Lizards need love, too

By: Miss Lonelyhearts Posted: 12:00 PM CST Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I’m crazy about my boyfriend, but I hate his exotic-pet fetish. I just want a dog or a cat or a fish. He likes reptiles and thinks they’re “lovable and cute.” He’s nice otherwise, but I find this kind of creepy. I always take him to my place rather than sleeping over at his house.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

Read unlimited articles for free today:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2015 (3947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Lately, he’s been choosing to go home to sleep after having sex with me because he says he wants to be good to his pets and he’s been neglecting them at feeding times. This makes me feel hurt because he dresses, hustles home and leaves me right away after making love. I should be more important than lizards! What should I say to him?

— Hating Those Slithery Things, Winnipeg

Dear Hating Those Slithery Things: At the beginning of most relationships people bend the rules and schedules for their lives — go to work on five hours sleep, slack off from exercising, neglect old friends and sometimes feed their pets eight hours late.

That stage is over now for your new man. He needs to get back to a normal life, and that includes feeding his reptilian things before they’re desperately hungry. After a couple’s infatuation stage (the first three to six months), couples go through disagreements and negotiations and see if they want to stay together or not. That’s just natural progress. So, have the fights and see if you can work things out, but don’t bother with those stages if you intend to demand he get rid of his dear pets, because then you’re not a match. No brand new boyfriend or girlfriend should come at the expense of getting rid of one’s pets and he won’t be impressed if you suggest it.

By the way, a fetish for reptiles isn’t the same thing as a fondness for reptiles — not by a slithery long shot.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave. Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6

Miss Lonelyhearts
Advice Columnist

Read full biography

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.