Misunderstood as a pet lover :(

[ABBY W.]

3 cats, 20 chinchillas, and a hedehog, here. I REALLY want a couple of dogs, but we don't have a yard. When we buy a new place with some land, I am going to have a detached building for my exotics, and I am going to add sugar gliders and cockatoos. I also want a Great Dane, and Irish Wolfhound, and a Basset Hound. OH, and a small herd of fainting goats! I'm sure I'll think of more between now and then.

I tried the reptile thing for a while, but I hated the crickets (I had a bearded dragon) and I absolutely couldn't do the mouse thing. I don't have some moral objection, just couldn't bring myself to do it, especially with pinkies. :vomit: SO, i gave the beardie to my brother for his collection of reptile pets. My mom was thrilled since they are in her house. :neener:

 

[starleomach]

I think everyone around here is entertained by my craziness. with 70 now chinchillas I get a lot of weird looks. Doesn't bother me one bit.

 

[Quinley]

I hear y'all! Lucky for me my current partner is very understanding and she LOVES my boys as much as I do. In fact sometimes I think she spoils them more. :kiss:

But my ex and her family? Fuhgeddaboudit. I got the eye-rolling ALL THE TIME. :hair: To me that is just so disrespectful and dismissive. It eventually drove us apart.

Why can't people just shut their dang trap if they have nothing nice to say??? If they TRULY loved you, they would be supportive. I just dont get it. :banghead:

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

That's a heck of a zoo! You're a braver woman than I am with the Burms and the Ig, but I bet they're fascinating.

The Burms are babies ..Mooka is only 3 months old and still really small (2 ft. or so) ..and Nagas just made a year and pretty small, too (he had a bad start, so he's barely bigger/longer than Mooka). The Iggster.. Miss Esmerelda.. now, she's a handful! ..but you can't blame her.. someone ripped her tail off when she was little, so she has trust issues

 

[CerLynn]

Sounds familiar! I'm incredibly lucky that my significant other shares my passion for animals, but most our friends/family really don't get it. My parents thought we were absolutely insane for spending $2000+ on vet bills when Koko broke his leg... but what exactly were we supposed to do? Just put him down? I don't think so! It's funny though, my mom is far more attached to our ham than our chins... I swear she'd do anything for that little fuzzball!

 

[3CsMommy]

The Burms are babies

But not for long! (The biggest I think I'd be okay living with is probably a rainbow or redtail.)

The Iggster.. Miss Esmerelda.. now, she's a handful! ..but you can't blame her.. someone ripped her tail off when she was little, so she has trust issues

There's another trait of true pet/animal lovers that gets a lot of flack: taking in the sick, injured, abused, or funny-looking ones, like every pet you keep is supposed to be "perfect". The only reason I have snakes is because I was planning to get a Normal or Bloodred corn, but didn't want to start with a hatchling. Then my ex's mom had to give up her collection, so they *all* came to me. (And I almost ended up with her Blue Tongue too!)

Show of hands: how many of us have at least 2 rescue animals, either adopted from a humane agency or snagged out of a bad situation from Craig's List/a pet store drop off/living on the side of the road? :wave2:

 

[Brittney]

All of my animals are rescues. I refuse to buy from a breeder unless the breeder also sell rescues. It's just something I'm passionate about.

My dogs are from a rescue society in Chandler, NC.

Bryson was a Petco chin, but he just looked miserable in that cage, so I took him (rescue?)

Ande, like I said, I basically stole him from my friend who kept him in a dog crate with no chew toys, no water and living in filth. It's a miragle he didn't have malo, just really bad front teeth.

2 of my Leos I got from the humane society in Tennessee. They have been with me since I was 12, and I'm 19 now, they are old girls. And the other one I found in the wash behind my house. Someone was stupid enough to think a pet leopard gecko could live in Arizona.

 

[Tillygizmo]

We have 4 chins and soon a rescue bunny. We technically rescued two of the chins, but sometimes with the way they are taken care of in pet stores and the chances of them going to bad homes, I think of that as rescue also.


I always tell them that compared to many pet lovers (like some of you with 20+ animals) I have nothing.... and look forward to getting more! I also want to run a rescue one day. I am always researching about how to get it started and frankly I still feel clueless.

Anyone who has found animal lover organizations/groups in their area, how did you go about that? I dont know where to start!

 

[RDZCRanch]

I've got 3 dogs, 2 cats, and 38 chinchillas(soon to be more). My brothers are constantly telling me to get rid of my animals. That it's just disgusting to have so many and that I need therapy for it (they have one cat). I just remind them that they don't live with me and everything is clean so they need to shut their traps or we just don't talk about my animals. I also get slack from their friends, family friends, my friends, the boyfriend's friends, and my dad. We've gotten to the point that people know they can't change my mind or "make me see reason" so they've worked themselves down to just raising an eyebrow when I talk of getting more.

My boyfriend on the other hand never grew up with pets or had a girlfriend with pets so I guess I'm his first experience with animals. I'm lucky enough that he loves all of my animals...including the 38 chinchillas. He even wants to build me a barn for my chins when we move because he knows I plan to expand to a much larger number. He's also the one who decided we would keep the newest dog (supposed to be temporary) because he just fits in so well with our other two.

 

[Aneesa's Muse]

3CsMommy.. I think of the babies.. my Burm kids.. as "growing into them". I've been around big snakes for awhile, but wasn't sure I wanted something that size in my collection, at first... like "jump right in.. huge snake" ..so it was suggested that I get babies and raise them up. The "comfort zone" will be stronger, due to the bond.

I think 75% of my Zoo is rescue.. from all of the mentioned sources, and some. Of course, I am a Rescue, so yeah....

Tillygizmo.. checking out species specific forums and sites will eventually lead you to local rescues, conservation efforts, societies, groups, etc. And Google is a great tool! I found the SFBATS group on an arachnid board.. California Turtle and Tortoise Club, CTTC when I adopted my tort, Joob, and was seeking further info... and so on. Also.. use the search function on facebook or Myspace.. and seek out folks with the same animals/interests. Eventually, you will have a very large network going ..someone else will know someone else and so on. (A bunch of us that correspond via cyberville, all year ..met in person at the Reptile Show in San Jose, yesterday ..it's fun to see everyone a few times a year ..at the events and meetings.)