When people think of ‘the best pet ever’ the smaller animals never come to mind. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs and cats, but I feel like small animals are very underappreciated! So really, this article is going to be about how much I love all of my small animals!
The first small animal I ever owned was a hamster named Sunny. My sister and I named him that because he liked sunflower seeds. He was extremely lazy and would sleep all day and most of the night. He would sometimes get stuck in his tubes because he hoarded his food in there. I was about six years old when I got Sunny. Despite being the laziest and grumpiest hamster I had ever seen, Sunny was never aggressive toward my sister and I. He was so tolerant of young children handling him and was the perfect first pet. Sunny passed away when I was nine years old. This led to us getting my next small animal.
My family and I had gone to the pet store with the intention of adopting another hamster. The lady working there asked us if we had ever considered rats. My sister and I were all for it, and eventually my parents got on board. That night my sister and I each adopted a rat. Mine was black and white. Her name was Mae. My sister’s was all black and her name was Jasmine. We ended up keeping rats around for years. After Mae, I adopted Mocha. After Mocha, I adopted Possy. After Possy, I adopted Alaska. I hadn’t had rats since early high school until a few weeks ago, when I found myself in possession of another rat! Her name is Sushi, and she is very anxious. This sometimes causes her to bite out of fear. But I don’t mind, she is a sweetheart and I love her dearly.
I also have a hamster named Scout! A friend of a friend needed to find a home for a hamster. I couldn’t resist, so I agreed. Scout is a grumpy old lady who doesn’t like to be awoken from her slumber. She likes to shove whole baby carrots into her cheeks when I’m not looking. She loves to sleep in the old oatmeal box that I put in her cage. Scout is nearing the end of her life right now, but she is pretty old. She lived a very happy and comfy life.
I have had lots of fish in the past, but I’ve only recently become interested with them. I currently have a blue and red betta fish named Wordsworth. He is a very smart boy. He greets me at the corner of the tank each time I enter my dorm. He really likes to wiggle through the water that his filter pushes out. He is picky about the food he eats. He doesn’t like the flakes, only the pellets. He likes to eat bloodworms as a treat, but only if I break them up first (whole one’s can’t fit in his mouth). He will not touch lettuce. I love him a lot.
The final small animal that I would like to talk about is my Bearded Dragon, Sheila. Sheila started out as a very small lizard. She was a baby when I got her, and was about the size of my hand (tail included). She is now just slightly longer that the area between by fingertips and my elbow. She is a little bit chucky because she loves to eat worms and hates to eat vegetables. I once had to feed her baby food because she had stopped eating. She likes to fight her own reflection and sometimes my cats. Sheila is a very special pet to me for many reasons, but the main one is that she is my emotional support animal. She helped me get through some of the most difficult days of my life. I know some people don’t understand how a lizard could possibly help my anxiety, but that doesn’t matter to me. What matters to me is that at my lowest, she was the only thing that could get me out of bed.
While most small animals don’t live for very long,they are definitely worthwhile companions that will forever hold a place in your heart.