My Pet Mistakes

┴┈┈┈┈■┈┈┈┈┴

My Pet Mistakes

┬┈┈┈┈□┈┈┈┈┬

Everyone has made mistakes in their pet care, often by accident. Very rarely are these mistakes ever made intentionally, to be honest. There is so much misinformation in the world from pet stores, our family, books, and even online sometimes. Thankfully online has come a long way and if you read multiple things you can see if there are discrepancies. Personally amino has helped me the most, there is a lot of reliable and experienced people here and other communities that helped me a lot. Just always do your research!

Below I’ll go over a few of the mistakes I , keep in mind I was young and had little access to information. I grew up in a rural community where you were lucky if you had a family member with dial-up, and everyone usually just listened to family or pet stores for animal advice. Many of the mistakes from my childhood were a result of my mom; she’d often get/let us have pets we couldn’t properly care for. I myself have come a long way and always do research for any animal I get now.

Credit for this trend goes to Mercury for her post, where she shares her own mistakes. Anyone that shares their mistakes has my respect because it’s not easy to it when we’ve done things wrong.

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

When I was a kid it was “normal” to get a fish and just toss them in a bowl. So whether it was a goldfish from the fair or a betta from the store we’d keep them in tiny bowls with no water treatment or filters or anything. In fact I had no idea until a lot later in life how much care fish actually needed. Thankfully I’m not a fish person at all, as their tanks care and smell deter me. Last time I had a fish (betta) I gave him to my coworker and he lived happily a couple of years with her.

└──────────────────┘

Fish Bowls

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

I at one point when I was a kid we had rabbits, and kept them outside. They had an outdoor hutch that was definitely too small for them. We’d bring them in to play but I really don’t think we were old enough or responsible enough to be allowed to do that. Unfortunately, someone left the door unlocked and our dog got one of them and the other I think died not long after (probably from stress). We didn’t get rabbits again thankfully though I’m sure my mom considered it. I’ve since had rabbits and made sure to properly set things up for them, I’ve learned a lot more about the proper care they need since being a little kid.

└──────────────────┘

Outside Rabbits

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

Somewhere along the line we had hamsters, I think we had two. The cages they were kept in were definitely too small and completely improper. They ended up being super stressed out and unable to be handled. I getting super upset when “mine” was climbing the cage like monkey bars and chewing on the bars but I didn’t know what to do. I was young and too scared to even reach in to get her for fear I’d get bit. When she died I being so upset, her name was blossom and she was a cream-colored hamster. I can’t much about the other one, though it definitely ed away around the same time.

└──────────────────┘

Hamster Cages

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

This was ALMOST a mistake I made but thankfully I was given the proper advice to correct everything right away. Above you will see the set up my leopard gecko came with, I got him from someone rehoming him. Initially I thought I got a great deal since he had a “set up” he came with but boy was I wrong. Everything was bad, including the size itself. I managed to buy and fix everything without a couple of days thankfully! The biggest things were a bigger tank, different substrate, gages for the temperature/humidity, and more hides. He is extremely spoiled at this point and because of him every reptile I’ve gotten since I always do my research properly especially on their tanks.

└──────────────────┘

Leopard Gecko Setup

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

Out in the country we only had outdoor cats, and rarely could let them inside. Where my great aunt lives is right on the edge of town where you’d travel out to the country and it's on a very traffic-heavy road. She always made sure her dogs were tied up outside and her cats she had always stayed inside. Junior was a cat I took in with intentions of it being to find him a forever home of his own. He ended up getting outside and we started letting him go in and out as he pleased, as this was what he did in his prior home. Unfortunately one day he got hit and it was super heartbreaking, we were all super attached to him. I have a lot of regrets and wished I hadn’t let him go out and tried harder. I’ve since become firm that I’ll never again let any of my cats outside. I have seen too many cats that have also been lost this way.

└──────────────────┘

Outdoor Cat in the City

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

╔═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╗

┌──────────────────┐

I can’t exactly how I ended up taking 2 chicks home. I think it was from a family member, they let me take one home that was sick and another just in case it ed. It did end up ing away unfortunately and the remaining one got attached to me. I named her Pepper and took really good care of her (I think). During the summers I had to go to my dads and when I came back I was informed the dog had got her. We didn’t have any kind of cage for her just an old dog cage my mom let me use to keep her safe outside. Evidently one of my brothers had opened it or something. Had there been a proper pen set up for her and I knew more about chicken care she might have lived a long life. I don’t think I should have been given the chicks to begin with considering I was just a kid with no experience.

└──────────────────┘

Unplanned Chicken

╚═══*.·:·.✧    ✦    ✧.·:·.*═══╝

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

Thanks for reading my blog! Understand again, that these are mistakes from when I was a kid and I’ve grown significantly since then. No one is perfect and everyone needs to always do their research. If you guys would like part 2 with more mistakes I’ve made, I’m sure I can think of more. No matter where you are at with you’re pet care what is most important is to learn from your mistake and grow.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:✧*⋆.*:･ﾟ✧.: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆ ☾

🌙 | :sparkles: | 🌙 | :sparkles: