Video of Pet Prairie Dog 'Doing Yoga' Is Pure Internet Gold
Before today, I had no idea that people even kept prairie dogs as pets. But this guy does in Palm Beach Florida, and what’s more, his animals are extremely popular on social media. Poppy, the prairie dog in this video, is four years old and has amassed a following of nearly a million people on Instagram, more than a million more on TikTok, and six hundred thousand on YouTube. She has her own Cameo, and spends her days doing meet-and-greets with movie stars like Joe Manganiello.
That is, when she’s not showing off her mad yoga skills.
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For Poppy, the mornings start with a good sun salutation. In the clip you can see her crawling around on the carpet, stretching her body out and lifting her paws one after another toward the morning sun.
“Does it even count unless you say BIIIG STRETCH?” Jokes her human Dad in the comments.
But not everyone believes that all Poppy is doing is a simple stretch, and demand an explanation for her behavior.
Look, sometimes you gotta stretch out those muscles. It’s as simple as that.
Prairie Dog Health
Despite being called “dogs” prairie dogs are not canines, but a type of rodent. Keeping them as pets used to be banned in the United States due to outbreaks of plague and monkeypox in the population of these animals in the wild as well as tame environments. The health concerns of most pet prairie dogs now are due to poor diets, lack of exercise and socializations and dental care, but it is important to note that hey can be repositories of diseases that can be transferred to humans.
Prairie dogs are burrowing animals and should be given adequate space and enclosures to engage in their activity. They are extremely social and require six hours of socialization with humans, other prairie dogs, or pets per day to keep from becoming destructive and depressed.
In short, they are not entry-level pets and it behooves anyone who is charmed by the animal in this video to think very carefully before getting a prairie dog of their own. Maybe just follow Poppy on socials.
Do Prairie Dogs make Good Pets?
Prairie dogs are gaining popularity as pets, but before you embark on getting your own, keep in mind that the creatures to not have a long history of domestication like rats, rabbits, or guinea pigs. As animal companions go, they are definitely more challenging and are not for beginners or your children, as they can be nippy and aggressive unless properly socialized. As rodents, the teeth of prairie dogs grow constantly and must be properly managed by veterinary care and active chewing.
They are highly social animals and most keeper advise not having only one prairie dog, as they need a lot of attention and socialization token from becoming depressed and aggressive, When mishandled, frightened, or hurt, they are capable of causing extremely deep and painful bites.
Their diet is very important and they must be given a lot of roughage in the form of grass, hay, and fresh vegetables. Properly cared for, prairie dogs can live eight to ten years.
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