A bearded dragon basking on red desert earth, with a rainbow lorikeet perched on a flowering branch and a red kangaroo standing in the spinifex behind
Pet care guides and animal facts

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Verified animal facts about creatures you’ll never meet, and honest care guides for the ones you live with.

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100+ species care guides, plus 400+ deep dives on setup, diet, health, handling, cost, and the law.

⭐DAILY FACT

🐙 Three Hearts of Love: Octopuses have three hearts. Two pump blood to the gills, and one pumps it to the rest of the body. When they swim, the…

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Today’s Wild Picks

A fresh handful from the fact library, reshuffled every day

🦔Mammals

Spiny Situation

Hedgehogs have between 5,000 and 7,000 spines on their back! Each spine lasts about a year before it falls out and a new one grows in its place. Baby hedgehogs are born with their spines just below the skin.

🦜Birds

Century Talkers

Some parrot species can live over 80 years! The oldest known parrot, Cookie the cockatoo, lived to be 83. They can also learn over 100 words and even understand context.

🐼Mammals

Not-So-Related Pandas

Despite their name, red pandas are NOT related to giant pandas. They are actually more closely related to raccoons, skunks, and weasels! They were named 'panda' nearly 50 years before the giant panda.

🦎Reptiles

Mood Ring Lizards

Bearded dragons can change color based on their mood and body temperature! They darken when cold or stressed, and lighten up when warm and happy. Their 'beard' puffs out and turns black when they're showing off.

🐰Mammals

Purring Bunnies

Rabbits purr when they're happy! Unlike cats, they do it by softly grinding their teeth together. They also do 'binkies' (joyful leaps and twists in the air) when they're feeling playful.

🐬Ocean

Dolphin Name Tags

Each dolphin develops its own unique signature whistle, essentially a name! They use these to call out to specific friends. Dolphins can remember these 'names' for over 20 years.

🐍Reptiles

Tongue Sniffers

Snakes smell with their tongues! They flick their forked tongue to collect chemical particles from the air, then press it into the Jacobson's organ on the roof of their mouth to 'read' the smells.

🐱Dogs & Cats

Headbutt Means Love

When your cat headbutts you, it's called 'bunting' and it means they love and trust you! They have scent glands on their forehead, and bunting is their way of marking you as 'theirs.'

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Fact Photos

Every fact has its own photo. All 296 of them are in the gallery.

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That’s just a taste. 103 species profiles, 100+ care guides, and 400+ deep dives are waiting below.

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The Beastly Hub

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Guides Encyclopedia More Articles

Reptiles

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What Do Ackie Monitors Eat? Diet and Feeding Schedule
Reptiles

What Do Ackie Monitors Eat? Diet and Feeding Schedule

Ackie monitors are lean, active insectivores, and getting their diet right is about resisting the urge to feed them

Bearded Dragon Shopping List: Buy Once, Skip the Kit
Reptiles

Bearded Dragon Shopping List: Buy Once, Skip the Kit

The buy-once bearded dragon setup list: a real 4x2x2 enclosure, T5 UVB, a thermostat, and feeders, plus the pet store

What Do Rosy Boas Eat? Prey Size and Feeding Schedule
Reptiles

What Do Rosy Boas Eat? Prey Size and Feeding Schedule

Rosy boa feeding looks a lot like boa constrictor feeding scaled down, whole prey sized to the snake, on a schedule

Corn Snake Tank Setup Guide
Reptiles

Corn Snake Tank Setup Guide

Corn snakes are a forgiving species to set up correctly, with one non-negotiable exception: whatever heat source you

10 Surprising Boa Constrictor Facts
Reptiles

10 Surprising Boa Constrictor Facts

Ten surprising boa constrictor facts - from heartbeat-syncing squeezes to live litters of 60 - and why they're the pet

Understanding Reptile Shedding (Ecdysis)
Reptiles

Understanding Reptile Shedding (Ecdysis)

Shedding is one of the most misunderstood aspects of reptile care. Here's what's actually happening, what's normal, and

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Beastlypedia

41 files on wild animals worth knowing about. No care guides, just the animal.

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Animal Encyclopedia

Pet species profiles across 11 categories, from dogs and cats to reptiles and fish.

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Care guides

A rotating pick from 108+ species guides. Each one links out to deep dives on setup, diet, health, handling, cost, and the law.

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Latest articles

From the blog: comparisons, health, and the deep dives that sit on each guide.

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Chronicles: Original Fiction

Short stories told entirely from the animal's point of view

Dex the bearded dragon basking regally under his terrarium light

🦎 Chronicles of Dex the Bearded Dragon

A bearded dragon with opinions, ambitions, and a cricket problem - told entirely from his point of view.

House rabbit sitting alert and regal at the edge of a garden, surveying his territory

🐰 Chronicles of Otis the Bunny

A house rabbit who is quite sure the garden - and everything in it - belongs to him. Otis is my sister's rabbit and stays with me for weeks at a time, which is where these stories come from.

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Test Yourself

A new themed quiz every other week, plus the classics.

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Aquarium Secrets

The weird science swimming in ordinary tanks.

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Critter Digest

Facts that roar. Guides that care.

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