By Mira P. (with new font!)
So, a few blog posts ago, I got two new rats, boys named Buster and Gob (pronounced "Jobe"), though they were previously named "Willy & Wonka".
I described their traits and personalities, but I had gotten them recently and didn't go into too much detail, so how about an update on how they're doing? (I can't upload any pictures, though, I apologize)
Gob is a little bit of a pain in the butt, but he's worth it. My mother and I take him and Buster up to my (rat-proofed) room for play-time, for at least an hour, sometimes more, and he always climbs up on my bedside table. It's not safe, since it contains many little toys and a lamp, so I always have to pick him up and take him down twenty times.
He likes to be tickled, though. Mostly around his neck and his belly. He'll always put his mouth on my finger, but he never bites (he doesn't have that problem when I look like food, though). He also rides on my mother and I's (or is it me's?) shoulders more.
Buster kind of reminds me of the brother of the spaztic one, the one who's always like *sigh*, Gob, stop it. He's a little less active and easily-entertained than Gob, but when he's up in my room he bounces around happily. He's a dumbo (did I mention that in my last post about them?) which means his ears are rounder on on the side of his head, which I think is adorable. My mom isn't too keen on his ears, though.
He loves cheese, but he isn't too big of a fan of anything else. Cheese is the only thing it seems like he likes. Gob, on the other hand, will eat anything, but he especially loves pasta. He does this bouncy run when he gets some.
They seem to squabble a lot, though - kind of sad. They love each other, though, you can tell. They'll snuggle together in their hammock, and Buster likes to groom Gob. It's kind of sad, though, Buster wants Gob to groom him, but Gob is so clueless, he doesn't know.
The last thing I want to say, I had to delete my last Tiny Cages gmail account, so my new one is tinycages2@gmail.com. Thanks!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Thursday, December 13, 2012
PETA
By Mira P.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an extremely well-known animal rights activist group. Before I get to writing anything else, one thing I want you to know is that this is an opinion post, which means I may post something that you disagree with or are offended by. Please let me (Mira) know in the comments section if anything did offend you.
I am not a fan of PETA, at all. I think they are obnoxious, and they go too far. They once handed out (I think; if I got anything wrong, feel free to tell me) disturbing "happy meals" to children to show them the cruelties of McDonald's, or maybe just eating meat in general, I don't know. Then another time they handed out flyers to children going to see a play, I believe, who have mothers and fathers who wear fur. Now, I absolutely hate it when people wear fur, but jeez, don't traumatize the kid - it's not their fault.
And another time, a more popular instance, is when they made a billboard that said "Save the whales. Lose the blubber: go vegetarian", and depicted a large woman in a bikini. If it didn't mean to purposefully, it accidentally calls overweight people "whales".
They have a few other billboards, though the other ones I've seen are less offensive. There's one that says "Boycott the circus", which I mostly agree with. I'm pretty sure that the circus does not treat the animals fairly or humanely - the only weird thing is that there's a naked woman on it (she's covered by her legs and body position, but still).
They've also made "parodies" (if that's the word) of video games, like Cooking Mama and Pokemon. In the PETA Cooking Mama, in the first part, you're basically cruelly and strangely killing and cooking a turkey, in a very unrealistic way (with evil Mama). In the second part, Mama goes vegan and turns into Good Mama, and proceeds to cook a tofu turkey. So the moral of the game? If you're not vegetarian, you're an awful person.
The other one was Pokemon, as I stated before. Now, how you can think of Pokemon as they apparently did is completely beyond me, but they managed to think of it as abuse, I guess. I haven't researched it much, but that's what I remember. I'm definitely not a fan of Pokemon (excuse me for not being able to put the accent-thingy on the "e") but I always assumed that the Pokemon just shrunk when they went into the Pokeballs . . . I didn't think there was a full sized animal (or whatever Pokemon are) in a tiny ball like that.
So for me, PETA isn't good and is actually anti-helpful to the cause of preventing animal cruelty. I've seen way more "eating a steak for PETA" than "I think PETA's doing good". And why put other animals before humans? I don't think you should put humans before animals, but animals aren't worth more. We're all equal, in my eyes.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is an extremely well-known animal rights activist group. Before I get to writing anything else, one thing I want you to know is that this is an opinion post, which means I may post something that you disagree with or are offended by. Please let me (Mira) know in the comments section if anything did offend you.
I am not a fan of PETA, at all. I think they are obnoxious, and they go too far. They once handed out (I think; if I got anything wrong, feel free to tell me) disturbing "happy meals" to children to show them the cruelties of McDonald's, or maybe just eating meat in general, I don't know. Then another time they handed out flyers to children going to see a play, I believe, who have mothers and fathers who wear fur. Now, I absolutely hate it when people wear fur, but jeez, don't traumatize the kid - it's not their fault.
They have a few other billboards, though the other ones I've seen are less offensive. There's one that says "Boycott the circus", which I mostly agree with. I'm pretty sure that the circus does not treat the animals fairly or humanely - the only weird thing is that there's a naked woman on it (she's covered by her legs and body position, but still).
They've also made "parodies" (if that's the word) of video games, like Cooking Mama and Pokemon. In the PETA Cooking Mama, in the first part, you're basically cruelly and strangely killing and cooking a turkey, in a very unrealistic way (with evil Mama). In the second part, Mama goes vegan and turns into Good Mama, and proceeds to cook a tofu turkey. So the moral of the game? If you're not vegetarian, you're an awful person.
The other one was Pokemon, as I stated before. Now, how you can think of Pokemon as they apparently did is completely beyond me, but they managed to think of it as abuse, I guess. I haven't researched it much, but that's what I remember. I'm definitely not a fan of Pokemon (excuse me for not being able to put the accent-thingy on the "e") but I always assumed that the Pokemon just shrunk when they went into the Pokeballs . . . I didn't think there was a full sized animal (or whatever Pokemon are) in a tiny ball like that.
So for me, PETA isn't good and is actually anti-helpful to the cause of preventing animal cruelty. I've seen way more "eating a steak for PETA" than "I think PETA's doing good". And why put other animals before humans? I don't think you should put humans before animals, but animals aren't worth more. We're all equal, in my eyes.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Pets for Presents
By Mira P.
Hey, everyone! It's December, and everybody's going crazy for Christmas. The stores are packed, and my neighbors have had lights up since November!
One thing I want to address is a common thing - giving small animals for Christmas presents. It's a fun idea - you wake up on Christmas morning, and go downstairs to find - a puppy! Or maybe a hamster? A fish? What else could a child want - their very own pet! The best Christmas ever!
Now, I'm for both sides on this subject. If you've already discussed the responsibility of a pet, and made sure they want them and will care for them - then that's fun! But I think a lot of time it's just a bad idea. The kid's happy - oh my god, my very own hamster! - then a few days later they're bored, or don't know what to do (or how much of it they'd have to do!). The excitement is gone and all the work is placed on mom and dad.
You need, I think, to discuss pets with your children before you adopt one. You cannot just adopt a dog and say "surprise! Happy birthday!" In a perfect world, that would be perfect. But one, a dog is a lot of responsibility, even as a family pet. Two, a surprising amount of times, children get something, love it for a few days, a few weeks, hell, a few months, and then they get bored of it. And if the thing they're getting bored of is a dog, a cat, or even a fish? It isn't good.
It's awful when someone adopts a dog (for example), then doesn't keep him or her. A dog is not a pet, but a family member, and you should never give up a family member. A dog is a big decision, it's not really a "Merry Christmas!" type thing.
What do you guys think? Is a small animal, even something like a fish, appropriate for a Christmas present? And what are you guys planning for your holidays? I personally can't wait to watch Elf on Christmas Eve! :)
Hey, everyone! It's December, and everybody's going crazy for Christmas. The stores are packed, and my neighbors have had lights up since November!
One thing I want to address is a common thing - giving small animals for Christmas presents. It's a fun idea - you wake up on Christmas morning, and go downstairs to find - a puppy! Or maybe a hamster? A fish? What else could a child want - their very own pet! The best Christmas ever!
Now, I'm for both sides on this subject. If you've already discussed the responsibility of a pet, and made sure they want them and will care for them - then that's fun! But I think a lot of time it's just a bad idea. The kid's happy - oh my god, my very own hamster! - then a few days later they're bored, or don't know what to do (or how much of it they'd have to do!). The excitement is gone and all the work is placed on mom and dad.
You need, I think, to discuss pets with your children before you adopt one. You cannot just adopt a dog and say "surprise! Happy birthday!" In a perfect world, that would be perfect. But one, a dog is a lot of responsibility, even as a family pet. Two, a surprising amount of times, children get something, love it for a few days, a few weeks, hell, a few months, and then they get bored of it. And if the thing they're getting bored of is a dog, a cat, or even a fish? It isn't good.
It's awful when someone adopts a dog (for example), then doesn't keep him or her. A dog is not a pet, but a family member, and you should never give up a family member. A dog is a big decision, it's not really a "Merry Christmas!" type thing.
What do you guys think? Is a small animal, even something like a fish, appropriate for a Christmas present? And what are you guys planning for your holidays? I personally can't wait to watch Elf on Christmas Eve! :)
Thursday, December 6, 2012
How We Treat Our Food Before It's Food
by Mira P.
Humans are omnivores. Of course, not all humans, as some are vegetarians, but the human species is an omnivorous species (we are able to eat both meat and other sources of food).
Back in the early days, humans hunted for their food - in fact, some still do. But a large majority of humans now simply go to the supermarket and buy it there. But how does the meat get there? Do the people hunt it, or do it by other means?
Now, many people reading this will already know what most people do for our meat. But even I don't know the extent of it, and to be honest, I am not curious and too sensitive to research it further. To put it very simply, we don't treat them nicely.
I don't like hunting as a sport, where you do it simply for fun and don't do anything with the animal. But current tribes and old, extinct ones mostly use all of the animal - the meat for food, the hide for clothing, and anything else they can use to help themselves. This doesn't waste the animal - you don't kill it to kill it.
Think about it - were you to be killed, would you prefer to be left there, killed for nothing? Or would you rather your meat and your skin (as creepy as that sounds!) to help them, so that they can keep on living healthily?
Anyway, back to the original subject, the way we treat the cows, and pigs, and chickens isn't okay. It's not how we're supposed to do it, and we're doing it just because it's cheaper. In my opinion, that's not okay.
Another subject is vegetarianism - I have nothing against them (two of my best friends are vegetarians), except for the ones that try to get to convert you to vegetarianism. I eat meat, and always will, though I do not like to eat anything I know hasn't had a good life. The problem I have with it is not necessarily the trying to get me to be a vegetarian, it's why.
Most of the time, they're saying about how it's wrong to treat animals like we do. And yes, I agree. But I disagree that trying to get people to stop eating meat is the right way to do it. Not everybody will stop eating meat, no matter how hard you try (especially because humans are designed to eat meat). There are entire cultures that would laugh at the idea. The right way to try and get it to stop is getting to the core of it. Go to the people who make the meat, not the people who eat it.
What do you guys think of the subject?
A P.S. - Here's a site dedicated to informing and helping. I only looked at the first page, but it's not a gory- picture site - but may contain sad words, so be careful if you're sensitive like me :)
Humans are omnivores. Of course, not all humans, as some are vegetarians, but the human species is an omnivorous species (we are able to eat both meat and other sources of food).
Back in the early days, humans hunted for their food - in fact, some still do. But a large majority of humans now simply go to the supermarket and buy it there. But how does the meat get there? Do the people hunt it, or do it by other means?
Now, many people reading this will already know what most people do for our meat. But even I don't know the extent of it, and to be honest, I am not curious and too sensitive to research it further. To put it very simply, we don't treat them nicely.
I don't like hunting as a sport, where you do it simply for fun and don't do anything with the animal. But current tribes and old, extinct ones mostly use all of the animal - the meat for food, the hide for clothing, and anything else they can use to help themselves. This doesn't waste the animal - you don't kill it to kill it.
Think about it - were you to be killed, would you prefer to be left there, killed for nothing? Or would you rather your meat and your skin (as creepy as that sounds!) to help them, so that they can keep on living healthily?
Anyway, back to the original subject, the way we treat the cows, and pigs, and chickens isn't okay. It's not how we're supposed to do it, and we're doing it just because it's cheaper. In my opinion, that's not okay.
Another subject is vegetarianism - I have nothing against them (two of my best friends are vegetarians), except for the ones that try to get to convert you to vegetarianism. I eat meat, and always will, though I do not like to eat anything I know hasn't had a good life. The problem I have with it is not necessarily the trying to get me to be a vegetarian, it's why.
Most of the time, they're saying about how it's wrong to treat animals like we do. And yes, I agree. But I disagree that trying to get people to stop eating meat is the right way to do it. Not everybody will stop eating meat, no matter how hard you try (especially because humans are designed to eat meat). There are entire cultures that would laugh at the idea. The right way to try and get it to stop is getting to the core of it. Go to the people who make the meat, not the people who eat it.
What do you guys think of the subject?
A P.S. - Here's a site dedicated to informing and helping. I only looked at the first page, but it's not a gory- picture site - but may contain sad words, so be careful if you're sensitive like me :)
Monday, December 3, 2012
My First Pet
by Mira P.
My first pet was a dwarf hamster named Rosetta. Rosetta was gray with a white stripe down her back, and was feisty. She would always turn down every single chewing toy I gave her, but she chewed on her cage bars at night (hamsters are nocturnal).
She bit me quite a few times, but I wasn't mad at her - most likely, I smelled like food!
I remember one time, she escaped from her cage. Hamsters are generally pretty small, so I was worried I wouldn't ever find her. We found a pile of her food in the bathroom next to the toilet, so at least at that point we knew she was okay!
We put a bowl of water out for her, so she would have food and water, and waited a while to see if she returned on her own. We did think of a few "traps" we could set, but thankfully those weren't necessary! Rosetta came home (back to her cage) fairly soon. My dad walked in and saw her next to the table her cage sat on, so he put her back in.
Rosetta was an amazing pet, but I think I'm more a rat-person than a hamster-person. Rosetta will always have a place in my heart (figuratively, of course) as the best hamster and first pet I've ever had. :)
Does anyone have a first pet experience they'd like to share? Or any pet story? I'd love to hear them!
My first pet was a dwarf hamster named Rosetta. Rosetta was gray with a white stripe down her back, and was feisty. She would always turn down every single chewing toy I gave her, but she chewed on her cage bars at night (hamsters are nocturnal).
She bit me quite a few times, but I wasn't mad at her - most likely, I smelled like food!
I remember one time, she escaped from her cage. Hamsters are generally pretty small, so I was worried I wouldn't ever find her. We found a pile of her food in the bathroom next to the toilet, so at least at that point we knew she was okay!
We put a bowl of water out for her, so she would have food and water, and waited a while to see if she returned on her own. We did think of a few "traps" we could set, but thankfully those weren't necessary! Rosetta came home (back to her cage) fairly soon. My dad walked in and saw her next to the table her cage sat on, so he put her back in.
Rosetta was an amazing pet, but I think I'm more a rat-person than a hamster-person. Rosetta will always have a place in my heart (figuratively, of course) as the best hamster and first pet I've ever had. :)
Does anyone have a first pet experience they'd like to share? Or any pet story? I'd love to hear them!
Monday, November 26, 2012
My Dog, Daxter
By Mira P.
Time for another more personal blog post, mostly because I just am so braindead today that I couldn't think of anything to write. So, how about I tell you guys about my dog?
"Dogs are man's best friend" - that's a quote that everyone knows. Dogs are wonderful creatures, and popular pets. They're affectionate or independent, fun or lazy, they can be your best friend or your worst enemy (but mostly your best friend!) Who wouldn't want a dog?
We got my dog, Daxter (named after Jak and Daxter, my dad's favorite video game) a few years ago, at a no-kill rescue shelter. Daxter was going to be put down because he was so shy before the no-kill group rescued him. Which is weird, because he was quite nice and not too shy when we adopted him (maybe the people at the shelter he was in before were scary).
We took a walk with him before we decided whether or not we were going to bring him home. He was really nice and pretty cute! We adopted him (only about $100) and brought him home. The first few weeks, he was pretty much silent - didn't make a peep.
We considered calling him Galaxy for the longest of any name we'd thought of before - thank goodness we didn't name him that, though! Everyone always confused "Daxter" with "Dexter", I guess because of the show "Dexter" (which my mom still won't let me watch!)
Daxter's a really great dog, and I'm glad to have him as the fifth family member! Our family wouldn't be the same without him. He isn't perfect - like, when he's barking at the door, he won't shut up, and he'll never do anything if he doesn't get a treat, but his good qualities rule out the bad ones!
Does anyone want to share anything about their dog?
Time for another more personal blog post, mostly because I just am so braindead today that I couldn't think of anything to write. So, how about I tell you guys about my dog?
"Dogs are man's best friend" - that's a quote that everyone knows. Dogs are wonderful creatures, and popular pets. They're affectionate or independent, fun or lazy, they can be your best friend or your worst enemy (but mostly your best friend!) Who wouldn't want a dog?
We got my dog, Daxter (named after Jak and Daxter, my dad's favorite video game) a few years ago, at a no-kill rescue shelter. Daxter was going to be put down because he was so shy before the no-kill group rescued him. Which is weird, because he was quite nice and not too shy when we adopted him (maybe the people at the shelter he was in before were scary).
We took a walk with him before we decided whether or not we were going to bring him home. He was really nice and pretty cute! We adopted him (only about $100) and brought him home. The first few weeks, he was pretty much silent - didn't make a peep.
We considered calling him Galaxy for the longest of any name we'd thought of before - thank goodness we didn't name him that, though! Everyone always confused "Daxter" with "Dexter", I guess because of the show "Dexter" (which my mom still won't let me watch!)
 |
| Daxter, my crazy-looking dog. |
Daxter's a really great dog, and I'm glad to have him as the fifth family member! Our family wouldn't be the same without him. He isn't perfect - like, when he's barking at the door, he won't shut up, and he'll never do anything if he doesn't get a treat, but his good qualities rule out the bad ones!
Does anyone want to share anything about their dog?
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Guinea Pigs!
By Mira P
We've (my family and I) had two pairs of guinea pigs, the first, a pair of girls named Kiki and Whiskers and our current pair, two girls named Sugar and Charkie (like charcoal). Guinea pigs are a great pet. I, unfortunately, am allergic to them.
As much as I hate to admit it, my gut reaction when someone tells me they're getting a guinea pig is "no! Don't get a guinea pig!" Mostly because most people I know (not most people in general) don't really know how to take proper care of a guinea pig; they are oftentimes seen as an over-sized hamster.
This myth that a guinea pig is a big hamster can be deadly. Guinea pigs are actually rather complicated to take care of, and aren't the same as hamster at all. The first and most important thing - cage size. People commonly get the wrong sized cage for a guinea pig. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, because they like to run around and popcorn. (visit Cavy Cages for more info on cage size) I have never seen an appropriate sized cage for a guinea pig at a pet store - never.
I once read a book where the author most likely mixed up "hamster" and "guinea pig" or "rat" and "guinea pig". It included a scene where the "guinea pig" ran away and got lost (guinea pigs are not small and would likely be found moderately quickly, but of course, they could also get lost. My guinea pigs have never shown an interest), where they picked the guinea pig's cage up (a cage shouldn't be small enough that you can pick it up) and one of them said "close the top or she will climb out" (a guinea pig could jump out if their cage is low enough, but they can't climb out).
It was a minor mistake, but it just shows that guinea pigs and hamsters are too easily mixed up. What do you guys think?
We've (my family and I) had two pairs of guinea pigs, the first, a pair of girls named Kiki and Whiskers and our current pair, two girls named Sugar and Charkie (like charcoal). Guinea pigs are a great pet. I, unfortunately, am allergic to them.
As much as I hate to admit it, my gut reaction when someone tells me they're getting a guinea pig is "no! Don't get a guinea pig!" Mostly because most people I know (not most people in general) don't really know how to take proper care of a guinea pig; they are oftentimes seen as an over-sized hamster.
This myth that a guinea pig is a big hamster can be deadly. Guinea pigs are actually rather complicated to take care of, and aren't the same as hamster at all. The first and most important thing - cage size. People commonly get the wrong sized cage for a guinea pig. Guinea pigs need a lot of space, because they like to run around and popcorn. (visit Cavy Cages for more info on cage size) I have never seen an appropriate sized cage for a guinea pig at a pet store - never.
I once read a book where the author most likely mixed up "hamster" and "guinea pig" or "rat" and "guinea pig". It included a scene where the "guinea pig" ran away and got lost (guinea pigs are not small and would likely be found moderately quickly, but of course, they could also get lost. My guinea pigs have never shown an interest), where they picked the guinea pig's cage up (a cage shouldn't be small enough that you can pick it up) and one of them said "close the top or she will climb out" (a guinea pig could jump out if their cage is low enough, but they can't climb out).
It was a minor mistake, but it just shows that guinea pigs and hamsters are too easily mixed up. What do you guys think?
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