When Betas Mate

My children want a pet. My oldest son wants a dog and a snake. Of course, he also wants a rat and a bearded dragon. Please excuse me while I go girlie for a minute....(ewwww, shudder, gross) I'm not really against a snake, but I'm not totally for it either. I don't want a constrictor, but a milk snake or corn snake would be okay. Maybe. The rat is a HELL no. The bearded dragon is a not-so-much. Although, I have to admit the bearded dragon is cute, in a lizardy --my blog, I can make up words if I want-- sort of way. The dog is okay as long as it's housebroken and doesn't destroy things. Uh huh, might as well dream big!

My middle child wants a cat and some fish. Those are pets I can live with, right? Sure, I like cats and fish are cool. He wanted a bird or a hamster, but I said no fowl or rodents. Those are firm rules. Which means the chick and duck he wants around Easter will be a no.

My baby wants a cat, a fish, a turtle and a horse. Um, well, where would we keep the horse? He thinks we could build an underground shelter, with a slide for the horse to get down to the shelter and an elaborate lift system using straps and helicopters to lift him up. Again, not so much. The turtle would be cool.

So, I take the boys to the pet store, one at a time. They ask tons of questions and the store clerks give them tons of answers. My middle child asks, "Why can't you put another fish in with a beta fish?" The clerk explains why (the male beta will kill another fish) and says the male will even kill a female, except when it's mating season. Of course, my kiddo wants to know what that means. Sigh. I explain that mating is what they do to have babies. He's cool with that answer. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy. We get home and he's telling the rest of the crew about beta fish. He says, "You can only put a boy and a girl in the same bowl when they're....um....oh yeah, getting married!" Stifling grins and giggles, my husband and I listen and make the appropriate comments.
We're still in the process of looking and discussing. All I know is I have to get pets I'm comfortable handling. Because you know who's going to end up taking care of it, right? We've (read I've) ruled out horses, rodents, spiders, boas, pythons, venomous snakes, birds, ferrets, and frogs. Other than that, I'm pretty cool with whatever they choose.

Planning on a visit to the shelter to look for kittens soon. Fingers crossed that we find one they all like. Then my poor husband will be the only one left to convince. He's not a cat person. He suggested we get a dog, a cat, a hamster, a snake, and a lizard. His idea is to put them in a room and see which one comes out. And NO, he's not serious! At least, I don't think he is...

Thanks for reading!