r''November 4, 1997
L «
The Battalion
IFESTYLES
b t Jh
%
|l)i!
Man’s New
Best Friends
A&M students keep more than
‘Fido’ and ‘Mr. Whiskers’ for pets
Tuesday Nite: Beat the Clock
Time You Call is the Price You Pay!
(from 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.)
On a Large 1 Topping Pizza
Tips are appreciated
College Station Bryan
764-PAPA (7272) 268-PAPA (7272)
1100 Harvey Rd. 3414 East 29th St.
WHAT ARE YOU DOINQ
THIS CHRISTMAS
BREAK?
TAMU SNOW
SKI CLUB
Telluride, CO
Jan. 2-10
Trip includes:
Transportation
Lodging
4 out of 5 day lift ticket
SPACES FILLING FAST!
FOR MORE INFO. CALL: 764-4387
By Stephen Wells
Staff writer
|sar
sa libodeaux owned three well-trained dogs
ov rrotvvho could whistle catcalls to passers-
enc m a construction woiker. For a change
th'ieday, he decided to buy an iguana. Al-
,)I11 >( ns disciplined as his dogs or ascom-
teashis parrot, it quickly became his fa-
tan othe point the dogs wanted it dead out of
otinl jealousy.
avaisasA&M students choose to buy out-of-
Cc\ animals. Factors ranging from restrictions
Mceto needs for experimentation drive stu-
[it d ipetsranging from tropical spiders to 7-foot
tves.
ho<town, a junior business major, had his own
ev choosing to buy a boa constrictor instead
no acat.
Ds ant allowed in my apartment unless they’re
j tr "ttsaid. “1 really want a dog. I just don’t have
to get one right now.”
isnot discouraged by his landlord’s rules. In
t 3 ( his snake, he owns a gecko lizard and a fer-
hisfascination with wildlife comes from his
(store.
ent iet *‘ n a P et store > anc *
f,. indthem all the
ion ewan t to
Brown
en :tthean "
n ievariety ~
t ar 1
id. ‘,
Ins
ie i
Ito o
|o lil
liffe
aid for
^pon-
aiake
excel-
Photography By
Rony Angkriwan
;s are
late
ne
ws,"
said,
them
; ®th, clean
(cages when
; 2nd they’re per-
W"
said society’s fear of snakes
pet unusual.
!| lte shock factor of having a snake,” Brown
ttybody’s interested in them because people
in strange fascination with them. They’re scared
^ut they want to touch them.”
^common pets are actually cheaper than
‘counterparts.
|nsh (zutight, an employee of Post Oak Pets, said the
Pugfttence makes some people choose one ani-
another.
>:'Price would range from $475 to $150, but a
ddbe from $50 to $100 depending on size,”
Jd'Iguanas are about $40 for a six- or seven-
li
Knight cautions students about some of the risks of
owning an unusual pet.
“I was told that 90 percent of lizards have salmo
nella, so I always have to wash my hands after handling
them,” Knight said. “Just like some other animals are
carriers for viruses or bacteria. You just have to know
what you’re getting into.”
Buying a small animal involves more than purchas
ing it and buying it food.
“It really helps to buy an aquarium (if buying a rep
tile or small animal),” Knight said. “We recommend
that they get the size of aquarium that the animal will
grow into. If they can’t afford it, they should get a small
er aquarium and trade up.
“I wanted to buy a lizard in Dallas and they wanted
me to buy a sixty- or seventy-gallon tank right away be
cause the lizard would grow so large.”
The pet choices available to students who live on
campus are greatly narrowed by University regulations.
The student rules book for 1997-98 allows only seeing-
eye dogs, fish and Reveille VI in the residence halls.
Some students, however, are not interested in fish as
pets and break University rules to keep their pets in the
dorm room.
“Daphne,” an on-campus
student who asked to re
main anonymous,
bought a pet rat when
she came to A&M
and keeps it in
her dorm room.
Daphne said
some trickery
was involved in
buying her pet.
“The woman
at the pet store
told me she
couldn’t sell it to
me because I live
in a dorm room,”
Daphne said.
“Instead of my
A&M address, I
gave her my per
manent address.”
Daphne said a fish
was not an option when
selecting her pet.
“Fish are pretty, but they
just swim around, and that gets
pretty boring,” Daphne said. “Our
(rat) you can pet and play with. It will actually run
around and chase things.”
“We were walking around the pet store and looking
for a mouse, but the pet store clerk told us that they
make lousy pets.”
The fascination with uncommon pets still has its
hold on the animal lovers of the world. Whether out of
a need to comply with the rules of a landlord or the
need for a little rebellion on the part of students, many
Aggies are finding a reptile or a rat can be man’s best
friend too, even if it can’t catch a frisbee or play dead.
r
Out with the Old...
In with the New
In order to make room for textbooks for the
Spring Semester,
The Texas A&M Bookstore
will be returning textbooks from this fall. To
avoid delay in getting any textbook you may
still need for the fall, please purchase them as
soon as possible!
If unable to purchase at this time,
arrangements may be made to have books held.
TEXAS A&M BOOKSTORE
Memorial Student Center
College Station, Texas 77844
(409)845-8681
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% can do for the food industry what Silent Spring
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December 10, 11 and 12 at 8 pm
Rudder Auditorium
Call 845-1234 for tickets.
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Opera & Performing Arts Society