We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment to animals - Immanuel Kant

We all have our own way of dealing with the issues that life throws our way. Some people benefit from the sound of music. Poetry and writing stories can release whatever we feel inside. Exercise, meditation and art are other ways the we can cope with the struggles from the daily grind. For me though, animals are top on my list. They bring so much joy to my life and the innocence and love from my animals bring me my own therapy. This is what life looks like from my view...

Joe

Joe has been with us for 5 years. We got him when he was about the size of our thumb. Bearded dragons are really cool pets and easy to care for. Joe has learned his name and will look at you when you call him. He is really laid back and friendly, he loves when we pet his head! Even though Joe doesn't really do anything but stare at us, he is an important part of our family. When he was a baby he had a large tree in his cage, he would climb to the top and hang his back legs off of the tree while holding on with just the front two. Sometimes when we talk to him and he isn't really feeling it, he will close the eye we are faced towards but keep the other one open. That is how we know he is done with us for the moment.

Bonnie and Clyde

These two Parottletts were a surprise from my husband a few months ago. They are one of my favorite pets that I have owned. The sound of birds chirping is very calming to me and Bonnie is a typical mouthy female (as my husband jokes) who always brightens my day when she starts to sing. My daughter will say, "There goes the birds, making mommy happy". Bonnie annoys my husband sometimes but it puts a smile on my face!

that is when I secretly do my evil laugh

image source

Clyde is the green bird. He is more laid back and doesn't do much singing, instead he spends his time pecking and breaking apart all of their toys. We just bought them a ladder that hangs on the cage, it has hooks so it swings as they climb up it. About two days later we noticed Clyde sitting at the top and he had broken the top of the ladder on one side, so he now sits sideways as he sits on his ladder and it swings all over the place.

Lucky & BunBun

These two came to us rather unexpectedly but they are a wonderful addition. Rabbits are a bit harder to care for than I expected. However, these two share a love that is so amazing to watch in rabbits. Bunbun will cuddle with Lucky as close as she possibly can and Lucky will clean her. When she isn't in sight of him, he will become so sad and do nothing at all but sit around. His lady cannot be out of sight. They just welcomed 6 beautiful baby bunnies into the world 2 weeks ago and watching the babies grow has been so amazing! They are the cutest little things. One of them looks identical to Lucky and the same for BunBun. There are two all black baby bunnies and then the two pictured. The bigger one that is in the picture, just opened up its eyes this morning!

Piggy

Piggy is handful and that is lightly putting it. What would one expect from a pig though? She is my absolutely my favorite animal even though her behavior is worse than a child. Pigs show a connection and love to their owner that is completely different than I have ever seen. She shows full blown emotion and is so smart. Unfortunately, we are moving soon and I have had to mentally prepare for the day I may have to find her a new home. Piggy brings me so much joy and happiness. I even found a way to certify her as an emotional support animal for anxiety and depression. Although, this will not help when finding a new home. My love for Piggy will never end and she is an amazing animal, even when she wrecks the house and eats everything in sight.

Minah & Giada

These two are both Pomeranians. My husband had these dogs before we met. I remember the first day that I met him and I seen this tough looking dude that had these two tiny little mouthy pomeranians and I was rather shocked to see it. I felt better after I seen he also had a pitbull named Luca who sadly passed away about two years ago. I was pretty honest and asked him what he was doing with these two smalls dogs. I mean, it was cute because it showed his compassionate side but it just isn't something you usually see. I then learned that they both belonged to his ex wife. However, Minah had attached herself to him and once they separated, Minah got depressed and absolutely would not eat. His soft spot that he likes to hide had shown itself because he took the dog in so that she would be happy. Giada is the daughter of Minah and she is attached to her mother so she had to come along as well. My husband will admit though that he has an unbreakable bond with Minah. I have never seen a dog love a human more than she loves him.

Huey

Finally we come to the last animal of mine. This little guy has been called no name since we got him about 6 months ago. I got tired of him having no name and recently made a post about this Chameleon. I included a contest in the post for someone on Steemit to win a prize for coming up with a creative name for this little lizard. All of the names were great but in the end there can only be one winner and the winner is...

@poyim (34) · 16 days ago
How about Huey and Hue for short.
Name for the word “hue”, meaning shades of colour dependant on intensity of light.

I have already transferred the sbd over to @poyim but I am just now announcing the winner in a post. So, little Huey now has a name. The post was an update on the progress that he is making growing into his colors. Right now he still isn't showing many colors but before we know it he will have some absolutely vibrant colors. Chameleons used to really freak me out with their eyes going all over the place but now they are one of my favorite lizards!

There it is, a sneak peak into my life. My animals are amazing therapy for me. Even though some of them (Minah, Giada and Piggy) drive me bat-shit crazy everyday. They each are special in their own way and each of them bring something different to our family. Next on the list is a fish tank for my daughter and after that our house will be full. I love animals but we have enough!

Which animal was your favorite to learn about?

Animal Therapy