How Do People Have The Best Pets?????

[Shellybean02]

I wasn't exactly looking forward to my mom being judged...
I was at one point considering volunteering at a shelter, I forgot why I dropped it. One problem would be getting there and coming home; not sure if anyone would be willing to drive me.
I guess for now I'll go with small things. If I take the proper care I know everything will be just fine. I can't wait a bunch of years to get my next pet; people seems drawn away from me and I can't handle being alone at this stage of my life... even something that I can just hold for a minute or two would be perfect.
For the fish, I'm planning on creating a balanced ecosystem as opposed to getting a lot of expensive equipment. This will include plants, those micro organisms, shrimp, apple snails and fish. Maybe some other stuff. But these organisms are supposed to help each other. I will, of course, check the water to see if it is safe for them and I will change this plan if it goes wrong.
Happy holidays everyone

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Hi,
I have many many pets and have a few recommendations. First, I would get a leopard gecko. I have had three so far, two still alive and well. They are small, easy to care for, require little room, are pretty much silent, and do not smell. They come in very nice colors as well. I also recommend an albino checkered garter snake. Mine is nippy though, very much when he is hungry. He is sweet to me, but not so great around most kids, I've only seen him ever take to the very gentle, older children. Adults he is fine with, but since you said you cannot drive, I'm guessing you are relatively young. My snake, Zen, is silent, doesn't smell, and is very easy to care for. I clean his cage once a month, and it takes about half an hour, occasionally 45 minutes to an hour. He is low maintenance except that he needs to be fed fish or pinky mice. I have fish, turtles, a tortoise, frogs, and birds most of the time. But please, do a lot of research before getting any animal. Bettas should not be kept in pairs. Males will kill females, even in breeding season. Please do not get them yet. And if you do, get one. Good luck!

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Also, shrimp will be eaten by almost any fish. So will snails, who will eat the plants voraciously.

 

[Shellybean02]

I'll elaborate on my aquarium plan:
One snail. Apple snails get pretty big, I'll be sure to get one too big for the fish to eat. I want a snail to manage algae. Considering what you said about plants... Would it eat algae rather than plants if there is an abundance? Or both plants and algae? Somehow in nature plants manage to grow a lot even with all the snails, and I want to create the same situation. I will not keep betas in the same tank; they'll only be together for breeding purposes, and I did a lot of research on that so even if it doesn't work out I can just keep them as pretty fish. Betas and guppies are small, so I wouldn't worry about getting shrimp about the same size or a bit bigger/smaller.
I'll have driving lessons in 3 years^-^
Definitely considering leopard geckos, since crested geckos are expensive here for some reason.
Mom keeps implying that she has something in mind for me, so it's a surprise (not the type of christmas surprise animal that you cuddle with and then think what the heck do I do with this thing??? Whatever she chose for me, it was one of the animals that I did research on and determined to be a good match for my family and situation. Basically from my favorites list on craigslist pets

)
I hope everyone else gets what they want this holiday! Fingers crossed for everyone; But most importantly, have fun and spend time with friends and family

 

[dainerra]

pretty much all of them would rather feed on plants than algea. the idea of having a planted tank is that the plants use the nitrates so that algea doesn't form

 

[LeafBlade12345]

Also, I wouldn't breed Bettas. They will kill each other unless they are carefully watched and regulated in the allowed breeding time. And this is assuming that the male wants to mate and the female will comply relatively well. Please do start off with Bettas, they come with a host of health problems. Try guppies, mollies, even a couple of Cory cats or loaches. See my fish thread for more details. It is titled Hippy Fish Breeding, yes I misspelled guppy...into hippy. Anyway, you should check the thread out. Due to your beta wishes, I will add a short post on breeding and keeping them for the future. I wouldn't buy snails, frogs, crabs, shrimp, crayfish, "lobsters", or aggressive fish. They are problems waiting to happen.

Good luck,
Leaf

 

[LeafBlade12345]

You should actually check my Keeping Fish thread. It has much more info than the one I just recommended. You'll definitely want to read it if you are serious about creating a good fish tank environment.

 

[Shellybean02]

I'll things here, fish things in your other thread.

The old one has the most spots. Why is she always squinting? It's mostly one eye but sometimes both

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I have two things to add. First, my first gecko had the same eye problem. If you don't have access to a vet, use a warm washcloth, dampened, and flush her eye gently. Then keep a close eye on it. Keep us updateded. Second, that last gecko looks very male to me. If you could post a picture of her/his underbelly and base of its tail I could help you figure out for sure. They are beautiful. My recently deceased breeding female looked just like your female in the first picture, same morph, a blizzard cross. I call her eye problem eclipse eye and it is very common. Many times it resolved itself. Keep us updated! If you ever have questions or need help, feel free to PM me!

 

[Shellybean02]

How does it Look male? Also, my mom doesn't know how to handle them and she has to care for them while I'm away for break. She won't be able to give special care, but she knows the basics. I'll ask her to keep me updated though. Until next time!