--- title: Birds, reptiles and choosing a pet — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Birds, reptiles and choosing a pet», a lesson of the everyday course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: A pet is not a toy for a birthday: it lives for years and needs food, cleaning and company every single day, so a family thinks hard a --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/) / Birds, reptiles and choosing a pet # Birds, reptiles and choosing a pet Lesson 64 of the everyday course of Mova's primary school: 26 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/0/) — A pet is not a toy for a birthday: it lives for years and needs food, cleaning and company every single day, so a family thinks hard and learns about the animal before getting one. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/1/) — Birds are flock animals that need friends, space to fly and long nights of sleep, and their small bodies are very sensitive: fumes from an overheated non-stick pan, avocado and chocolate can all kill a pet bird. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/2/) — Reptiles such as lizards, snakes and tortoises cannot make their own body heat, so they rely on the lamp and heat mat an adult sets up; they also often carry salmonella germs even when they look healthy. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/3/) — Many foods we enjoy are poisonous to pets, including onions, garlic, chocolate, grapes, salt and the sweetener xylitol, so pets eat their own food, not our leftovers. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/4/) — A boy in Arizona wants a bearded dragon for his birthday. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/5/) — First his family talks about who will feed it, keep its lamp on and clean it every day for many years, and they learn what it needs before they choose one from a good place. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/6/) — A family in California got a pet turtle; their little boy kissed it and later became ill with Salmonella, a germ many reptiles carry. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/7/) — A girl in Australia's parents bought a parrot without knowing it could live for decades and scream for hours when bored; within a year they had to find it a new home. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/8/) — Budgies are flock birds that need a friend, a big cage and time to fly in a safe room. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/9/) — Before a bird flies indoors you close windows and doors, cover mirrors and turn off fans. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/10/) — Fumes from overheated non-stick pans can kill birds quickly, so birds are kept out of the kitchen. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/11/) — Avocado and chocolate are poisonous to pet birds. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/12/) — Birds need about ten to twelve hours of sleep, so covering part of the cage at night helps. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/13/) — Reptiles often carry salmonella germs, so you wash your hands with soap after every touch. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/14/) — Reptiles cannot make their own body heat and get ill if they are kept too cold. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/15/) — A tortoise should hibernate only as a vet advises, because wrong hibernation can make it very ill. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/16/) — Many lizards can drop their tail to escape, so you never hold a lizard by its tail. - [17](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/17/) — A pet lives for years and needs care every day, so a family agrees who will do each job before getting one. - [18](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/18/) — Onions, garlic, chocolate, grapes, salt and xylitol sweetener can make pets very ill. - [19](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/19/) — Pets should not lick your mouth or face, because animals' mouths carry germs. - [20](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/20/) — Any animal can carry germs, even one that looks clean and healthy, so you wash your hands after touching pets. - [21](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/21/) — A pet is best got from a rescue centre or a good breeder, after learning about it; animals sold cheaply by strangers, from vans or markets, are often ill. - [22](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/22/) — Pets cannot be left alone for days, so a trusted person or pet sitter looks after them during holidays. - [23](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/23/) — An overweight pet gets ill more often and lives a shorter life, so it needs fewer treats and more play. - [24](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/24/) — Reptiles such as turtles, snakes and lizards often carry Salmonella germs that can make people sick. - [25](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/64-birds-reptiles-and-choosing-a-pet/25/) — Some parrots can live for more than 50 years. - ← previous: [Guinea pigs, hamsters and fish](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/63-guinea-pigs-hamsters-and-fish/) - next →: [A pet is a responsibility](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/65-a-pet-is-a-responsibility/) - ↑ back to [Everyday](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/)