Pet: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

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 a breeder, 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

Arthropods

• Ants
• Crickets
• Tarantulas