I have had quite a variety pets over the years, including turtles, anoles, fish, hamsters, rats, mice, a red fox, dogs, cats, hermit crabs, and tree frogs, to name a few. I even raised crickets for my tree frogs, and started thinking of them as pets. I don't have pictures of most of these pets, but I'll include some that I do have. My current pets, as of August 27, 2003, are Sammie, my rat, and Carter and Molly, my hermit crabs
In Memory of Oliver
Nov 86 - Dec 99
She gave so much love
with expecting little
in return
Sammy, my rat, has been with me for about a year now. She is the most affectionate pet I've ever had, aside from Oliver. Domestic rats have been compared to dogs, with regard to their affection toward their human "masters," although I think rats have more of a mind of their own than do dogs.
Carter on the left and Francis on the right. Francis passed away on August 26, 2003, just yesterday as I write this, so I drew the icon link that brings you to this page in honor of her. One might think that hermit crabs are all the same, but Francis definitely had a personality all her own. During the past month, she was busy going from one shell to another trying to find a suitable new home after molting, but she always went back to her original shell. She was "naked" the last few days of her life, having not found the right new home, so I'm certain that is why she died. Certainly not from old age, as hermit crabs can live up to 10 years in captivity. I'm hoping when Carter molts, I have a suitable shell for her to move into. Carter and Francis seemed quite close and enjoyed each other's company, so I just brought Molly home as a new playmate for Carter. I've only had Molly for less than an hour, and she's already moved to a new shell! I guess the pet store didn't have any shells to her liking, so I hope I do.
Getting back to Sammie, she is now almost 2 years old at this time, and when rats reach 2 years, it is like 80 in human years, and they start to develop old age diseases, just like us humans. She now has bumblefoot, and a tumor below her neck, pictures taken April 2004. She is slowing down, but not in pain, it seems, and she still loves her treats and playtime with me as much as ever. I know she isn't going to live much longer, though, so I've already dug her grave, in preparation.
UPDATE on Pets August 2005
More on Sammie
Sammie took longer to die than I thought, which was sad, as it was a slow and painful death for her, and she wouldn't give up even when she was in much pain with the tumor that finally did her in after 2 weeks of suffering. When she finally died, I wrapped her in a section of a bed sheet that she liked to chew holes in . . . she loved that sheet (picture on left). I buried her, painted a gravestone for her, and planted a monkshood plant above her grave (the plant on the right lower corner in the second picture), but it died out, so I bought another one that year, and it died also. So in 2005, I bought still another one, watered it everyday religiously, and it is still alive, and it finally flowered this month (August 2005). It's a perennial, so hopefully it will grow and bloom again next year. When Riley dies, I plan to bury her next to Sammie, and paint another gravestone. And speaking of Riley . . .
My New Rat Riley
I got Riley a few weeks after Sammie died, as I missed having a rat. Riley is sooo different from Sammie! They are both wonderful pets, but Riley is so much more outgoing than Sammie was, and she likes all people, whereas Sammie sort of just wanted to be around me. Sammie wasn't a climber, whereas Riley can climb to the ceiling, if she desires to do so. There isn't a place in my apartment she can't get to, to destroy things . . . she loves to chew on everything I don't want her to chew on. For 2 hours per day, I let her have the roam of my place, except for my bedroom, where I keep my computer. After she chewed up too many computer cords, I decided enough was enough. Riley loves to chew on plastic stuff, whereas Sammie preferred to chew up my clothes, and bed sheets, as forementioned. Riley loves to sip beer from my can, but she likes Mt. Dew as well, so I don't think she is an alcoholic. :} And she likes salsa, and drinking out of fountains.
More Crabs . . . Adopted By No Choice
Back in January 2004, a friend at work had given her dad hermit crabs for an Xmas gift, and he liked them okay, but her mother didn't want them in the house, so she wrote me an email and said, "I have 3 crabs you must adopt," then she brought them to work to show me, and of course, I had to take them in, else they would be homeless. They've been thriving well ever since, and they all have molted successfully several times since I've been "parenting" them, and all 3 seem to get along quite well together. Their names are Sam, Mo, and Jo . . . I didn't name them, they were already named when I got them. Sam in the brown shell is the most friendly, Mo and Jo pinched me rather hard when I first got them, but Mo is becoming more like Sam now, and Jo is finally starting to trust me . . . he's a bit shy.
The first 2 pictures are of Sam. He started in a white shell, then the first day switched to a brown shell, then to a black shell, then back to the brown shell that he is currently in. Mo and Jo have not switched shells since I got them. The third picture is of the 3 of them drying off after I gave them a bath. I bathe them once a week to wash the sand out of their shells, and they seem to like that, although I have to make sure I don't do that when they are molting. Mo is the one in the turquoise shell, Jo in the gold one. The final picture is of pieces of Mo's exoskeleton after he molted. After I took the picture, I put the pieces back in the cage, as crabs, after they molt, eat their old exoskeleton to build up the calcium for their new exoskeleton.
