A pet can change the personality and spirit of your home. They can be a shield against loneliness or a playmate for a child.

Choosing the right pet for your home can be a big decision. You want to make sure that you can provide for it, that the pet will fit the lifestyle you live, and that it has a personality that will fit in.

Before purchasing or adopting a pet it is important to realize the financial and time requirements that a pet consumes. They will need medical checkups, the right kind of food, and other breed specifications fulfilled.

Pets are not an object you can let be for a couple months and come back to find it in the same condition. They need care and attention.

While thinking about this it is important to remember that certain animals will require more maintenance than other. For example, a gold fish will need it’s bowl cleaned every so often and food sprinkled in once or twice a day.

In contrast, a poodle requires veterinarian attention and professional grooming in addition to normal feeding, walks, and care. It is also important to consider the age of the family.

Young children will not be able to handle pets that could be dangerous, such as snakes. Traditional pets like dogs, cats, birds, fish, rabbits, hamsters, and gerbils are all good options for young children.

Recently reptiles have been growing as a popular option for a pet. Reptiles are easy to groom, control, and care for. They are also unique pets. The most popular pets in the reptile category are lizards, turtles, and frogs.

Keep in mind that your children may not understand that being rough with an animal can harm them. If this is the case, their interaction with the animal should always be under supervision.

Hamsters have traditionally been the favorite pet for very young children. They are friendly, have soft fur, and rarely bite.

Hamsters also require very little grooming and are relatively cheap to buy and maintain. Besides the age of the family, the term you are willing to commit to caring for the pet should also be considered.

The average life for dogs and cats is somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. However, indoor cats have been known to live until they are 20 to 25 years old and dogs can live up to 18 years old.

Once you have purchased a pet, you have moral commitment to care for it the rest of its life. Buying a pet is not a good idea if you cannot make this commitment.

The environment in your home should also be considered. Pets love stable homes where all of their needs are met. Pets do not only need enough room to run, a place to sleep, and food. They also love to live in stable homes.

They like to have an established routine with specific feeding times and a bed time. Decide which pet will best fit your daily schedule, personality, and budget.

It is generally suggested that a pet should not be adopted if someone with a very volatile temper lives or very young children live in your home. It is also a good idea to postpone buying a pet if your family is one that travels a lot. Pets need attention and love being around people.

They do not do very well when their family is gone for extended periods of time frequently, even if they are provided for by a hired pet sitter. People who are sickly and have extended, frequent hospital stays are also encouraged to not invest in a pet.

However, a pet can be very beneficial to a human’s health. Loneliness is reportedly one of the largest problems in America.

Side effects of loneliness include decreased motivation to do things and a pessimistic attitude. People who are lonely feel disconnected, anxious, and depressed.

When people suffer from these symptoms they often feel a lack of energy to change. Many people do not have positive relationships with friends and family because of death, divorce, or argument.

However, these people still find happiness and success because they do have a connection with a pet. Caring for a pet is very therapeutic. They can reduce stress, and increase the feeling of wholeness and peace.

If you can, pets provide the health benefits that are worth the investment of time and money.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Terry Daniels is a veterinarian and pet-lover. He also volunteers at an animal shelter in his free time and has written hundreds of articles about pets and dog walking New York
.

Contact Info:
Terry Daniels
TerryDaniels09@gmail.com

http://NYTails.com

Alligators are the most dangerous of the exotic pets. It is a crocodilian, which comes from the family of Alligatoridae. The name was derived from Anglicization of a Spanish word, which was used by Spanish explorers who were settled in Florida, United States. Alligators are found mostly in America and China.

There are two species of alligators, Alligator Mississippienis or the American Alligator and Alligator Sinensis or the Chinese Alligator. The American alligator weights around eight hundred pounds and is thirteen feet long. The record for the longest alligator is of nineteen feet two inches, from Louisiana. Comparatively, the Chinese alligators are smaller in length and measure not more than seven feet in length. Alligators live for more than fifty years. The oldest living alligator was of seventy years, at the Belgrade Zoo, Serbia.

There are many features of alligators that distinguish them from crocodiles and both of them belong to different taxonomic families. Alligators have a broader snout and their eyes are located near the upper side. When light is flashed over the eyes, bigger alligators have a red glow and smaller alligators have a green glow. This can be of help, when searching for alligators in dark. When looking in daylight, it is also observed that alligators have brown eyes and crocodiles have green eyes.

When alligators close their jaws, only the upper teeth are visible where as in crocodiles, the upper as well as the lower teeth are visible when they close their jaws. The shape of an alligator’s mouth is like a “U” and that of the crocodile is like a “V”. Although both the animals have a darker hide, almost black, the color depends on their habitats. The Chinese alligators have a light pattern, alligators living in algae growing water are greenish black and waters with high tannic acid released from hanging trees have a darker hide.

Alligators can eat anything they can find because of the gastroliths (stomach stones) present in their stomach. Young alligators feed on crustaceans, fishes, snails, and insects. As they grow so does their need for larger prey. Bigger alligators feed on turtles, bigger fishes, birds, and, other reptiles and mammals. They even eat deer, razorbacks, small alligators and carcass of animals when they are extremely hungry. Few attacks on humans have also been reported, but the number is on the rise. People get overconfident about this fact and enter alligator habitats without much care, resulting in provoking their aggression. But alligators do not immediately attack humans, like crocodiles.

The alligator farming industry is seeing a rapid rise in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. The purpose of such farms is to get alligator hides and nearly forty five thousand hides are distributed annually from these farms. The hides are very expensive and a seven-foot hide costs as much as $300, but the prices vary every year. The meat of alligator also has great demand, which is approximately three hundred thousand pounds every year.

Alligators now have become very protected and regulated animals. Special processing is to be undergone to get the custody of an alligator. Usually baby alligators can be bought from Florida. Owners are given a special license and must be aware of their responsibilities. It’s against the law of many states to remove an alligator from its natural habitat. Alligator pets should be provided with large and wet habitat, similar to the subtropical, to live in.

Alligators are bound to get aggressive and dangerous at times, which can prove fatal to people around. Owners should be prepared as their pet can grow more than twelve feet. Some owners panic when they start getting bigger and longer and decide to free it from the captivity. But this can be extremely dangerous to residents of that locality because by then the animal would loose its natural fear and will attack humans. When decision is taken for adopting an alligator as a pet, the owner should be firm enough to make a lifetime commitment.

Tortoises and turtles, which live on land and belong to the reptile family of the order Testudines. They too have a shell like sea turtles. The top part of the shell is known as carapace and the bottom side is known as plastron. They have both exoskeleton and endoskeleton. They are active during the day and are very shy animals.

They are very fascinating animals, but their dietary habits are different than others. Different species have a different diet. They consume huge amounts of food and the calcium and phosphorous balance should be maintained in their diets. The tortoises are also temperature sensitive. Usually it is a good idea to bring the tortoise indoors at night. And when the weather is cold, they should be kept inside totally. But this can be a big problem if the tortoises are big in size. Some species also hibernate during winter. This can be really stressful for the animal as well as the owners. The owners should provide the pet with special provision for hibernation otherwise the pet will suffer with stress.

A pen can be constructed in the yard, where the tortoise can live. The pen should be really strong and the fences should be buried deep as some of the tortoises have fascination of digging. They are also very strong reptiles. They can easily break weaker walls. Also some tortoises are good climbers, so the pen should also be provided with a roof. The roof also saves the tortoise from other dangers such as dog bite, bird attack, etc. The owner must check out for possible threat to the pet, also within the pen itself. Some plants can be harmful if the tortoise feeds on them. So plants that are edible only should be planted or kept in the den.

They should also be provided with water, but the water body should be shallow, so that the tortoise won’t drown in it. Other things which are sharp or which can be chewed and not digested by animal shouldn’t be kept in the pen. Steps should also be avoided within the pen, because while they are climbing they can trip and fall over their back, which is very deadly for them.

Some species grow really big, so this factor should also be considered while building the pen. In fact, this factor should be considered when buying itself. Different species grow to different sizes; have different dietary habits, living conditions, and temperature adaptability. Beginners should certainly go for a captive bred, as they are less troublesome than the ones that come directly from the wild. Also when tortoises are captured from the wild and transported, there are chances that they can fall ill or even die because of high levels of stress. Also such types of animals carry a wide range of parasites, which can be harmful for the owner as well. When the potential owner thinks of buying a tortoise, it should get it thoroughly examined for parasites and other diseases from a vet.

Tortoises prefer to stay alone. They shouldn’t be mixed with other pets and no two male tortoises should be kept together as they can fight and injure each other very seriously. Tortoises have a very long lifespan. They can live up to hundred years. There can be possibility of the pet outliving the owner, so the owner should have everything planned and should make a lifetime commitment.

Snakes are limbless, cold-blooded and scaly reptiles belonging to the order of Squamata. Keeping snakes as pets can be easy only if their requirements are understood deeply. Their needs are different from other reptiles. Owners must also understand that some of them grow very large and can become dangerous with the passage of time. There are different types of snakes available for pet owners with different preferences. Every snake has a different diet and need different environment to live in. Snakes, which are kept as exotic pets, range from common garter snake to pythons. Snakes sometimes also cross forty years of age; so potential owners should be aware of this fact and be ready to make lifetime commitment before thinking of keeping snakes as pets.

Snakes can easily escape from their owner’s custody. They always look out for enclosures, which will let them out of the captivity. The owners must be extremely careful in this regard and also should build an escape proof enclosure. Snakes are carnivores. They do not eat vegetation at all. The favorite food for snakes is rats and mice. Bigger snakes are fed with squirrel, rabbits and other small mammals. Some species even eat insects and fishes. As the snakes eat small animals, it is advisable to kill the prey before it is given to the snake. If this job is left to the snake, it could be risk to its life.

Usually snakes that have been bred in captivity are an excellent choice as pets. Wild snakes carry lots of diseases and parasites with them, get really stressed out with the transportation and are very difficult to be tamed. King snakes, ball pythons and corn snakes are popular choices. Their diet and environmental needs aren’t as complicated as other species of snakes. They are also small in size, but the king snakes can sometimes grow up to seven feet. Ball pythons have eating issues. They like to feed on a live prey instead of pre-killed prey. Also, they sometimes stop eating food for months together. Ball pythons that have been bred in captivity have lesser eating issues. And before buying a ball snake, the owner can test whether the reptile eats a dead prey readily or not.

The more challenging snakes that are kept, as pets are red-tailed boas, water snakes, Burmese pythons, and any other pythons and wild snakes. The most dangerous of them are Burmese pythons. They can completely swallow a human being. So it is recommended to have people around while feeding the reptile. Burmese pythons are very strong snakes. They grow more than twenty feet and weigh more than two hundred pounds. Even red-tailed boas grow up to ten feet and weigh more than fifty ponds. They are also difficult to be managed by one person. All these species demand right temperatures and humidity in their environment.

Reticulated pythons and anacondas are extremely dangerous exotic pets. Some strictly recommend against keeping them as pets. Another variety that is fatal is venomous snakes. They not only are a threat to the owner and his family members but also to people in the neighborhood, if it escapes.

Snakes are also bred for their skin, which is used to make belts, bags, shoes, etc. They are also eaten as a delicacy in many countries and even in Western America. In many of the Asian countries, the snake’s meat and blood is consumed for medicinal purposes.