Paws, Pets & Metal is Metal Insider’s newest column on bands with pets, discovering who watches them on the road, and more. Get to know more about these metal furbabies. We caught up with Nomad’s Bretton Melanson as he discussed his pets ranging from dogs, cats, snakes, and ferrets.

Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?

My family has our dog Zeppelin (so named because he’s a black dog) who’s part Lab, part German Shepherd, part Malinois (those belgian versions of a german shepherd who police get to take down the bad guy if they’re on a roof 2 blocks away), not sure what the rest of him is. He’s big and fast, gave me a hernia by running into me once. There’s our snake Noodle, an albino corn snake, our two ferrets Luke and Leia; we had a third named Han Solo, but he was unfortunately born with Cardiomyopathy, and passed away at only 6 months old. And finally our newest addition is our half Maine-Coon kitty cat Meowlnir.

Have you ever taken your pet on tour?

Nope.

Who looks after your pet while on the road?

My wife and son.

How did you introduce your pet to metal?

Oh, I haven’t tried to force it on them, you know how kids are, never like what dad WANTS them to like.

What animal charity means most to you?

I don’t know if they’re really charities, but the Armstrong Veterinary Clinic, and the VCA Canada Tri Lake Animal Hospital in Lake Country BC really deserve shout-outs. I’m so grateful for everything they did to try and save little Han Solo.