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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 1995)
Animals: Dinner with pets can be an alive and kicking meal ■ Continued from Page 1 Why .1 sc orpion, n python7 "I like* having animals that people viv arc' impossible to tame." Me t aclden said ' Everything deserves a chance1 a lot of these animals get a bad rep for no reason exc ept that people* are afraid l.uckilv. Me h idden a former University student, has no fear of these usually fright inspiring animals "There is a difference between having respec t for an animal for knowing it c an hurl you and being completely terrified of it," said Me Fadden, who also speaks at schools to diminish stereotypes of these exotic animals So where would someone keep a scorpi on? "You get a 5-gallon aquarium with a screen on top." McFadden said Or c asion ally Me Fadden will let her scorpion, Millie Holiday, out "I don’t usually let her just walk around.” McFadden said. "She's only H ini.lies long, so it ’s real easy for her to get lost I hasical Iv just let her walk on ine You can’t really pet her. She’ll sting you And wind about the stinger:' Does that pose n problem in handling Billie/ "Some people clip 'em off. Mi lad den said. "1 don't because that makes d hard for them to eat." Billie, by the way. eats baby mice Live ones. Using her stinger to kill her dinner. Billie also likes to < how down on crickets and mealworms Serving live prc\ for dinner is nothing new for McKadden. Zeus her Burmese python, eats one live rabbit every two weeks. Although she was hesitant to feed Zeus live animals at first, she has since gotten used to it. "1 guess 1 just consider it to bo a part of the food chain." Me! widen said "Although my friends tease me because I'm a vegetarian." Vet with the wild kingdom in her living room. McKadden surprisingly hasn't had a ise nf one pet trying to cat another. “1 don't usually let thorn out of their cages at tiie same time," McKadden said 'When I lived with rev mom, her cat used to plus with Zeus' tail No big deal Ani mals like those will only eat one another if they haven't been fed in a long time." Kor busy college students. McKadden, who works at Little Ocean |>et store, r*»« orti mends either a small snake, spider, or st or pion ns a pet Mnmtenani e vs ise. tin's.- |wts don’t take n lot of time,' she said Hut they're not very intelligent, so if you don’t handle them for a long time, they tend to forget who you are If you stick your hand in their cage, they won't know what you’re doing and may attack you ’ Scorpions are particularly great for peo ple who don’t have a lot of time Mi 1 sd den said We just sold a lot to University dorm students She also recommends knowing more about your potential pet than last thinking they would be cool to have Most people huv these type of pets when they're babies Ih*i auso they're cute, but they don't realize how hig they can grow. ' SI. Fadden said Big is on understatement, as Burmese pythons, for example, i an grow to )»• -it) feet long and Hit) pounds Zeus is >, urrentls 1.: feet long and fit! pounds I Ike h<- j• ■ ■ M. Pad,ten ,, ii. r, Yngwie .iml Mahalia. are a long-term com mitment, .i' each has an average life-span of 15 years And. she added, both don't stop growing until the das they die So what is the attraction for such a large, long-term pet' The answer < on Id !*• in ton venituu o "Reptiles an* fast becoming the most pop ular pets for high maintenance people." said Brian Henson, a lame Community Col lege /.oologv student md herpetologist "You feed them once a week don't have to walk them they're pretty low-mainte nance." Yet, not ali reptiles are low maintenam e lizards, said Chris Howerton, an employee of Little Ocean Iguanas, tor example, can grow to be ti feet long, irorn head to tail. Howerton said Iguanas also need to lie handled frequently, as more human contact leads to a laid-back lizard. Information such as possible future size is extremely important to know prior to purchasing a pet In fact, ft lack of informa tion often leads to abandoned animals "People come in wanting to sell their iguanas because they think, the animal is becoming mean," Howerton said These "Turn t( ANIMALS. P,i i-9 NATALIE MOHTGOMf TTY f m*r«d Matt Ward checks out a tarantula, a com mon pat lor the dorms because of Its easy main tenance and small cage (top). A box turtle bold ly peers out from Its shell as It Is held by Chris Howertow, one of Little Ocean’s employees. A boa constrictor strikes the cam era at little Ocean, a cam pus-area pet store where many students 90 for their ani mal companions. HA T Al if MONT r* HY l en* akl NATAIW MUNU«MH<4n«riM Dan Iverson, a sophomore who lives at Chi Psl fraternity, likes to let his ferret run around his room. Iverson's clothes drawer seems to one of her favorite spots.
