When you think of cockroaches, the first word out of your mouth is “gross”. This is because they are not good to look at up close. Thanks to your biology class, you have a deep-seeded disgust of them. However, what if they were used for good? This is what 20-year-old Kylie Kellingan from the University of Michigan did! Kellingan, who lives in Dearboarn, Michigan, has been breading them to pay for his tuition.
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Now, you may be asking yourself, “How did he bread them to pay for his tuition?” In a rise of domestic exotic pets, cockroaches have been making the list to give the benefit of owning a pet. The reason he gets money is because he breeds them, and then sells them. He keeps 130 species from around the world and the rate varies on what the student wants. Having a pet is going to give any student the companionship they need when they are studying. Why not it be something exotic, right? This is what Kellingan was thinking as well when he started in on this venture.
He loves what he is doing. Despite bringing in money, there is always that joy behind creating the insects and bugs is what makes him happy. Exotic species like a cockroach is going to be able to fly 10 cm and be able to have a variation of types. Kylie is hoping that he will be a better specialist in the end because he is studying at the Facility of Biology and hopes that it will train him how to deal with exotic pets. This is a smart plan if you can stomach the thought of possible breakouts and crawling all over you.
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It seems more and more people are getting exotic pets these days because a cat or a dog is “too original”. Some fear that Kylie was raised by bad parents since he has a love of such bizarre pets. However, it is quite the opposite where his mother is deathly afraid of cockroaches and his father is supportive of the idea because of the extra income it brings in. Things that can make you cringe are sometimes the best thing to work with. The future biologist is doing something that many students should do. If you are going to work in the biology industry, you have to be able to work with the worst of the worst. Many feel that this would be cockroaches.
