TRADE-A-PET: August 2013

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Avoiding Salmonella from Your Pets

Photo Credit: National Parks Service (Wikimedia Commons)

Many animals that are frequently kept in the pet trade are known to carry and spread salmonella poisoning, a condition that can be deadly to humans. Especially at risk are small children or those with weakened immune systems. To learn more about which animals may put you at risk and how to protect yourself, check out:

Reptile and Amphibian Care: Protecting Yourself from Salmonella

Tomato Frogs As Pets

Photo Credit: Malcolm (Wikimedia Commons)

The beautiful and brightly-colored tomato frog hails from Madagascar where unfortunately, its numbers are declining rapidly. Part of this population decline is due to collection for the pet trade. If you would like to consider adding a tomato frog to your menagerie, you need to make sure you are acquiring one that has been bred in captivity.

For more details, check this out:

The Madagascan Tomato Frog - Pets in Peril

Catching Your Own Feeder Insects for Pets

Photo Credit: Ildar Sagdejev (Wikimedia Commons)

Purchasing insects to feed your carnivorous pets can be expensive and inconvenient. Raising them yourself can be smelly and messy, plus take up a lot of valuable space. But what about catching them live? Many keepers of exotic pets do just that, but there are some valuable things you need to know first.

Learn how to safely catch your your feeder insects here:

Catching Insects for Your Pet Reptiles and Amphibians

Keeping Fire-Bellied Toads As Pets

Oriental fire-bellied toads make excellent pets! These semi-aquatic amphibians live on both land and in water, which makes them one of the most interesting frogs in the pet trade. Their brightly-colored bodies also make them a beautiful addition to any pet collection.

To learn more about how to keep these fascinating toads, check out:

Fire-Bellied Toads Make Great Starter Pets

Can You Keep Frogs As Pets?

Photo Credit: Arpingstone (Wikimedia Commons)

If you've ever considered keeping a frog as a pet, you're not alone. Frogs, as well as other amphibians, are very popular in the pet world. There are many species that even make excellent starter pets for kids. For the whole scoop on keeping frogs as pets, check out:

The Rights and Wrongs of Keeping Frogs as Pets

Madagascan Hissing Cockroach

Photo Credit: Grand-Duc (Wikimedia Commons)

Over the past couple of decades Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches have become popular pets with those who keep exotic species. They are surprisingly easy to care for and make excellent starter pets for kids. If you're thinking about adding one to your menagerie, you may want to check this out:

The Pet Cockroach Craze: Mom, Can I Keep Him?

Medical Benefits of Pet Ownership

Many experts now agree that owning a pet can help you live longer. They can lower stress levels which helps to reduce heart attacks, as well as improve cholesterol levels and blood pressure. Research also shows that children who are exposed to pets early in life have less incidence to pet allergies.

For the rest of the story, check out:

Pets Can Help You Live Longer

Friday, August 9, 2013

Welcome to Trade-a-Pet!

Parents of children with pets know the value that owning and caring for a pet can add to their children’s knowledge of science and nature. Each different type of animal brings with it a whole new set of adventures as kids learn about how habitat, nutrition and activities vary for each new creature. But most parents aren’t willing or able to house a menagerie of pets to provide this learning experience for their children. That’s where Trade-a-Pet© can help.

Trade-a-Pet© is a family activity for those interested in providing hands-on science and nature learning experiences for their children. The premise is as simple as it sounds. Participating families trade pets for specified periods of time so that their children can care for and learn about the ecology of multiple types of animals.

Families within close geographical range start a group, much like a bridge club or book club. Each participating family must have a pet that can be exchanged with others. The group needs to start by setting the rules and getting everyone to sign agreements to those rules.

Suggested Rules & Guidelines

Parents agree that they are responsible for the visiting pet, and they will oversee all interaction of their children with the pet.
No venomous or otherwise dangerous pets can be traded.
Each pet parent will provide a detailed description of their pet’s needs while visiting another home.
Pets that stress easily should not be traded more than once a month (or the appropriate amount of time for that pet) and must have necessary quiet or dark placement at the visiting home.
Any pet that will be handled should have a veterinarian’s health clearance.

Any time a pet is transferred to a new environment with new caregivers there are risks involved. If all the group members are educated and responsible, those risks will be minimized. However, you should still consider the following:

* It is possible that a pet could escape when being handled by someone who is unfamiliar with it.

* Pets could become stressed and therefore fall ill when its surroundings are changed.

* In the worst case scenario a pet could die while in the care of someone else in the group, either due to natural causes or improper care.

In addition to the obvious advantages of teaching your children about science and nature, Trade-a-Pet© has some other, not so obvious advantages.

Temporarily caring for someone else’s pet can help you make an informed decision about whether or not that type of pet is a good fit for your family.
Having other families temporarily caring for your pet will give you pet sitting options when you travel away from home.
Having a new temporary pet in the home can be a distraction from television and video games.