Fishies!

You know, about five minutes after I posted that, I thought of something I could blog about.

I am in the market for a new pet. True, I still have three adorable dwarf hamsters left and I do love them dearly, but as their birthday comes and goes, I am painfully aware of the fact that they are coming up on the end of their 1 to 1 1/2 year life span and I don't want to be one of those pet owners that sits around pouting about their dead animals for ages before getting ready to, finally, go out and get a new one. That said, i'm over mammals. As much as I would love to go out and buy a cute little puppy, I can't because buying a puppy would be a suicidal move on my part. Thus, I've been in the market for a pet of another kind.

My initial thought was a turtle. Yes, I am still on that "turtle" thing and, yes, one day I will have one but that day is not today. Turtles (the kind it is legal to own in this country) really must be kept outside in a sort of habitat of their own, which means that I need to a) live in a climate where they will be warm enough and b) live in a place I know i'm going to be for a while. I am neither and, thus, my goal of owning a pet that will outlive me must wait so I've moved on to two prospects.


The Orchid Dottyback:
A relatively normal sized saltwater aquarium fish, I have decided that nothing this pink can exist in nature without being owned by yours truely.

True, owning one will mean that I have to learn all sorts of things about saltwater aquariums but I've done quite a bit of passive reasearch thus far and none of it has been particularly painful. Plus - hi, how pink is that?!!??!

They generally live about 2-4 years, which means it's not a pet you're stuck with into eternity if you don't like it and, for once, I wont be at all allergic to the animal I own. It's cute and it swims around and does adorable little things.

Still, as much as the fish appeals to me, I have qualms - oh the qualms :) Saltwater tanks are difficult to maintain - quite a bit more work than just wandering in once a week, dumping them out into a garbage bag and power spraying out the cage. *whistles* but the cute is overwhelming and the non-allergic, non-noisy factors have their advantages as well. Thus, I considered an interim to the interim pet.

The African Dwarf Frog:
I will admit, they're not that cute up close but, because they only ever get to be 1 1/4 inches long in their life-times, you never really have to look at them up quite that close. From what I can tell, as long as they're properly fed and the tank they live in isn't overstocked, they don't make a lot of noise. They can eat dried bloodworms - like the things you feed to Siamese Fighting Fish - and, freshwater or not, you can take care of them the same way you would any other kind of fish. A thin layer of gravel over the bottom of the tank and a penguin filter, some lighting, a few live plants and whatever else you feel like throwing in to make it cute. (Yes, if you're an animal enthusiast, i've done a lot more research than that - i know all about nitrate cycles and properly dechloronating tap water or useing distilled...and setting up the tank three week sbefore putting the frog in to allow the cycles to stabilize...)

As it stands today, that is probably the route I will end up going. They seem somewhat less succeptable to...well, my life...than my adorable pink fish but, mark my words, that fish will some day be mine.