Are they 'pets' or 'animals'?

abbott75

abbott75

My animals ate my money...
Jan 28, 2008
53
0
0
Australia
So, your fish, as well as any other animals you keep. Are they your pets, or just animals you keep?

For me, I am 18 years old and have about 200 animals that I keep, and I don't consider them pets. They are just animals to me, I think they're interesting so I keep them. (All legal of course, captive bred where ever possible, I'm not the biggest fan of Wild Caught animals).

What do you guys think?
 
I think I am their pet:)
 
Some people treat animals in different ways. I consider the person who keeps their dog outside all the time and gives it food and water but little else as a person who has an animal. The person who makes the dog part of the family by caring enough to provide it with attention and love, plays with it, pets it... that's the person who has a pet.

When it comes to fish I have different feelings. I think fish are really cool to have and care for but most of the fish I have ever had I wouldn't consider pets. I think the interaction part of having an animal is the big difference here. Most of my fish just swim around, eat and poop. Other fish however SEEM to interact and SEEM to have personality making them more than just an animal to me. Some of my fish I would think of as pets.

Q
 
^ nailed it. Dogs, cats, hamsters, parrots, cichlids and other fish that beg for food - pets.

Fish that avoid you or are oblivious to you, most herps (except some turtles), birds that don't ever get tame (like most finches) - not "pets" so much as "kept animals" - though I do my best for them as well, there's not much point in worrying about how much attention they get.
 
I count them as pets, but not the same as my dogs.
I do love them, but they don't swim up with a chew toy and want to be loved, there are a few of them that have a real personality though.
 
i only count two fish i ever had as pets.

they were my 'feeder' goldfish that i had for, oh, 12 years or so. they begged for food, you put your hand in the tank and they rubbed around it like a cat, they paid more attention to me than i did to them!
 
They are only pets if you name them! Until then they are animals.

I'm kind of just kidding, but I raise mice for my snake, and when my daughter was younger she would name the mice she liked and then I wasn't allowed to feed them to the snake. No-name mice could be food though. One time we had 15 mice and I had to go to the store for a mouse to feed the snake because those 15 had names.

BTW, only one of my fish has a name, the rest are just animals....:)
 
My fish are my pets. I go to the pet stores and look for stuff to decorate their tanks, buy them treats. I name most of them, and talk about them all the time. So yeah, to me they are pets.
 
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