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Luc loves to snuggle, puts his head in Grove’s arms and leans up against her, searching for cookies but never nibbling or being naughty. Being with him, she says, is like her own oasis in a

crazy world where she works 60 to 70 hours per week and juggles the stresses of raising a teenager. “Everything else melts away when I’m at the barn with Luc,” she explains. “He’s my

therapy, my savior, my Prozac. Even my husband realizes he’s worth every penny to make for a happy wife, happy life!” After returning home from caring for her father, Susan Karlin says she

transferred her caregiving energy into caring for a snail that had climbed into her apartment. Wray Sinclair SUSAN KARLIN, 60 LOS ANGELES PETS: SNAILS ​In 2018, a garden snail, soon to be

known as Flash, climbed onto the second story walkway of Susan Karlin’s apartment building. “I naturally assumed he was lost and hungry,” she recalls. Karlin had just returned home after

living with her ailing father for five months, helping him to grieve the recent loss of her mother. “Since I was still in caretaking mode, I just transferred all that attention and pampering

to Flash,” she says. She gave him lettuce, created a terrarium home for him and introduced him on her Facebook page. “Everybody loved him and he quickly achieved mini celebrity status among

my friends,” says Karlin. A year later, she found another snail, which she named Dazzle, who soon delivered baby snails. Karlin currently has around 20 pet snails, all descendants of

Dazzle. “Over time, people just began to associate me with snails,” she says. “They’d ask me how Flash was doing when they saw me, and sent me flowers and condolence cards when he died.”

Snails are fascinating to watch, says Karlin, a science journalist. “They’re born with shells that slowly harden, and young snails are translucent, so you can see their hearts beating and

food moving through their bodies,” she says. “I’d take notes and research information on their behaviors and ailments, do little photo shoots, and test out different foods.” She discovered

snails love cucumber. Karlin finds the snails’ presence to be calming, noting that the first year after her mother died, caring for them became a form of therapy for her. “Now, they just

make me smile,” she proclaims. Tim Sullivan has kept reptiles since he was 5, and now owns Rocky, an iguana (pictured), and Citrus, a bearded dragon. Robin Schwartz TIM SULLIVAN, 50 ​

METUCHEN, NEW JERSEY PETS: CITRUS THE BEARDED DRAGON AND ROCKY THE IGUANA ​Sullivan is affectionately known to his friends as “the reptile guy.” Among his menagerie of snakes and lizard pets

are Citrus, a 9-year-old bearded dragon, and Rocky, an iguana the size of a pig who lives in his basement. “I’ve been keeping reptiles since I was 5, and I’ve never lost the passion for the

hobby,” he says. Sullivan’s affinity for reptiles has been a great way to bond with his three children and teach them about responsibility, ecology, repetition and rewards, among other life

lessons. “Each of the kids thought it was the coolest thing and that I was a cool dad until they reach an age when they don’t,” he jokes. Having reptiles, says Sullivan, are very different

from having pets like dogs or cats. “They are creatures of familiarity and habit,” he explains. “They do recognize you and you must learn to earn their trust.” He enjoys doing things like

preparing fresh foods for his pets — noting that Rocky will “fly across the room for a banana” and Citrus loves mealworms — chatting with other reptile enthusiasts on social media and

frequenting reptile fairs to keep up with the latest in the reptilian world. Amy Salinas says she used to have an immense fear of spiders but now cares for 1,000 tarantulas. David Nevala​​

AMY SALINAS, 51 ​HARTLAND, WISCONSIN PETS: TARANTULAS ​ Remember the movie _Arachnophobia_? Amy Salinas had that — an immense fear of spiders. She decided to challenge that phobia. “I

started keeping tarantulas in 2016, with the help of my son, to overcome my fear of spiders,” she says. “It took an entire two years before I was no longer afraid of them!” Over time,

Salinas became so interested in spiders that she began breeding and selling them. “I currently do all the care and breeding on my own,” she says, noting that in her home she currently has

1,000 tarantulas. “I love them for how unique and unpredictable they are. I love how they give me time to reflect and zen while caring for them even if they can’t love you back.” Salinas,

who was diagnosed with severe ADHD, says tarantulas have been an integral part of teaching her to focus. And she enjoys every minute she spends in their presence. “There is so much unknown

about tarantulas, so keeping them is a constant learning journey, which also keeps an ADHD brain happy,” she says. Lisa Steele says she likes to spend time outside with her pet chickens.

While they look around for worms, she sits with a book and a beverage. Greta Rybus LISA STEELE, 58 ​DIXMONT, MAINE PETS: CHICKENS ​ “My grandparents had chickens and I raised them as a kid,

but they were ‘just’ chickens,” Steele says. “So it was very surprising to me when I got them as an adult in 2009, how much different the experience was.” Being the adult in charge of the

chickens’ care — naming them as chicks, feeding them, and making sure they were warm enough, eating properly and developing correctly — was something Steele found she enjoyed. That includes

getting to know the chickens. “Their various personalities came out,” says Steele. “We have divas, puppy dogs, mean girls, you name it!”