# Double Standards w/ pets



## xStatic (Dec 16, 2012)

I hate it when people have double standards when it comes to keeping pets! I am a member of many different pet oriented forums and I see this all the time. I have a lot of pets... 6 snakes, 2 lizards, 5 fish, 2 dogs, 3 rats, and 1 mouse and each and every one of my pets has been a huge commitment and investment. Not only do my rats have a good sized cage and lots of toys and free roaming time, but my snakes each have large tanks and adequate hides and heat pads that are all regulated by thermostats, and my betta fish are all in large heated and filtered tanks and I test their water, and my blue tongue skink has a HUGE enclosure and gets top of the line food, ETC.

If you are going to have multiple animals than all of them should be getting the care and attention they deserve. The other day I was on a fish forum and there was a lady talking about her 5 female rats and then she posted pictures of their cage and it was this tiny thing with maybe an inch of wood shavings at the bottom and bare plastic shelves barely able to hold the weight of one or two rats. There were no toys or hammocks or anything in their cage and it was just awful looking ): All the rats were just curled up on the floor in the dirty wood shavings asleep and who knows if she was even using aspen, she probably went the cheap route and was using pine or cedar or something. But of COURSE her fish all had huge beautiful aquariums with filters and everything else they needed. She probably spends thousands on her fish and keeps her rats alive with her pocket change. She even was telling a story about how she's had rats attack and kill each other in order to "weed out the weaker rats" and couldn't even process what she was thinking. And its not like these were "feeder" rats either, these were her PETS. Her poor rats are probably all deranged and terrified with the quality of treatment she's giving them. 

I see the same things with reptiles too. Someone will completely pamper and shower their dogs with love, but their snakes are left to die in unheated filthy tanks that are too small and filled with some toxic soft wood substrate or something. Then when you try and educate them on how to take care of their animals they get all defensive and say you're overreacting and "the animal has lived this long in there conditions so why should they change it." Or when they say they never realized it would be so expensive to have a corn snake, I'm just like WELL THEN SELL THE DARN THING DON'T KEEP TORTURING IT! I'm well aware of the fact that animals like fish and reptiles aren't capable of showing the same levels of intelligence and love as some of out mammal companions, but they still deserve to have all of their basic needs met by their owners so they can live healthy lives. 

I just don't understand how some peoples' brains work


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

D: That is so sad! It makes my stomach hurt.. But to be honest I think my rat is my favorite pet haha I think it is so cool you are on different forums though. This is the only one I am on for any of my pets. But I have a 600 gallon salt water tank! I think it is so crazy how people who have a lot of animals tend to flock together. haha. What kind of snakes and lizards fish do you have?


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## xStatic (Dec 16, 2012)

gotchea said:


> D: That is so sad! It makes my stomach hurt.. But to be honest I think my rat is my favorite pet haha I think it is so cool you are on different forums though. This is the only one I am on for any of my pets. But I have a 600 gallon salt water tank! I think it is so crazy how people who have a lot of animals tend to flock together. haha. What kind of snakes and lizards fish do you have?


That's so awesome! I wish I could have a tank that big haha 

I have 2 corns snakes (snow and pewter morphs), an albino checkered garter snake, a whitewater rosy boa, a cinnamon ball python, a kenyan sand boa, a northern blue tongue skink, a crested gecko, 4 male betta fish and a pleco with 10, 5, and 2.5 gallon tanks, my male mousie :3, my 3 female rats, and my two chihuahuas! 

I've had lots of pets my whole life though and I've also kept goldfish, guinea pigs, hermit crabs, frogs, etc. I got my first snake about 4 years ago and have acquired the rest slowly since then.

Sometimes I try to think about how much money I've probably spent on all my pets and it can be a little shocking haha. Some of my snakes were an easy $100-200 alone so with all of the equipment I'm sure I've spent thousands and thousands on everyone. And it's not like I have more money than most or anything either, I just work hard to make the money to take care of my animals because I really love having them around so it makes me so sad when people sit there and mistreat their pets because they just don't feel like investing in a big cage or some toys or something ): I wish people were required to take a pet education class before they were allowed to buy animals xD


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

That would be such a good idea! To take a class before you get an animal. 
I love betta fish! Do you have pictures?
I hate it when people mistreat their animals. It makes me sooo ill. I have to stop clicking on your post though because the tortoise on fire was way too much for my heart to handle.


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## darkiss4428 (May 31, 2014)

i agree with you i have a lot of pets but no more than i can take care of my boyfriend has 3 snakes and each one has a nice enclosure we research each of our animals to meet there needs and study them before getting them too many people dont


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## gotchea (May 4, 2013)

Researching animals is one of my favorite things to do!


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## xStatic (Dec 16, 2012)

gotchea said:


> Researching animals is one of my favorite things to do!


Totally agree! It's like an extra hobby. And people are always so amazed that I have so much offhand knowledge about so many different types of animals


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## Charlottesmom (Nov 27, 2013)

Ah, research!! I study the heck out of anything I'm interested in, pets very much included.


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## ksaxton (Apr 20, 2014)

And I can't stand it when I see people giving an animal improper care, whether it be food, housing, etc, and I try to correct them not assuming they're doing it on purpose, just letting them know, and they get all defensive and say "well ____ LOVES it!" They convince themselves that what they're doing is okay because the animal "loves" it, and they only think they love it because the animal is still alive and seems to be happy. Before I knew better I kept my rats in a tiny plastic bin with a lid on it and nothing but holes punched in it. Awful I know. It's not as if I woke Up the next morning to find a well written letter saying "dear owner, actually, we prefer a tall wire cage with plenty of stimulation, and not this bin". As far as I could tell from they way the acted, they had no problem with the bin. It's my RESPONSIBILITY as their owner to research what's best for them and give it to them. 


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## thenightgoddess (Apr 2, 2014)

Ugh I hate people like that and when you try to tell them that what there are doing isn't right for there animal they won't listen.I have three rats, a ferret, and two fish tanks. 

My rats have a large enough cage with lots of toys and hammocks get fed a mixture of oxbow and cagedbirdsinging's mix. My senior rat needs almost constant care because he can't do much by himself and meds twice a day. 

My ferret is in a single ferret nation cage with the proper set up, has a ton of boxes and "toys" for his out time, and is fed raw meat.

I kind if neglect my fish but at least they are in proper tanks with filters and heaters and are fed correctly.


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## Charlottesmom (Nov 27, 2013)

I Love Bettas! My stupid sister (whom I normally adore) "rescued" one from her 12 year old daughter's best friend who was moving out of state. She originally asked if I wanted him and I told her YES!! But they decided they wanted a Betta like the ones I had.....The poor guy was in a half gallon non-heated tank, I told her she needed a bigger tank, a heater and some live plants would be nice, she totally ignored me. We went over to her house for Christmas Eve (a week after the had "rescued" the fish), still no heater, tiny tank and no plant, in her daughters Cold room! The fish looked terrible so I talked to my niece and told her she really needed a bigger tank and heater if she wanted her fish to live, I even offered to buy them as a late christams gift and send them to her. She just giggled her infuriating giggle and said "mom said my fish is fine", I then offered to adopt the fish if she didn't want to take care of him properly, another stupid giggle from her (it is her "I'm not listening to you" giggle, I have heard it many times). I was pissed at my stupid sister because both she and my niece clearly didn't give two craps about the welfare of the fish. I held it all in until we got in the car and my poor husband and kids got an earful. So............fast forward my sister calls the day after Christmas, guess who died Christmas morning, yes, the fish. I almost said "good". 


This is the same sister who refused to take her dog to beginner obedience classes, now the dog barks, and snaps, and is quite the handful. She thinks he is fine, but he bit me once and tried to bite my son...who had done nothing more than walk by the dog. She does no research into her pets before she gets them. She mentioned her kids wanted a rabbit but since I have Stewie (our indoor Flemmie) she actually did listen to how much a properly cared for rabbit would cost. I also mentioned that her dog (black lab) would rip it to shreads in about 3 seconds. She decided against a rabbit, thank goodness!


/rant......


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## SneakyLord (Mar 22, 2014)

My friend had guinea pigs, they were treated like royalty. His mum loved them more then he did though. He got bored with them after a few years and decided to get a rat. He went to the pet shop, got 1 rat, cedar shavings, and a hamster cage too small for even a hamster. He only fed it leftovers. It grew, and grew and grew, until one day it got stuck a tube where he would put the food. He never took it out and I don't think he ever cleaned it. It was stuck in the tube for days, it starved itself and got out. Lonely, starving, dehydrated and sick, it started to die. He then took it out of its cage for the first time in its life and took him outside and put him on the floor, realising him into the wild. He then found him the next day in exactly the same place, dead.


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## BlackAce (Apr 18, 2013)

SneakyLord that is a sickeningly sad story.


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## QueenB1958 (Apr 27, 2014)

People should need licenses to get animal if they're going to be such complete idiots. I can't ever imagine not doing research when you get a pet.


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## Marie5656 (Jun 1, 2014)

I hate that people forget that domesticated animals would never survive in the wild. They have no survival skills. Sadly, that rat had no chance. I would rehome any animal I felt I could not care for. Many years ago a co-worker was moving out of state, and this and other circumstances prevented her from keeping her two parakeets. She gave them to me. I realized I knew NOTHING about birds. This was way before the internet. Plus they were noisy,and did not seem to get along. I ended up rehoming them to another friend, who had had birds in the past and knew more than me. I realize now I did the wrong thing by taking the birds not knowing anything about caring for them or even if I 
would like having birds as pets. Funny thing my husband talked about getting bird and I immediately had a flashback to my bad experience and said NO!!


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

If I neglect anything in life it's homework and grocery shopping rather than my pets. I'm not sure how many times my husband has caught me with cages open talking to my rats after I'd told him that I had homework to do . I too have multiple pets: 2 large dogs, a bearded dragon, a leopard gecko, a normal ball python and my 5 rats...the husband might belong on that list too . But I take the time to give them everything they need and then some. If that means that I have to forego getting a haircut or replacing a pair of shoes to buy them what they need, then so be it. They provide me with happiness and I like to think that I try my hardest to return the favor.


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## MissSix (Jul 8, 2014)

Oh gods! I frequented an exotic pet store that rescued neglected animals. The worst thing I ever saw was two beardies with metabolic bone disease. Their spines were like zigzags. The owner had no idea that a reptile needed UV light! Without UV a reptile can't properly absorb calcium and other vitamins, leading to bone deformations and other health problems. 

I've seen people abuse tarantulas! This jerk kept a T in a little cup, and she had no room to molt. Luckily she was rescued. It took over a year of care to get her back to semi-normal. I think by now her legs are pretty much back to the right shape, and she's eating well. People seem to think that tarantulas can't be neglected or abused just because they are pretty hardy (they can live without food for 2 years), and I think some of that is also because spiders don't inspire the same kind of affection in most people that other animals do.

My pets are ridiculously spoiled. I feel guilty for not totally spoiling my rats. My tarantula has a big tank with lots of substrate to dig in and even fake plants. I have considered reptiles before, but I know how much work they are and I know that at the moment I'm not up to that responsibility. People really need to think about how much work they are willing to do before they get an animal. 

To add to this rant, I hate how people refuse to understand how much a person can care about an animal. When my centipede died people were all "It's not like your cat died, it's just a centipede!" Like one life means more than the other? Just because she didn't purr and cuddle, doesn't mean I wasn't heartbroken over her death.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

And to think that a lot of these people who can't even care for a small animal go on to have kids....it's just scary


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## beaner (Jul 21, 2014)

I agree, people think that if they have the minimum requirements then they are good, but a minimum is just that, the bare necessities, I always do my best to research and give them the best life that I am capable, Here are some photos of my Rat, Chameleon and Crested Gecko enclosures.





















I also realize that I am not all knowing and that as a human, we make mistakes, when people try to give advice, I take it, and then research it to ensure accuracy, how bad would I feel if they were right and I ignored them, and I could have done better by my little guys...


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

It always completely baffles me why people who decide a certain pet isn't for them don't just rehome them, why do they feel the need to keep the pet when they know they can't be bothered with it/can't afford to care for it/just don't like it? Where did the great stigma of rehoming your pet come from, that it somehow is an admittance of failure and detrimental to your character, when the real failure and character defamation comes from treating a pet like crap because deep down you don't want it. There has been a massive increase lately in Scotland of people abandoning animals, we are severely struggling economically here and loads of people are in poverty, but the resources to rehome an animal still exist. You can sell or give away a pet to a new home via one of a thousand websites, you can call the rspca or spca and explain you have to give up your pet because you can't care for it, even some pet store chains have a rehoming section and will take pets from you to rehome in-store. There's absolutely no excuse to keep an animal in awful conditions, or to abandon it. Some people just simply do not care about the welfare of a 'lesser' species, or are simply too freaking lazy to deal with making their pet's life better. This is a huge peeve of mine.


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## kksrats (Jul 25, 2014)

PurpleGirl said:


> It always completely baffles me why people who decide a certain pet isn't for them don't just rehome them, why do they feel the need to keep the pet when they know they can't be bothered with it/can't afford to care for it/just don't like it?


Ugh...this reminds me of a person who was asking for a free reptile on craigslist because they couldn't afford to buy one. I messaged them as soon as I saw that and politely informed them that if they couldn't afford to buy the animal then they certainly couldn't afford to care for it. So many people think of their pets as accessories or something to brag about to their friends, it just makes me sick.


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## PurpleGirl (Oct 12, 2012)

Me too. :-( It's amazing, the number of people who only take the cost of the actual pet into account. Pets need their own living space, they need fed, and they need medical care sometimes. Those kinds of people never take their animal to the vet when they ought to. So sad.


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## ClassicFAIL (Aug 2, 2013)

When I own a pet i put HOURS into researching while i have them, before i get them, and after. I always make sure my animals have the best life possible. Its my responsibility as their caregiver. It shocks me that people dont have the same attitude. :/


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## Gannyaan (Dec 7, 2012)

SneakyLord said:


> My friend had guinea pigs, they were treated like royalty. His mum loved them more then he did though. He got bored with them after a few years and decided to get a rat. He went to the pet shop, got 1 rat, cedar shavings, and a hamster cage too small for even a hamster. He only fed it leftovers. It grew, and grew and grew, until one day it got stuck a tube where he would put the food. He never took it out and I don't think he ever cleaned it. It was stuck in the tube for days, it starved itself and got out. Lonely, starving, dehydrated and sick, it started to die. He then took it out of its cage for the first time in its life and took him outside and put him on the floor, realising him into the wild. He then found him the next day in exactly the same place, dead.


That makes me want to vomit. Horrific. 


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