Pet in the Pocket

If you’re looking for a fun, active pet that’s fairly easy to care for, a ferret is an excellent choice. We’ve had several ferrets over the years, and they were definitely among my favorite pets. Even older ferrets can be excitable, curious creatures that will never cease entertaining you—or themselves.

Ferrets are cousins of the weasel family; they are also related to skunks and otters, which makes their unique, musky scent unsurprising. Domestic mammals, ferrets are long and furry critters that come in a range of colors, from white to brown to black to mixed colors. They weight less than five pounds and can live up to ten years. Read more

cockroachWhen you think of a pet in your pocket, it’s usually some fuzzy little critter like a hamster or a guinea pig… most people don’t conjure up images of a hissing cockroach. Many of us, after all, hire exterminators to rid our homes of as many bugs possible.

But some people actually keep cockroaches as pets! I recently read about a family who has a menagerie of pets—including a millipede—and thought, what other kinds of bugs do people keep as parts of their families?

It turns out that there are quite a few. Below are some of the most popular bugs people choose to keep as pets. Read more

Though not really bears, sugar bears are just as likely to tug at your heart as a teddy bear might. Also known as sugar gliders, these tiny Australian marsupials’ scientific name is Petaurus breviceps (literally, “short-headed rope-dancer”). Read more

A Fun First PetSoft, adorable, and typically active enough to be entertaining but not annoying (with the exception of some late-night wheel riders), hamsters make an excellent first pet. They are simple to care for, and can provide a child with some important lessons about life, as well as prepare him or her for caring for a larger pet down the road.

“Fancy” or “teddy bear” hamsters, which are actually Syrian or Golden Hamsters, are the most common variety kept as pets. Though usually brown, the Syrian hamster can be a variety of colors, and some have long hair that needs to be cared for. Generally very gentle and curious, they are quite hardy animals who can eat a variety of foods. Syrian hamsters need larger cages, as they are a good-sized species that need room to run and play. They live up to three years. Read more

Frogs are FunWhether you’re jumping over a frog or jumping like one, today is a great day for hippity-hoppers.

Frog Jumping Day can be traced back to Missouri author Mark Twain, and his first short story, “Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog.” If you’d like to read this story today, it’s also known as “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County” as well as “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”

Frogs make great pocket pets, so you may want to celebrate Frog Jumping Day by getting a frog—or a toad—as a pet. Many frogs are simple to care for, fun to watch, and can be a great first pet for children—as long as they maintain proper hand washing techniques! Read more

Pocket pet owners are faced with a plethora of bedding choices. Here is some information to help you select the right bedding for your pet:

Cedar

Cedar shavings are NOT a suitable bedding for small animals. Cedar wood contains a powerful and pungent oil, and the fumes can irritate their eyes. Cedar works well as a flea repellent, and should only be used as stuffing for your dog's or cat's bed.

Pine

Pine, like cedar, is a softwood that contains a lot of volatile chemicals called phenols. These phenols make the pine shavings smell nice, but they are also toxic to small animals. Read more

Gerbils are one of the most popular pocket pets, but few people know more about them than their shiny eyes and long tails with the sweet little tuft at the end. These things are true, of course, but there is much more to the gerbil than its high adorability factor.

The gerbil subfamily includes a long list of other desert rodents, which are scattered across the African, Indian, and Asian continents. Gerbils as a class are hardy, social animals, which are well adapted to their hot dry climate. Read more

I like to feed my hamsters a "base diet," and supplement with a lot of other good stuff. Feeding your hamster nothing but kibble is like eating nothing but Power Bars and a multivitamin - all day, every day. Wouldn't you want some fresh fruits and veggies, and the occasional steak?

Base Diet

Your hamster's base diet should be a fresh, high quality pellet food. Don't skimp! Avoid any mixes that seem to have a lot of pellet dust at the bottom of the bag. This can indicate that it has been sitting on the shelf for a very long time. Read more