Dr. Evan Antin, WORLD WILD VET

2020-11-27 · 28:53 · Dr. Evan Antin · Podcast Audio

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[2:33]Evan Anton is the author of World Wide Vet.

[2:37]He has also been known as the sexiest veterinarian on Instagram.

[2:43]And is a wildlife and animal enthusiast all over the world and conservationist.

[2:49]He's the instagram's most followed veterinarian,

[2:51]with over 1.3 million followers.

[2:53]And he went viral after being featured in People Magazine's

[2:57]sexiest man-alive issue in 2014 and again in 2016 and 2017.

[3:03]He stars on the secret slash Facebook TV show Tuscs to Tails,

[3:07]which currently has ever 8.7 million subscribers on Facebook.

[3:11]The show is dedicated to educating viewers about some of our planet's most unique

[3:15]animals and what wild adaptations they have to contribute to their success.

[3:19]He previously starred on animal planets Evan goes wild,

[3:22]which followed him as he chased his wildlife bucket list,

[3:25]swimming alongside humpback whales into heady, exploring caves with bats in their Philippines,

[3:30]and tangles with crocodiles in the UK tan.

[3:33]And obviously you're listening to my podcast right now.

[3:35]But as with all episodes, it's also on YouTube.

[3:38]So if you want to check out the sexiest veterinarian alive with your eyes,

[3:42]also head over to my YouTube channel, youtube.com slash moms don't have time to read books.

[3:49]Welcome, Evan. Thank you so much for take two of moms don't have time to read books,

[3:53]minus the technical difficulties this time, I hope.

[3:56]Oh, thanks for having us. I got Henry here too.

[3:59]Oh, I have Naya here on the floor here. I can pick it up.

[4:02]All right. I can pick it up. She likes to lay right there.

[4:06]Good. So it's like a four, four person podcast for.

[4:14]Okay, so your book world wild vet, which P.S. is hard to say world wild vet. There we go.

[4:22]And counters in the animal kingdom. Tell me a little more about this book.

[4:26]I know that you wrote it over 15 years and obviously I've read it,

[4:29]but tell listeners what what inspired you to sort of do a travel log of all the places

[4:35]you've been to and all the experiences you've had with animals.

[4:38]Why now in your career did you decide to write a book?

[4:41]I am so fortunate that I've been to so many places and I've worked with so many different species

[4:45]and different habitats and seen what what it is to work with wildlife, appreciate them in their

[4:50]natural environment, be involved in their conservation efforts and veterinary medicine for individual

[4:54]animals. And I feel I've got a lot of different messages to share from around the world.

[4:59]And it can vary quite significantly whether you're in Australia or Africa or Central America.

[5:05]And so I thought, you know, I did think about, you know, writing a book for years,

[5:10]but I didn't think it'd be to later my career, but I decided to do it now because I think

[5:14]I have enough experiences to share. And you know, I've got a lot of messages to share as well.

[5:21]And I felt like now actually is a good time to start to start writing and sharing those

[5:25]experiences and messages and lessons. And just, you know, trying to, my whole goal is to get

[5:30]people excited about animals, teaching a little bit about that medicine and what, you know, what

[5:33]that's about. And then of course a big part of that is, you know, making an effort towards wildlife

[5:38]conservation awareness and sharing that whole world. And I've gotten to see that in so many different

[5:42]places. Amazing. And you've had some really unbelievable experiences. But actually the part that

[5:50]stuck with me the most was after you went on this whole big adventure and collected this amazing

[5:55]footage and everything, your, was it your car that was broken into and you lost everything? And

[6:01]for pounds and tell me, tell me that story again. Oh, man. Yeah, I don't often rent cars and I travel.

[6:08]So many places I go. You just need to, but it made sense for the things I wanted to do in Costa

[6:13]Rica. And anyways, I just kind of this hotel. And I think I was arranging the room, like just getting

[6:17]kind of settled in there and away from the car for not very long. And it was like dusk. And by the

[6:22]time I came back to the car, it was night. And man, I opened the door and everything's gone, everything.

[6:27]And so I had a few things that I had a day pack with me that had my passport, which was huge.

[6:32]It had a memory card that had a few pictures. But, you know, 99% of it was gone. All my travel stuff

[6:38]obviously, I bring, you know, I snake up my crocs there and I had my clothes and everything was

[6:43]in that bag. And that was all gone. And yeah, no, I was so pissed. I was not fun to be around

[6:48]for a few days. I it was crazy. I'm not an angry person, but oh my gosh, I wanted somebody to

[6:53]disrespect me in some way so I could take out my anger on them or something. It was, it was a horrible

[6:58]mental state to be in. And things worked out, you know, I still have those memories. Nobody can take

[7:03]those away from me. But I sure wish I had the footage and the pictures to back it up, you know.

[7:08]So sorry. That was all of your Galapagos experiences too. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

[7:13]Oh, sorry. And then of course you go to Costa Rica. I think it was when you're in Costa Rica when

[7:18]you sort of kidnapped a crocodile and left your girlfriend sleeping in Costa Rica and some hotel

[7:25]and you know, she thought, God knows what happened to you and you came back with a crocodile,

[7:30]which I think it has ever happened to me in any of my travels with them.

[7:33]I've never heard of anybody doing such a thing. I mean, I would do it today, which is, it's just

[7:38]legally, I don't know that what that entail would entail. It's probably not, probably not allowed,

[7:43]but it was my first crocodile that I'd ever caught in the wild. You know, I'm working with

[7:46]alligators and some other crocodile species in captivity. But to see one of the wild and it was so easy

[7:51]and I just was dying to make an educational video about it and get some pictures with it and

[7:55]everything. And at that time, I was just making educational videos for YouTube. And, you know, I have

[8:00]one picture from that experience, the night email to somebody and at least have that from that

[8:04]experience. But yeah, it was so funny. I guess I didn't realize how long I was gone because she

[8:09]was freaked out when I came back. I mean, she really was about to call the embassy. She thought

[8:12]I was kidnapped and she can worry sometimes and that can escalate rather quickly. But I know she

[8:18]went from being freaked out to being willing to help me film this guy within a matter of minutes

[8:23]and she got in the car and we went over to exactly where I caught him. Got some amazing footage

[8:28]for a few minutes and let him go. And that was that. Oh my gosh. And then you were bitten by a snake

[8:35]and your mom had to get involved and it was like a whole thing. Yeah, I've been bitten by hundreds

[8:39]of snakes and maybe thousands by this day. But that was a venomous snake. Yeah. So that was that

[8:44]was again. It was a kind of thing where, you know, you just you learn lessons along the way.

[8:47]And I've definitely done many things and I wouldn't do today. And that was one that was probably

[8:52]the biggest one that was also a blessing in disguise because it did obviously give me an opportunity

[8:58]to gain an even bigger respect for dangerous animals. And I'm lucky I got bit by not the most

[9:03]venomous snake. It was a copperhead, which is bad news. That can be pretty destructive and pretty

[9:07]scary. I didn't have any permanent damage that I know of and everything worked out. But yeah,

[9:13]I mean, if I'm working with an animal or I think the danger risk is too high, then I just say,

[9:19]you know, I got to pass on this one. You know, or we have to do this a different way or I have

[9:23]to sedate it or you know, we have to just approach it a little bit differently. But I still work

[9:26]with a lot of venomous snakes and so love it. So how did you go from doing educational videos

[9:33]on YouTube to having like a million followers in a TV show on the animal planet? Like, how did

[9:38]that happen? I mean, that was all part of the vision. That all started when I, you know, in that

[9:43]first chapter when I'm road tripping in Australia and I had my mom sent out my camera, my tripod,

[9:47]I wanted to start making that kind of content, having no idea where it would go. I would say,

[9:52]I mean, I did a couple TV guest appearances shortly after graduating about school and I think they

[9:57]found me on YouTube or something. I'm not totally sure.

[10:00]her. And it was Chris Jenner shows my first show and it was a total blast. And then I did

[10:05]another couple shows. And then in 2014, towards the end of 2014, about a year and a half

[10:09]after I graduated at school, people magazine, I don't know how they found me, but they

[10:14]offered to include me in their sexiest man alive issue. They put out at the end of the

[10:19]year every year, right? And so I was the sexiest better. That year I was the sexiest

[10:23]beast charmer. The other years they did it, I was the sexiest veterinarian at least. But

[10:26]it was like the first time it was like a minute work section. So it was different professionals

[10:30]know the sexiest chef or teacher or whatever. And then in early 2016, and I think it was unrelated

[10:36]to the people thing, I had some big publications put out articles about me. So like one called

[10:42]board-panded it. And then when they did Huffington Post and Buzzfeed and a few other big ones

[10:48]like reached out for an interview. And then they did like a story on me basically. And then I just,

[10:53]you know, those days it was, I think, easier and you know, more possible to just go viral. And I

[10:58]went from hitting 10,000 followers the night before. And I was so excited about, and then two

[11:02]weeks later, I was at like 220,000 and then kind of grew from there. Wow. And how is that affected?

[11:08]You like, how is that affected your personal life and your relationships? Like, do you feel

[11:12]like you have people like glomming on to you who you don't trust now or do you like stick to

[11:17]your poor people from growing up or like, how do you handle that? I mean, personal wise,

[11:21]nothing's changed. I mean, my friends, they think it's funny when the, you know, the sexiest

[11:25]better, whatever they know, that's not like, that's not what I was striving, that's for necessarily

[11:30]even though it's been a blessing. I'm not like complaining about it and same with going viral. There's

[11:33]been way more positive things than negative things. And for me, I mean, I'm, you know, I'm a pretty

[11:39]down-to-earth kind of guy like it's not change a whole lot in my personal life. I've always

[11:44]been close to my family. I've always been close to my friends. And that's all totally the same.

[11:49]They're super supportive. And it's opened a lot of doors and created a lot of opportunity

[11:54]in a very good way for me. So it's really those, those things have been absolute blessings.

[12:00]So you said this whole sort of empire, vet empire world you're building was part of the vision.

[12:05]So what is like the next phase of your vision? Like where, like, what's your secret,

[12:10]hopes and dreams? What's next? Like, what do you, what do you want?

[12:14]I mean, honestly, I want to keep doing what I'm doing and just get on a bigger and bigger scale.

[12:19]You know, I want to do even more than I can. And in the media space and that platform and just,

[12:24]you know, creating awareness for wildlife and its conservation and promoting quality veterinary

[12:29]medicine and even talking about, you know, how we can best care for our pets too and just getting

[12:33]people excited and educating them, people about animals and just growing that and making it

[12:39]bigger and bigger and becoming more well-known in that space, but in a very positive and constructive

[12:44]way for our pets and wildlife. And how have you dealt with like the pandemic not being able,

[12:51]I mean, I saw it on your Instagram. You were recently in where were you, Tanzania?

[12:55]Yeah, yeah. Amazing. I'm like, I didn't even go to like downtown. But anyway, how did it affect

[13:01]you to not be able to do your thing and travel everywhere? Yeah. I mean, this is the first year

[13:08]in several years. And I've traveled a lot, you know, not nearly as much. I mean, the last few years,

[13:12]I feel like I think I've been gone probably cumulatively three to four months out of the entire

[13:16]year probably close to four months. And in different, you know, it does in different countries

[13:20]over the course of a year. And this year, listen, I'm not complaining. I'm super lucky. I've

[13:24]already been to Australian Tanzania. And that's more than most people could say they get to do

[13:28]in a year or so. But from my perspective and what it usually is, yeah, it's significantly less.

[13:33]You know, I'm, we're still, you know, our hospital has been open the whole time. I work at

[13:36]Canadian Valley of Venice Hospital in Thousand Oaks nearby. And I'm still seeing patients, you know,

[13:40]when I can, I'm still, you know, working on other projects. Like we're talking about the book.

[13:44]I mean, the book was taken a lot of my time this year. And I've had other projects. I did

[13:48]another Facebook show and other, you know, the Tanzania was actually a technically work-related

[13:53]thing, even though I was getting to have fun and getting the bush and, and hosts really fun

[13:57]series. Yeah, you know, it's definitely slowed some things down. But I've absolutely managed to

[14:02]stay busy. And I picked up a new hobby this year that I've just absolutely loved and kind of

[14:07]of dove into head first. And it's woodworking. And I've gotten some new power tools and having

[14:11]that super just a ton of fun doing that and building furniture and stuff. What's your latest creation?

[14:17]I'm working on some mid-century chairs right now. And they're called, it's called a Z-chair.

[14:21]The Z-chair is like the standard common name for it. But it's proven to be a bit of a challenge.

[14:26]This is a very new hobby. And it was maybe a little bit ambitious for me. But I, so far so good.

[14:31]We're moving along. And I think they're going to turn out okay.

[14:34]Well, if you're selling them, my name does start with the Z. So if you run out of options,

[14:38]you know, there you go. Invest in some teachers.

[14:43]Well, tell me about writing this book. Did you, like, how did you, how did that

[14:47]process work for you? Did you sit down like, and write it every day? Did you dictate it? Did

[14:51]you work with somebody else on it? Yeah, I mean, so writing and reading were never my strong

[14:56]suits through my education. I'm much more of a math science, right brain or left brain, whatever

[15:00]that would be. And so I, you know, because I'm not a professional author by any means,

[15:05]I did hire a ghostwriter, which I think is common unless you are a professional writer.

[15:09]And so I ended up getting a phenomenal writer, named Janna. And she really found my voice.

[15:16]And we talked a lot. And we had really long interviews. And I had not had a very good idea

[15:21]if I wanted the book laid out the stories I wanted to tell. And then she would just

[15:24]interview me and she would ask a lot of questions. I would tell a lot of stories. And we had

[15:28]really good back and forth. And yeah, I mean, that was, that was a lot of the work, which was just

[15:32]that. And then of course revising and editing what she would bring to me. And luckily, she was,

[15:37]she is so phenomenal at finding someone's voice and, you know, sharing their verbal stories

[15:43]and putting it on paper in a way that would come like, you know, when you read it, that really

[15:48]is how I talk and how I share. And so she did a phenomenal job. But that was a big part of it.

[15:53]Of course, working with the publisher. I've been very happy with Henry Holt publications and

[15:57]another, like a boutique company under McMillan. And they do awesome work. And they've had some

[16:02]really cool books. And it's been a dream to work with them too. So they've been really helpful

[16:06]along the way. And of course, I have a team that's very helpful. I've gotten a manager and an

[16:10]agent that I trust. And so that's, it's everything's just kind of been this perfect collaboration

[16:15]cooperation with everybody. It's been great. What do you think, like, the most effective part

[16:20]of your book marketing has been in terms of like what you did or some event that was different

[16:26]anything in this whole, like, I'm out and about trying to, you know, tell people more about my book,

[16:32]like, what stands out to you out of all the stuff aside from our amazing interview right now?

[16:37]Other than this amazing interview, I mean, it took kind of half answer a previous question about

[16:41]pandemic. This changed everything. I mean, I was going to be going on a national media book tour.

[16:45]I was going to be going to several big cities, doing in-person signings and readings and,

[16:50]you know, obviously, that's not so much the case. So, you know, my team, the publishers and

[16:56]my agents, everybody says social media is the most important, most valuable tool. And so having

[17:01]a decent following, I think, is very helpful for that. You know, it seems to be that way I'm getting

[17:06]a ton of positive feedback from my followers. And I've been sharing a lot of things from the book,

[17:10]whether it's from animal facts or just sharing, you know, what the books about or just, you know,

[17:15]how the project's been going and that kind of thing. I think that's helpful. So to answer that

[17:20]question, I think it's a combination of things, but social media is huge. Doing podcasts really

[17:25]truly like this one. I think is really, truly valuable to and just getting it out there. So,

[17:30]I don't know. I don't know if there's one thing. Do you have any advice to aspiring either aspiring

[17:36]authors or people who want to do something to really make a difference in the animal kingdom and

[17:41]the animal world conservation and all of that? Yeah. I mean, I think for some of that, we really

[17:45]want to pursue that in a very big way. I think just, you know, you have to be passionate about it.

[17:51]And you have to show that passion. I mean, I think that's what's worked so well for me. And it's

[17:55]not, it's, I'm not working or trying to show my passion. My passion is very vibrant and me. And it

[18:00]just, I'm lucky that I can portray that on a media platform and on social media. And so, I think

[18:07]that's a big part of it. And just, you know, I'm so lucky too. I get in the trenches. I get in the

[18:11]field. I get to work with these bets on the ground of these conservationists and get to wildlife

[18:14]rescues and get my hands on these animals and show what that's all about. So that's a huge part

[18:20]of it too, is the hands-on stuff. I mean, I can sit at home or my yard and talk about conservation. And

[18:26]you know, people will listen. But if I'm actually out in the field, I'm in the Philippines or I'm in

[18:30]South Africa. And I've got a been strong or rhino or a condor or whatever. I think that goes

[18:36]a long way. And my last question. So my kids are in the stage where they want every animal under

[18:40]the sun. My kid, my little guy had a tantrum that we couldn't go by a blue jay today, you know,

[18:48]after school. Oh, come on, mom. We got to get a blue jay. So not fair. I want a bird. I want a

[18:53]bird. And I want a hamster and the fish. And, you know, we're in that like mode. And we are

[18:58]young dogs. And we're like overrun. We had like dead fish floating that I haven't even dealt with.

[19:03]Oh, no. Yeah. We've got like, we're like a menagerie here. My little guy is almost six. And then I

[19:07]have a seven year old and two, 13 year olds. And they're kind of like over the. That's a whole other

[19:13]challenge. And I can relate to. But I do a hundred percent sympathize. Most of my friends have

[19:17]children. And it can be. In terms of the animal, sort of pet management piece of life for many

[19:24]parents, you are like the ultimate. Oh, yeah. So what do you say to that? Like, should us parents

[19:33]like get brow beaten into getting all sorts of different animals to give kids more exposure

[19:38]or just stay with like the traditional, you know, black lab that I have over my shoulder?

[19:43]Like, what do you think about sort of bringing them into your home? Because like this,

[19:46]today we're trying to explain that like, well, no blue jays are out in the wild.

[19:50]Right. Right. So how do you kind of toe that line of wanting to give your kids a love of animals,

[19:57]but not, you know, have your home?

[20:00]be taken over.

[20:01]Right.

[20:01]I mean, I think there's number one.

[20:02]There's a lot of ways to cultivate that without necessarily

[20:05]acquiring new lives that you have through then

[20:08]be responsible for.

[20:10]OK.

[20:10]I mean, most big cities and areas, you know,

[20:13]other moderate-sized cities, you know,

[20:14]they have really high-quality zoos.

[20:17]You know, zoos are accredited by the associations,

[20:19]zoos and aquariums, boy and or American, you

[20:21]main, and they're good places where they're

[20:23]doing right by the animals.

[20:24]They are in a very major way contributing

[20:26]to wildlife conservation in their, you know,

[20:29]respect to parts of the world where they have some of the

[20:30]animals as ambassadors of these areas.

[20:32]So that goes a long way.

[20:34]And even just going to petting zoos and things like that,

[20:36]just getting them exposed and getting those interactions

[20:38]is really valuable and really important.

[20:40]And then nature is such a big thing too.

[20:42]I mean, I grew up in Kansas.

[20:43]We had a creek in my backyard.

[20:44]And my parents, you know, they both like animals.

[20:47]They're not like completely insane like me.

[20:49]But they totally cultivated it.

[20:51]And they totally, you know, they would, if I

[20:54]brought a turtle home for a couple days, it was OK.

[20:56]And I'm getting out in the creek and appreciate the nature.

[20:59]And I go catch crawdads and look for insects and look

[21:01]for turtles and snakes and the wildlife.

[21:03]Just anywhere you live, there's going to be something in

[21:06]your backyard, no matter where you live in the world.

[21:08]So that's always an option too.

[21:10]And then when it comes to the pets, there's no one answer.

[21:12]You know, it really depends on the individual, the parent,

[21:15]the family, the children, everything.

[21:17]And so you have to ask yourself, and I say this for

[21:19]any new pet, whether it's an exotic pet or a dog or a cat,

[21:23]is I have three like main general tips.

[21:25]Number one, do your research.

[21:27]Know what you're getting into.

[21:28]What does this pet need?

[21:29]Diet, space, time, ambient humidity, temperature, all these

[21:33]things you need to be aware of, what you're getting into.

[21:35]And you don't provide these things.

[21:36]You're not giving this pet the fair life and it deserves.

[21:38]And it's going to be a disservice to you and the pet.

[21:41]And it's going to be expensive and sad.

[21:42]And it's just not what you want to do.

[21:44]Second question, you ask yourself, is, can I provide these

[21:46]things?

[21:47]Do I have the space?

[21:47]Do I have the budget?

[21:48]Do I have the time?

[21:50]Do I have the ability to provide all of these things?

[21:53]Am I going to do the upkeep, all that stuff?

[21:55]And then number three, find a veterinarian in your area

[21:58]that's comfortable working with those animals, whether it's

[22:01]a small animal practice that's very comfortable seeing

[22:03]dogs and cats, or if you're looking to get, say, a

[22:06]cockateal, which is a great pet bird.

[22:08]They do very well on captivity and can be phenomenal pets.

[22:11]Find yourself an exotic animal veterinarian that's

[22:14]comfortable.

[22:14]They're going to be a big tool and resource for regular

[22:17]checkups and preventative medicine like vaccines and

[22:20]that kind of thing.

[22:21]And it that depends on the species, obviously.

[22:23]But that's really important too.

[22:24]So if you can ask yourself those questions and say, OK,

[22:27]yes, we do have time for, say, we want to get pet rats,

[22:31]rats make phenomenal pets.

[22:32]They get super strong emotional bonds that it's really

[22:35]like having a dog or cat and rodent form, super intelligent,

[22:38]great animals.

[22:39]OK, they need to be social.

[22:40]We need two rats.

[22:41]We need decent space for them.

[22:42]We need good enrichment.

[22:43]They're super smart.

[22:44]So we need to constantly do mazes and toys and engage

[22:47]and that kind of thing with them.

[22:48]We get the right diet.

[22:50]Can we get with a vet?

[22:51]It really depends on the person.

[22:53]And so for some parents and have the children, especially

[22:56]six-year-old boy that wants everything, as I did,

[22:59]you just have to pick and choose and do what makes

[23:01]the most sense for you.

[23:02]It sounds like you guys have a lot of pets.

[23:04]It sounds like you guys are doing pretty good.

[23:06]And so just putting the energy into the pets

[23:08]that you have is also really important.

[23:10]And so there's ways you can re-exite them about their pets.

[23:13]You do a little bit of research and realize,

[23:15]so I'm sorry, what do you have again, for example?

[23:17]Well, so my mother-in-law and grandmother-in-law

[23:20]had a dog named Nia, this black lab.

[23:23]And they both just passed away from COVID.

[23:24]And so yeah, I'm so sorry to do that.

[23:26]Thank you.

[23:27]So they had two dogs.

[23:28]So we took Nia and then my husband, Sister Took Luna,

[23:32]the other dog, who was like a mix of three different breeds.

[23:35]But Nia is a black lab.

[23:37]And then I had a pomeranian who is now basically my baby

[23:40]sitter's dog.

[23:41]So she brings the fat rain in every day.

[23:44]But anyway, I could go on and on about this.

[23:47]This is not about your buck.

[23:48]And then we had these two fish.

[23:50]And now my daughter wants a bunny,

[23:52]and my son wants a bird.

[23:53]And we had two fish that we got over the summer

[23:56]at the cliff quite a while.

[23:57]But not anymore.

[23:59]Yeah.

[23:59]It's the kind of thing you want to educate yourself.

[24:01]And so fish and some of those other pets

[24:04]that can be lower maintenance in some ways,

[24:06]but at the same time, you need to be very

[24:08]familiar with what a biological filter is

[24:10]and know how to properly care for these fish

[24:12]and know what it takes some experience.

[24:14]But yeah, I mean, if you're considering one

[24:17]of the any of these exotic kind of animals,

[24:20]do your research.

[24:21]I mean, when it comes to bunnies or rats,

[24:22]or, you know, no, I'm not getting a rat.

[24:25]No, I'm drawing a lot.

[24:26]And you've been discussing buying a rat.

[24:28]OK, so yeah, so let's say you need, let's say bunny.

[24:31]OK, fun.

[24:31]Just for hypothetically, you know,

[24:34]you do want to know what you're getting into.

[24:35]They do need space.

[24:36]And they do need to have at least two.

[24:38]They're super social animals.

[24:39]So don't just get one bunny.

[24:40]Don't just get one guinea pig and know what you're getting

[24:42]into when it comes to that space.

[24:45]And, you know, if you have time that you can't do some research,

[24:48]if you're kiddos really excited about one species,

[24:52]you can ask yourself, don't tell him this yet.

[24:54]Because if he knows you're thinking about it,

[24:56]it's over, probably.

[24:56]No, I'm like, I was like, oh, I'm going to play him this podcast.

[24:59]Now I'm like, I'm not playing him this podcast.

[25:01]No, no, no, no.

[25:02]This you do until after the fact that you get the bunny,

[25:05]then you can say that if you do that,

[25:07]if you don't get a bunny, you can't hear this one.

[25:10]But yeah, you just ask yourself those things.

[25:12]But at the same time, like, you have four children.

[25:14]You have a dog, you are a busy working woman as well.

[25:18]And so don't be, don't do something.

[25:20]It's unfair to the pet, you know what I mean?

[25:22]I mean, there's things you can do with your dog.

[25:23]You can do fun kind of training and things to get him excited about that.

[25:27]So there's other opportunity to cultivate it.

[25:30]And then, of course, there's great programming available.

[25:32]Like, I'm sure he's in the crafts brothers and coyote,

[25:35]you know, what a brave wilderness.

[25:38]I have a wild craft.

[25:39]He's not a wild craft, sir.

[25:40]Wow, crafts?

[25:41]Yeah, the brothers.

[25:42]And then it was Coyote Peterson.

[25:44]OK.

[25:44]He's got great kid content, super educational, good guy.

[25:47]I met him on a show we did together, actually,

[25:49]but you're in a half or two ago.

[25:51]And super good dude in a good space.

[25:53]And he promotes wildlife in a really good way, too.

[25:56]So, you know, there's lots of ways you can cultivate it

[25:58]without necessarily having to get the pets.

[26:01]See, after this conversation, maybe now,

[26:02]my almost six-year-old will turn it to you.

[26:05]Who knows?

[26:05]Yeah, no, I mean, that's, you know, cultivating its own port.

[26:08]And I'm lucky that my parents will let me have reptile reptiles.

[26:11]And let me, you know, do these things.

[26:13]And you know, my mom is a landscape designer.

[26:15]And even as a kid, she wasn't doing it professionally,

[26:17]but she was crazy about her landscapes.

[26:18]And she had all these little rock gardens and different things

[26:21]and other, you know, plant gardens, too and everything.

[26:23]And I was flipping rocks every single day,

[26:25]looking for rolling pulleys and millipedes and grubs

[26:29]and cicadas in the right time of year.

[26:31]And I just loved all that, you know.

[26:33]Yeah.

[26:34]Well, I'll come down to letting heavier parents, you know,

[26:38]foster the love.

[26:39]Yeah, no, I'm glad you're saying that message,

[26:40]because I cannot stress that enough.

[26:43]There's so many people that nays their kid,

[26:45]they buckle down to their kids getting a pet.

[26:46]They don't do the research, they're kids pet.

[26:49]And it's like, listen, it comes to you guys.

[26:51]It's okay.

[26:51]And then they come to see me in the veterinary hospital

[26:53]and I'm seeing patients.

[26:55]And they really don't know what they're doing.

[26:57]And our veterinary employment is not just like a wellness thing

[27:00]because their hamster has a legitimate health issue

[27:01]that's out of their hands.

[27:03]It's because they didn't know what they were doing.

[27:05]And, you know, because they weren't providing proper

[27:08]ambient humidity or UV light

[27:10]or they're feeding an all seed diet to their parent.

[27:12]You know, I mean, there's so many things that people

[27:14]just don't know and assume and their wives tales

[27:17]or whatever, it's just common knowledge.

[27:19]And it's totally not right for these pets.

[27:22]And they find themselves seeing me

[27:24]because they just didn't do that research.

[27:26]So that's the number one thing.

[27:27]Please do your homework.

[27:29]Whether it's for your kids or for you,

[27:31]please do your homework before you get a pet

[27:33]and take on a life and make sure you're doing it right.

[27:35]Excellent advice.

[27:37]Well, thank you, Evan.

[27:38]Thanks for doing this round two with me

[27:39]and sharing all these great tips

[27:42]and, you know, to be determined what pets I end up with next.

[27:46]Okay.

[27:47]I hope you have any time.

[27:48]I'm happy to answer questions and recommendations.

[27:50]There's plenty of other pets besides rats

[27:52]that make great pets with a bird, a cockatill,

[27:54]looking to that.

[27:55]If you're considering a bird, look into that.

[27:58]Okay. Okay. Cockatill.

[28:00]I'm on it.

[28:01]Okay. Thank you so much for having me.

[28:03]Thanks so much.

[28:04]All right, thank you.

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[28:17]These amazing comfy winter clothes and summer,

[28:21]but for now winter and we will thank you.

[28:23]Thanks for listening to this episode of Moms Don't Have Time

[28:26]to Read Books.

[28:27]Don't forget to follow me on Instagram at Zippy Owens

[28:30]and at Moms Don't Have Time to Read Books.

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[28:39]Thanks so much to Steve and Ryan at Texturesound

[28:41]for the Sound Editing.

[28:43]And thank you to Morning Moon Productions

[28:44]for providing this fantastic intro and now trim music.