Guppies My Pet and Me

-Hello, welcome to My Pet And Me. I'm Ferne...

-And I'm Rory.

We've just been walking lovely, big d'Artagnan.

Isn't he gorgeous?

We make sure all the animals get plenty of fresh air and exercise.

-Lots of water, too.

-Very important.

Lots of animals make excellent pets. We love meeting you and yours.

We definitely do.

On that note, I'm off to meet some new friends now.

You can come with me too if you like.

-Bye, guys.

-Bye.

-Come on.

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Down every street

# Are pets to meet

# Some big, some small

# Some scaly, some furry

# Some keep very still

# Some are always in a hurry

# Some have four paws

# Some have sharp claws

# Some quack, some bark

# Some purr, some moo

# Some grunt, some squawk

# Some cock-a-doodle-do

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Have you met my pet and me? #

Today, we're in Ayrshire to meet Eilidh and her pet fish,

and I cannot wait.

Come on, let's go meet them.

-Hello. You must be Eilidh.

-Hi, Ferne.

-And you must be Mum. Hi.

Hi, Ferne.

-I hear you have some fish that you'd like me to see.

-Yeah.

-Shall we go say hello?

-Yeah.

-Come on.

Wow. So these are your fish? They're beautiful.

What type of fish are they, Eilidh?

-They're guppies.

-Guppies? Wow.

Guppies are a type of tropical fish.

They can also be called rainbow fish

because of their colourful bodies and fins.

They're beautiful. What are their names?

-Big Sparkle and Little Sparkle.

-Those are fantastic names.

So which one's which?

Little Sparkle has yellow on their tail.

Big Sparkle has orange.

-So Big Sparkle is a bit more orange than Little Sparkle?

-Yeah.

They're so beautiful.

-How long have you had the fish?

-Eight months.

-That is great.

It's perfect you've got two so they can keep each other company,

-can't they?

-Yeah.

-Fish can be just like us.

They can get lonely sometimes.

So it's nice to have at least two.

-What's your favourite thing about your fish?

-Feeding them.

-Do they like to go to the top of the tank when you feed them?

-Yeah.

Some people think fish don't have good memories,

but I bet your fish always remember

when they're due to get fed, don't they?

-Yeah, and Little Sparkle misses the food.

-Oh, no!

-Does Big Sparkle gobble it all up?

-Yeah.

-Is that why he's called Big Sparkle?

-Yeah.

I think they're really nice. Do you know I've got fish too?

Yeah?

One of my favourite things about fish is just watching them,

because they're so calm and peaceful.

They're beautiful, the way they just swim around.

I have a joke for you, Eilidh. Why are fish so good at singing?

-I don't know.

-Because they always practise their scales!

Rory, quick, will you give us some fish facts, please?

I need to work on my jokes, don't I?

I think you do, Ferne.

Fish have lots of little hard plates called scales covering their body

which help to protect them.

Guppies come in a variety of colours.

And they also have different shapes of tail.

A female guppy is often larger than the male,

but the male can be more brightly coloured with spots,

stripes and splashes.

Lots of animals need care and attention,

but fish especially need looking after

because they live in a tank and are entirely dependent on their owners.

So, Eilidh, what do you do to look after Big Sparkle

-and Little Sparkle?

-Clean their tank.

-Exactly.

It's important to clean fish tanks regularly

to stop algae building up.

-And also fish poo a lot, don't they?

-Yeah.

So sometimes the water can get a little bit cloudy,

-and that's not very nice for them to swim in, is it?

-No.

-No, no, no.

-Shall we get started?

-Yeah.

OK.

It's important to keep your fish in the tank when you clean them out,

so you don't stress them out too much, so we're going to use this.

It's called a siphon. We'll suck up the old water

and clean the pebbles at the same time. It's clever.

-Eilidh, what is this at the back?

-The filter.

-That's right.

-What does it do?

-Clean the tank.

The filter helps to keep the water clean.

But because we're going to clean the tank,

-shall we turn it off?

-Yeah.

-OK. I'll do that.

It's important not to touch the fish

in case you might injure them, so we're going to be careful.

Here we go.

Good job.

So if we bring it down to all these pebbles,

you can vacuum up all along the pebbles.

-Are the fish OK?

-Yeah.

-What are they doing?

-Swimming around.

-Are they supervising us?

-Yeah.

-That's enough water out now, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Cos you only take out a little bit of water at a time. Not too much.

-Now, the filter needs to be cleaned, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

What we do is, we take out the sponges

which are filled with bacteria.

We'll clean them in the water we've just taken out,

and we do this

because these sponges contain lots of good bacteria for fish

and you want to keep that bacteria.

A little bit of a squeeze, and put them straight back in.

So now, what do we need?

-Fresh water.

-Exactly. And your mum's going to bring us some.

-Here you go, guys.

-Thank you.

-And I'll take this one away.

This isn't just water from a tap.

It's been specially treated so that it's safe for the fish.

I'll put it in nice and gently.

-Do you think they like this, Eilidh?

-Yeah.

And I'll fill up the filter,

-and we can turn it on.

-Yeah.

Ready?

That looks great.

Good job. But now what do we need to do?

-Wash your hands.

-Yes. Shall we go?

Yeah.

-This tank is squeaky clean now, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Well done.

There's plenty of space for your fish to swim around.

-Yeah.

-They're very lucky.

There's lots of nice places for them to hide, isn't there?

-Yeah.

-What have we got in there, Eilidh?

-A rainbow.

-I love that rainbow.

-And a tree with pink and green.

-Yes.

-What else do we need to do to look after your fish?

-Feed them.

-And how often do you feed them?

-Once a day.

-That's perfect.

-Shall we give them a bit of food now?

-Yeah.

-They deserve it.

You show me how it's done.

Just a little pinch.

Come on, fish.

Little Sparkle and Big Sparkle have a lovely clean tank

and they've got lots of food.

-I think you've got two really happy fish.

-Yeah.

-Definitely.

My Pet And Me!

Fish spend all of their time in the water, swimming,

eating and exploring.

But if Big Sparkle and Little Sparkle

could do absolutely anything in the world, Eilidh,

what would they do?

DRUM ROLL

If my pet could do anything,

they'd be a fish rock band.

They'd perform to all the sea life...

..and have seahorses as backing dancers.

We've come on a special trip to the local Botanical Gardens

to have a look for some different fish.

-Shall we go see if we can find them?

-Yeah.

-Come on.

Wow! Look at these, Eilidh! They are gorgeous.

-They're a lot bigger than your guppies, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Do you know what type of fish they are?

-I don't know.

They're called carp.

Some of them look like goldfish. They're amazing.

Many of these fish were donated by families

who thought they were getting a bit big.

It's no surprise. Some of them swimming around

are about that big, they're massive.

-Look at this one.

-Look at that one.

-That one is huge.

Oh, look, here comes another.

-Look at that one.

-Ooh! I like that one.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Here comes one now.

There are so many, and they are all these beautiful colours.

You know the way these fish have all of this stuff to look at?

They've got lots of plants, they've got lots of people visiting them.

I was thinking, what if we got your fish an ornament for their tank?

-Yeah.

-OK, let's go have a look around.

This shop looks like it will have some great things for fish.

Fish.

I like them.

Look in there.

That is cool.

-Yeah.

-I think we should try and find some toys now.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Look at all of these. They're all so great.

How can you possibly choose, Eilidh? What about the shark?

Yeah.

That's cool, and he's got sunglasses.

Do you think he looks like he's ready for his holidays?

Those teeth could be a little bit sharp, couldn't they?

-Yeah.

-What's that, Eilidh?

-A cupcake castle.

-A cupcake castle?

-Do you think your fish would want to eat that?

-Yeah.

It does look tasty, doesn't it?

-Sparkles.

-I like that one. Sparkly for Big Sparkle and Little Sparkle?

But out of all of these, Eilidh, which one is your favourite?

-That one.

-That big castle? Let's see.

That'd be perfect for your fish.

What do you think they'll like the most?

-That.

-A secret door.

-And it's somewhere they can hide.

-Yeah.

-And they've got windows.

Yeah, they can swim up inside and try and look out the windows.

-Shall we get that one, then?

-Yeah.

-OK, come on, let's go.

I think that the castle looks great, Eilidh.

-Big Sparkle is definitely interested.

-I think it's good.

What do you think their favourite thing is in this castle?

-Inside of it.

-That's right. There's loads of places they can hide.

-Yeah.

-I had so much fun meeting you

and Big Sparkle and Little Sparkle.

My Pet And Me!

-Hi, Rory.

-Hi, Ferne.

-Hiya, Hector.

-How was your day?

-It was fantastic.

I had a great time with my friends. It was really fun.

Great. As you can see,

I've been catching up on some serious cuddle time with Hector.

I see that. He's loving it. Pets are great.

Remember, don't touch an animal unless the owner says it's OK.

Two pets you can play with are ours.

Go to the CBeebies' website and play the My Pet And Me game.

What a fantastic time we've had. We just love meeting you and your pets.

# Today we met

# A lovely pet

# We see how much you care for them

# Thank you so much for sharing them

# Time for us to

# Just remind you

# After you play with your pet

# Wash your hands, don't forget!

# It doesn't matter what pet you've got

# You might have one, you might not

# It's still fun finding out

# What having a pet is all about

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# My pet, my pet and me

# Come back and see my pet and me. #

-ALL:

-Bye!