I'll admit, my activity on the site is minimal. But I got curious and tossed a pet in. I didn't expect him to get eaten. Will I get him back or is he gone for good?

he'll be back! either as a riftborn color of his species, or a rift experiment.

Give the Rift a couple days to nom on them.

If I recall, it takes roughly 3 days for the pet to return riftborn!

your pet will return to you! they'll just look different before you threw them in. dont worry, your pet isn't gone forever.