Thursday Thirteen #36

I got Nicky a Betta fish, which he has dubbed Nemo. It got me to thinking that in my life time I have had lots of different pets. So in honor of the inclusion of Nemo in our household...


13 Pets I've Had

1. A Hamster Named Chester
He was a cutie pie, who became a wild hamster by mistake. He was very ill, presumed dead, buried, and later rose from the dead. Okay, obviously he didn't rise from the dead, but he did dig his way out of his grave.
2. Bunnies
I don't remember their names, because I was much too little, but I do remember that the baby bunnies in the nesting box bore a striking resemblance to pop corn popping.
3. Guinea Hens
These didn't have names. They are birds that are possibly the only creature on earth who goes from completely adorable to utterly hideous in the space of a few months. They start off looking like fuzzy white tennis balls with legs and end up looking...well I don't think I can aptly describe them. So check out this link.
4. Ducks
I still adore ducks, if we had a pond, I'd totally have a flock.
5. Chickens
These started out always as those adorable little chicks at the feed store and 9 times of 10 grew up into demon attack rosters. There was one we had that was absolutely so men I was afraid to go in the yard. He would jump on me and attack me with those big claws they have on the backs of their feet.
6. Dogs
I've had several throughout the years and they all deserve their own posts so I'll just leave it at that.
7. Cats
Same as dogs.
8. Horses
There were two that I particularly adored, Sheba and her son Sire. They were wonderful horses.
9. Parakeets
I remember enjoying having them as pets but I'm not sure why. Birds are a great deal of work for very little pay off. They could care less about you as a general rule.
10. Cockatiels
We had two, one named Cocky and one named Sulpher. Both of them said a few words and knew how to call the cats. Cocky even learned to sing a song that I had to play on my flute for a competition. As birds go, they were good pets.
11. Many a Fair Goldfish
You know how you can play the game at the county fair usually where you throw ping pong balls into the goldfish bowls? Well we enjoyed that game as kids. hehe
12. Guppies
I like these fish. They are pretty cute, and they were always having little guppy babies.
13. Bettas
Yes, Nemo is not my first. I do know a great deal more about them now though. Like they are from Thailand and are common in rice paddies. They can live in such shallow still water because they can breathe air. That's how they can survive in those tiny little containers at pet stores, but it's not an ideal environment for them. Despite the fact that those little containers are probably insanely boring, they are also virtually impossible to keep warm. Coming from such a warm environment they thrive in water in the upper 70s to lower 80s, which is why I'm keeping Nemo's light on most of the time. He's a terribly amusing fish because he thinks his reflection in the side of the aquarium is another boy Betta, and he does his darnedest to scare him off.

Well there is my list. What pet's have you had?