Non cuddly pets are still companions

[Catherine]

When we say pet, most people think cat and dog. They might even go as far as bunny or guinea pig.
They is a whole world of other pets out there that still give us the pet experience.
They work for people who have allergies or perhaps don't want to be cuddled.
I am talking about reptiles of all  kinds and even rats and tarantulas.

https://www.kltv.com/2025/09/26/beyond-c...st-friend/

I am gone for work all day and a dog or cat would be lonely.
My lizards and snakes are fine with me being gone. They sleep a lot anyhow.
I enjoy setting up their tanks and providing for their special needs. I have a green water dragon. She has a 4 ft X 18 in X 18 in tank. It has amazing small logs for her to climb and sleep on. She has a ten gallon tank inside her tank as her swimming pool. She loves it. In the evening when I am on the computer, her tank being next to me, She plays with the water. She leaps in, swims the length of the tank and then leaps out the other end. She does it over and over while I am watching her and she knows I am watching her. 

Even my Tarantula watches me and responds to my presence.
If a pet is a companion, my exotic pets are companions. They just fit my current life style better than the traditional cat or dog.

[LPC]

That is fully understandable, Catherine. You might be interested to read about the close bond between a man in Australia and his water dragon:
https://animals-in-the-afterlife.uk/expe...rs-12.html

[Catherine]

Thank you for finding the article. It is nice to know other people have had deep bonds with their reptiles.

What a wonderful lizard Spockie is. He is an Australian Water Dragon and they are beautiful. My Leia is a smaller green water dragon. She has beautiful eyes and bright green colouring.  She is really staring to bond with me. She watches me and I think her swimming is showing off a bit to get my attention. 
After 27 years, John's bond with Spockie must have been incredible. I can believe Spockie visits him.
Jonathan my Bearded Dragon slept on my bed for eight years. After she died, many mornings I would wake up and know she was there on the bed.
This carried on for a long time. When you are bonded with a pet they don't always leave you right away when they die.
I think this is true of any pet we have bonded with.

[Catherine]

I just lost my very old guinea pig, Pumba. At 7 1/2 he was pretty quiet. He had his breakfast and then took his little nap. He never woke up.
He left his body very quietly. It has been several days and I still feel his presence there in his house. I know e won't stay forever, but I am glad he is still with me a little longer.