After a hard long school day, pets can play a significant role in the lives of Berkeley High School (BHS) students, offering companionship, comfort, and a sense of stability. At BHS, pets come in all shapes, sizes, and species, each with their own personality to offer.
Nadya Landes, a sophomore at BHS, is the owner of a rabbit named Poppy. Poppy is a 7-year-old domestic rabbit, and Landes adopted her in 2018 from a rabbit shelter in El Cerrito.
“We have a very strong bond because she really trusts me,” said Landes. “And to gain a rabbit's trust is, I'd say, more difficult than a dog because rabbits are prey animals, so they're really easily frightened.”
Landes also emphasized the joy Poppy brings to the lives of herself and others. When she is feeling down, Poppy can always sense it and comfort her.
“When I bring friends or family over and they see her, they always immediately smile, and then they go and pet her,” said Landes. “It's just really nice to see that she's making them happy.”
Throughout Poppy’s day, she receives lots of care and treats. In the morning, she receives fresh hay and her litter box is thoroughly cleaned. At 11 a.m., she is given pellets, a snack for rabbits that provides vitamin D. When it hits 8 p.m., her litter box is cleaned again, as well as a dinner of fresh hay.
Poppy and Landes have experienced many interesting adventures together.
“A few years ago, I took her to the beach, and it was really surprising,” said Landes. “She loved it. She liked to dig holes in the sand and just hop around and lie down in the sun.”
Fun facts:
Poppy loves listening to the birds in the morning
Poppy is very musical and loves listening to the piano
BHS senior Nia Adeborna owns a turtle named Scooter and a tortoise named Tuck. Originally, she was given Scooter as a birthday present in 2020, and a friend gave her Tuck in 2023.
Every other day, Adeborna feeds Scooter his daily meal of pellets. Aside from mealtime, he also enjoys dandelion leaves and shrimp as snacks.
“Right now (Tuck) is in hibernation, so he is sleeping so much, he's barely eating,” said Adeborna. “But before we would feed him every other day, and just give him a whole bunch of leaves at night, and he'd eat those and then go to bed.”
Adeborna also emphasized how much her pets have affected her life. Tuck and Scooter are big responsibilities, and if she doesn’t care for them there could be major consequences. She understands the important role she plays in the well-being of Tuck and Scooter as an owner.
According to Adeborna, Scooter can be quite the escape artist.
“He is a little crazy. He once jumped out of the tank and fully climbed up and jumped on the tank. And I wasn't home, nobody was home. So I came home, and he just wasn't in his tank, and we were just looking around for him. It was probably a couple hours later when we found him and he was behind a curtain somewhere outside.”
Fun fact: Tuck and Scooter are Adeborna’s first pets
The difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that turtles are aquatic, meaning they stay in water most of the time
Amber Safir, a BHS senior, owns a Pionus Maximilian parrot named Phoebe. Her parents got Phoebe several months before she was born, leading them to form a strong connection as they grew up together.
“I honestly can’t imagine living without her, it’s always just been a given that she is at home,” said Safir.
While Safir’s parents were the ones who adopted Phoebe, Safir has established a closer relationship with Phoebe than her parents have. Phoebe loves to sit on her shoulder and accompany her throughout her day at home.
“When I was a toddler, my dad and I used to ‘wrestle.’ He was fake wrestling, obviously, and would always end up tickling me,” said Safir, “I am super ticklish and would laugh hysterically, but Phoebe can’t tell the difference between crying and laughing. So she would sit and fly down to the floor, fluff her feathers as much as possible, and charge at my dad’s face to try to ‘protect’ me.”
Phoebe is a fairly low maintenance pet to take care of, but Safir still has a daily routine to make sure Phoebe is content. She gets fed in the mornings and evenings, and lives in a large cage at night. According to Safir, Phoebe enjoys hanging out in her cage at night, and she gets let out during the day to fly around the house.
Fun facts:
As she has gotten older, she has stopped liking to fly as much and mostly walks
She thinks it’s funny to get as close to people’s heads as she can when she’s flying. So far, she has never hit Safir.