Pet
- This page is about domestic animals. For several meanings of the acronym PET, see PET.
A pet or companion animal 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.
The glofish, a genetically modified zebrafish with a bright red fluorescent color is the first genetically modified (GM) animal to be engineered as a pet.
A pet can be acquired from an animal shelter, a pet store, and sometimes from people who have too many due to births. See also Dog adoption.
Pet species
Mammals
- Horses
- Dogs
- Cats
- Rodents, including hamsters, guinea pigs, mice, gerbils, chinchillas, degus, flying squirrels and rats
- Rabbits
- Ferrets
- Hedgehogs
- Alpacas
- small pigs
- Monkeys
- Donkeys
Birds
- Budgerigars (parakeets)
- Cockatoos
- Macaws
- other parrot species
- Canaries and other finch species
- Doves
- Cockatiels
Reptiles
- Lizards
- Iguanas
- Snakes
- Turtles
- Crocodilians, including alligators, crocodiles, caymans, gavials (can usually only be kept as pets when they are young)
Amphibians
- Frogs
- Toads
- Salamanders
- Newts
- Caecilian, a wormlike amphibian that lives underground
Fish
See: Aquarium