All the Creatures

Wouldn’t you just love a job where you worked with animals all day long? You could be a research scientist, biologist or even work in a doggy daycare. You could be the one that finds the proof why salmon numbers have been dwindling or the dog trainer that kept Fido from wanting to chase cars. Yes there are lots of opportunities for people to train and go to college for those careers. There are also lots of rip offs when it comes to career training in the animal world.

Along with legitimate career training comes the scams. Every state has their own requirements for vet techs, dog groomers and animal trainers. You must check that out before embarking on any career choice. There have been quite a few Online Schools that have online courses for vet techs and if you live in Oregon or any state that requires a hands on course at an accredited in state college then you should not waste your money for an online course that will not help you one bit.

I personally find it very strange that people would even want to try an online course when they know in fact that a career with animals requires a hands on education. It is almost like claiming to be a dog trainer when you don’t even own a dog, by the way that is a BIG RED FLAG, stay away from dog trainers that don’t own dogs. While on the subject of dog training and animal training in general, there are very few regulations or licensing of those careers and businesses in place so training is based on the success or failure of the trainer in the business world.

If you have higher goals in mind such as becoming a marine biologist or research scientist then be warned that you will be aiming for a Masters Degree with a PhD as the end result. What ever your career goals are with animals, do your research first before embarking on an expensive education and stay away from the scams.

All the Creatures

As you will recall, in my prior post about the peruvian cavy, I mentioned the patagonian cavy. I would like to introduce you to this most unusual pet. I was at a local feed store when I met one of these little cuties in person. At first I thought it was a baby capybara and the woman holding the baby patagonian said I was the first one to even come close to what it actually was. You see the patagonian cavy and the capybara are relatives. This capybara book tells you more about the world’s largest rodent. The patagonian cavy, the capybara and the guinea pig are all in the same rodent family.

I found out that the patagonian cavy is a very popular pet. I had never heard of it before a few weeks ago and looked more into them. In Oregon they are very legal to own and breed without any permits. They are considered to be the same as rabbits. I also found some large classified forums where breeders list their patagonians for sale. Most of the breeders are located in Texas and the southern states. The average price for one of these pets is around $300. The woman that had the patagonian at the feed store kept hers in the house and it got along well with her dogs. They grow to the size of 35 pounds so they would be the same size as many mid sized dogs.

They are vegetarians and live in small socialized groups. The parents, as a group, take care of the youngsters.

As the owner of the young patagonian and I talked, I asked her how often she was asked if the animal was a jackalope? She said, “all the time.” She often tells them that the animal is a jackalope that just shed its horns…..LOL.

The patagonian cavy - a most unusual pet.

All the Creatures

Have you ever wanted to have an exotic fancy pet but didn’t want to have the expense of getting a special permit or building special housing? Well have I got a suggestion for you. It’s a guinea pig, yes I said a guinea pig. I bet you didn’t know that guinea pigs came in wide varieties did you. To be quite frank about it neither did I until a few days ago. I was doing some research on the patagonian cavy (a relative of the guinea pig) when I came across this photo:

It is a long haired show guinea pig called the Peruvian cavy. There is a breed club that has more information about them at acbaonline.com or check out this book on guinea pigs.

Let’s face it, you will not find this breed for sale at your local pet shop. You will have to find a breeder that specializes in this breed. I would recommend this breed of guinea pig only to people that love to care for long coated animals. This is not a low maintenance pet, but exotics never are. Housing will have to be larger than the average guinea pig is kept in, due to keeping the long coat hairs from breaking off.

I mentioned the patagonian cavy earlier and they also make wonderful pets. I have a special post coming up all about them and how I met one in person that started me on my cavy research. The patagonian would be like having a miniature deer running around the house.

All the Creatures