Posted under
Pet Tips by oahupet on August 31st, 2008 1:30 am
By: Pet Rabbits Lover
After dogs and cats, pet rabbits are becoming the most popular household pets. However, rabbits are not suitable pets for everyone. This article is a beginner’s guide to those who are thinking of getting rabbits as pets.
Rabbits are lovely, gentle, friendly and cute. They are relatively easier to care for and demand very little in terms of care and housing. Pet rabbits should preferably be kept indoors as they are very susceptible to heat stroke and house rabbits tend to live healthier and longer lives.
A rabbit can live between 6 to 13 years of age and there are some reports of rabbits living up to 15 years old. This should be taken into consideration if you are thinking of keeping rabbits as pet. Are you prepared to care and provide for the rabbit during its life span?
A pet rabbit may be kept in a rabbit hutch or a rabbit cage. Rabbit cage with raised wire mesh and a plastic tray at the bottom is the easiest to maintain and clean. A rabbit cage should be at least 4 times the size of the rabbit and should be tall enough to enable the rabbit to stand up straight. Rabbit housing should be cleaned daily.
Pet rabbits may be litter box-trained. However, no matter how well trained is your rabbit, occasionally, he may still drop some poops outside the litter box and you have to be prepared to pick them if you like to get a rabbit as pet. Rabbit’s droppings should be inspected daily for any irregularity in shape and size as this can be the first sign that the rabbit is sick.
A pet rabbit’s diet can be made of commercially produced rabbit pellets, hay, greens and fruits. The rabbit’s diet should be adjusted as they get older. Younger rabbits less than 7 months old should be fed with pellets and alfalfa hay. Older rabbits should be fed less with pellets and the hay should be substituted with timothy hay instead. Hay is the most important diet for rabbit. Adequate fresh water is a must.
Pet rabbits are quite particular about their own cleanliness and spent quite considerable time grooming themselves. They shed their hair every 3 months and you should be prepared for more vacuuming in the house. Family with members who are allergic to rabbit’s fur may not be suitable to keep rabbits as pet.
Rabbits reproduce few times a year and therefore should be neutered or spayed. Neutering or spaying your rabbit also helps prevent development of cancer in female rabbits and eliminate aggressive behaviour in male rabbits. It is easier to house train neutered and spayed rabbits.
Rabbits do not need frequent trip to the vet. Common illness in rabbits include intestinal blockage, diarrhoea, molar spurs and viral infection. When your pet rabbits get sick, they should be immediately brought to a savvy vet to be treated.
Pet rabbits like to chew on furniture and electrical cords. Therefore, bunny proofing the house is important for the rabbit’s safety and to prevent damages. Electrical cords may be wrapped in plastic tubing. Adult rabbits tend to be more disciplined.
Pet rabbits love toys even though they may get bored easily with the toys. It is recommended to rotate the toys available. Rabbit’s toys need not necessarily be expensive toys. Hand-made toys will provide the rabbits with just as much fun.
Rabbits are most active at dawn and dusk. This may suits working adults most as your pet rabbits will be active when you are at home. You also need not feel guilty about leaving your pet rabbits in their cage while you are working as they will be napping anyway.
Most people keep rabbits as pet because they are quiet and easy to care for. Do not leave children to care for the rabbits by themselves as they may not be responsible to handle the rabbits. It is important to understand that adults should still be the primary care taker.
Author’s Resource:
Visit My Pet Rabbits at www.mypetrabbits.com for more articles about getting Rabbits as Pets
Visit Animal Pets & Friends for more pet and animal articles.
Posted under
Pet Tips by oahupet on August 26th, 2008 9:17 pm
Submitted By: Janet Bugby
Once you have set up your tropical aquarium the next step is to ‘cycle’ it. This process produces beneficial bacteria that will process the waste ammonia from your fish and convert it into nitrites and then into relatively harmless nitrates. After adding fish to an uncycled tank the toxic ammonia and nitrite levels will rise to a dangerous high until there are sufficient numbers of bacteria to convert them into less toxic nitrates. In order to overcome this methods have been devised to encourage the growth of the bacteria. The traditional method is to add a few ‘hardy’ fish that will produce ammonia to encourage bacteria growth while the tank is ‘cycling’. This method is very stressful for the fish, many of which die or are damaged by the process. The toxic ammonia burns the gills and leads to permanent damage. At the end of the ‘cycling’ you are left with fish in poor condition which you may not want in your aquarium.
A better, more humane method to cycle the tank is to use a fishless cycling method. It uses household ammonia as a source, rather than live fish, and a bacteria culture obtained from a healthy tank or purchased from an aquarium supplier.
The Bacteria Starter Culture
You can obtain a starter bacteria culture by adding some gravel, filter medium or rock from a healthy, aged tropical fish tank. If you do not have a source there are commercial products available, for example StressZyme or Hagen’s Cycle. The culture will give a quick start to producing a colony of bacteria but you can also use this method without a starter culture. It will take a bit longer then to cycle your tank.
The Ammonia
Purchase some unscented, additive free 100% ammonia. Some aquarium supply shops are now selling ammonia for this purpose. If you know a chemist or science teacher they may be able to get you some pure ammonia from a laboratory supplier..
The Tank Temperature
The bacteria (Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter) thrive best at higher temperature than is usually used for a tropical tank so during the cycling increase the temperature to between 30 and 35 C (85-95F). When you add the fish you can turn it down again.
Testing Kit
A testing kit to check the ammonia and nitrite levels is essential to test the levels and to indicate when cycling is complete.
The Fishless Cycling Method
Extra aeration is recommended while cycling as bacteria need oxygen to grow. Increase the aeration through the tank and filter if possible. You could add an extra air stone or even use an extra pump if one is available. Add your bacteria culture, then add about a teaspoon of ammonia for a small tank. Increase this for a larger tank. Allow about an hour for the ammonia to circulate then test. The ammonia level should be between 5 mg/L (or 5ppm). Add some more ammonia if the level is too low. Leave the tank alone for a few days then test again.
At this stage the ammonia level should begin to drop and the nitrite level to rise. This means that the bacteria are doing their job of processing the ammonia. Add some more ammonia when it drops to zero to give the bacteria more to work on. The nitrite level should rise until it reaches a maximum then begin to drop as the nitrites are converted into relatively harmless nitrates. Three or four days after the maximum nitrite levels are seen the nitrite level should drop to zero. The cycling is now complete.
Change about 50-70% of the water, carefully so as not to disturb the filter or the gravel bed where the bacteria are colonised. Reset the temperature to 25°C, or the recommended temperature for your intended fish and allow the temperature to stabilise for a few hours. Retest for ammonia and nitrites and if the levels are zero you can now begin to add some fish.
It is possible after cycling the tank to add all the fish in one go but this will result in a spike in the ammonia and nitrite levels which is stressful for the fish and could cause them to become diseased. adding the fish slowly will allow the bacteria to grow to cope with the added levels of ammonia excreted by the fish. Even for a fully cycled tank it is advisable to gradually add the fish. aim to take about a month to fully stock the tank.
A fishless cycling method is more efficient and produces a fully cycled tank in a much shorter time than the traditional method of using hardy fish. It is also more humane and you will not be left with unwanted, often damaged fish, at the end.
Published At: www.Isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=282146&ca=Pets
Posted under
Pet Additions by oahupet on August 8th, 2008 2:09 am
The Adventures of George in The Urban Jungle
George speaks candidly about his new business venture
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“Hi there, I’m George of The Urban Jungle and I’d like to tell you about a new adventure that my business partner (aka human mommy) and I have recently embarked upon together.”
“It’s called Tailwaggers Hawaii and we’re bringing AFFORDABLE dog services to the island of Oahu. It’s very exciting – it was after all MY idea. And might I add very impressive for a dog of my age to be Co-CEO of a company. I know I’m already ruggedly handsome even though I’m only 3½ – that’s like upper twenties in human terms – younger than my mom, but don’t tell her I told you that. She says a lady should never tell her age.” |
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“So back to the important stuff. Tailwaggers – it’s so great, we get to care for and play with dogs all day. It’s way better than my mom’s previous job in fashion. For eight years (I just heard the stories) she traveled from L.A. to New York, China, and Japan.
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Then I came around when Dad was finishing Med school so Mom took a hiatus from work while I was a baby. She made sure I was potty-trained and had learned my manners (I was quite wild in my younger days, now I’m an upstanding young gentlemen). But it was’t before long that mom had to go back to work. It was then that we realized that it’s really expensive to have me properly cared for. My mom and I wanted to come up with a solution for this problem. And she wanted to get back to one of her true passions – the love of animals. She did after all grow up on a farm in the Mid-west. She had lots of dogs before me (14 in all – I know that’s crazy) and even horses, cows, and all those other smelly barn-yard animals.
But I know that it’s really because she missed being around me all day. Can you blame her – have you seen me?” |
“So with Tailwaggers we’ll come to your house and wag around the neighborhood or go to the beach, dog-park, or even for a hike. You can wag your tail wherever your parents want to. Then there’s spa services… who doesn’t like a little pampering. Especially after a fun-filled afternoon of rolling in the dirt at the park.
You can even spend the night with us. It’s so much fun. We’ve got a big backyard and we each get a big doggie bed. And if you’re still working on your manners mom will work with you on that too.
And we’ll take you places. If you’ve got an appointment that your mom or dad can’t get you to; we’ll make sure you get there. We’ll go wherever you want to go- even the Veterinarian, (although I insisted we leave that one off the list – who wants to go there)?”
Oh, I almost forgot to mention one of the best parts is that mom will take lots of pictures of you playing, eating, napping, (you know the stuff dogs do) and give them to your parents so they don’t feel so sad when they’re away from you.
So give us a call- tell them George sent you. (I’m working on a bonus for more kibble).
Tailwaggers Hawaii
TailwaggersHawaii.com
Email: TailwaggersOahu@gmail.com
Phone: 808-840-7884
2270 Ahamele Place
Honolulu, Hi 96821
