How do you name your animals?

[Minkness]

Originally Posted by Wingbeats

I first look up names relating to the locale of the species, it seems.

Chaska is named after the Incan Goddess of dawn/dusk, and fertility. As a South American species, it made sense

Avatre was more complicated. I was going to name her after an Incan or Mayan or Brazilian name....but I had trouble finding one I liked. Finally, I gave up on that idea and looked at my bookshelf. One of my favorite books, Joust by Mercedes Lackey, has a crimson-and-gold dragon named Avatre. I decided to go with that

Omg I LOVE that series!!! She's my favorite author like...EVER! I was wondering if that's where her name came from, but never asked, figuring the answer would be no lol.