A pet or companion animal or livestock is an animal kept primarily for a person's company, protection, and/or entertainment rather than as a working animal, sport animal, livestock (for agriculture), or laboratory animal.
Examples of selected popular pets edit
- Dog (Canis lupus familiaris) and gray wolf or simply wolf - they have been selectively bred for millennia for various behaviors, sensory capabilities, and physical attributes. Modern dog breeds show more variation in size, appearance, and behavior than any other domestic animal. Dogs are predators and scavengers, and like many other predatory mammals, the dog has powerful muscles, fused wrist bones, a cardiovascular system that supports both sprinting and endurance, and teeth for catching and tearing.
- Cat (Felis spp.) - is a small, typically furry, carnivorous mammal. It is a type of animal from the family Felidae particularly the genus Felis. Cats are often valued by humans for companionship and for their ability to hunt vermin.
- House mouse (Mus musculus) - is a small rodent. It has a sharp snout, rounded ears (bigger compared to body) and a long scaly tail with some very short fur. Mice are cheap pets, has a short gestation period and will produce a lot of offspring. Nepotistic species such as house mice rely on urine, feces, and glandular secretions to recognize their kin. They are inexpensive compared with other larger pets, but they are also comparatively short-lived. The house mouse is the most common mammal in the world. Most domesticated mice today are imbalanced hybrids of different subspecies of the house mouse, but some are pure subspecies from Europe. Though there are many domesticated forms, they can still be tamed in the wild, but be careful because they may carry diseases. Fancy mouse is a term for any mouse that has undergone domestication and has developed many mutations. There is also a type of mouse that is used in laboratories, the lab mouse. Most fancy mice today are hybrid subspecies of the house mouse, but there are some fancy mice which are caught and purely bred to colors.
- Black rat (Rattus rattus) - is a rodent from the family Muridae. Though called as "black" rats, their color ranges from black to gray and dark brown to light brown. Their tails are longer than their bodies, unlike brown rats. The black rat and the brown rat is one of the most widespread rats and animal species in the world.
- Brown rat (Rattus norvegicus) - is a rodent from the family Muridae. They usually live in small colonies with up to six females sharing a burrow and one male defending a territory around the burrow. At high population densities, this system breaks down and males show a hierarchical system of dominance with overlapping ranges. Female offspring remain in the colony while male young disperse. They are the most common pet rats out there. Most fancy brown rats today are originated from Europe which is the type locality of the brown rats. Their tails are shorter than their bodies, unlike black rats. The black rat and the brown rat is one of the most widespread rats and animal species in the world.
- Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) - also known as common parakeet - is a small long-tailed seed-eating parrot. It is the most common type of bird sold in pet shops. Males have blue ceres while females have brown ceres. Budgerigars are naturally green and yellow with black, scalloped markings on the nape, back, and wings, but have been bred in captivity with coloring in blues, whites, yellows, grays, and even with small crests. Budgerigars are popular pets around the world due to their small size, low cost and ability to mimic human speech.
- Golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) - is one of the four species of hamsters in the genus Mesocricetus of the subfamily Cricetinae and is the most common hamster pet species. The species in the genus Mesocricetus have the shortest gestation periods of any placental mammals and have a high number of offspring are born than mice and rats. They have stout bodies, typical short tails, small furry ears, short stocky legs, and wide feet. Recent research has shown, unlike almost all other land mammals studied, the golden hamster, as well as other species in the genus, lack the capacity for color vision. They have thick, silky fur, which can be long or short, colored, black, gray, white, brown, yellow, orange, red, or a mix. They have elongated cheek pouches extending to their shoulders in which they carry food back to their burrows. The golden hamster, by far, the most common type of hamster in the hobby. In wild, the golden hamster is notable for having a rich golden coat unlike other species in the genus. They should never be kept together as they are territorial and solitary creatures. These aggressive tendencies start to develop when they are between 6 and 8 weeks old. Once they reach 6 to 8 weeks, they should be housed on their own in separate cages. Although, there are some cases, in which they can live comfortably in groups.
- Desert hamster (Phodopus spp.) - also known as dwarf hamster) - is a lineage of small hamsters native to central Asia that display unusual adaptations to extreme temperatures. They are the only known hamsters that live in groups and, in some cases, rely on significant contributions by males to the raising of offspring. The two following species are the representatives of their subgenera, they have various names:
- Campbell's desert hamster) - also known as Campbell's dwarf hamster or Campbell's hamster
- Roborovski's desert hamster) - also known as Roborovski's dwarf hamster or simply Roborovski's hamster or Roborovski hamster or desert hamster.
- Typical carps (Cyprinus spp.) - is a genus of a fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are the "typical carps". They are long-lived and coldwater fishes. They have many distinguishing characteristics that most fishes don't have. These fishes have a wide range of different varieties including colors, patterns, shapes, and other configurations.
- Common quail (Coturnix coturnix) - is another species of quail. It should not be confused with the Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica, native to Asia, which, although visually similar, has a very distinct call. It is a small, round bird, essentially streaked brown with a white eyestripe, and, in the male, a white chin. It is the type species in its genus. It is far less popular than Japanese quail.
- Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) - is a species of old world quail. It is the most popular, well-known and farmed quail. Japanese quails have many cultivated forms such as black, white, golden, pharaoh, Italian, Tibetan, Rosetta, tuxedo, cinnamon, Scarlett, and roux. They are small in size but capable of flying short distances. They can fly great heights and lengths compared to its relatively small size. The Japanese quail has played an active role in the lives of humanity since the 12th century and continues to play major roles in industry and scientific research. Where it is found, the species is abundant across most of its range. Currently, there are a few true breeding mutations of the Japanese quail.
- King quail (Excalfactoria chinensis) - is also a species of quail found in China, India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan.The male king quail come in many colors, including blue, brown, silver, maroon, dark brown & almost black. They have orange feet which are hard and able to withstand a continuous life on the ground like many other game birds.The female is similar to the male but cannot come in shades of blue. They can live up to 13 years in captivity but only 3-6 on average. In the wild, they may live only 1.5 years. The eggs of king quail are a light, creamy-brown color and slightly pointed at the 'top'; roughly ovular in shape.