to about the size of a quarter in a month or so. It’s a hoot to watch the molt, which they do often. They are cute and active.

I got the eggs to interest the little ones next door who used to come visit a lot before the pandemic. But, I’m the one that ended up becoming quite engaged.

@cthawley Bearded dragons make quite good pets. I used to care for a couple (Fred and George) when I worked at the nature center. They were quite engaging and liked to be held and carried around. The main drawback is their poop smells just ~appalling~. I think they knew it, too, as they often used their water bowl as a toilet.:persevere:

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I’m so sorry you lost such a great love. It’s tough, although every tear and sad feeling is a testament to the wonderful bond you had. I feel happy that you are getting a new cat in October (May is Kitten Season at most rescues and they find it harder to find homes for the older juveniles in the fall).

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Thank you!

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I don´t think keeping mollusks as pets is soooo seldom.
I am a fan of fishtanks designed as natural biotops. So not so many fish actually, but more invertebrates. My last fish tank had 112 liter and the only sort of vertebrate was a bunch of tiny Heterandria formosa getting lost in the plant- wilderness. Other than that it was habitated with a variety of self-sustained snails like Melanoides tuberculata, Physa sp., 2 colourful Pomacea bridgesi (now forbitten to be kept in the EU) and one Neritidae… all second hand :-). There was quite a community of people with similar interests back then.

However, my mobile lifestye now forbits me to keep tanks, which will always be my favourite. I “only” have a dog now and it will stay that way in the near future I guess.

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In support of my dog vote - https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6e/2d/a9/6e2da99913826b2a566aca45aac73a01.jpg as compared to
http://timmilesandco.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/gary-larson-far-side-cartoon-what-we-say-to-dogs-blah-blah-ginger.jpeg

and then there’s skunks - https://www.thesprucepets.com/skunks-as-pets-1237314

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Your list had mice, but not rats. I love rats. It is sad that their lives are so short (longer than mice, though), but they definitely have personalities and intelligence. Here is a picture of me with two ratties I used to have.

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Dogs! More than pets, family!
Cats - oh, no - the environmental devastation! Probably the worst pet imaginable.
Birds in cages - too depressing for words …

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Dogs kill a lot of wildlife too, stray dogs not only get in packs, but often kill humans and big mammals like deer. They’re hardly better than cats for environment.

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Same with silkworm moths

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I’m sorry you felt you needed to go there.

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Where are humans often being killed by stray dogs? How often is often?

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Everywhere where street dogs form packs often, you can find news about it, but I guess in languages of countries where it happens. It’s not a surprising thing here, old people, kids, adults, etc. http://www.animalsprotectiontribune.ru/tem4.html Talking about human life once is already often.

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Thanks, that is a long list. The website did get the translation of headers mixed up towards the bottom of the list, if you scroll down. There are three such headers, the first says, “Stray dogs bitten to death by people in other countries”. Which i thought would be stories about people turning the tables on the dogs, but then the headlines under that header, and subsequent headers, are of dogs killing people. Definitely piqued my interest there for a bit.

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Surely most of stories are the result of how stray dogs are treated (poorly), though there’re some accidents with literal pets too (I saw one while searching for this website, how a person came with a dog and it bit child once and it was enough, though those are usually also of similar trope “owner didn’t look after its huge dog”). I’m fully anti cats outside, though at least cats should try a lot to kill you, while dogs are pretty much suited to take bigger prey.
Sorry, it sounds horrible, but I thought if it’s a topic about best pets it’s uncool to call some “the worst imaginable”. Pets should stay inside.

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No reason at all to apologize. Whether dogs or cats, or other pets, it’s generally the owner of the pet that makes the difference. Personally, am all about dogs, and even cats, being allowed outside, and right after posting this my two dogs and i are off to go hiking on public lands, all of us unleashed upon the landscape, and my pickup may kill more organisms on the drive out than any of us do when we’re there. I think that if a dog or cat should not be allowed outside based on where a person lives, then i think some of the other pets on the list are better choices for that location. But that’s just me.

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Agreed!

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Adult, or even better senior rescue/shelter dogs. No pet will be happier to adopt you (not a typo, meant to write that)

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