Keeping Playtime Safe

Keeping Playtime Safe

I am a member of many online rat groups that generally talk about the same things; rats are smart, rats are cute, rats are clean, rats are loving and loveable, rats can be hard to find medical care for. Every once in a while another familiar topic comes up: toys.

It can be relatively difficult to find toys suitable for rats, because they chew more than a lot of other animals. For a long time, there weren’t a lot of stimulating rat toys out there, just sticks with bells on them, like you’d give to birds, or maybe a basket you could hang in the cage. Both of these items are food dispensers that encourage movement, investigation and brain power to a certain extent, but rats need other kinds of stimulation too. They are big on nesting and need nesting boxes and plenty of comfortable places inside of their cage to snuggle down for the afternoon. For these needs, hammocks, soft tent-like structures, fuzzy beds, nesting boxes and various types of large tubing are typically used for rats. They are becoming more and more common in pet stores, where you can usually walk in and find something packaged with the picture of a rat on it.

McKay and Keller were two of my rats who loved the wheel and taught their children to do the same. Other rats have decided the same wheel is only good for sleeping in.

McKay and Keller were two of my rats who loved the wheel and taught their children to do the same. Other rats have decided the same wheel is only good for sleeping in.

In my many years of rat ownership I have found that what I get for a certain rat doesn’t always work for another rat. One pair of rats may love the plastic running wheel, while others may hate it and use it only as a bed. Some rats loved running in the plastic tubes we bought many years ago, others only used them to get from point A to point B and ignored them otherwise. Almost all of my rats like soft, snuggly places, but some could not stand hammocks to be in their cage and would rip them apart as soon as they saw one. It makes sense, really. Humans have preferences too. Some people love Minecraft, others would rather stick to Neverwinter. Some of us are readers, some of us focus better on movies and television. Different strokes for different folks works differently for rats though.

Rats have a tendency to reuse items that are given to them. It is quite possible that your rat will look at your hammock and decide that you have given them a nesting blanket, but have stupidly stuck it to the ceiling where it is useless for nesting. They will promptly cut it down and drag it away into their nesting box. It is just as possible that your rat will love your hammock, but hate the hard plastic stuff that you cluttered their cage with and expect them to run through. Those rats probably think their humans are nuts, not allowing them open space to drag their nesting materials around. They may find themselves struggling to pull a soft nesting toy through an opening in a plastic toy that isn’t anywhere near large enough.

Unlike most female rats, Click preferred not to chew her soft toys and chose to pile as many blankets in her bed as possible, without getting a hole in them. Once they started to fray she would reject them, pushing them to the door of her cage for us to collect.

Unlike most female rats, Click preferred not to chew her soft toys and chose to pile as many blankets in her bed as possible, without getting a hole in them. Once they started to fray she would reject them, pushing them to the door of her cage for us to collect.

The fact is that all animals have the ability to break their toys, either because they are natural “Destruct-o-cons” or out of pure accident. Whatever caused the toy to break, once the integrity of the product is compromised, it becomes hazardous to your animals.

Most toys caution consumers in the fine print.

Most toys caution consumers in the fine print.

Almost every toy I have ever purchased has had some kind of warning on the package. The manufacturers encourage supervision with toys, even if the concept behind the toy doesn’t exactly fit with the warning. Who is honestly going to take everything out of their rat’s cage before going to work every day? Yes, the warning is mostly to protect the people who make the products, but it is also meant to be taken seriously. A damaged toy left within reach of an animal can do some serious harm when you are not around to notice. I have heard horror stories of people going to work with healthy rats and coming home to one that had strangled itself in its own nesting materials.

It is tempting to take a toy that has caused your pet distress and display that product on social media sites as unsafe and dangerous. Many people will then jump on the bandwagon and start campaigns to have the toys removed from the shelves. While there are some times when this is appropriate, we can’t forget that text on the back of the package.

The warning that came with one of the soft toys for ferrets that my rats used, cautioning against “excessive wear.”

The warning that came with one of the soft toys for ferrets that my rats used, cautioning against “excessive wear.”

So what exactly is “excessive wear?”

 When it comes to answering this question I prefer to apply a rat-sized twist on the preschool regulations for playground equipment. On a preschool playground gaps in objects are measured by what can fit through them, which basically means that a hole has to be small enough that nothing fits through it or large enough that everything can fit through it. It is a more complicated process than it sounds, but the basic concept is that children can easily fit their legs through appropriate openings, but not their heads, which prevents strangling. It also means that holes must be small enough that their feet can’t slip through, trapping their legs, or large enough that their entire body can fit through so that they do not trap their shoulders. Our school has two separate playgrounds, measured for two periods in a child’s development. The youngest children cannot come to the playground with the older children because their body measurements would not match those of the older kids. An opening that is not dangerous for a five year old could be hazardous to a much smaller two year old.

When I look at the wear in any toys I give to my rats, I use some of the same criteria, but I have to take into account the nature of a rat’s body. The trick with rats is that their heads can fit through much smaller openings than you think. This is great for rats in the wild, who can squish their bodies through cracks in solid objects, but rats playing with softer toys can easily get trapped in the same sized opening, since fabric reacts differently than something like a cement block does. As a rule with all soft toys, as soon as I see ANY evidence of a hole where it shouldn’t be, it is time to remove that object. Any opening large enough for your rat’s nose to fit through can be hazardous to the rat that uses it. Once they can push their heads far enough into said opening, they can very rarely get the rest of their bodies through and the more they struggle the worse it can become for them. Even the smallest holes can choke a rat in this way.

Close up of a soft bed that has been chewed on by rats. This particular hole has been manually expanded to demonstrate that a tiny opening can quickly produce something that a rat could easily get its head stuck in.

Close up of a soft bed that has been chewed on by rats. This particular hole has been manually expanded to demonstrate that a tiny opening can quickly produce something that a rat could easily get its head stuck in.

When looking at human-made openings in soft toys, the ideal size is one that an animal larger than yours can fit through. If a manufactured opening looks to be too small for your pet, pick a different toy for them. Trying to alter the toy to their needs by expanding the opening can be very dangerous, as it can compromise the structure of the toy and lead to fraying. The same is true with toys that have been damaged by your pet. Simply sewing up an opening is not going to make the toy useable again, in fact, it can make the object even more dangerous.

It must seem that the process of looking for “excessive wear” involves discarding a toy the minute any flaw is discovered, making your purchase a waste of your time and money. This isn’t necessarily the case. Toys that are inappropriate to use in your rat’s cage, where they stay when you are away at work and unable to supervise them, might still find uses elsewhere. Some of the toys we remove from the cage become objects to be used in our play area, where our rats are being SUPERVISED at ALL times. This does not mean we allow hazardous items into the play space, it only means that things like a bed with a hole that COULD become dangerous are moved to where we can see them every minute that they are being used.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL READERS: Our play space is within arm’s reach of where we typically relax as a family. When we come home from work the rats go to the play space and we sit down to our evening’s activities. Typically this is the time when we interact with our rats through play or training and they are NOT using the slightly worn toys in the same ways that they would if the object was in their cage. A soft tunnel that has been chewed on will be re-purposed as a tunnel run for training and is removed if a rat begins nesting inside it. Having all of the toys within reach also means that if there are any signs or sounds of a struggle within the play space, the rat can be helped out of the situation within seconds. They are never left alone with these items and I do not recommend that a toy be used in any situation where it is unsafe to do so. When in doubt if the damage to your toy is “excessive”, discard the object. Better safe than sorry.

This chewed up hammock is now used as a warming blanket, wrapped around our older rats after they have had a bath. Because we are holding them while they are using the blanket, we can properly supervise the use of the newly purposed hammock and prevent strangling on the unsafe opening.

This chewed up hammock is now used as a warming blanket, wrapped around our older rats after they have had a bath. Because we are holding them while they are using the blanket, we can properly supervise the use of the newly purposed hammock and prevent strangling on the unsafe opening.

It isn’t only the hole in an object that pet owners need to be worried about. Soft toys that are frayed can become a hazardous. True a frayed object isn’t as dangerous as one that could trap your rat’s head, but as something comes unravelled it is much easier for your small pet to get their toe nail or toe caught up in the strings. Every type of object is different in its use, making some types of fraying more dangerous than others. The easiest way to prevent injury from this type of damage is to keep an eye on your rat’s movements when they use the toy. If their nails catch on any part of the fabric, or if they seem to be tugging their foot a little bit as they walk around, it probably means the toy is catching their nails or toes. I have seen many rats have their nails ripped off because the soft bedding has caught the nail and the rat has pulled the foot free, leaving the nail behind. Though this is a minor injury and your rat will recover, I have always found it better to prevent the stress of the injury by removing anything that is damaged enough to cause movement issues.

Phobos is looking a little unsure about the frayed edge of his hammock. This toy was reused as a warming blanket, but has been used here to demonstrate the dangers of fraying. A rat’s toe could easily be caught in those swirly loops of thread.

Phobos is looking a little unsure about the frayed edge of his hammock. This toy was reused as a warming blanket, but has been used here to demonstrate the dangers of fraying. A rat’s toe could easily be caught in those swirly loops of thread.

Basically the issue of soft toy safety falls on the pet owner’s shoulders. Even the best soft toy ever made can become dangerous to your pet if it is mistreated or neglected. The manufacturers include warnings like “supervision is advised” and “discontinue use if you see signs of excessive wear” because they know there are dangers involved when giving a soft toy to a nesting animal. Like you, they want your pet to have fun, but they also want your pet to be safe, and the best way to make certain both of those things happen is to remind you, that having a healthy pet means caring for them AND their toys.

Mirrani Houpe, YPS Staff Member

Mirrani Houpe, our Small Animal Editor, has had rats since she took home her first little boy once they both completed the second grade. Since that time she has owned, rescued and bred many kinds of rats, from many backgrounds. She may not be a vet, psychology major, or scientist, but her babies have her very well trained when it comes to how to care for them. She is constantly working with her family’s veterinarian to come up with new and innovative ways to love and care for the most often misunderstood rodent in the pet world. You can e-mail her at mirrani@yourpetspace.info

Why Religious Indian Hindus Don’t Eat Beef

One thing that Westerners find intriguing about India is that the country, by and large, regards cows as sacred. Many wonder what the reasons for Indian Hindus not eating beef are. The rationale as to why Indians of the Hindu fold find the cow as a lovable animal and cannot even think of making it into beef burgers has multifarious dimensions.

Movie poster in India pertaining to the countries first film on the slaughter of cows.

Indian poster for the movie Aahinsa, the country’s first film on the slaughter of cows. The director is Yousuf Ali Khan.

History of the Indian Hindu practice:

 Certain historians argue that ancient Indians ate beef. Archaeological excavation pertaining to the non-Aryan Harappan era in India, which dated back to 6000 BC, is believed to indicate that beef was consumed by the indigenous people. Some historians also aver that cattle were also consumed in the Vedic Age (1500 BC to 500 BC). The Rig Veda, book of hymns, composed during the early Vedic Era, however, suggests that substitutes to animal sacrifices were thought of. Often barley and rice were offered instead of slaughtering an animal.

As per certain historical theory, around 700 BC, cattle were allowed to be slaughtered for ritual purposes and hospitality. However, as cows were killed in large numbers, there was a serious shortage of milk. Hence, the religious rules were changed to venerate the cow, so that the milk supply continued to flow. As the economy evolved from a hunting-gathering one to an agrarian one, the cow began to be protected rather than killed. The Athravaveda; the ancient religious book of hymns, chants and spells, later went on to say that eating even a barren cow would bring ill luck to the souls of one’s ancestors.

Lord Krishna, who is considered as an incarnation of God by Hindus, lived and preached in India in the BC era and was born to a cow herder’s family. He displayed immense affection towards cows. He grew up with milk maids being his closest buddies. Traditionally, Krishna is shown playing a flute, with a cow in the background.

As per Hindu mythology, the holy cow Kamdhenu, enjoys the status of a goddess and is considered as the mother of all cows. It was believed that she gave her devotees whatever they desired.

Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism; religions which originated from Hinduism; also advocate the non-consumption of beef. The Buddha who preached non-violence to all living creatures was against animal sacrifice, especially that of the mother cow.

Film stars Kashvi Kanchan and Nafe Ali Khan, promotional photo for Aahinsa.

Film stars Kashvi Kanchan and Nafe Ali Khan, promotional photo for Aahinsa.

The reason which triggered the historic 1857 revolt against the British was that the Indian Hindu soldiers refused to bite off the cartridges, which were made of beef fat. It is feared that eating beef or killing a cow will condemn one to hell. Not all Indian Hindus, however, refrain from eating beef.

The cow possesses mother-like and gentle qualities:

The cow is considered to be a gentle and docile animal. It has the most serene eyes. Hindus, especially those who reside in villages, are accustomed to handling this sweet and calm bovine. The cow is regarded as a beloved household pet in these homes. Can anyone ever kill a pet for providing for food on the dinner table?

Nafe Ali Khan, promotional photo for Aahinsa.

Nafe Ali Khan, promotional photo for Aahinsa.

Those who keep milch cows and take them out daily to graze have noticed very maternal traits in the cows. For instance, while in the green fields, the mother cow affectionately lows to her calf, lovingly nourishes and fondles it. Of course all animals have maternal instincts but those who have cows as pets in India aver that the cow is one of the most motherly of all animals.

Mother Cow Is In Some Ways Better

In the Rig Veda, human longing, sacred devotion and maternal affection is diagrammatically represented by a cow with her calf. The cow that is abounding with milk is considered the embodiment of maternal energy. Mahatma Gandhi, renowned Indian freedom fighter, revered the cow greatly. He said, “Mother cow is in many ways better than the mother who gave us birth. Our mother gives us milk for a couple of years and then expects us to serve her when we grow up. Mother cow expects from us nothing but grass and grain. Our mother often falls ill and expects service from us. Mother cow rarely falls ill. Our mother when she dies means expenses of burial or cremation. Mother cow is as useful dead as when alive.”

The cow is seen as having maternal-qualities.

The cow is seen as having maternal qualities.

A variety of dairy products

India’s rich cuisine boasts of a wide array of dairy products. Ghee or clarified butter, considered a super food in India, is the ingredient of many dishes and is essential in many Indian Hindu ritual offerings to God. The Indian kitchen offers curdled, non-curdled, fermented and other dairy products.

Just a few of the many dairy products are paneer and channa (Indian cottage cheese), khoa (made from thickened or dried whole milk), kulfi (Indian ice cream), dahi (curd), shrikhand (strained yoghurt blended with sugar), kheer (a rice dish with milk and sugar), and many mouth watering sweetmeats.

Western dairy and confectionary items are also highly popular in India. Milk and dairy products contain calcium, Vitamin B 12 and magnesium. A huge chunk of the Indian population comprises of vegetarians. As they don’t have non-vegetarian options to choose from, the many dairy products offer them varieties of food, including Vitamin B 12, which is generally provided from meat.

Flyer for the movie Aahinsa.

Flyer for the movie Aahinsa.

Cow Excreta

Though the idea may appear to be repugnant, the truth is that cow’s urine and feces have crucial uses in India. Cow’s potty, known as cow dung, is rich in minerals and is consequently used as manure. Dung is made into biogas, which generates both heat and electricity. Cow dung, when burned, acts as a natural mosquito repellent. Dung mixed with water also helps to ward off many other harmful insects.

Not all of India is a warm country. There are chilly regions too and winters can get quite cold in some places. Cow dung pasted on the walls serves as a natural thermal heater. Dried cow dung is used as firewood, thereby saving many trees. It also serves as a component in mud brick houses.

Sprinkling cow urine is thought to be a spiritual cleanser in Hindu rituals. It’s also used as a floor cleanser. It acts as a natural pesticide, thereby serving as an essential component in organic farming. Cow’s urine, with neem and custard apple leaves, when boiled together, forms a bio-pesticide.

Cow’s urine has many medicinal properties as per Ayurveda, the Indian medicinal system. It is believed to have beneficial effects in treating fevers, cancer, leprosy, anemia, liver ailments and asthma.

As the cow is such a useful animal, it makes greater practical sense in India to keep the animal alive rather than roasting it. In fact, household wealth from time immemorial in India has been measured in the number of cows one has. Many a tragic tale has been woven around situations when one lost one’s cow while grazing or had to sell off the household cow when falling into abject poverty. So before ridiculing Indian Hindu culture for  abstaining from beef, one should read the logical reasons as to why people do so.

Pallavi Bhattacharya

Pallavi Bhattacharya from Mumbai in India is the pet parent to a white rabbit named Potol. She feeds stray dogs and cats. She has written for leading Indian publications on animals/ pets like gingertail.in, Dogs and Pups, Cats and Kittens, the Furs, Feathers and Fins magazine and Buddy Life.

So, You Want a Goldfish…

Part One – The Housing Market

Be honest. When you read the title of this article, what came to mind? Did you see a bright orange or golden fish swimming around in a bowl? Maybe the bowl had some rocks and one plant in it, maybe it didn’t, but the point is that for most of the general public, that sort of image is what comes to mind. In fact, when I did a Google search on just the word goldfish in the images category, that very image wasn’t that far down on the image list:

goldfish Search

Even in the suggestions bar, the goldfish bowl is one of the top three options. Right behind those yummy crackers and a collection of photos based on the types of goldfish, sits one word with the accompanying images: “Bowl.” For true goldfish lovers, this very idea causes a twinge of pain or sadness. Not many people really know why, since everywhere we look the human race is bombarded with the traditional image of a goldfish looking perky in the middle of a bowl that is usually devoid of any decoration what so ever. What is wrong with this idea? It is everywhere. Even Elmo from Sesame Street has a goldfish in a bowl!  Well, as a goldfish owner for many, many years, let me tell you what I see when you say the word goldfish: I see a colorful fish, about the size of my hand, swimming around in a giant tank, full of plants, rocks and other interesting items to interact with.

fish Tank

Goldfish tank being set up in a school classroom.

Goldfish Are In The Carp Family

Surprised? Sadly, most people will be. As a society we are so bombarded with the bowl image that we have forgotten the origin of these beautiful fish. These guys belong in the CARP family. Sure, they’re on the small side, but they ARE carp. They belong in the same family as Koi, the same family as that fish someone’s uncle Joe just caught at the lake the other day. They were one of the first types of fish to be domesticated and in many years of breeding for beauty, we humans have forgotten the idea that these guys belong in ponds and large bodies of water. I am always saddened to be standing at the koi pond at Biltmore and hear visitors from ages five to fifty five point out the goldfish swimming among the koi and exclaim their surprise at the smaller fish being there. Yes, keeping goldfish in a pond takes a special climate and certain knowledge, but the truth is that a pond is where they are most happy and healthy.

Now, some of you are reading this and you just got a fish or are looking at a fish care book and are pointing at the image of a goldfish (or two or three) in a ten gallon tank or in a bowl and saying to yourselves, “This says you are wrong. This picture in this book, and the picture on my new tank from the fish store shows goldfish living like this. The tank even says it is for goldfish.” Check those items again. Chances are your ten gallon tank is called a “starter” tank and that image of the goldfish bowl probably has an unexpected caption or has a better explanation within the text.

Starter fish tank

Three goldfish in a starter tank. Charon, Nix and Hydra check out their new accommodations after leaving the pet store. Though Charon will pass away from illness acquired at the store, Nix and Hydra will be transferred from this tank to their regular home in the 60 gallon tank in my classroom.

Researching Your Fish Care

I recently went to the library to do some research on additional food supplements for my goldfish, Nix and Hydra. Our library had only two books on the subject of goldfish, one for adults, and one for children. I checked out both, but for the purposes of this article, I will focus mostly on Goldfish: A Complete Pet Owner’s Manual, by Marshall E. Ostrow, since the children’s version was nearly identical in contents, only written for a younger reader. As soon as I opened the book I was horrified to see the image of a fish bowl with more than one fish in it, but on further inspection I relaxed a little, as the caption clearly stated there were TOO MANY fish in the bowl. Reading further, though it did describe how to set up a bowl for your goldfish, it emphasized that this was best only as a temporary residence, such as in instances of sickness, when a fish must be quarantined. Following that introductory chapter, the author chose to discuss only the setup of tanks, much to my relief.

Getting your goldfish a large tank is necessary for several reasons beyond allowing for proper growth and happiness. First of all, goldfish are awesome waste producers and too much waste in the tank can alter your water’s pH to a point that is dangerous for your fish. The smaller the tank, the faster this can occur, meaning you are constantly having to change out water to keep the balance in check, which can be a major stressor for your fish. Secondly, goldfish need a lot of oxygen in their water and the more surface area they have the better, as a small surface area lowers the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, sometimes quite drastically. This is another reason I cringe at images of goldfish bowls, as most of those images show the water all the way at the top, where there is far less water surface area due to the small opening. If you are keeping a goldfish in a quarantine bowl, it is better to fill the bowl to the most round part. Even though this means less water and swim area, it gives them more surface area for oxygen.

Travel fish tank

Charon, Nix, and Hydra inside a tiny 3.5 gallon tank used for transportation or quarantine. They quickly outgrew this tank and needed their 10 gallon starter tank for this purpose.

Now that we know goldfish need a lot of space, the next step is to figure out how big your tank should really be. There are many ways to calculate the size of your future aquarium, one of which is to say that one inch of fish equals one gallon of water. Here is where all those ten gallon tanks come in at the pet store. Measure them and think about it. Sure, having ten gallons means you could have two or three fish in there if they were about a month old and only one inch long. However, in one year your average goldfish could grow to be about five inches long. Your two fish would suddenly be very cramped and miserable, if they had managed to grow as normal. One of the major disadvantages to giving your goldfish less room than they need is that it will stunt their growth, something that can become painful over time, as their internal organs keep growing even if the rest of them does not. Should you decide to use a ten gallon tank as a starter tank, keep a close eye on the behavior of your fish.  If they become less active or seem lethargic at the bottom of the tank, chances are they are already outgrowing the tank. Sometimes the easiest way to perk up your goldfish is to upgrade the size of their home.

Hydra the goldfish

Hydra, about, 6 inches long from nose to tail, watches through her tank as children read a book at circle time.

Measuring by inch means that you have to keep measuring and keep upgrading in order for your fish to be healthy and maintain their proper growth rate. I find it much more practical to think along the lines of what you will need in the future. My motto for goldfish is 50 gallons for the first fish and 10 gallons per fish after that. This seems like a lot and there are people who have managed to keep a fish mostly healthy in a smaller home. It certainly looks ridiculous when you put two small fish in a tank of such a massive size. The purpose of this plan is actually to keep things simple in the long run. Nix and Hydra are both comets, a longer, larger type of goldfish that is also one of the most common. When I bought them they were “babies” at about an inch long, but in ten years a comet can grow to be ten inches long. That is already a 20 gallon tank for two fish, if you are still calculating one inch of fish per gallon. Now, where are they going to swim? Most 20 gallon tanks are only about 24 or 30 inches long, so that doesn’t leave much wiggle room for a ten inch fish, not to mention the fact that bigger fish make bigger poops, so you need more than 20 gallons to help dilute that waste and make the situation livable.

A 36 gallon tank at my local pet store is about 20 inches long and 30 inches wide. Nix and Hydra would be happy for maybe a year, when they both reached five inches in length, at which point it is only a matter of months before they start to feel cramped. Once they reach the ten inch growth mark they will be able to line up, nose to tail and fill the length of their home, which doesn’t give them swimming space or the stimulation of exploration. Once you go past the 36 gallon tanks, your options for size start to become limited and you need to keep in mind that a captive comet goldfish can reach a maximum of 13 inches in length. Using a 50 gallon tank for one goldfish gives them 13 gallons of water for their full growth and that 36 gallon swimming space to keep them active and healthy, with an extra gallon left over for rocks and the rest. With a tank this size, another ten gallons per fish, even at their largest size, should be just fine, but keep surface area in mind. Your tank should have a nice long shape to it, rather than a boxy one. Not only does this spread out the weight of your tank (a 55 gallon tank usually weighs around 600 pounds!), it gives them more surface area and oxygen for their water. Plus, what fish doesn’t want play room?

Nix

Nix, about 6 inches from nose to tail, foraging at the bottom of the 60 gallon aquarium he calls home.

Once you decide how many fish you are going to have, don’t just dash out and buy the first setup you see that meets the gallon per fish requirement. The next step to goldfish ownership is working out where you are putting your tank, because it is better to buy a tank to fit a location than to force a location to conform to your tank. There are many factors that go into tank placement, such as water temperature, available light sources, the size of your room, and the location of windows, outlets and furniture.

Probably the most important part of placing your tank is the actual floor under it. It is typically recommended that you put your tank near an outside wall, in a place that is structurally sound and able to take on several hundred pounds of regular weight. The floor in this location should be as level as possible, so that stress is not put on one part of the tank over another due to uneven weight distribution. With goldfish you are going to have filters and you will most likely have some form of bubbler, so having an outlet near the tank is a must. If you choose to use the lights on your aquarium, that will require even more power. Your tank should be kept away from the air vents in your room, to prevent sudden changes in temperature, and it should not be placed directly in front of the window for the same reasons, though some sunlight is acceptable and helpful, which I will discuss in another area of this series. Finally, the best place for your tank is in a low traffic area, where it cannot be bumped, bashed or cracked by random objects or people. Your fish will want to be interactive and will become a part of your family more than you realize, but they won’t be happy if they join you in the outside world.

Goldfish Neptune and Pluto

Neptune and Pluto catching some natural light in the corner of their tank near the window.

So, you want to get a goldfish. (Hopefully, since fish are schooling animals, you are actually thinking of getting two or three.) Now you have an idea about where that fish should live. It sounds like keeping a goldfish is something hard to do, but honestly it isn’t. Even though the cultural idea of a bowl has now been thrown out the window, these guys are still a lot easier to care for than fish who need constant monitoring when it comes to temperature, salt content, and all the other things that make keeping a fish much more complicated than anyone expects. Still, as simple as it is to keep a goldfish, we can’t just stop here. In later posts I will cover aquarium setup, care and feeding, and try and cover some of the most common types of goldfish out there.

If you can’t wait to get your next fish, I strongly suggest researching what I have yet to cover, but if you can wait, I’ll see you all next time, when I talk about “Moving In.”

Mirrani Houpe, YPS Staff Member

Mirrani Houpe, our Small Animal Editor, has had rats since she took home her first little boy once they both completed the second grade. Since that time she has owned, rescued and bred many kinds of rats, from many backgrounds. She may not be a vet, psychology major, or scientist, but her babies have her very well trained when it comes to how to care for them. She is constantly working with her family’s veterinarian to come up with new and innovative ways to love and care for the most often misunderstood rodent in the pet world. You can e-mail her at mirrani@yourpetspace.info