13 Comments
Dec 1, 2022Liked by Claire Zulkey

I am so excited this is published! I wish Vance could read. S/he would be so excited, too.

Expand full comment

"please do not get me a bearded dragon as a gift. Like fun childfree-by-choice aunts and uncles I enjoy yours, but don’t want my own" lol

Expand full comment

wow the content i did NOT know i needed!!!!!!

Expand full comment
author

Service journalism baby!

Expand full comment

They are very cool. I have a rescued 100 lb male Sulcata tortoise which are also very common in the pet trade as cute little babies but are actually a LOT of work.

Expand full comment
author

There is a gigantic tortoise near my parents that gets out a lot (named Turt Reynolds) and I get very mad on his behalf. What if he got smashed!

Expand full comment

They are notorious escape artists, especially the males. We have Sherman behind hog fencing on his own private quarter acre but he's still managed to bust out a few times. Also he's probably going to outlive me so I have to figure out that too. He's rad, but he's a lot.

Expand full comment
author

Turt has his address written on his shell.

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2022Liked by Claire Zulkey

If it is good enough for Ms Frizzle original recipie. . .! But also absolutely not at my house.

Expand full comment
author

Same here with us and hedgehogs. Hedgehogs hold a place of honor in our home but we do not have live versions.

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2022Liked by Claire Zulkey

My younger daughter is obsessed with the YouTube channel Snake Discovery, which is a lovely couple in Minnesota who breed reptiles. It's great, and the one YouTube channel I'm psyched that she watches. She hasn't yet begged for a snake or lizard, but I can tell there's a great deal of interest and I am both a hard no and a well actually...

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2022Liked by Claire Zulkey

I feel like such a bummer, but I don't love the idea of any non-domesticated animal being a pet. Sure, dogs and cats have many, many generations of living with humans, but wild animals don't. I kinda understand why Australia has banned the practice.

Expand full comment
Dec 1, 2022Liked by Claire Zulkey

Man, I have been pet-free for 5 years, but I want one. My friend has one in her classroom in a slightly more northern burb, and he’s magnificent. My husband is NOT on board. Also I’m sitting in the window at Bros K, and I just looked out at two women fawning over a dog, and I just thought, “Nope. Lizard.”

Expand full comment