Monday 30 May 2011

Keeping Parakeets. Part II

Make an effort to interact with your birds on a daily basis for at least 30-90 minutes. Without giving frequent and sufficient attention, they will lose interest in human communication. A pair will tend to bond with each other (regardless of sex) and pay no attention to human beings, yet through interaction, you can be thought of as a member of the flock. A way to interact with your bird is to sing with each other, give it baths and if it appears to be rapidly dropping a mobile toy, pick it up as there is a chance it wants to play a game with you. Allow your parakeet to exercise. Think about how your bird(s) can get regular exercise. Many people assume they're able to simply leave the birds in a small cage right through the day, where the birds, which in the wild fly and get plenty of exercise, otherwise become overweight and acquire fat associated disorders. If trimmed, just have a reasonably large cage with good quality toys and provide the bird some play time out of its cage each day. Manual exercise can be achieved by a sensitive throw or holding it within your hand and sensitive dragging down until finally it appears to be tired, shown by heavy breathing. Be conscientious. Parakeets are a lot of work nevertheless; you will find that they can be a loving and funny companion. Most will talk and just how much they learn is really up to you. Expect to perform some daily care, as well as providing attention and enough time to communicate and have fun with your birds, or think about getting another interest. Talk to it. Sometimes Parakeets get lonely. A good way to get them content again is to talk to them. Also, to get them to climb up on your finger is usually to push slightly on their stomach, and say "Step Up." By continuously saying that, they will begin to say it on their own, and will "Step Up" every time they say it upon reaching the steps.

Saturday 28 May 2011

Keeping Parakeets. Part I

You should think ahead when first purchasing a parakeet cage such as the Mayfield starter parakeet cage and preparing it. Line the cage with a decent quality cage liner and renew often. Design the cage with perches, water, food and toys. Obtain your parakeet from a reputable bird supplier where the birds are seen to be very well cared for. Ensure the birds are not overcrowded on the perches, and examine they are being fed good, clean, quality food. Be sure that the birds appear happy, vigorous and in excellent condition. Bring the bird home to a quiet home and play soft music for a few days. Caged bird toys are essential to keep the bird occupied and contented.Always keep the water fresh and clean and, with the food, change on a daily basis. Let the bird get accustomed to you and the surroundings, doing nothing but looking after his food/water and cage, before trying to teach him to perch on your finger. From the start you must try feed your bird a healthy pellet diet. Some seed may be ok as a treat but sometimes it can result in  bacterial infection and, consequently too much may affect your bird’s health.
Birds
get accustomed to pellets at different rates, and at first may decline them, perhaps strenuously. Nevertheless, as a rule 90% of Parakeets will convert within a couple weeks by using the following program:
Leave pellets in a food
bowl in the cage at all times. Give birds seed for just 1 hour each morning and 1 hour at night. The rest of the time they need to snack on pellets. Generally, the 10% of parakeets which don't switch in 2 weeks will switch after a short period of reverting to a seed diet.
Add
fresh food regularly. Feed fresh vegetables such as kale, beets, peas, carrots, parsley, cooked yams, sliced apple, mandarin oranges, citrus, and so on. Food may be attached to the bars of the cage or chopped up small and put in a bowl. Offer snacks. Millet sprigs certainly are a favourite treat, but do not feed too much of it (about 1/2" per day), as it really is fattening just like junk food. Steer clear of sweets or excess oats, both of which are fattening. Caged bird products are available to buy at the online pet supermarket of Home Pet Shop.

Friday 20 May 2011

Keeping Guinea Pigs-Part 2

If you'd like your guinea pig to get used to getting picked up and petted, it is better to begin whilst very young. A trustful guinea pig, which has been handled in a caring manner from a young age, hardly ever scratches or bites. As your friend learns to recognize you, it may start to whistle as it hears you coming. Various guinea pig accessories can be found at the online pet supermarket of Home Pet Shop.
Since the guinea pig is a sociable creature, it would rather live in groups. For those who have enough space it is better to get a group of two or more; they'll keep each other company when you’re out. Guinea pigs also like to perform social grooming in addition to grooming themselves but of course this is simply not possible for those who keep a single specimen. It's possible for instance keep two or several females with each other or house one, two or more females with a neutered male. Housing males as a group will require more room, they will need to have bonded with one another from a young age, and there can be no females present. Males are known to create a pecking order within the group by chewing one another's coat, gnawing on one another's ears, pushing their heads, raising their fur, making aggressive noises, and carry out leaping attacks and non-sexual mounting.
Unlike their wild relatives, who are most active during nightfall and daybreak when they are less likely to be spotted by predators, domesticated guinea pigs have developed a different biological rhythm consisting of extended periods of activity spread throughout the 24 hours of the day followed by short periods of sleep in between.

Keeping Guinea Pigs-Part 1

A mature guinea pig is usually 20-25 cm (8-10 in) long and weighs from 700 to 1200 grams (1.5 to 2.5 lbs). They can, in most cases, either be kept in guinea pig cages , tanks made from glass or plastic, or wooden hutches and also appear to enjoy the security offered by a nesting box. Even when given the opportunity, guinea pigs seldom venture away from their habitat except if scared by something. If they feel safe in a home they will delight in exploring more territory but sooner or later they are going to want to retreat to their home (or any other place considered equally safe). Guinea pigs use pee to mark their home and will typically urinate once they're returned to a recently cleansed cage with new bedding material. Males are known to pee to mark their territory once taken out of their cages.
Don’t
place the cage or tank where it will be exposed to drafts, excess humidity or temperatures beyond the recommended range. Guinea pigs do best when the heat level is 18-24 °C (65-75 °F) and the moisture 30-70%. People sometimes think that guinea pigs are tropical animals since they originate from South America, however these small furry creatures are native to high altitudes in which the climate is temperate, not tropical.
Wild guinea pigs are
always threatened by potential predators and this has made them, as well as their domesticated relations, easily spooked and weary of virtually all other animals. Housing guinea pigs with more energetic animals, including rats, mice, gerbils and hamsters, is not advised. There are many reports of cats and dogs learning to tolerate or even like guinea pigs, but you can’t depend on it. In lots of situations, cats and dogs will view the guinea pig as either prey or some sort of play item. Even a well meaning dog that merely wants to play may well frighten the life out of a guinea pig so don’t allow them to interact whilst not continuing to keep a close eye on them. Home Pet Shop offers a fine selection of Hamster cages and accessories at their online pet supermarket.

Friday 13 May 2011

Dog travel accessories

Dog Travel Supplies such as travel food dishes and bowls, pet car seat protectors and dog harnesses along with some other dog travel accessories are available here at Home Pet Shop.

 We are offering a substantial selection of pet travel merchandise that are made specifically for dogs that are constantly on the move! With these pet travel supplies there’s no more reason for anyone to abandon your dog in the home whilst either you go on holiday or on a day out again!

Journeying with your pet dog helps develop a better relationship with him . However, travelling with your pet can also be stressful should you be unprepared prepared so it’s important that your dog is comfortable for the benefit of him and you and especially in the course of lengthy trips.

Travelling
together with your dog is a plus fun, and with these tremendous travel dog accessories from Home Pet Shop it really is,easy too. The RAC universal boot protector is a great travel accessory which prevents your dog from scratching your car bumper. The Dog Flask, Portable Dog Water Bottle and the Foldable Dog Bowl, are all great for dining on the move. There's a great range of dog Blankets from Arelle Product as well as Dog Towels and the Dry Dog Bag which are all great for drying your dog and for helping keep your car clean.


The Options range of collapsible wire dog cages and carriers are perfect for dogs travelling in the rear, but if that's not a choice then the choice of Car travel dog harnesses that clip to the seatbelt, make sure your dog is safe. Made from a hardwearing, robust water resistant material, the Danish Design rear Car Seat Cover is universal fitting with snap to, adjustable headrest ties. It also includes access points for seat belt anchor points and is available in Dark Navy and Charcoal Grey, with the Danish Design Paw Print woven badge, this is the perfect product to safeguard your car seating.
For hot weather, their is a choice of Window Vents where the window may be open but there's no possibility that your dog can climb out.
Making sure your dog is travelling safely is not only of importance to your pet dog, but for the driver and other passengers, too.

Friday 6 May 2011

Keeping reptiles

Keeping reptiles, amphibians and other fascinating animals has become more popular than ever in recent times. There is now much more information available in books as well as on the world wide web to help with keeping these pets healthy, and you need to make an effort to discover the needs of any animal you intend to keep.

The
requirements of different animals vary somewhat, but there are certain common factors you should consider. Like for example , housing, heating, illumination, décor and providing for.

The housing used
must be of a suitable type and size for the creatures you would like to keep. Vivariums are usually glass, plastic, wooden, or mesh-screen type. The sort used will be largely determined by whether the animals require an aquatic, semi-aquatic, moist or a completely dry environment.
In addition, check the actual adult size of the animal you intend to purchase, and ensure that the vivarium you purchase will be large enough. Terrestrial species require lots of floor space, whilst arboreal (tree-dwelling) varieties benefit from taller houses.
Many of these animals tend to be from tropical or sub-tropical environments, and require additional heating to keep their bodies at the appropriate temperature. Reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are “cold blooded” ( poikilothermic) animals that cannot regulate their own body temperature by way of internal means like mammals. In captivity, they will have to therefore be provided with a suitable heat supply to allow them to thermoregulate. This could mean a heat mat, basking bulb or traditional aquarium heater in the case of marine turtles.
Certain reptiles (significantly a number of lizards and tortoises and turtles) require exposure to daylight to continue to be in good health. Therefore, when situated indoors they need full-spectrum lighting with a high UV (ultraviolet) content, which is important to activate the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the skin, required for calcium metabolism.
Suitable décor should be provided, including the substrate/base covering, hides, etc. Some reptiles may ingest substrate as they feed, so it must be of an appropriate safe type, such as calci-sand. Other animals may call for appropriate-sized wood chippings. Animals needing humid conditions may benefit from moss substrate, which keeps moisture well.
Providing the right diet program is essential to sustaining good health. This may include vegetables, dry foods, frozen foods, live foods and supplements. Make certain you recognize the kind of food plan that you will need to provide for the animal before purchasing.
Many of the aforementioned products can be purchased from the online pet supermarket of Home Pet Shop.