Small pet

Small pets are pets that live in aquariums or cages and can be taken out briefly for Sims to play with. They require less attention than cats, dogs, and horses, but have fewer interactions, and are not counted as household members.

The Sims
In The Sims, only one small pet was available, the fish in the Poseidon's Adventure Aquarium. Sims have to feed the fish and clean the tank to ensure they remain healthy.

In Livin' Large, the guinea pig was introduced. If the cage wasn't cleaned for a long time, and it bit a Sim, the Sim would become sick. The fastest and easiest way of curing this sickness is to buy the guinea pig painting and look at it.

Many more small pets were introduced with The Sims: Unleashed. Sims were able to go to Old Town and purchase a variety of small pets, including iguanas, turtles, goldfish, and small birds such as budgies and love birds. All of them require feeding and cleaning occasionally, but they don't need as much attention as cats and dogs. However, unlike cats and dogs, they can - and will - eventually die, no matter how carefully they are cared for. Parrots and cockatoos can also be bought in Buy Mode, for §939 and §749, respectively. Sims can not only feed them crackers, but also talk to them, which boosts the selected Sim's Charisma.

Fish
As in The Sims, the only small pets available in the base game are fish, bought with the Aquabox Five-Gallon Aquarium. The aquarium can be stocked by selecting the "Restock" option. Sims must feed the fish and clean the tank regularly, or they will die. The Sims 2: Pets adds another fish tank, which works the same as the base game aquarium.

Womrats and parrots
The Sims 2: Pets adds womrats and parrots. They can be purchased by buying the appropriate cage in Buy mode, and then using the cage's "Restock" option, which can only be done if the cage is empty and clean. Womrats cost §75, while parrots cost §400. The womrat cage is called the FMCU 3000 and the parrot cage is called the Tropico Avian Sanctuary.

Small dogs
The Sims 2: Apartment Life adds the Modern Arf Indoor Dog Pen, which allows Sims to keep a small dog in the pen; the pen costs §525, while the dogs cost §500. This pen doesn't require Pets to be installed, and the dog behaves like a small pet, using different meshes, textures and animations to regular dogs.

Butterflies and fireflies
Sims can also keep collected butterflies and fireflies in a jar. If they are not released, they will eventually die and the jar will have to be cleaned. Neither the maid nor the butler will clean it, though.

Caring for small pets
When stocking a cage or pen, the player will have a choice of several fur or feather colors, and will be able to name the pet. Sims must feed small pets regularly; feeding a womrat or penned dog costs §10, while feeding a bird costs §20. Womrats and birds will eventually starve if not fed, but a starving penned dog will be taken away by an Animal Control officer before it can die. Small pets that are hungry may bite, and ones that are starving will have "hungry" thought bubble above their heads. It is also important to keep the cage or pen clean, as a dirty cage not only brings down the room's Environment score, but lowers the small pet's mood, increasing the chances that it will bite. While a womrat is essentially a guinea pig, the Guinea Pig Disease from The Sims: Livin' Large does not exist in The Sims 2.

Sims can play with and watch these small pets, and can carry along the parrot or penned dog. Also, parrots can be taught to talk. Once they've learned to talk, Sims can talk to them to build Charisma skill. Sims will also build Nature enthusiasm whenever they clean the cage or talk to a bird.

Bird cages can be opened. An open bird cage will eventually let the parrot out and it will fly around the house. Nearby Sims will gain fun from this. Sims cannot interact with the parrot while it's flying, and it will not escape and cannot be attacked by cats or dogs.

A womrat or bird can be set free, and a penned dog can be given up for adoption.

Small pets are the only pets that young adults can keep on college lots, or that can be kept in vacation homes.

The Sims 3
In The Sims 3 many aquatic animals, including fish, frogs, snails, and crocodiles, and insects can be caught and placed in an aquarium. The Sims 3: Pets feature various kinds of minor pets, which can be caught outdoors like other collectibles. Minor pets can be kept temporarily in the inventory, but they might eventually run away if kept for too long. Minor pets need to be placed in terrarium. Animals in aquariums and terrariums must be fed regularly.

List of minor pets in The Sims 3: Pets

 * Pet rocks
 * Birds: Blue Gold Macaw, Catalina Macaw, Cockatoo, Congo African Gray, Crow, Falcon, Spotted Sixam, Yellow Naped Amazon, Cardinal, Eastern Bluebird, Gold finch, Lilac Breasted Roller, Nuthatch, Parakeet, Pigeon, Owl
 * Lizards: Anole Lizard, Ancient Dragon, Gecko, Chameleon, Pygmy Komodo Dragon, Agama Lizard, Texas Spiny Lizard, Iguana
 * Rodents: Chinchilla, Hedgehog, Squirrel, Rat, Shrew, Womrat, Chipmunk
 * Snakes: Yellow Python, Garter Snake, Emerald Tree Boa Snake, Malayan Krait Snake, Yellow Chondro Python, Scarlet King Snake, San Francisco Garter Snake, Iridescent Shieldtail Snake, Mini Python
 * Turtles: Barbour's Map Turtle, Spotted Turtle, Eastern Box Turtle, Indian Roofed Turtle, Red Eared Slider Turtle, Pygmy Tortoise, Spiny Turtle, Western Painted Turtle
 * Ants

In The Sims 3: Supernatural, there are storage cabinets suitable to showcase up to 8 insects and butterflies from Sims' inventories.

The Sims 4
The Sims 4 has three types of small pets: fish, frogs and insects. Neither have to be fed and they will never die.

Fish
Sims can keep fish they caught as pets in fish bowls or aquariums. Alternatively, there are five types of fish that can be purchased, shown in the table below. Sims have the option of naming their fish, but can't interact with them in any other way.

Frogs
Frogs can only be caught in the wild, and cannot be bought unless the player uses the  cheat. There are 24 kinds of frogs available, with rarer kinds being worth more Simoleons, though all frogs have an environment score of 3.

Sims can view a frog's terrarium to determine what kind it is, and can breed two frogs together if both are in their inventory. There are no other interactions and, unlike fish, frogs can't be named.

Breeding is done in the inventory when a Sim has at least two frogs. Frogs have two type of genes.
 * Dirt, Leaf, Eggplant, Heart, Sunflower
 * None, Striped, Spotted, Whirl, Surf

Breeding two frogs will result a new frog with mixed genes. Frogs can only be bred once in a while, as Sims become exhausted from it.

Rodents
Rodents are introduced into The Sims 4 through The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff. This pack introduces hamsters, rats, hedgehogs, and a new to the series, miniature bubalus voidcritter.

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