Santa Claus skipped our house this year. Jeff Corwin (or perhaps the spirit of Steve Irwin) visited instead.
The junior members of our household have been begging for another pet besides our deranged, cross eyed cat. Inspired by the brilliant idea of my lovely wife (who has no name) we researched some pet options, selected two viable options (one for each) and gave them books pertaining to said animal for Christmas.
Here was our "give a pet as a gift" strategy:
- Read the book and do some research to learn all you can about this animal.
- Make a plan for habitat, care and general well-being.
- Create a list of supplies and other needed accessories.
Upon the successful completion of the three steps we would secure the varmints as planned. Well, the kids did their part and we now have two more additions to the household.
Reese is now a proud owner of a Bearded Dragon named Perry - a fun little reptile who has a personality much like a dog. He runs to greet you when you approach his terrarium and likes to be picked up and crawl on your shoulder. Reese actually shed some tears of joy when he opened his book. He’s been wanting a reptile type animal for a long time but I am severely anti-snake.
Speaking of dogs, for those of you keeping score at home, Greg hasn’t mentioned a word about Chipper, aka "the blog cash cow," since September 29th. One wonders when Greg will break his sabbatical and continue to thrill us with stories of man’s best friend or write some more about Chipper.
We had intended to get a Parakeet for Madison. As it turned out, someone at church was moving and needed to find a home for a Pacific Parrotlet - complete with custom built cage and all the accessories. Considering what we spent for the dragon and the required habitat we jumped at the chance for the freebie.
Madison is now a proud owner of Pacific Parrotlet named Pistachio - a chirping mini parrot that wants to sit on your shoulder and gets really mad if you put her / him back in the cage.
Which makes me wonder. Does having a mini parrot on your shoulder make you a mini pirate? A pirate in training? A wee little pirate?
Now that we have established a healthy food chain (reptile, bird, cat) I think our next pet should be something that can eat the cat.
