Pets...what do you have?

[Buddy]

Hmmm.. Let's see, I have a ball python; a chinese water dragon; a horse; two greyhounds, Italian and full size rescue; two cats; and soon to be red tailed boa. I live in a zoo.

[DeterminedJuliet]

This is Rocky. He was a barn cat that I adopted a five years ago and was the first "real" pet I've ever owned on my own. He's kind of a douchebag, but I love him. He's "alpha-cat" and has a love-hate relationship with my husband - he only ever really gives my husband cuddles, but he also ambushes my husband's ankles from time to time. He pretty much ignores me.

Do you think the ambush is meant to be belligerent or playful?  Boots pounces on my legs from time to time.  I interpret it as play.  She and I play like a couple of cats would.  I chase her and she runs away but keeps coming back so I can chase her again.  Sometimes she lets me grab her and then we wrestle a bit, with her biting my hands and wrists (with restraint, of course) and then I toss her in the air so she lands on my bed - and back she comes for more! 

Oh, it's totally a belligerent attack with claws and teeth and blood and whatnot. My husband has scars from them.

I think it's because he wasn't properly socialized as a kitten. At the time, I didn't realize how important it was for a kitten to learn some manners from his mother and other kittens, so I took him home far too young. I think it's left him a little mal-adjusted, in ways.

He doesn't do it as often, now, though. I think he's starting to realize that he has probably the cushiest life imaginable. My biggest struggle now is trying to keep him from getting too fat. 

[MariaEvri]

I have lotsa fish, two white zebra finches, one green iguana and 3-4 stray cats which I consider them my own

[Sandra Craft]

Oh, it's totally a belligerent attack with claws and teeth and blood and whatnot. My husband has scars from them.

I think it's because he wasn't properly socialized as a kitten. At the time, I didn't realize how important it was for a kitten to learn some manners from his mother and other kittens, so I took him home far too young. I think it's left him a little mal-adjusted, in ways.

He doesn't do it as often, now, though. I think he's starting to realize that he has probably the cushiest life imaginable. My biggest struggle now is trying to keep him from getting too fat. 

Did he ever do this with other people?  It may have just taken him awhile to warm up to your husband, sometimes cats dislike people for reasons that just can't be understood.  I lived with a cat once who absolutely hated one of my brothers -- whenever he visited she would hide behind doors, then leap out and bite his ankle when walked by.  It was a good thing he was a cat lover.

This is Deirdre, the cat who currently keeps me as staff and has only bitten vets and groomers:

[Pharaoh Cat]

That swiftest and most merciful kill thing, it's like so many other religious values, they may have been best practice in their day, but their day is thousands of years past.  Best practice now would be to kill the things as near possible to where they lived, stunning them makes sense, pointing to Mecca doesn't, a bolt to the head is quicker than a sliced throat.

A really excellent point that has got me thinking about the very notion of tradition and how detrimental it can sometimes be.  Principles taught for centuries can be OK, but specific actions taught for centuries will eventually be outmoded and best discarded.

[DeterminedJuliet]

Hmmm.. Let's see, I have a ball python; a chinese water dragon; a horse; two greyhounds, Italian and full size rescue; two cats; and soon to be red tailed boa. I live in a zoo.

I love greyhounds! They are so sweet - like noble little horses.

[Buddy]

Hmmm.. Let's see, I have a ball python; a chinese water dragon; a horse; two greyhounds, Italian and full size rescue; two cats; and soon to be red tailed boa. I live in a zoo.

I love greyhounds! They are so sweet - like noble little horses.

For being the fastest dogs in the world, they are both the biggest couch potatoes XD
Cloe is the big one in front, Zoe is the little one in back.


Here is one of my dork of a big brother and Zoe


And lastly for tonight, a quick pic of the Hermanator after dinner and a bath

[xSilverPhinx]

Do you ever take that lizard out of its container? My father told me that he had a lizard once, but the maid mistook it for a wild thing and killed it.

[Buddy]

Oh yea, I take him out all the time. He is a lot bigger than the picture makes him look. He is about 18 inches from snout to tail tip. He likes to sit on my laptop when I work on homework because it's warm. Sometimes he comes to school and stays in the agriculture classroom and I'll show him off.

[Tank]

Oh yea, I take him out all the time. He is a lot bigger than the picture makes him look. He is about 18 inches from snout to tail tip. He likes to sit on my laptop when I work on homework because it's warm. Sometimes he comes to school and stays in the agriculture classroom and I'll show him off.

That is so cool. I would have loved to have done that when I was a kid. There was a lad who used to bring a Grass Snake sometimes.

[Fi]

Man, people have some serious zoo collections going on here. I can't imagine cleaning that many cages, but still, awesome.

I have two rats and a hilariously dysfunctional kitty.

[Asmodean]

I have two rats

Asmodean and The Beloved Small Ones approve.

and a hilariously dysfunctional kitty.

Well, as long as it doesn't try to hunt rats... 

[Fi]

Worry not, Asmodean and the Beloved Small Ones-- kitty is a gentle soul. Either that or the worst hunter ever.

Back when I had gerbils, she figured out how to get the cage open... and... crawled inside it. I came home, saw the cat in the cage, went "OH SHIT," and then realized she was just sleeping. With the gerbils curled up asleep next to her.

(The rat cage is much more secure.)

[Pharaoh Cat]

Back when I had gerbils, she figured out how to get the cage open... and... crawled inside it. I came home, saw the cat in the cage, went "OH SHIT," and then realized she was just sleeping. With the gerbils curled up asleep next to her.

Dear Magic Pudding: Behold the true nature of the bowl-fed domestic cat. 

[Buddy]

That is so cool. I would have loved to have done that when I was a kid. There was a lad who used to bring a Grass Snake sometimes.

My animal science teacher loves my criiters. She one taught the whole class with Herman on her shoulder. It was hilarious. I just realized that I have quite a few nicknames for Herman. Herman, Hermanator, Godzirra, Green One, and Great Green Lizard.

I am thinking that sometime when Herman gets bigger, I'll get him a lady lizard so that we can have baby Hermans.

Man, people have some serious zoo collections going on here. I can't imagine cleaning that many cages, but still, awesome.

The dogs get let out, the cat's have their litter box, Herman's tank is a self-sustaining ecosystem; all I have ho do is change the filters once a month, and Thea the ball python is pretty clean. Only goes about once a month and slows down in the winter.