Meet the Staff

The Manager of The Jungle Store is such an animal lover, she won't even eat them! She has owned Rats, Guinea Pigs, Frogs, Ducks, Geese, Turtles, Hamsters, Hedgehogs, Cockatiels, Gerbils, Chinchillas, Mice (which were saved from being fed to the class snake) and Fish. She would have shared her life with more critters, but her brother had pet allergies.

14 Million Americans suffer allergic reactions to pets. This is primarily caused by the pet's dander – tiny bits of skin that slough off daily. There are dog and cat breeds that cause only mild reactions, sometimes none at all. While researching the pet that is best suited to you and your family, you may wish to take the "allergy factor" into account.

Now that our Manager has her own home, she shares her life with these friends:
Hermit crabs Mr. Crabs, Crabby Patty and Patrick Star (he's the one in the pink shell). Some might say that Hermit crabs are easy to tend to, but they do require special care and a warm, moist environment.

Raisin is her owner's favorite companion. She was chosen out of foster care when she was 8 months old. Her mom was a Shar Pei, her dad, a mystery. Raisin loves to sleep, nap and dress-up. She's a great runner and finished third in our local Dog & Jog race. She promises a first place finish this year.

Merry Christmas pets

I spotted a pet dressed up for Christmas so thought it would be fun to share photos of Christmas ready pets. I'll include facts of these common pets, too.

First up is this Teddy Bear Hamster, named Puschl, who is owned by Annia Martinz from Klagenfurt, Austria. (Photo taken by Annia--thanks for sharing!)

I had hamsters when I was a kid and so did my daughters. I thought my mother would kill me when my hamster got ahold of a curtain and chewed off a 6" by 18" section to pull into his cage. Fortunately there was one more curtain panel left at the store, so we both lived. Phew!

Besides being chewers, hamsters are also climbers. Mine got out of his cage once and I woke up hearing him climbing through the open box springs of my bed. (It was an antique bed!) If you've ever watched a hamster in a cage for a while, you know they are diggers, too.

There are many varieties of hamsters; they can be black, gray, white, brown, buff, yellow, or red. Hamsters are ominvores, who can stuff their cheek pouches full of food to carry off and stockpile.