A Fish Named Rover

The search for a pet has been an interesting one so far. The pet store employees have been so helpful with providing knowledge. For instance, did you know that corn snakes are very active and ball pythons make better pets? And when you feed snakes, you get frozen mice, put them in a bag, drop them in boiling water and heat them up until they are warm but not too hot? (Gross!) And that you shouldn't feed your snake in it's enclosure, because it might become cage aggressive? Cage aggressive means they'll strike at you when you put your hand in to pick them up. Now I don't know about you, but I couldn't have lived without all that information! And because I'm such a sweetheart, I shared with you!

We're looking at cats, too. (My preference.) So far, we've not had a lot of luck finding a good fit. They're either scared of everything, look sick, or are hellcats.

We've looked at lizards and turtles and other critters too. Yesterday, I bought a fish. Our fish is a blue and red male Betta that I've had my eye on for weeks. I brought him home and set up his little aquarium. He moves in today and is quite excited.

Bettas are interesting fish. You can only put one male in an aquarium. This might lead you to believe it's safe to put him in with a female. Not so much. Only when they're ready to breed and only until the deed is done. Then he goes back to solitary. Otherwise, he'll kill her. I read you can house them with some other fish, but only if they aren't as pretty as he is. What an ego these fish have! So, we have our solitary Betta. But I digress.

My boys came in from school and ran to see our newest family member. After homework and general chaos, we sat down for dinner. The topic of dinner conversation quickly turned to naming the Betta.

I'll spare you my husband's suggestion. Suffice it to say, he was less than enthusiastic after a day of travel. He just got back from a trip to Florida.

"Let's call him Betta!"

"No, Ninja!"

"I like Peter Jackson!"

"Okay, we'll call him Betta Ninja Fighter Peter Jackson Fishy!"

My children, ages 9 and 7, have no understanding of the "less is more" concept.

My response? "Let's name him Rover!"

They all looked at me as though I'd lost my mind. Perhaps I have.

So, while they argued over his name, Rover and I bonded. I entertained him with fish food pellets and he entertained me by viciously attacking them. I read that you can train them to eat from a little spoon. This could be interesting.

Thanks for reading!