Healthy Pets!

Some day, I want to be a veterinarian. I want to be a veterinarian for frogs and Antarctic Animals. They are my favorite animals like Sharks, Penguins, and other animals that live in Antarctica. I also want to study and take care of frogs too. I am already taking care of a frog, my pet frog Blackey. That is like my practice to help me get better at being a veterinarian. That is kind of like practice for being a veterinarian. I have lots of animals at home that I get to help take care of. We have (hold on, let me count) 2 dogs, 1 fish, 1 turtle (almost 2 turtles once our second turtle is well enough to join our family), and 1 frog (Blackey!) This means I get lots of practice taking care of different types of animals! Each animal is different and has different ways to keep it healthy.

Each day, I help take care of the animals. The first animal I check on each day is my frog, Blackey. He lives in my room and is the closest to me when I wake up. The first thing I do is turn on his special light. This light helps his body to produce specific types of vitamins that keep him healthy. Just like the sun does for animals and plants and people in nature.

Today, Blackey is sleeping. He is so cute when he is sleeping! When he is asleep, his eyes are closed tightly and they are flat to his body which can sometimes look really weird. Remember how when he is awake, they stick up tall? When he is asleep they are level with his body.

Blackey is asleep, but the crickets are awake today.

Next, if my brother and sister are not home I will help turn on Sarah's special lights. When they are home they do this because Sarah's tank is in their room. She has two lights to turn on. One is similar to Blackey's light. It actually looks exactly the same but has a different type of light bulb that is special for the type of needs that turtles have. The other one is a special light called a "basking light." Basking means to soak up the light (like sunbathing). This light is very hot. Turtles love basking in nature too and you will see lots of turtles on the same rock or log soaking up the sun. There is a park that I love to go to and see lots of turtles piled up on the same rock. It is so cute. If they slip off, they will all follow. It is funny.

Here is Sarah in her basking light. This is where she was this morning.

This morning I checked to make sure Sarah's filter is running and her water is clean so she can stay healthy. I also fed her a special wet food that has lots of protein and vitamins. Last night, I gave her a calcium block to bite at. She gets pretty aggressive at those which is good because it helps her get exercise and nutrients. One time it even looked like she was trying to karate chop it. It is fun to watch her eat these.

Our next pet is Pinky. She is a Beta.

Pinky is our pet Beta.

Every day I go and see if she needs food. She has a real plant growing in her tank. This plant helps clean her water like a natural filter. It does this by soaking up waste products from the Beta and uses them to grow. It is also really good for her because she loves to "hammock" in it. This means she uses the plant for support for her to lay in and rest. She loves her plant.

She also has rocks at the bottom. The rocks are good for her because good bacteria grow on them that keeps her water and environment healthy. We change her water about once per week with special drops that take the chlorine out of the water and make it safe for her. She gets food a few times a day.

After checking on Pinky, I will check on the dogs.

Our next two pets are Penelope and Sarge.

They look pretty happy to me!

I make sure that both dogs have food and water. I will give them special treats and vitamins and clean water each day. We also take them outside to play and get exercise which is really important for dogs.

Sometimes we even get to walk the dogs to school!

Yesterday, it was sunny and warm so the dogs were really happy outside. Today, it has been a little snowy but also sunny so we will walk again in a little while.

We like to go to the park too. Yesterday, there were lots of chalk drawings on the pavement. We found a super cool drawing that said "Kind Kids Rock!"

Kind kids do rock, and kind kids help keep pets and other animals healthy!