Pets

[Royston]

I didn't want to regurgitate an old thread, so I was wondering what pets SFN members had.

 

What prompted this thread, is that I'm now a proud owner of a coastal carpet python. I'm giving him a few days to settle into his new environment, before I start handling and feeding him, but he seems (based on his behaviour) very relaxed.

 

So, just wondering what pets you have, and if there's any reason why that particular animal / animals were chosen.

 

(Hints and tips would also be a plus )

[Royston]

I didn't want to regurgitate an old thread, so I was wondering what pets SFN members had.

 

What prompted this thread, is that I'm now a proud owner of a coastal carpet python. I'm giving him a few days to settle into his new environment, before I start handling and feeding him, but he seems (based on his behaviour) very relaxed.

 

So, just wondering what pets you have, and if there's any reason why that particular animal / animals were chosen.

 

(Hints and tips would also be a plus )

 

BTW, if anyone has any pet mice or rats, I'm more than willing to look after them when you're on holidays

[ecoli]

nice one! Wish I could have a pet, but my apartment is way too small.

[doG]

Currently a Ball Python snake, a Mexican red legged tarantula and 2 parrots, a Caique and an African Grey.

[Royston]

...and 2 parrots, a Caique and an African Grey.

 

My sister owns three Harris Hawks, and I've been torn whether to bring up the 'keeping a bird in a cage' argument. She is training them to hunt. However, I've noticed, with her birds at least, they can sit perched for hours on end, with no desire to fly. I guess, I'm very ignorant to bird behaviour. So, is there a qualifying argument to keeping birds in captivity, beyond that animals in the wild spend their life in fear of being eaten, and trying to find food ?

 

I guess I find it hard that if one of the primary functions of an animal is taken away, such as flying, that it could be considered cruel. Again, I may be missing something, and this is in no way a judgement on the fact you keep birds in captivity. For all I know, your birds they have plenty of opportunities to fly around and do their thing...I guess I want to challenge my sister with some hard facts, or counter to that, know it's fine that she's keeping birds.

Edited May 2, 2012 by Royston

[doG]

My sister owns three Harris Hawks, and I've been torn whether to bring up the 'keeping a bird in a cage' argument. She is training them to hunt. However, I've noticed, with her birds at least, they can sit perched for hours on end, with no desire to fly. I guess, I'm very ignorant to bird behaviour. So, is there a qualifying argument to keeping birds in captivity, beyond that animals in the wild spend their life in fear of being eaten, and trying to find food ?

 

I guess I find it hard that if one of the primary functions of an animal is taken away, such as flying, that it could be considered cruel. Again, I may be missing something, and this is in no way a judgement on the fact you keep birds in captivity. For all I know, your birds they have plenty of opportunities to fly around and do their thing...I guess I want to challenge my sister with some hard facts, or counter to that, know it's fine that she's keeping birds.

My birds cages remain open and they are free to do as they wish. They seem to like my company and the treatment I give them. Both were given to me so I do not have them by choice. If I thought they could survive and I had the means to get them to their native habitats and release them I would. Unfortunately the Caique is a captive bred animal that has never lived in the wild and the Grey has been in captivity for 30 years that I know of. I suspect neither would make it long in the wild.

[Moontanman]

I mostly keep aquariums, freshwater and marine and reef tanks, i had a scarlet king snake for 12 years before it disappeared when the cage was left open. I had a Red tailed boa for a long time but gave it away to a breeder. I had 6 turtles for more than 35 years but an unusually hard winter resulted in them dying two years ago. I kept a tegu lizard for a couple years and traded it for a fish tank. I currently have a paddlefish, Polyodon spathula and I am hoping to obtain some shovelnose sturgeon soon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus.

 

Oh yeah, three basset hounds and a coon hound... I've had several cats but that was many years ago...

[questionposter]

While I do have dogs that were passed down to me from previous owners, I also have a different type of relation with local animals, where they seem to rely on me occasionally for food and can come into my house without much trouble being caused, but are not a pet to anyone. Although, the alligator hasn't actually come into my house, but has been on my property, but it's more of a passive type, which is good. It's sort of fun having a bunch of animals around, there's often something different to see every two days.

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter

[iNow]

Currently a Ball Python snake, a Mexican red legged tarantula and 2 parrots, a Caique and an African Grey.

I seem to remember you commenting about a goliath tarantula a few years ago on another site. Is this the same one, or different?

[Moontanman]

While I do have dogs that were passed down to me from previous owners, I also have a different type of relation with local animals, where they seem to rely on me occasionally for food and can come into my house without much trouble being caused, but are not a pet to anyone. Although, the alligator hasn't actually come into my house, but has been on my property, but it's more of a passive type, which is good. It's sort of fun having a bunch of animals around, there's often something different to see every two days.

 

 

Alligators usually take care of the stray dog problem around here, they are like dog magnets....

[questionposter]

Alligators usually take care of the stray dog problem around here, they are like dog magnets....

 

They do? Did you even see that youtube video of a cat staring down an alligator?

 

No, it seems that despite how fast they can react that many reptiles are slow moving and don't want to expend energy unnecessarily unless it's actually necessarily to get food. It's not that many alligators either, just a stray one from I guess a swamp about a mile away for some reason, and actually it's a couple stray cats that visit, not dogs, and it didn't seem particularly aggressive but I wouldn't really mess with it. But there's a lot of wilderness around so I guess the alligator doesn't actually have to worry about that much about getting run over or anything. Perhaps it smells something, though I don't know how good it's sense of smell is. It's actually quite odd to just one day find it on the property.

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter

[Moontanman]

Oh, you would think that cats and basset hounds wouldn't mix well but one cat I had always smacked the crap out of the dogs when they were puppies and from then on they would walk around a room to keep from passing near the cat. The cat would sleep curled up with the dogs, they were terrified to get up until the cat did, lol

 

One cat would play chase with the dogs, she would run they would chase, she would stop and they would stop and wait for her to run again....

 

They do? Did you even see that youtube video of a cat staring down an alligator?

 

No, it seems that despite how fast they can react that many reptiles are slow moving and don't want to expend energy unnecessarily unless it's actually necessarily to get food. It's not that many alligators either, just a stray one from I guess a swamp about a mile away for some reason, and actually it's a couple stray cats that visit, not dogs, and it didn't seem particularly aggressive but I wouldn't really mess with it.

 

 

You said dogs but dogs tend to bark at alligators and since the alligator doesn't move they get closer and closer and bark louder and louder until they get close enough and the dog stops barking and the alligator eats... I doubt a cat would mess with an alligator, cats are either smarter or not as flamboyant as dogs.... Alligators are quite common here, not as big as further south but we still get the occasional 12 footer.... most are more like 6 to 8 feet long. They are very strong and very fast when they want to be, over a short distance an alligator can outrun a man.

Edited May 3, 2012 by Moontanman

[questionposter]

Oh, you would think that cats and basset hounds wouldn't mix well but one cat I had always smacked the crap out of the dogs when they were puppies and from then on they would walk around a room to keep from passing near the cat. The cat would sleep curled up with the dogs, they were terrified to get up until the cat did, lol

I actually haven't seem a conflict with cats and dogs throughout much of my life, I've mostly seen cats and dogs get along. Perhaps at first there's a fight, but then both don't actually bother each other when they come near after they get use to each other. The dogs I take care of I think notice that I'm not really aggressive towards other animals on my property too.

 

 

 

 

You said dogs but dogs tend to bark at alligators and since the alligator doesn't move they get closer and closer and bark louder and louder until they get close enough and the dog stops barking and the alligator eats... I doubt a cat would mess with an alligator, cats are either smarter or not as flamboyant as dogs....

I have two dogs, but they aren't stray, the cats are, and both the cats and dogs know to stay away from the alligator, and again another thing that's different to me, because as far as I've seen dogs are pretty smart too, and it's often cats I considered not as smart even if they are more cunning.

If I did see the dogs or cats getting closer I'd probably just throw a piece of meat in the opposite direction behind the alligator, and it's not very often that it visits either, if it was a real problem I would build a wooden fence or just move.

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter

[Moontanman]

I actually haven't seem a conflict with cats and dogs throughout much of my life, I've mostly seen cats and dogs get along. Perhaps at first there's a fight, but then both don't actually bother each other when they come near after they get use to each other. The dogs I take care of I think notice that I'm not really aggressive towards other animals on my property too.

 

Sadly I've had a couple of cats killed by aggressive stray dogs but it is true that your attitude can have an effect on who or what your dogs are aggressive toward.

 

 

 

 

 

I have two dogs, but they aren't stray, the cats are, and both the cats and dogs know to stay away from the alligator, and again another thing that's different to me, because as far as I've seen dogs are pretty smart too, and it's often cats I considered not as smart even if they are more cunning.

If I did see the dogs or cats getting closer I'd probably just throw a piece of meat in the opposite direction, and it's not very often either, if it was a real problem I would build a wooden fence or just move.

 

What ever you do, don't feed the gator, that is very dangerous, the gator will start to associate humans with food and will eventually attack.... When that happens here they have to be put down before they become dangerous.

[questionposter]

What ever you do, don't feed the gator, that is very dangerous, the gator will start to associate humans with food and will eventually attack.... When that happens here they have to be put down before they become dangerous.

 

I thought about that too, for a long while, but still took that risk since it seemed kind of more improbable that things would actually play out so specifically to how I happen to imagine them being, and I always carry a rather sharp knife with me in the wilderness anyway and a pocket knife in looser places, but the knife is bought and made from obsidian, 500 times sharper than surgical steel (though not as durable), and I have a special type of case just for it, it's what Native Americans used, which is who I bought it from, but it seems many animals aren't actually aggressive or impulsive like that, they are just trying to get by, enjoy life, avoid major conflict, etc. I don't know if that's the reason it returned later at times even though it had occasionally come around prior to that, I hadn't given it anything since or I would be increasing the risk of what you had said. With that though, I actually don't see much of a difference with that and with other animals, because my dogs aren't trying to eat me, the cats aren't trying to eat me, the dolphin I fed didn't try to eat me. But, I guess those are all mammals, so perhaps there is that type of a difference with reptiles, but it doesn't seem like based on what I've seen with other reptiles.

Actually my grandparents use to own like 65 animals, literally, including iguanas, but I guess iguanas are a bit more passive than alligators.

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter

[doG]

I seem to remember you commenting about a goliath tarantula a few years ago on another site. Is this the same one, or different?

This one's different. My Goliath passed away during a molt last year

[questionposter]

This one's different. My Goliath passed away during a molt last year

 

Tarantulas are "shy" right?

[doG]

Tarantulas are "shy" right?

Some are. Some are very aggressive. It seems to be a hardwired thing by species. All pink toes are skittish for instance and all the usumbaras I've encountered were mean as hell.

[Royston]

While I do have dogs that were passed down to me from previous owners, I also have a different type of relation with local animals, where they seem to rely on me occasionally for food and can come into my house without much trouble being caused, but are not a pet to anyone. Although, the alligator hasn't actually come into my house, but has been on my property, but it's more of a passive type, which is good. It's sort of fun having a bunch of animals around, there's often something different to see every two days.

 

The wildlife in the UK (overlooking marine and insects) is not particularly exciting, you'd be very hard pressed to come across anything dangerous, a disgruntled chaffinch perhaps...but no alligators. We have one venomous snake, the adder, but I've never seen one in the wild.

 

However, albeit not dangerous, we do get lizards in my local area, and the council have been very good, and have preserved their habitat. I'm like a kid in a candy store when they make an appearance.

[Moontanman]

I thought about that too, for a long while, but still took that risk since it seemed kind of more improbable that things would actually play out so specifically to how I happen to imagine them being, and I always carry a rather sharp knife with me in the wilderness anyway and a pocket knife in looser places, but the knife is bought and made from obsidian, 500 times sharper than surgical steel (though not as durable), and I have a special type of case just for it, it's what Native Americans used, which is who I bought it from, but it seems many animals aren't actually aggressive or impulsive like that, they are just trying to get by, enjoy life, avoid major conflict, etc. I don't know if that's the reason it returned later at times even though it had occasionally come around prior to that, I hadn't given it anything since or I would be increasing the risk of what you had said. With that though, I actually don't see much of a difference with that and with other animals, because my dogs aren't trying to eat me, the cats aren't trying to eat me, the dolphin I fed didn't try to eat me. But, I guess those are all mammals, so perhaps there is that type of a difference with reptiles, but it doesn't seem like based on what I've seen with other reptiles.

Actually my grandparents use to own like 65 animals, literally, including iguanas, but I guess iguanas are a bit more passive than alligators.

 

 

How big is the gator? If is more than 4 feet or so he is immensely stronger than you, much faster, and cares not a wit whether or not you have a knife.

 

When you see an alligator don't think big lizard, they are not big lizards, think T-Rex with short legs. Alligators are very deceptive creatures, most of the time they leave prey as large as a human alone but if he decides to take you nothing you can do will prevent it once he gets hold of you and he can outrun you over short distances....

 

I've worked with the state fisheries people on population studies and had to enter water where alligators were nearby, even had them swim by close enough to touch but don't think a knife will make any difference, even a gun won't make a difference if an alligators gets hold of you. People around here are very careful about not feeding the gators and there is very little interaction between gators and people except for the occasional dog snack or going after a lawn mower but it's because they don't associate humans with food, once they get the idea that humans and food are together they will attack and the attack is unbelievably fast and devastating...

[Royston]

While we're on the subject, I used to own some stick insects. My niece brought back some Peruphasma schultei (black beauty) nymphs from a school trip in London, see the photo on the left, of the last survivor. However, two of the nymphs, were not the same species (see photo on the right). They're fully grown in the pictures, but it was almost impossible to discern that they were different stick insects when they were nymphs.

 

You'll have to excuse the quality of the photo, but I was wondering if anyone could identify them. I've scoured the net and found one photo of these insects, but with no classification. The wing cases, although they never opened and I'm pretty sure they didn't have wings, are yellow (top set) and red (bottom set) with a mosaic pattern, similar to the black beauty wing casings. Yes, they're getting down to business, and the male is straddling the female. The female was roughly 7-8 cm, and the male 4-5 cm in length. So, any ideas ?

Edited May 3, 2012 by Royston

[questionposter]

How big is the gator? If is more than 4 feet or so he is immensely stronger than you, much faster, and cares not a wit whether or not you have a knife.

 

When you see an alligator don't think big lizard, they are not big lizards, think T-Rex with short legs. Alligators are very deceptive creatures, most of the time they leave prey as large as a human alone but if he decides to take you nothing you can do will prevent it once he gets hold of you and he can outrun you over short distances....

 

I've worked with the state fisheries people on population studies and had to enter water where alligators were nearby, even had them swim by close enough to touch but don't think a knife will make any difference, even a gun won't make a difference if an alligators gets hold of you. People around here are very careful about not feeding the gators and there is very little interaction between gators and people except for the occasional dog snack or going after a lawn mower but it's because they don't associate humans with food, once they get the idea that humans and food are together they will attack and the attack is unbelievably fast and devastating...

 

It is probably bigger than 4 feet, and I know they have very fast reaction time, that's why I don't ever go near them.

With the food thing though, it isn't very logical. Why would it try to kill me first if I supply it with food? The automatic association wouldn't seem to make sense. There's also many cases such as at tourist locations of where large alligators seem to be fine around people and even let random people touch them.

 

There's this too

 

http://www.google.co...29,r:0,s:0,i:67

 

It seems this alligator follows the same logic. Instead of trying to push the boat over and/or eat the passengers or that guy's arm, which it probably could, it merely waits for the tour guides to feed it.

After thinking about it, it seems even in the reptile world that there is the type of diversity where some alligators are not as aggressive or are more cautions or more relaxed, etc, or I guess a better word would be "personality" which many animals have anyway. There might be cases of what your saying, but because that isn't every case, I can only assume there's diversity.

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter

[Greg H.]

I have four cats. I have a feeling this may be the most normal answer in this thread.

[doG]

I have four cats. I have a feeling this may be the most normal answer in this thread.

What's normal?

[questionposter]

What's normal?

 

Normal is ------>

 

Get it? Because it's the normalization of quantum wave functions?

 

Edited May 3, 2012 by questionposter