Pet People

Which team Are You On?

Are you Team Cat, Team Dog or something in between? We are all the things! Let's have some fun this week and change things up with an informative talk about pets.

We've got a few unusual ones ourselves and we'd love to share them with you. From dogs, to dragons, dubias and snakes - we like our pets a bit on the weird side and consider cuddly a bit different than most. Listen in and share your thoughts on what makes a pet a real part of the family.

For more information about the exciting online offerings from Outschool and grab $20 off your first class, click here!

Transcription:

Hi, buddy. Hi. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm alright. Stressful day.

[1:15] You know what I mean? Yeah, but it isn't. Which is the annoying part.
Yeah, I know, right? Like everything is going wrong for you, but the world is happy or like the world is all wrong. And I'm happy sometimes. It's like an upside down situation.
Yeah, and it's sort of like the world turns against you or you turn against the world.
You know what I mean? Yeah, it feels like that sometimes.
I mean, that's kind of just the overall feeling of stress and anxiety, right?
And I think I think there's a lot of things that contribute to that.

[1:54] Yeah, but that's not what we're here to talk about.
We're here to bring some positivity and talk about pets.
This is true. Maybe we should table this conversation and have the what is stress and anxiety talk some other time.
We're just going to pivot. We do. We talk about a lot of traditionally kind of heavy, deep stuff on the show.
It's time to break up the stress.
It's time to break it up and get fun.
Which is something you've been asking for for a while. I've been like Can we do pats?
Can we do pants? What about pets? Conversation, ideas? Pats, pats, pats, pats.
Everybody likes animals. We've got some some unique ones. We've got some weird ones.
I mean, not totally weird. I don't know how we landed in reptile land.
It started with having, like, kind of weird dogs,
terriers, Staffordshire terriers, English staff, insured bull terriers, which is a mouthful for a little dog.
Um, but if you don't know what a Staffordshire terrier is, it's like.

[3:09] A traditional American Staffordshire is, uh, kind of a street name is the pit bull, but the English Staffordshire bull terriers are like the short breed pocket pits, as some people call them.
They're like small breed.
They're short, stocky legs.
They're usually not more than about £30.
They were very rowdy, but they're not.
They're actually bred for their disposition. Do you know what the word disposition means?
Disposition is their behavior. Look, Dad, I got this one right, Okay?

[3:49] Is their behavior and how they what their personality is?
And and bully breeds have traditionally really bad rap.
Because, um, a lot of unfortunate things happens with these dogs.
They have a bad reputation because there are some awful people in the world that use these particular dogs as a fighting dog.
And that's got some some yuck to it, you know.
But actually, there are some of the most lovable kind breeds out there in the canine.
Like all all Shaka wants to do, which is our black staff chair is be with us and just lay and cuddle with us.
And Ruby doesn't care about us. She just wants to be in your pillows.
This is true. Well, actually, besides us, what's the other thing? They care about their ball, their ball.

[4:47] Like their actual chasing ball, and that's it. They just want to play fete and they'll return it.
And they are actually very, very obedient if we stay on them. And that's something Dad and I have always been fairly good about training our dogs because going back to the bad reputation of bully breeds, I think it's more about the handler.
You can have a totally you know, normal breed dog like a golden retriever that's totally misbehaving because their owner doesn't have control over him.
You know, I've seen some really cute Chihuahuas, Jack Russell terriers or even labs that are completely misbehaving because their owners don't their handlers don't have control over them.
They aren't trained, they aren't on commands and they're not good around kids because they haven't been socialist or other dogs or they don't walk right on a leash.
And those are things that we are really, really strict about, because you've got to be in control of your animal.
I think at all times that sounds great enough about the dogs. Let's talk about bearded dragons. No, I think the dogs is important, and what's also kind of weird about the dogs is how they eat.

[6:01] Yeah, they eat raw food, right? Chicken, pumpkin, hearts, liver, vegetables, vegetables, raw dogs. So, like eggs.
A lot of people feed their dogs or the cats to kibble.
But when we got these dogs and one of our dogs is as a rescue, um, he was already on a raw diet, which means he eats raw chicken raw meat with a bone with the skin.

[6:34] And it's not usually you don't really see that a lot in the States, but it's actually like what they are known.

[6:42] And the wild. That's what their metabolism and their digestive system take care of our chicken, right?
That's what they're used to like in the wild. And once your animal is conditioned to a certain way of eating by changing it to processed foods, it can really mess up their stomach.
So we kept him eating raw because you get to meeting bones and then the bones started messing him up.
Then we started chopping the food like the bones only started messing him up. Because shock is now what, 13, 14? All those cannons.
Well, he hasn't lost somebody, has he? Broke them all He can, I think, like he was really non on some bones at some point.
And, uh, yeah, he broke them. So Dad got a grinder and started grinding up all of their food and making custom proportioned meals for these dogs.
These dogs are eating gourmet Pat.
Let's just put it that way. Yeah, they're eating Accio.
They're eating a platter of feast every day. They are. They're very well fed. They're like kings and queens.

[7:50] Our princess and prince, right? Kind of.
So Shaka Shaka, He's black Brindle, English, Staffordshire bull terrier and I think he's about 14 now.
You wouldn't know it because he's still a beast in the streets.
But by that I just mean he, like, really goes crazy playing fetch and you can still run and take it like a champ and Ruby, whose are read her Red Dog.

[8:17] She is so lovable. She's four now. Five.
I think we just did the math and not so we said. We said five. She just turned five.

[8:27] She's turning five in two days. That was when we received her.
But we did. We did get her from a breeder, which is something I don't usually love, but because we were dead set on getting an English Staffordshire bull terrier.
And they are very, very hard to find their bit of a rare breed here in the States.

[8:48] We wanted to find somebody that was keeping the integrity of that breed intact and found a specific breeder for her.
And I named her roomy. Yeah, because she was red.
And she is There are some of the most lovable and unique looking dogs because of their stature and their disposition.
Right? And they all they want to do is get up in your nooks and crannies and just lay on you and like you and cuddle.
And like just this morning, you got a bath by their licks was not by choice, but it was great.
And I love to have dogs. We're dog people. I think people are cat people are we team dog or team?
Cat team dog, team dog like their legs are like super sticky and like cuddly but weird and gross at the same time.

[9:45] And a bit stinky. Yeah, So I feel like we've ended the dog section.
Let's move on to bearded dragons. So how did you get How did you even think that you wanted a bearded dragon shrimpy 01 word shrimpy, My baby with my grandma.

[10:05] She had a bearded dragon and her name was Shrimpy.
And I picked him up when we were at their house and I thought it was so cool, like they were interesting feeling and,
body shape and cuddle nous and their ability to not care and just want to be on you and be warm.
And I thought it was so neat and I kept in like After that, I was begging for one like, Yeah, they are kind of They're really unique.
I mean, creatures. I don't think besides, like an iguana, which we had seen on vacation to the Dominican Republic years ago, That's the closest thing we've seen to a dragon.
I didn't really These are like it's some of the most prehistoric domesticated animal, I guess if you could call it domesticated, we've kind of put them in captivity in our personal tanks and homes.
But yeah, it's like the closest thing to like a dinosaur I've seen.
Yeah, they're crazy as a pet, but they're small, but they're cool.
They're small and cool, and they do. They just want to hang out. They want to hang out in your chest and listen.
You read they have these weird expressions.

[11:20] They're like, straight mouth and their giant eyes and their giant your holes.

[11:25] Yeah, pot sockets possible. They are cool. And I just They actually enjoy listening to your read or watching videos with you, right? I think they do. They hang really well.
And so how did you come upon this dragon?

[11:44] By shrimpy. And so how I got Rocky, which is my berry dragon's name, Um.

[11:52] I got Rocky. I wish for him for Christmas. Maybe not last year, but the year before that.
2019, I guess. And, um so I asked for him to for Christmas, and that was I wanted that and a bunch of other things.
But then I realized that that's too much from Santa and the elves to handle.
So I eliminated that and two other presents and I got I got Rocky because I had been such a good girl during the Elf's Times and.

[12:28] Rock and there was this giant box in the living room and it said, Be careful, be gentle, lifting box fragile.
And we lifted it up and because I died lifted my dad lifted up because I was scared.
I thought it was going to be like a wild It was not going to be in a tank, so but we lifted it up and there was a giant tank with Rocky in it, and I named him Rocky because I was so surprised it was so cool.
And like, after a few hours, I had been like, um, this guy ain't doing anything, and he's great, so why not name him Rocky?
Because he looks like a rock.
Yeah, he's so cool. Yeah, he's really become part of the family.
You have a leash for him? With little tiny Rocky Wings. Yeah, that makes him look like a flying dragon.
You're the mother of dragons.

[13:27] And what is Rocky? Do be a roach's talk to me about those little cockroaches that grow and they're disgusting.

[13:38] They kind of are, but they are cute. They're cute when they're little, but then they grow to be disgustingly annoying.
But they will give me nightmares. First of all, dubious are kind of expensive, and they're really hard to get.
They're not the only thing you can feed bearded dragons. You can also feed them crickets. And he's like that.
Those horn worms, those giant blue horn worms with horns, and you can also feed them.
What are the other kind of worms that I don't remember there like mealworms, but, you know, But there's something else I forget. There's another name for them, but they're not that great for him. I think that really jammed up their digestive track. And so do crickets.
Crickets don't keep that well, They die and they speak. Thank you. Yeah.
And, uh, you can't feed them wild crickets because of why?
Because there's pesticides and you don't want to. Your dragon? Yeah. You don't want to.

[14:37] You're dragging. Don't at risk for getting sick by eating a bug that have maybe potentially has pesticide.
So you really have to feed these dragons like purposely bred insects.
Speaking of bread, insects, we started breeding doobie Roaches just to feed the dragon.

[14:59] It's disgusting. So, yeah, on half of this yeah, group of interesting pets. We also have a colony of do bia Roaches.

[15:12] Okay, let's not talk about this. It's gonna It's gonna give me nightmares.
Skip to the snake, skip to the for your pet stiff to the snake.
Well, but it is a fact of pet owning that sometimes you have to do gross stuff, right?
Clean up really, really nasty Dragon poop when he eventually poops, which is like, never, I feel like, Yeah, I was supposed to poop every week, but he only poops every three months.
I don't know if that's a diet problem or what.
Well, it's funny as they grow. They I think. What was it supposed to be? 80% bugs and 20% leafy green and salad mix right, and it switches as they get older.
So now Iraqis older and now he's eating. The majority of his diet is leafy vegetables and a little bit of fruit, but not much.

[16:13] And then a little 20% of the diet is bugs bugs.
So, just as we finally have this colony of do be a roach is growing in a Tupperware bin, we switch over to being most of it.

[16:28] Leafs instead of dubious. And what's interesting enough is that you actually don't put water in a cage because they drown.
Well, no, but they can be is drowned. Not Rocky, Yes, but the dragons can get like a respiratory infection by having too much humidity.
So they have a really dry climate and they're still living in the desert, right?
And they're barbarians are really dry, and you have to make a make sure that you're keeping a special eye on temperature and humidity and, of course, a clean environment and the substrate, which is another word for the floor.
So it's really interesting to keep these type of pets and learn about them.
How did you learn about more about the dragon?
So I learned more about Rocky by going to,
out school, I took a bunch of classes from out school, which is a zoom program,
that has a teacher teach you about crazy animals or, really, whatever out schools, an awesome program, especially for supplemental education.
Either if you're home schooler or you're, you know, in regular traditional school and you're just interested in certain topics that might not be covered.
So we found two awesome courses about bearded dragons.

[17:47] And we kept finding more, which led me to snakes through that passion of getting weird animals and learning about reptiles and how to care for them properly.
We came across a ball python.
We did. I was in a neighborhood Facebook group, and a mom was looking to re home a ball python for free.

[18:11] With the tank and all the supplies, which those things are not inexpensive. I mean, it is.
It is quite an investment. Some of these pets and their and their animals and their all their parts.
And it's something that, as a family, you really have to consider because not only is it expensive on the front end, but,
you know, the upkeep and feeding pets like that can kind of get expensive, which is one reason we are growing our own colony broaches.
Yeah, Okay, So back to the ball, python, his name, his gizmo, his If we don't know if you'd say his or her because he's growing like crazy.
Yeah, we don't know if it's going to be a girl by the size or not, or how old gizmo is, because when we re homed it, we didn't really know those people, But we certainly made gizmo are really nice.
Terrarium growing Very, um, I should say he's shedding every month. That's very fast. Growth for Python.
Yeah, and we just measured him the other day and he's 4 ft 4 ft and you show with Dick. He's like he's, like, thicker than your rest.
Yeah, which is pretty thick.

[19:23] And he's really cool or she is really cool.
It's really cool. I mean, he's nocturnal, right? So for the most part, he's in a hide all day. He doesn't do a whole lot, but he'll he'll like adventure when you take him out.

[19:40] Yes, So if you're looking for a super active pet, a ball python is not your best move.
No, they get their name because they ball up and they kind of cluster.
They look like about sort of when they ball up teapot or a rope like a coiled up right, and they usually spend the whole day in their hide.
And hide is another word for like, a carved out rock or like a hiding hole and underground.
So he sits in his tank with a heating pad, so there's a warm source under there, and then he usually spends most of his day in the height and they come out at night looking for food, and then we have to feed them rats.
And Dad is now terrified of him because he feeds them rats.
He's terrified, but it is interesting you feed the snake a mouse, and luckily for us, we have dead mice.
We have live frozen mice that you buy from the store again.
So they're not toxic and they are raised humanely and they are healthy for the snake Now in the wild, they would be getting their own rodents, birds, small rodents and things like that, but.

[21:00] When they're in this captivity, Uh, in our homes, you have to still feed them something very similar. You don't want them to kick the bucket?
Well, you know, I told you the story about when I had a snake as a little girl.
I had snakes. I had a python and book constrictors and California King Snake and a corn snake. We had reptiles when I was a kid, too.
Maybe that's why I'm okay with it as a mom. Because I know lots of my mom. Friends tell their story to tell the story.
Okay, well, we had snakes, and back then we used to feed them live mice because you couldn't prove them.
No, we could. I don't know why I don't I don't even think I remember the difference or knew of the possibilities.
But anyway, once a week, we'd feed him alive, mouse.
And one time I put the mouse in there and, um, my brother and I dropped the live mouse in the mouse is running around, and usually it took just a few minutes, and the snake would you know,
attack and give the mouse a squeeze and kind of kick,
ticket from the bucket.

[22:07] On the mouses bucket, and it would be the end of the road for the mouse and the snake would have dinner.
But which is my least favorite part or breakfast? Totally true.

[22:18] Least favorite part about having a pet like that is seeing it have to do its thing like it wasn't a wild because nobody wants to see another small animal get hurt, which is why I like the frozen idea.
But I also like the frozen idea because when I fed my snake alive mouse the mouse killed the snake.
It took a giant trunk out of it. It literally took a giant bite out of my snake and killed the snake.
The snake let out in the tank, and I came back in a couple hours later thinking no big deal. The snake is digesting. This is like I didn't even know this was a possibility.

[22:56] And this mouse was running around the tank like crazy freaking out. And the snake was dead, Dead?

[23:04] I couldn't believe it. So my brother, it was not happy at all and swiftly removed the mouse and pretty sure he whipped it across Pound.
Yeah, terrible, Terrible.
But this are the trials and tribulations of owning pets.
How many kids out there, you think have had a hamster or guinea pig or a bunny or a mouse, or even a lizard or rat or fish?
And they've not made it because of any number of circumstances.
So it's really a tough lesson to learn, like being eaten by a smaller animal or just dying because of age were dying because they're not eating anything or because maybe we didn't treat them the best way we possibly could.

[23:55] And so it's really a good lesson to learn empathy and learn responsibility for kids as long as they can take the responsibility. I mean, there's some things we have to do to make it so. You remember every day to feed.
Rocky Check check is most water, because gizmo the snake has to have a high humidity V very um, which means That's a totally different climate as Rocky Dragon.
And of course, Dad and I are always we're all actually, always taking care of the dogs needs their like.

[24:29] Crazy bees. Yeah. So if you're looking for a pet, a good starter pet would be a fish.
It would. We never started there. Why didn't we start with a fish? We started crazy, and we ended even crazier.
Yeah, well, I think it will get crazier as as you grow and you take on more responsibilities.

[24:50] My next bet is a leopard gecko. That's what you want next.
A leopard gecko. Oh, so many things.
But you do. I think you really have to consider the cost and the responsibility and the effort and the maintenance of some of these pets because it can get really wild.
It can get expensive, and it can be time consuming. And then what happens when you leave town? Who watches your pets with their crazy things?
To get a pet sitter? You do get a pet sitter.
Luckily, we have found an amazing pet center that will come and stay in our house and love on our dogs and feed them their raw food and feed them their dubious and salad and water and mice and all the stuff.
So we're super grateful to have somebody like that because it's a big ask for somebody to step in and take care of your pets when you're not able to.
Yeah, so that's our pets for today. Tell us about your pets. If you're listening. What are your favorite pets?
What do you wish you could have? What do you have and what do you have? We want to see pictures of your pets, stories of your pets.

[26:00] Let us know and we will drop some hellos to you in return and maybe even send me a special pet surprise.
So get at us on our website at she sounds like me dot com or on social, send us a d m drop into our inbox or give us a call on our hotline.
All that is in the show notes. So have your You're grown ups.
Look that up and have an awesome day and have an awesome day.
Thanks, everybody take care of your pets. Take care of your pets. Pets are people too!