Bird

General Information

Modern pet birds were first domesticated thousands of years ago, with some species being domesticated as pets within the last several hundred years. Canaries were first bred into captivity in the early 1600s, while the parakeet, with its varied and diverse classes, is believed to have been domesticated for thousands of years.

Birds have had an enormous impact in human life serving as a primary source of food and also in performing important tasks. As a source of food, recent estimates indicate that every year more than 9.8 billion birds are raised, slaughtered and consumed for human consumption in the United States alone. In addition to food, birds have performs such tasks as carrying communications (Homing pigeons), hunting (falcons), scientific research (chickens and pigeons), and protecting miners from poisonous gasses (canaries).

Pet birds provide lively, constant companions that can fill a home with relaxing chirps and singing. Additionally they can bring vivid color and life into quiet corners of the home. Some species of birds can live well into their 60s and 70s creating a life long bond with their owner.

BIRD Scientific Information

Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Cordata Subphylum: Verebrata Class: Aves

BIRD Character Information

Birds are wonderful pets that can liven up any home or apartment with their high energy and beautiful songs and can add a wide array of color to any environment they live in. Birds are intelligent creatures that are easily trained and are relatively easy to care for. They can be extremely social and can live long, healthy lives providing years and years of companionships.

For the budget conscious, birds are not expensive to feed and can live in a small inexpensive cage. When considering becoming a bird owner, it is important to think about your current living condition, whether as a renter you can have such a pet, and about how long you are willing to have the bird as part of your home. Some types of birds can live well into their 70s if well cared for. But whatever your motivation, you can expect to have the happy sounds and colors of your bird brighten your home every day.

HORSES

General Information

Some experts speculate that horses were first domesticated almost 10,000 years ago. Throughout time, these sturdy and resilient animals have been used for transportation, to transport cargo, and sometimes for food. Around 2000 BC, historical records indicate that horses were used by many different cultures and societies.

Once domesticated, horses began to be bred for their specific abilities and characteristics. As humans began to find various uses for these animals they began to breed certain horses for pulling plows and wagons, for riding (with and without saddles), and as mentioned before, some cultures used horses as a source of meat and milk. Modern day horses are used mainly for recreation, although in some areas of the world horses are still used for work.

HORSE Scientific Information

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Perissodactyla
Family: Equidae
Genus: Equus
Species: E. caballus

HORSE Character Information

Depending on the breed, horses’ behaviors and characteristics vary from being subdued to very spirited animals. Horses are very intelligent can be taught to obey and perform specific tasks when trained to do so. If you have any experience in riding or working with horses, you can attest to the fact that at times they can also be very stubborn animals.

Horses require special attention and care and should be taught to trust their caretaker. Horses that are neglected or not well cared for can become wild and unruly creating an unsafe environment for anyone in this large animal’s vicinity.

MICE & RATS

General Information

Whether as pets or unwanted pests, mice and rats have lived with humans for thousands of years. These small furry creatures have survived throughout the ages because of their ability to adapt to almost any condition and their incredible ability to reproduce – one pair of mice and their descendents can produce over a million offspring in just two short years!

Mice and rats have an extended history of use in laboratory experiments and are considered a great test for chemicals and substances that may eventually be used on humans.

These rodents are adept hunters, spending most of their lives in the wild searching for and capturing food. Mice and rats are mostly nocturnal, gathering food during the night and showing signs of activity at varying times of the day.

MICE & RAT Scientific Information

Mouse

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Genus: Mus

Rat

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Superfamily: Muroidea
Family: Muridae
Subfamily: Murinae
Genus: Rattus

MICE & RAT Character Information

Mice are social creatures that are well adapted to handling by both adults and children. As social as mice can be, they can be very timid and if scared or handled roughly can become aggressive and territorial. When handling a pet mouse or rat, children should always be supervised by an adult.

Mice are small rodents, measuring only 3 ½ inches from head to bottom (tails can vary in length), weigh only an ounce and typically live to be one to four years old. While white is the most popular pet color, mice and rats come in a variety of coat colors and hair lengths.

Training your Pet

Pets are unique in their own sense. They have their own natural behavior. You have to mould their behavior as per your requirement. All this calls for training of pets.

Two cardinal rules that are to be followed while training your pet towards desirable behavior are:

1. Never reprimand or punish your cat for an unwanted behavior. This may make your pet fearful of you or else the pet will continue with the unwanted behavior in your absence.
   
2. Reward your pet for the desired behavior. It will act as a positive reinforcement.

While training a puppy regarding food habits, put your puppy on a consistent feeding schedule. Feed a puppy below six months three times per day and at the same time each day. Feed an adult dog twice a day and at the same time each day. Feed the same food consistently. Changing foods can cause finickiness and intestinal upset.

Regarding bowel habits, puppies typically need to go out within 30 minutes after a meal, and almost immediately after awakening, shortly after a play session, and just before going to bed at night. Puppies have limited bladder and bowel control and need to go out rather frequently during the day, and sometimes during the night.

Cats have an excessive habit of meowing. They do so when they want to attract attention, when they are hungry or when they are bored. Do break this habit exercise and play regularly with your cat. Don't pay attention to her and give her anything when she is meowing. In fact ignore her completely whenever she does so. Fulfill her needs when she is quiet. This will instill in her mind the desired behavior that is expected of her.

Cat is a nocturnal animal and its natural tendency is to sleep in the day and remain active in the night. To break this habit, change the biological clock of the cat as per your schedule. Firstly, don't reward cat in anyway - by playing with her or feeding her - whenever she wakes you in the night. Secondly, don't let your cat doze off in the day. Keep her active all day along and feed her late in the evening/early night. By following this schedule you will deprive your cat of sleep in the day and hence she will catch up with her sleep in the night. In about 2 weeks time her biological clock will match yours.

Cats have a natural instinct to scratch. They scratch our valuable furniture, carpets etc. To prevent them from doing so place double-sided tape or masking tape left sticky side up at strategic places on the furniture. Cats don't exactly relish having an object cling to their sensitive feet. Bring them a scratching post to satisfy their scratching instincts.

To ensure that your cat eliminates in the proper place litter box training is very important. . As a kitten, every time that she looks like she's about to crouch or she starts sniffing near a corner (classic signs of oncoming urination or defecation), pick her up and put her in the litter box. Also, first thing in the morning, put your kitten in the litter box. Kittens learn extremely quickly. Cats don't litter in dirty litter boxes so keep the litter box always clean. Reward your cat for eliminating in the litter box. In order to do so you must be present there at the time when she eliminates