Which of these pets have you ever owned?

Iguana, Fish, 2 Birds, 3 Rabbits, Ferret

I once owned a mouse... which, for the record, was also a small rat.

Dog, cat, anoles (mistakenly called chameleons), iguana, ferrets, newts, fish, hamster, mouse..

3 cats and heapsa finches

Fish. I had 6 fish. They all died.

what were their names? I had fish too and was actually thinking of getting some again... the only thing is that I really hated having to clean the aquarium all the time

dogs-cats-frog

I have co-habitated with Hamsters, Mice, Rats, Guinea Pig, Cats, Dogs, Fish, Frogs, Iguanas, Lizards, Turtles, Crawdads(Crayfish, Crawfish)... I think that's it..

How did you clean it? The best thing to do is to never empty it entirely of it's water... Use a vacuum siphon to remove less than half of the water while digging it around in the gravel. Make sure the water that you replace is close in temperature and free of chemicals like chlorine. Use plenty of stress coat. It's a 15 minute job that doesn't have to be done really often if you have a good back filter...

But you probably already knew all that.

dog, cat, turtle, fish, snail and newt!!!!

AND A MONKEY? TWISTY?

no monkey

well I kinda had this monkey..but he was bad...so I sent him East

east? where east? do monkeys like the east?

ask Romkey

A heifer calf, cats, dogs, parakeets, goldfish & guppies, small turtle.

I had a fish named Chicken. Isn't that great?

So, you owned both big and small mourats? Hmm... thats odd. I owned a fairly large cat and a fairly small cat. But I wonder why it is that you found it necessary to differentiate? Do you believe there is a significant difference between mourats of different sizes?

Cat, hamster, fish and various bugs and snails I trapped in jars.

Actually, I didnt Thank you for the info!

Please can you point me to an online resource to support your statement that the difference between rats and mice is 5.5 inches.

It's pointless to argue with you. Also, I just don't like talking to you enough to do it. I'll let msgman do it.

Rats and mice are for sure very different creatures. They are different in many ways. I have owned many rodent type animals and they are in fact very different.

Thanks

Of course, this brings an entirely new slant to the old joke...

"Is that a mouse in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?"

"A mouse? How dare you insult me - it's definitely a rat, at least!"

I think its a gerbil or a herbil or is that a gamster? Mat rouse? there isnt a difference right? Lets make up new names then.

Currently have 2 Dogs, 2 Cats, 2 Cockateils, 2 White Doves, 2 Rats, 4 Female Mice with 12 babies, 1 Male Mouse, 1 Bearded Dragon, 3 Newts, 1 Tree Frog, 1 Fire Belly Frog, 1 Bull Frog, 1 Marine Toad, 1 20 gall. gold fish tank, 1 72 gall. tropical fish tank, 1 29 gall. salt water tank, and 1 guinea pig........ That covers it for today. What will tomorrow bring?

And also, have had 1 very large iguana, 1 rabbit, gerbils, 2 anole lizards, hamsters, parakeets, and even a hedgehog.

NO SNAKES, or HORSES though....

I had Ricky and Lucy, then Bubbles, then Trouble, then George, and then Alladin. What were the names of yours?

I like most animals, although I only had a dog because of my ex-wife.

lol

Don't worry your 6 fish will get new bodies.

I know.

Arthur, Cindy, Cherry, Ciboulette and Gordon Shumway ( cause I had decided that he looked like Alf...)

I like your names. Especially Cherry and Ciboulette.

Hare Krishna!

Dog, cats, parrot, hamster, frogs, and fish - now just cats. My brothers had many of these. We practically needed a list of what was missing around the house: horny toad, snakes, etc.
Actually my apartment has it's own eco-system. Ants and moths are the latest inhabitants.

Why don't you open your own zoo?

NO thank you. Have enough pets and 4 kids still at home. Not to mention hubby.

Alright, msg, but unfortunately it won't serve any point, considering "the fallacy of a positive instance", and you wont believe me anyways due to your belief bias. I'll let you in on a secret right now, which is that we are "talking past each other", because both of our claims are correct, we are merely saying different things. If you read the rest of my comments in advanced stats you should get the point. http://www.cantrip.net/floor/ani.html#RTFToC1
Scroll down to paragraph "Mice". Hard to find things like that, but Ill look for some better sources.

Here is my settlement MSG, there are rat species, and there are mouse species. What makes us decide to name a rat species "Rat" and a mouse species "Mouse"? The size.
5.5 inches is just me being cocky. There is no actual EXACT line that differentiates the two. The only commonly refered to size line is, however, usually 5 inches, or 6 inches, or 5.5 inches [I have read this in a number of articles and books, but I don't keep a bibliography in my head, sorry]. If you really want me to, I'll go down to the library and bring back some more sources for you, [next wednesday], but it is a waste of my time, and this really isn't a hot enough issue to make it worth wasting a couple hours on.

The point is simple; if you go to a pet store, and ask to see the mice, they are going to lead you to a PARTICULAR species, which is the popular mouse pet species [I dont recall directly the name]. Ask for a rat, and you will probably end up with a Rattus Rattus, or a Norway Rat. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE RAT AT THE PET STORE, AND THE MOUSE AT THE PET STORE, WHICH IS MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN SIZE. They are different species, of course! But in general, you get labelled a rat species by being big (there are other considerations too), and a mouse species by being small (Again, there are other considerations).

IN general, the internet isn't a very good place for information on this subject, I honestly suggest that you go down to a university sized library, and find a book on mice and/or rats. I guarantee you that will explain it to you as I have here, mainly because that is where *I* learned all this crap that I never really wanted to know in the first place. Frankly, I have provided a few pages of documentation, and now the burden is on you, to go out and learn enough about the field to figure out what I am talking about. You view my error as being one of my ignorance, and I am clearly explaining something to you here which you did not know [For one that there are other species of rat besides the Norway Rat], so maybe it is you that is the one that is lacking in information.

My goodness, you are boring.

I'll tell you what, I always spend 4 hours at the library on tuesdays and thursdays anyways, so, I will take time out of studying things that I actually give a crap about [like Psychoactive drugs, soviet physics, and Mental Illnesses], to check out a book or two about mice and rats, just for you, and I will tell you the name of the book, and which page it mentions the difference. Unfortunately, I don't drive, [If I did, I'd go down there tomorrow, because you have pissed me off with your refusal to listen to what I am saying.], and I am sure as hell not going to walk down there. That means it will be at minimum Tuesday. If you are really proactive, you will go do it yourself in the meantime.

I ahve no doubt what so ever, that rattus rattus, or whatever LIMITED AND UNREPRESENTATIVE species of rat you owned was different from the SINGLE species of mouse you owned (mus musculus?). I would challenge any assertion that this difference was more or for that matter equally as significant as the difference between 2 random chosen breed of dog. I would also challenge that you have no experience with the greater defintions of mouse and rat, beyond mus and rattus genera.

We've had: a dog, a cat, mice, rabbits, chickens, guinnea pigs, fish and birds.

Your original claim was that "Rats are generally considered mice". Several people, including myself, disagreed with this statement, and provided evidence to back it.

What you are now saying is that the difference between a species that we label "mouse" and one that we label "rat" is generally due to the size. This is indeed correct, and one that I'm not disputing. However, you are now agreeing that rats and mice are different species, which means that you are now agreeing with my refutation of your original claim.

Incidentally, the difference between a rat and a mouse is greater than the difference between different breeds of dog. Despite the size difference, a Great Dane is the same species as a Springer Spaniel - they are both Canis lupus familiaris. The difference between a rat and a mouse is closer to the difference between a dog and a dingo (Canis lupus dingo) or between a dog and a grey wolf (Canis lupus lycaon).

Also, I do know the difference between a brown rat/Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) and a black rat (Rattus rattus), as you might have assumed from the fact that I specifically said "brown rat" rather than just "rat" in my previous comment. In fact, there are several other species of mouse and rat; I just mentioned the most common.

Finally, there is a good resource on the web, which is my source for most of the above information, at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/

I've also owned hermit crabs (which makes for an interesting conversation about pets - "I have crabs!"). I really want a lizard - especially a vittikin <http://www.leaplizard.com/articles/vittikin.html> and I'd love to have a pet sheep. Don't ask me why. A monkey would be cool, too... Ah, I'd live with any animal.

Had pet sheep once... and ducks.. plus geese... all very good pets The sheep were especially clever and kind too. Used to group around and walk with me when I was once quite ill.

Incidently MSG, that is one of the sources I used in my comments in qualifying. As I said, we are talking past each other. Now, as I said before, species and genera take on different names in less familiar animals. Just because Great Dane, and Springer Spaniel are the same sepcies, does not mean ANYTHING. Species does not define any particular percentage amount of genetic similarity. There is no set rule for determining species to species. The people who labelled dog species, and the people who labelled small rodent species, used different amounts of difference in deciding what should or should nto be considered the same species. In common animals, the species differentiation is arbitrary. See my comment in qualifying on that.

My original claim was "Rats are generally considered mice". That is still my claim. People say "rat" often, when talking about a mouse... they say mouse often when talking about a rat. There is usually no need to differentiate (just as there is no need to differentiate between old world and new world mice...).

I didnt say "rats are mice" I said, "Rats are generally considered mice" (considering that that the difference between a species that we label "mouse" and one that we label "rat" is generally due to the size). Thats all I am saying. Like I said, we are talking past each other, and it has nothing to do with me wavering [I'm not, and if you look back Ive been pretty solid]. I finish with the same claim I started with to prove this. "Mice, are generally considered rats."

There are many, many species labelled mouse or rat. There is difference between each mouse species, there is difference between each rat species. There is an equal amount of difference between some rats and some mice as there is between some rats and some rats. Considering this, that a mouse can be as [or more] different from another mouse as it can be from a rat, why differentiate for purposes of this survey along those lines? Why not put things into groups based on their overall similarities {old world animal, new world animal}, as opposed to an arbitrary naming system selected by people? What does it matter if the animal was big or small, isnt it more relevant what sub-family it was?

The differentiation of animals into different species isn't arbitrary. If you think it is, then this discussion is totally pointless.

Definately a cat person, though..

Not entirely, no, an often stated rule is "If they cannot breed with each other, they are not the same species". But this is general, and isn't very effective.

The decision not to further seperate the Familiar Canines (it is a pun!), into more species is based on individual preference and convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of the animal and taxonomical system.

However, you didn't answer my 3 questions... or disagree with any of their premises.

Considering this, that a mouse can be as [or more] different from another mouse as it can be from a rat, why differentiate for purposes of this survey along those lines? Why not put things into groups on this survey based on their overall similarities {old world animal, new world animal}, as opposed to an arbitrary naming system selected by people? What does it matter if the animal was big or small, for purposes of this survey isnt it more relevant what sub-family it was? Aren't the words rat and mouse generally interchangable (when discussing a 5 inch long animal) in common usage?

Point being, it really doesn't make a difference, and if it really doesn't make a difference, the tendency is to side with the survey creator's original decision. If he wants to merely list rats, and expects you to click that if you own a mouse, then so be it. Of course, he did change it, so maybe he didn't like it that way after all and did it on accident. In any event, there was nothing originally wrong with the original form.

*snore*

I don't particularly want to get into an argument, but since I spend 10 hours a day working on the differences in proteins between rats and mice and humans, I find your argument about rats and mice being different only by their size as profoundly ignorant, and based on the limited knowledge with which our ancestors names "rat" and "mouse" as two species.

We now know, with the hindsight of genetics that those earlier classifiers of species were right. Every protein expressed in the body of a rat is different to the proteins expressed in the body of a mouse, but within the species of rat or mouse these proteins are the same. There are similarities, but those similarities are about the same as the similarities with other mammalian proteins (like hamster or human).

If you insist on stating that rats are the same as mice, you must also recognise that by the same logic, you are yourself a rather large rat.

I never said that rats were the same as mice Natism. Quote me, I dare ya. You have succesfully torn down a claim I never made. The questions have still not been addressed. Considering this, that a mouse can be as [or more] different from another mouse as it can be from a rat, why differentiate for purposes of this survey along those lines? Why not put things into groups on this survey based on their overall similarities {old world animal, new world animal}, as opposed to an arbitrary naming system selected by people? What does it matter if the animal was big or small, for purposes of this survey isnt it more relevant what sub-family it was? Aren't the words rat and mouse generally interchangable (when discussing a 5 inch long animal) in common [if not scientific] usage?

Disagree with a premise, or answer the question.

BTW, when a substance has a substantially different effect on a mouse than it does on a rat, that is VERY rare. It is not only noteworthy, but there are studies written on how it could possibly be. International conferences held on the subject! (The "Us/Japan conference on the phenotypic definition of mouse and rats".) (Well, I would assume at least from the title, I noticed it on Amazon.com, but I can only assume based on the title what it is about)

Granted, LD-50s and such differ from mouse to rat, but they differ from rat to rat too.. and from mouse to mouse.

"I find your argument about rats and mice being different only by their size as profoundly ignorant,"

Not DIFFERENT, only by size, DIFFERENTIATED only by size. Defined by size. The defintion of rat cannot be made without referring to SIZE. Size is INHERENT in the definition. With size and species differences come other differences, naturally. For all practical purposes, it doesn't make any more sense to differentiate mice and rats on a survey with 25 options, where differentiations have not been made between different types of birds!

Obviously, no one is claiming that a parrot is a dove. But for all practical purposes, it really don't matter and they are both birds. Birds, can be further borken down into categories.

Rat, includes by implication, mouse. (Although generally I would have done it the other way around). Worst case, there should have been a category labelled "Mouse/rat".

Encyclopedia brittanica says...

Mouse: any of many small, scampering rodents, particularly the house mouse (Mus musculus; see photograph), family Muridae (order Rodentia). The term mouse, like the term rat, has no scientific definition; it is used simply to designate any of numerous ratlike, but small, rodents. Many species of the large family...

here's your quote:
"I once owned a mouse... which, for the record, was also a small rat"
"My original claim was "Rats are generally considered mice". "
"I finish with the same claim I started with to prove this. "Mice, are generally considered rats." "
"Rat, includes by implication, mouse."

I can't read!

"I once owned a mouse... which, for the record, was also a small rat"

This is the only one that could POSSIBLY be interpreted as saying that, you aren't even trying to understand what I am saying here Natism. In any event, to avoid Further discussion on the issue, that statement was incorrect. The other statements do not say "Rats are mice" the other statemnets say "Rats are generally considered mice, due to the fact that they are both rat like animals which are generally similar, the main difference and determining factor for classification purposes being size."

Are woodrats, hedgehogs, and capybara mice too?
Excuse me, I mean generally considered mice?

This survey deserves a reward of some sort.

Rattus pinkus farticus.

and what about prairie dogs and beavers?

oooh, sexy.
Star Trek told me the computer would help me find my Animal Guide (which i thought was the crow). And this was the only survey on my new completed list after the show. Thank You for the info.

you're very welcome!

I had quite a meditation last night. I wore oils of rose, sandalwood, sage, opium, narcissus, ginger, jasmine, honeysuckle, patchoulli, and spearmint. I saw some sort of lynx or snow leapoard (white mane and white spots), giant beaver, a giraffe, a white owl, a black cobra, a giant clam, a kangaroo, and a cockatoo. Not a bad collection of guides at all. I was some opulent gold headressed deiess amidst viney jungles through history, and was filled with electricity when i visited who i think was Solomon. He had a long white beard and an aura of thin purple-blue line surrounding star-field & deep space.

I have 1 dog, 2 cats and too many fish to count. I've had 3 birds, 1 other cat, 3 turtles, 3 hamsters and I used to catch toads and frogs when I was little.

I think he misses you. He's been a very naughty monkey!!!

*laughs so hard...falls off her chair*

Classic, every touch. Where did mr. happy come from?

have you tried spanking him?

He'd probably just enjoy it! He was mandy's monkey, after all!

A dog, a cat, and a guinea pig!

Mr. Happy came from Seattle, of all places.

He was actually never my monkey.

He was adopted specifically for Romkey, by me, from an elite monkey adoption agency.

He then went through a rigorous orientation program in my home where he was subjected to extreme hugging, kissing and tummy torture. I can still hear his cries of glee.

He slept with me once.

That was all it took to turn him into the hedonistic perverted monkey he is today.

I never spanked the monkey....I swear

I had to view the source code: "gee, no ads, why I am I waiting for something from a place called thoughtsoap.com? Are they trying to wash my brain?" Apparntly the monkey gods are merely telling me to take my morning shower now that I'm caught up with completed surveys.

"Orientation program," eh? Hmmmm...Sounds suspicious...

petsrcool

My partner Mike took the actual photo and put it up on his server, thoughtsoap.com. Otherwise, if I'd done it, you would have had a revelation from apocalypse.org

Thank goodness.

I didn't mark snake because I really don't own it, it just sort of lives in the basement. It's quiet, doesn't make a mess, and best of all eats the mice that come in during the winter.

Hmm here's the list...

Dogs - formerly Nikko, full-blood Akita; currently Lucky, mix Dalmation, Husky and Collie
Cats - too many past to name, zillions of litters; currently Brian, orange longhair tabby, and Shadow, longhair black cat
Spiders - whichever ones find their way to my room to make a web, I let stay. Never bought one, though I was close to getting a tarantula once.
Frogs - any that I caught in the creek behind my house. :)
Fish - two goldfish I won at some fair a while back; died within 3 days.
Monkey - sort of a pet, a stuffed Mojo Jojo plushie.
Birds - formerly the late Apples, a parakeet; currently the dog Tweeter, also a parakeet.
Rabbit - Flopsy, a black and white cow-ish looking rabbit that thought he was a cat and tried to mate with Shadow once.
Hamsters - lots, since my dog decided that they tasted rather good. -.- ' Michelle, my smartest; also Mandy, Sunny, Sunshine, Sunbeam, and one other I forget what I named...

I also have a "pet" dragon (statuette) named Sheeta (it's really an i instead of an ee, but the site recognized the cuss word and filtered me), which is Japanese for "tongue." I named him that because his tongue's hanging out.

i had a 20 gallon fish tank filled w/ tropical fish (trop. sharks, gold fish) i can't even name the different types that were in it. i had 3 rabbits; april, fluffy, jasper. i had 2 turtles; yurtle, and his cousin murtle, 2 dogs; spike and nikki. i had 2 birds; sunny and cher (it turned out they were both females)Look i could have ran a damn farm w/ all the pets i've had in my life time. I am currently down to 1 red siamese fighting fish named pat. :(

You can set options to not filter your curse words these days. Quite the menagerie you've had there.

I've never really been a big "pet" person. I have enough trouble taking care of myself...lol

Nice bowl!!! Does it have a shotgun on it?

Dog,cat,spider,snake, lizard,turtle,frog,fish,iguana,ferret...not all at the same time however.

I've had so many pets throughout my life. Let's see, I've had 11 dogs, 9 cats, 8 rats, 5 mice, 1 hamster, 2 ferrets, 3 turtles, 1 snake, 2 rabbits, 2 peking ducks, 2 doves, many finches, 1 sun conure, 1 african grey, 1 blue & gold macaw, many parakeets, many lizards, lots of fish, and numerous other things. (Not all at the same time). Currently I have 7 cats, 1 dog, 1 parakeet, 3 turtles, 1 ferret, 1 goldfish, and some tropical fish (guppys, platties, black mollies, and corys.) I think that's all!

I don't get it. What possible motive would you have for making such a comment anonymously?
You are not attacking or saying anything embarrassing.
Maybe you just want the world to know what kind of pets are in the collective? If I was going to share interest in yourlife, I'd at least like to develop some picture of who you are through other comments.
Perhaps you have some philosophy that people should communicate anonymously, or have that social paranoia ailment?

I am aware opinions differ on this subject and I welcome you to share your life and details with anyone you like, as for me, I will remain anonymous until such time as I see fit. This is a matter of choice and not social paranoia.

Could you perhaps speak on behalf of the anonymous masses and help the rest of us understand this phenomenon. I suppose the I should leave you alone but the only reasons I can imagine are weird or unfortunate. Well, well be glad when you can join us.

Only a cat.
I so wanted a dog, but my parents never got me one.
They figured out that I would be too lose with it, and what would happen when it dies.

And if I count all of the rats that are running around my house (around seven), than I owed rats, too.

Having so many animals and at the same time felt like i lived in a zoo.

Guinea pig, and others.

I own a kitty (well not kitty), and she's 17 years old. Her name is Phenny, and I guess she will die soon. My brother kicks her around the house, and drops her from above to see if she's going to land on her feet.

Sweet little Iguana named Puppy Dragon.