When I was very young, we acquired Sticky from a school fair.  (I did get better at naming pets as I had more practice.)  Then Twiggy appeared.  When when became 200 and we found that stick insects reproduce very effectively on their own (no internet in those days), we sold the offspring at the next school fair.  For months and maybe years, I worried about those stick insects, in case they weren’t happy or being properly looked after.  I have never sold a creature since. 

Funnily enough, I didn’t even like the stick insects, they gave me the creeps with their long legs and swaying bodies, but I never said anything and continued looking after them for years.  I still cried when any of them died.

Rabbits  Benji the primary school rabbit who I was lucky enough to look after through several long summer holidays

Beauty, a white rabbit my Dad saw at the side of the road and spent weeks getting her confidence before he could catch her and bring her to us.

Flop, a one eared rabbit who we found in the field next to ours.

Wonderful Beetle, a pretty Siamese rat.  I went to give a talk at a Pet Show and came home with Beetle in a bird cage.  He spent many hours sitting on my shoulder or exploring the house in the early days of my business.  He once found his way under the floorboards and I despaired of what would happen and then he popped back up again and let me catch him.  Such a character, he would always come to greet me when I came into the room.

When I was growing up, although we always had dogs and cats, my mum never let us have many other pets, saying that they all died too quickly.  Then, when I had children of my own, I realised that it was a perfect excuse to have all kinds of pets.  Fantastic. 

Interesting though they were, the amount of work of keeping the tank clean always seemed quite out of proportion to the amount of pleasure from them.  And the noise of the pump reminded me of visits to the dentist when I was little.

Peter, Paul, Penny and Toreador when I was young

Goldie, Brownie, Rainbow, Star, Dasher, Prancer, Vixen, Cupid and Alf when my children were young.

I love gerbils.  We had various gerbils over many years.  They came on holidays with us, they played in dolls houses and on toy cars.  Sometimes, they escaped and the dogs watched them until I could catch them again.  Then Buzz made it clear that gerbils could not be in the same house at the same time as him, so sadly no more gerbils.

Maisy and Daisy, Poppy and Ruby

Opal, Crystal, Sapphire and Jet

Guinea pigs were substitute horses for a while.  Eating lots of hay, constantly needing cleaning out, there were a few similarities.  Like the gerbils, they have come to us from rescues, farm parks, and friend’s outgrown pets.  We upgraded sheds into large, insulated places for them to live.  The current two, Avalanche and Merry, came from the RSPCA, they had been part of a court case.  (“What did they do, rob a bank? asked my neighbour.)   They aren’t especially friendly, not even to each other, but they are slowly gaining confidence and trust, I can handle them now and they jump about and squeak when they see me.

Olga, Lyn, Pam, Chrissie, Pat, Holly Wreath,

Gracie, Brownie, Red, Blue, Avalanche and Merry

We had our hens for 10 fantastic years and the eggs were an added bonus.  The only pets who actually give back something you can eat.  The original three, Dolly Parton, Patsy Cline and Tammy Wynette, had been hatched as a school project.   Bluebell belonged to my friend but Bluebell was bullying her hens, so she came here and all got on wonderfully.  I remember long summer days with children, dogs, cat and hens, all running round the garden together. Sometimes guinea pigs too.  Having different animals together gives a fantastic opportunity to watch them interact together, and so many different species together, all getting along well, is  a huge privilege as well as an amazing learning experience. 

My sons were less impressed with the horses and although they were close to the furry pets, they really wanted a reptile or two.  However, as a long-time vegetarian, the thought of live food or frozen chicks and mice is unacceptable, so we acquired three tiny snails who great to be enormous.  Turbo, Rocket and Shelly were fascinating.  They were soon joined by Humphrey, the rescue snail.  (Who knew that you could get rescue snails?)  When they moved along the tank, you could see the ripples in their body and when they sat (sat??) on your hand, they would run their thousands of tiny teeth across your fingers, like sand paper.  When I provided animals for the TV series “Puppy Love”, we used the snails and I remember the director shouting “Let’s get this scene finished before those bloody snails move again.”  Not everyone can say that they’ve owned snails who were TV stars.

Again, trying to satisfy my son’s desire for less furry pets, or perhaps it was me who thought it would be interesting to learn about something new, in came Rexa, who had been part of a University project and now needed a home.  Chocklick, another one from the project, also came for a while before going to someone else.   Rexa could be quite aggressive, raising up on her hindlegs and waving her front legs and lived for a great deal longer than we had been told she would.  Probably my least favourite pet, but I still cried when she died. 

My eldest son was still not satisfied with the lack of reptiles so we finally found a reptile who can be vegetarian, and the crested gecko joined the household.  Because of the amount of interest from both cats, his nickname of Catsnack stuck.  Not the best pet in my opinion as he tends to only move when it’s totally dark.  However, even after him being around for seven years now, when I do get to see him, it’s like achieving something amazing and to see him climb the glass or jump around is a massive treat.

All I need now is a partridge in a pear tree.