Tell us about your child's most unusual pets for a chance to win a Little Adventurers book plus a Muddy Puddles EcoSplash rain mac

[UrsulaMumsnet]

From award-winning author Philip Ardagh and author/illustrator Elissa Elwick, comes a brand-new picture book series! Meet The Little Adventurers – Finnegan, Sprat, Floss and Peanut. Each week they meet in their top-secret shed HQ, ready to share their fun with you.

This week, Sprat can’t seem to find his cat, Shadow, anywhere. And he absolutely has to have a pet – it’s Bring In A Pet Day! So, instead he finds a leaf, draws a face on it and… Ta-Da! Sprat has a pet: Leafy! But can you really have a leaf as a pet?

With a spread packed with activity ideas and facts in every book in the series, The Little Adventurers will encourage hours of immersive play and ignite the imagination of curious adventurers aged 5+ everywhere!

To win a copy of the book, plus a limited edition print, stickers, a poster and your very own Muddy Puddles EcoSplash rain mac, just tell us about your child's most unusual pets (real or imagined!).

The Little Adventurers is out now, available in hardback and paperback from all good booksellers.

This discussion is sponsored by Walker Books and will close on 24 October

Books T&Cs apply

[LadyDeadpool]

DS(3) Decided a squished dried up slug on the path in the garden was his pet and much loved it was too he talked to it all the time and kept it in a jar. Called him Gary.

[FeelingSmurfy]

Do rocks count? There have been pet rocks throughout many generations of my family

[Daniwiththelimphair]

DS would save from the cooking pot giant African snails, sold at our local market as a culinary delicacy. We had 17 at one time - all went on to live full and happy lives in my neighbour's vegetable patch

[FoxInABox]

My three year old DS caught a tiny crab when we went crabbing. He called him his best friend and wouldn't let us let him go. We had to bring him back to the caravan in a bucket of sea water, and secretly take him back to the beach later and pretend he had gone to see his family.

[pennwood]

The foster children have a snail family as pets but they have to stay in the garden at Gran's house.

[Bonkers2011]

My twin girls are animal mad. They chose to have a pet ferret each. We also have a pet tortoise who roams freely around the garden throughout the summer.

[Givemecoffeeplease]

My son had a pet yogurt pot that he adored. No, that's not a typo. He has a cat - a living breathing Battersea rescue, who poos in the garden whilst giving us side eyes, and is affectionate only on his terms. But DS1 didn't approve of this, and as we don't have space or time for a dog, he emptied a large yogurt pot, gave it googley eyes and a 'tache, and carried it round til our cleaner accidentally recycled it. He was gutted.

[mummyhereandthere]

The little ladybird called bug

[Mozarmstrong]

A cut off branch from Apple tree and its called Apple if it's good enough for Chris Martin it's good enough for us. Apple plays in the garden sits on the garden chair to sunbathe and gets wrapped up at bedtime with leaves!

[kateandme]

an egg.yes she made a house out of a shoe box to go with it/little bed from matchstick case.tv.rugs from felt.it was an egg!! and had to keep being replaced as went smelly.soon replaced by a real life hamster.much better and that saying something

[Rainbowsaretoo]

We have many pet cut flowers. Everyday Jane and I walk through the cemetery after dropping the boys at school. Most days the bins have old cut flowers in them that people have cleared from the graves and put in the bins. Jane and I 'rescue' a flower most days from the bin and she takes it back home to care for it. I love it, it's like the discarded flowers get another lease of life. Plus in needs a drink and live like pets she said. Awwhh.

[Tigerlily13]

Well, this is Fred. Found outside our front door by my 3 year old on the way to collect his brother from school. He was in his shell at first and my boy was delighted when he made his way out as 'he's not afraid anymore!' Lovingly carried all the way to school and back then returned to the front door! 😆

[asuwere]

DD2 had a pet stone for a long time, it went everywhere with her! We even made it into a pig with a shrink wrap thing designed for an egg (part of MN product test) which did make it cuter, well as cute as a stone can be! :)

[NauticalDisaster]

We currently have Slug who is, in fact, a snail and lives amongst my courgette plant (and eats my courgette, little bastard).

We also have Fly the spider who lives both in the garden and our house (my boys haven't figured out there are different spiders).

And, finally, we have the family of bears who join us on our walks through the forest (whilst singing the doing from We're Going on a Bear Hunt - ours are tiny, little bears though, not big ones).

I'm glad they gave good imaginations.

[hippiechick1955]

Ryman found an injured vole ( related to a mole ) in our yard that he begged to keep. One of his legs is damaged and he's quite ugly but Ryman, he sees past all that. He thnks "Sully" is the best pet on earth and his love for him proves it.

[sjonlegs]

My daughter currently has a pet stick! Seriously - don't ask. As lovely as the stick is - it's all getting a bit ridiculous and that stick is being treat better than the rest of the family. It currently has it's own bunk bed, pillow and sock sleeping bag - and apparently has a penchant for Jaffa Cakes!?*

[dannydog1]

Can't say my two had the inanimate objects as pets such as sticks etc, but they did have real stick insects, a cockatiel and two pet rats. All of which were regularly let loose in the house and frightened many a visitor.

[nerysw]

My son is five and for the last 2 years has had a flock of a million chicks which only he can see. I've had to pretend to feed them while we were in the supermarket and the whole flock was wiped out when they went out without him (he was at school) and they were eaten by a dinosaur. Another batch hatched out of an egg which he was sent from space so it was all ok!

[tiggertigger]

My husband is in the Navy and his ship is HMS Dragon. My daughter's pet is therefore a Dragon, when Daddy goes to work she says "don't forget to feed your dragon daddy!"

[Mybeardeddragonjustdied2016]

My ds (7)has a snake called Elvis. A bearded dragon called Beckham and an invisible friend called Geoff. We sometimes set a place at the table for Geoff for tea. He has been on many camping holidays with us and the ferry too.

[Valski]

As well as the assortment of garden insect, snails and occasional moths that just HAVE to come inside, our menagerie is made up of:

2 cats, ginger one Pumpkin, black one Sweetcorn
1 hamster, called Cloud (ginger)
2 baby tortoises - got them soon after hatched, or whatever occurs(!) from a breeder. These two are called Amy and Yazmin.. Amy is a bit overweight. They like dandelions, forget me nots, rose petals, broccoli.. Still need the heat lamp on them. We have to occasionally check they are in the cage as they burrow under their bedding and so we use straws.

Butterfly house (indoors) - no living creatures in it no.
Hedgehog house - nothing ever ventured in.

That with two kids! I had to out the kibosh on a dog and iguana..

[Valski]

Here are Amy and Yazmin

[StillNoFuckingEyeDeer]

DD1 brought home a pet stick the other day. It's imaginatively called 'stick'. Right now it's asleep on a bed of grass in its own little box next to her bed. At least it's been pretty low maintenance so far.

[Rae1000]

Our lovely little hamster & then my daughter's strange pet is a dead wasp... infact a dead squashed wasp (not killed by us...just found!) called Stingo who lives in a jar!

[blogmumjd]

Son2 is trying to persuade me to get a pet pig. I suggested adopting one at a farm and having a cuddly toy pig instead but he turned me down on that. He wants one in our garden and if I don't oblige, he plans to ask Father Christmas. Eeek