Cute mini pets
By Lily Li
Photos by Yao Fan

养宠物已不是什么新鲜事儿, 也不是少数人的爱好. 在厦门世贸商城, 活泼可爱的仓鼠, 温顺慵懒的垂耳兔, 喜怒变色的蜥蜴, 以及机灵好动的牛头犬吸引着越来越多的大小朋友们. 迷你宠物不失为培养耐心爱心的一种休闲生活方式.

While the popularity of traditional pets like dogs and cats keeps on growing, there are more and more people who are interested in raising mini pets. In Xiamen, especially during the vacations, you can find crowds packing into exotic pet stores in the Wal-Mart center near the railway station. From the ever popular hamsters to hard-to-find hedgehogs, customers are always fascinated by cute little critters.

Chinchilla

Looking similar to a chubby squirrel with big ears, chinchillas are rodents from South America, more specifically from the high peaks of the Andes in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile. They cost on average RMB 1,000, and some rare species sell for RMB 4,000-5,000.

Hamster

The hamster is one of the bestsellers among mini pets because of its low price (normally less than RMB 100) and the simplicity of their care. Hamsters are mammals which belong to the rodent family, so they have large incisor teeth that are continually growing. This means they have to gnawing to prevent the teeth from getting too big for their moutns. There are many different species of hamsters throughout the world, and most hamsters inhabit semi-desert areas where they live in burrows. These burrows consist of many tunnels and separate chambers, including chambers where the hamster will store food and sleep. Hamsters are nocturnal, sleeping during the hot days and waking in the cooler evenings. They have very poor eyesight but a keen sense of smell and excellent hearing. Only a few hamster species are widely kept as pets. In Shimao, you can find about 10 species of hamsters. Particularly popular are the Golden Hamster (or Syrian Hamster, 金丝熊), the Dwarf Winter White Russian Hamster (Siberian Hamster or 银狐), and Roborovski Hamster (老公公, 老婆婆).

Chameleon

Calumma parsonii (国王变色龙) has one of the longest life spans of any chameleon. It can live for more than 20 years, and is the biggest lizard in the chameleon family. It eats small mammals, birds and even other reptiles. Its powerful tongue is 1.5 times the length of its body, the longest among all the chameleons. It can be aggressive toward other lizards, but is very placid with humans. When angry, it will turn black. Crickets are an easily accessible food if you want to keep one at home.

French bulldog

The French Bulldog with an average height of 30cm and weight of 10kg, is a medium-small sized dog. It is active, intelligent and muscular, with a heavy frame and smooth coat. Prices for this compact little fellow range from RMB 500 to 900, depending on its color, size and age.

Lop

There are many species of lop-eared rabbit, including Dutch, English, French, Dutch and Angora-French. It is not a very active animal, and is prone to becoming overweight, so care must be taken with feeding. A well-balanced dry rabbit mix will contain all the nutrition that a rabbit needs.

Lops can live healthy lives on a diet of dry mix and hay. They do not need to be fed fresh fruit and vegetables. Rabbits have quite delicate stomachs so if you do feed a rabbit fresh food, make sure you don't give them too much, as they can cause diarrhea.

Rabbits can be trained to respond to their names. They are more intelligent than guinea pigs and hamsters. They can even be litter trained. They do not need a lot of exercise - in fact, lops can find it awkward to climb and jump because of their long ears. Several large cardboard boxes can be put together with large holes in them so the rabbit can go from box to box, just like being in a warren. Rabbits are most active in the morning and at night; they generally sleep during the day.

Vocabulary
hamster 仓鼠
rodent 啮齿的
chinchilla 龙猫
mammal 哺乳动物
bulldog 牛头犬
burrow 洞穴
lop-eared 垂耳兔
chameleon 变色龙