I have a pretty big collection aka zoo, for two reasons:
1. I take in animals that my landlord finds abandoned by tenants moving out. There are about 200 apartments in my building so it happens more often than you'd think. This is how I ended up with two gliders yesterday.
2. I'm disabled, it's been almost 10 years since I last worked. I have no family or friends, I'm pretty isolated despite living in a big city. So, the pets keep me busy, provide company, keep me on a schedule, and give me a sense of purpose. I live on a private long term disability so I have a bit of extra income to spend on them.
The List:
- two gliders, just rescued yesterday. I don't know much about them, I think one is female and the other is male. They are standard grey colour.
- Four cats. Two are Sphynx, one is Siamese and the last one is a huge grey tabby from a shelter.
- Two dogs. One is a 13 year old blue merle Chihuahua, the other is a goofy Jack Russel/Pug mix, white with rings around her eyes. Both are rescues.
- Budgies. Two are disabled by severe splay leg so they have their own cage with ramps instead of perches. Five were rescues, abandoned by a tenant and they live in a big aviary cage. One is an English budgie who recently lost her mate.
- Rabbits. Currently I have four, in two separate pens. All are neutered. They range in size from Flemish giant (size of a small dog) to Netherland dwarf (half the size of a cat). I keep them away from my gliders because I read that rabbits can carry a virus that is deadly for gliders.
- Guinea pigs. I ended up with the piggies because I was adopting a rabbit and the owner told me at the last minute that her bunny has always lived with the piggy and I agreed to take him. Rabbits should not be kept with guinea pigs for the pigs' safety, so I had to get a second pig and house the pair separately from the rabbits.
- Diamond doves. Tiny, elegant doves the size of a budgie, my pair just finished raising one baby and are back on the nest again.
- Zebra finches - two fawns, two whites and a lone fawn male
- Parrotlet - I call him Gadget because he makes busy whirring and clicking sounds when he's playing. Likes to ride around on my head tugging my hair.
- Canary - crested Gloster canary who looks like he's got a bowl cut. Sings a very beautiful, trilling bubbling song.
- Button quail - the tiniest quail species, one can fit in the palm of your hand. They lay edible eggs every day, I boil them and give them back to the birds, shell and all. I'm going to try them on my gliders too. I keep them at the bottom of my larger bird cages, where they clean up dropped seeds (they also get their own food).
- Coturnix (Japanese) quail - They're about the size of a softball. They lay eggs that are covered with dark brown splotches. Their eggs are more nutritious than chicken eggs, with less fat and cholesterol. I eat them in stir frys or salads, and I also feed them to the birds. People eat the quail too but I'm vegetarian.
- Pac man frog - Moe was another abandoned pet. He's a big fat albino.
- Cane toads - male and female. The famous Australian invasive species. They are legal as pets here in Canada because they can't survive Canadian winters.
- Jewelled lacerta - this is a European lizard that looks similar to a monitor lizard, but a lot smaller. They have beautiful peacock blue and green scales which look like Indian bead work. The males have blue rosettes on their sides, which glow in UV light. They eat insects and greens.
- Hermit crabs. I'm not sure how many I have right now because several are buried under the sand molting. They are often left behind in apartments.
- Fish tanks. I have a nano tank with neon tetras, snails and a betta fish. Next I have a bigger brackish tank with mixed species of fish and nerite snails. Finally there's Pudgy the Puffer's Domain, a marine tank with one big fat green spotted puffer (because he'll attack anything else).
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. I don't have any suggies at present; I'm still looking into them.
