Pet

A pet is a domesticated animal that is kept by humans for companionship or for the beauty of its appearance or utterances, rather than for economic reasons.

While in theory one could keep a blue whale as a pet, in practice a small number of species of mammals and birds have dominated the pet scene for a very long time. Fish have joined them more recently. With the exception of iguanas and non-venomous snakes, few reptiles and amphibians make good pets.

Pet species

Mammals

• Dogs
• Cats
• Rodents, including hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, gerbils, chinchillas, degus, flying squirrelss and rats
• Rabbits
• Ferrets
• Hedgehogs
• Alpacas
• small pigs
• Monkeys

Birds

• Budgerigars
• Cockatoos
• Macaws
• and other parrot species
• Canaries and other finch species
• Doves

Reptiles

• Lizards
• Iguanas
• Snakes
• Frogs
• Toads

Fish - see Aquarium

See also: digital pet, How to choose your pet and take care of it

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The Commodore PET was a home computer of the 1970s