Hey! Ik you’re not a dog blog but I was wondering if you’d be able to help! I’m preparing for an emotional support dog but as I have a one bedroom apartment and two small flocks of budgies & canaries I can’t help but think how should I handle their co-living? I don’t want to deny my birds their joy of flying freely so should I conceal them in the bedroom and keep my dog only in the rest of the house, or should just I put the dog in their kennel/another room while I play with my birds?

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

I think it partly depends on what breed of dog you’re getting and if you know anything about the dog’s temperament & training. If you’re getting a young dog, and/or dog that’s known for high energy, high prey-drive, etc., I would definitely move the birds into your room. Honestly, depending on your comfort level & how much you’re out of the apartment, that might be a good idea regardless of the dog, so you can have the birds closed off from the dog when you’re unable to supervise. But tbh, I can see still some situations where I wouldn’t feel it was necessary (such as the dog being small & older, birds are in sturdy cages & out of reach, dog is unable to knock cages over or really get to the birds at all).

But regardless of which way you go for where the birds live, I would absolutely have the dog kenneled or in another room when you have the birds out of the cage. Even if the dog is generally trustworthy or doesn’t care much about the birds, accidents can happen very fast, especially with such a size difference. Especially when there’s just one of you to keep an eye on multiple animals, it’ll be much easier to prevent disaster by having the dog out of the equation.

Hii !. I’m planning to buy a cat after much thought and pleading. Can you give me a few tips and pointers on how to look after a cat?. Are they’re any books/ websites you recommend before buying one ?. I’m ready to take all steps necessary. Thank you for your help :)))).

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

Hey, congrats on a new kitty! 🙂

Some basic advice that I can think of:

– Keep kitty inside! And don’t declaw. These two things are some of the biggest issues surrounding cat welfare, as outdoor cats live much shorter lives & are exposed to many dangers, and declawing is very detrimental to them due to their physiology.

– It’s always easier to prevent problems than to fix them. Make sure you have trees available for climbing. Make sure you have multiple types of scratchers available too so you can see what your kitty prefers – there’s sisal rope, carpet, and cardboard, horizontal & vertical.

– Try to have at least two litter boxes, even for one cat. Elimination is one way they mark their territory, so having litter boxes in different places around your living space will help avoid inappropriate elimination & give them options. Storage totes make really nice large litter boxes for less money! It’s best to scoop the boxes at least once a day to keep a clean box & make sure your kitty doesn’t turn to other places. This also helps you keep an eye on their elimination & how their poop looks & how much they’re peeing – gross, but important for noticing health issues.

– Also keep in mind that if you do have any issues with your cat going in non-litter-box places, the first step is always to schedule a vet appointment. Health issues are a common cause of litter box problems & need to be ruled out before you consider behavioral problems.

Toys & enrichment can be confusing for a new owner, but these sites have some great resources. The OSU one has info on how to figure out what type of prey your cat likes to chase so you can pick out appropriate toys more easily.

Cats Indoors site has a lot of resources care, enrichment, etc. – https://catsindoors.weebly.com/

I really like this site as well, for enrichment & how to keep happy cats – https://indoorpet.osu.edu/cats

Here are a couple good posts that discuss body language and cat communication:

http://fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem.tumblr.com/post/163807558164/

http://fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem.tumblr.com/post/136484411456/

I know there are some books that are recommended, but honestly I’m blanking. My Amazon book wish list is um. Very long. And I definitely should’ve put pet-related books in my pet supplies wish list instead, RIP. So maybe my followers or @catsindoors or @followthebluebell might be able to recommend some books or other good sites?

Do you have any advice on convincing someone that their animal is morbidly obese? My grandmom’s dog is so so fat (she has buttcheeks and her belly drags on the ground). Every time I tell my Grandmom her dog needs to be on a diet she makes some joking remark to push it off. Rn she is between vets (last vet retired and I’m glad cause he never said anything about how fat dogo is). I’m hoping a new vet will knock sense into her but worried she might ignore them. Any advice on changing her mind?

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

Ooooof, that’s always a really tough situation, to be honest. Your best bet is probably to try & get to the root of why she doesn’t want to address it. Does she actually think it’s not that serious? Does she not know how to help the dog lose weight? Is she convinced it’s a medical issue, in which case the vet might have better luck suggesting otherwise?

I would also try to figure out why the dog is so overweight – is she free feeding, or possibly feeding too often (which could be caused by memory issues, if she forgets she’s already fed the dog)? Does the dog need more exercise that she has a hard time providing?

If she’s avoiding the issue because she has trouble with the required solutions, it might help if you point it out & then follow up with a suggested solution. Switch from free feeding to a feeding schedule when she feeds herself. If she has trouble remembering that the dog was already fed, perhaps an auto-feeder that she just has to add food to each morning, or a timer reminder or something similar. She might need some help from family with exercising the dog, or perhaps a hired dog walker.

If the issue is simply that she disagrees the dog is overweight or doesn’t think it’s a problem, the vet may be more useful for this, but it depends on how much she listens to professional opinions too.

You could also be more direct in trying to discuss it with her. Saying something like “I know you don’t really want to talk about this, but I’m very concerned about your dog’s weight and health, and I would appreciate it if you would be willing to have a serious discussion about it with me instead of brushing it off.” But that kind of thing could also cause a fight in some situations, so it just depends.

Good luck, and I hope you can convince her!! Fingers crossed that she will be willing to help get her pup healthier so she can have her around longer. ♥

talesfromtreatment:

mexicanine:

Shelter dogs are not all the same and we must understand that when talking about the “shelter dogs vs. breeders” debate.

Every shelter dog is different, and they are not always the right match for every person. People who adopt from shelters need to know exactly what they’re getting, because this will be a companion for 10+ years. They should NOT be guided by something as trivial as “adopt don’t shop” or “all shelter dogs are perfect and just as good as any purebred dog from a breeder”. Most shelter dogs, especially older dogs, require a special kind of person who is able to consistently socialize and train them. Even with younger shelter dogs, there’s always an unknown idea about what to possibly expect.

Purebred dogs in shelters almost, if not always come from puppy mills or backyard breeders. The people who bought them thought they would be cute but when they came riddled with disease or behavioral problems they subsequently dumped them in a shelter. They are not always “just as good as a dog from a breeder”. They most often have behavioral problems that the average pet owner isn’t prepared to deal with.

People need to stop with this type of savior complex, thinking that shelter dogs are superior, when there are huge flaws in the pet adoption system that need to be solved. People impulse-buy from both shelters AND bad breeders, and when they get an unhealthy dog it goes back to the shelter. The public needs to be educated about responsibly getting a dog from a shelter or a good breeder. Because otherwise they’re going to end up with an emotionally compromised dog who gets a disease at a young age, and are not able to care for it because they thought all shelter dogs were perfect angels.

Both reputable breeders AND shelters are valid ways of getting a dog, but people need to research before making such a huge commitment.

I am on board with the majority of this, except the weird insistence that most shelter dogs will have bad behavioural problems.

They don’t. Most don’t. And a good shelter will disclose the ones that do. We have levels at my shelter- emerald, diamond, and eval-to-show. Most of our dogs are emeralds and diamonds, meaning they’re either great with everyone or might be a little shy at first, or not like having their heads touched much, something minor that any dog can have from anywhere. The eval-to-show dogs are shown by the behaviour department and these are dogs with real fearfulness or reactivity that we’ve decided to work with, or dogs with particular emotional needs like Bruno the doberman. We are absolutely honest about how much work will be required getting an eval dog.

What most people honestly aren’t prepared for appears to be the fact that most of our dogs an puppies are not house trained.

Hi I know you had one of your dogs on crate rest or limited activity for a while not too long ago and you do a lot of cool training stuff. My dog has a fractured pelvis and will be on crate rest for a while. I’m wondering if you can recommend any activities/training for me to do with her to help keep her from being too bored once she’s feeling a little better. Thanks! Your dogs are super cute

konmari-dogs:

Yeah she was on bedrest for awhile and confined to her own room, with very limited activity. She was separated from my other dog when I wasn’t present, if that’s something you need to do.

It sucked, we all gained weight and couldn’t do our usual things which was very demoralising.

These are all the things we did – you should call up your vet and ask which of them are okay as I do not know if a fractured pelvis affects which of these you can do.

She was on leash at all times to prevent jumping and running. Yes, even in the house. The one time I didn’t put a leash on her she immediately started running and jumping. Trust violated, on the leash.

Slow sniff walks around the streets. These were all of 5 minutes and eventually up to 15 minutes. I capped it at 15 mins. Ask your vet how far/long your dog is allowed to go.

Kongs and suitable bones – keeps one occupied. I primarily give turkey necks and roo tails

Food puzzles. I bought three new types but there’s a budget enrichment facebook group. When she got too good at them, I started freezing the treats into them so she had to lick them out. Cupcake trays also work well enough though.

Cardboard boxes to destroy – get them feelings out on my recycling.

You could play 101 things to do with a box. I didn’t as Thistle loves the game too much and would jump in place, but if your dog is unfamiliar with it, then this is a fun game.

Massages – I gave her massages. IDK if they helped but she enjoyed it and that made me feel better. T-Touch dog massages are supposedly good, I was just winging it though. She especially liked the ear/neck massages.

Cuddles – basically massages, but she loves a tummy rub and it makes me feel good too

Noseworks – Thistle is able to do a very slow room search for birch. You don’t have to do sports scents. You could teach them to smell out a favourite ball or tea bags or your keys or tv remote. You don’t need to get as methodlogical about it as I do or go all formal container unless you’re intending to compete. But for fun and mental brain games? Making Dogs Happy part 1 and Making Dogs Happy part 2 cover the basics.

Snufflemats – Honestly my snufflemat is just the yard. I throw kibble in the grass and let the dogs sniff it out. If you don’t have a yard, you can buy a snufflemat or make one yourself.

Or some people just use a bunch of rolled up towels or blankets – hiding kibble for the dogs to sniff out. It has the benefit that you can’t run around, you more walk/potter about following your nose. This pinterest has lots of treat hiding ideas. i think hiding the treats makes it more valuable to dogs tbh.

Low energy tricks from 101 tricks to teach your dog (a book) – things like shake with each hand, look left, look right. Very small increment ones based off stuff we already knew but nothing too wild. This website has 52, stick to the low physical ones and try variants. Tip: teaching dog to look left/right/up/down/behind you = great for photos later on.

What I didn’t do and you prob should:

Clear off your table, benches, anything in dog reach. Even with the brain games the lack of physical activity can get to them and surprise spontaneous destruction when you’re, say, absent for 10 minutes in the shower.

I’m sure other people will have enrichment ideas for you to run by your vet 🙂

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

because-weareglass:

dualvco:

rahulssecondblog:

An artist has made glass shells for hermit crabs so he can watch what they are doing.

Pervert

@fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem have you seen this? i don’t know anything about hermit crabs, but would there be anything NOT okay with this?

Yep, they’ve been brought up in the groups before. Consensus is no, not good. Doubt there would be the pores for air exchange like with natural shells, & can’t imagine it’s not stressful to still be exposed to light & predator presence when trying to retract into what’s supposed to function as a protective hiding place. The only benefit I can think of is possibly for studying purposes, but imo there should be a time limit and appropriate shells offered for moving into at the end of that period, or if signs of stress or health decline are seen. Also I’d be concerned about how you’d get a crab into one in the first place – they might choose it on their own, but I could see them being forced into one instead, like with painted shells.

Source: imustnotfearfearisthemindkiller

Are there any reptiles/amphibians that would be appropriate for a first time keeper that can honestly thrive on a vegetarian diet?

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

dragontribeadventures:

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

I really don’t know of any amphibians, but I don’t know amphibians well at all, to be honest. But everything I can think of frog/toad-wise & such are insectivores.

For reptiles, I will cautiously recommend crested geckos – I say cautiously because insects are still a small part of their natural diet, which IMO means they should be at least offered as an option. But cresties do have easily fed, balanced commercial diets that you can buy for them. And if you’re mostly looking to not deal with live insects or handling meat, I believe one of the food lines for cresties also has an insect-based formula that you could feed them (which I would recommend as part of their food rotation, if you really don’t want to deal with live insects). But cresties are pretty easy to care for if you’re new to reptiles, so I would definitely look into them & see if they’re something you’d like!

Other than that, the main reptiles I can think of that are primarily or solely herbivores are really not beginner ones –

– uromastyx (which I could be wrong about – I’m not very familiar with their needs, but I think I remember them having pretty intense UVB needs, which could be challenging for a first-time owner)

– green iguanas (hell, they’re hardly even an intermediate reptile)

– and tortoises (which I’m hesitant to recommend because even the smaller species have particular diet requirements & need large set ups)

Everything else I can think of is going to be at least omnivorous & require some insects or animal protein in their diet, even though there are other options that don’t necessarily require LIVE insects, like blue-tongued skinks.

@fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem for the anon. The problem with blue tongues though is that they do tend to lean more towards the meat eating end of the spectrum. Bearded dragons are actually less carnivorous than they tend to be. Honestly just about every amphibian that I can think of is carnivorous as well. Cresties are probably the most viable option if you’re looking for something easy and handleable, but if you are willing to do your research uromastyx may be doable as well (from what I understand some species are a lot harder than others though, so make sure you know what you’re getting). Also unlike cresties you have to be willing to buy a lot of fresh produce for uros or green iguanas, the latter of which I never recommend for beginners because of their size and space requirements. Uros are a bit more manageable on the space front, but you’ll probably still need to get a custom enclosure, and they can be hard to handle compared to some of the more docile species like bearded dragons and cresteds.

Also, adding this on, but I believe some people have had success using repashy’s bug burger blend with beardies and blue tongues in the place of live insects. I wouldn’t recommend it probably for dragons since they can be picky and may not take something that doesn’t move a bunch, but blue tongues will legitimately eat carrion off of the side of the road in the wild so I’d imagine they would go for it. Still, space, temperament and care wise cresties are by far some of the easiest lizards and they are nice and fun and have surprisingly soft scales that can be a delight to pet. As for tortoises and turtles, none of them are easy pets and they live an extremely long time. Even a red eared slider can get 12+ inches long and live for 30yrs in addition to requiring at least 150 gallons of water because they are extremely messy. Tortoises live even longer, and really do best where they can have access to natural UVB year-round and a yard to eat grass in. I’d recommend you check my tag #zuri the rescue tortoise to see what improper care can do.

Now, if you’re interested in something other than a crestie, gargoyle geckos can be fed the same diet and have much the same care requirements. Chahoua geckos, which I’m starting to see more of, probably do as well, but I’m not as sure about them because they are a bit of an intermediary between cresteds and leachies. Mourning geckos can also be maintained on crested gecko diets as long as you occasionally include a bug blend, and, although their size makes them a lot less handleable, they have a lot of behaviors that can be fun to watch.

Thanks for the additions!!

I did think of bearded dragons, but I know juvies need a lot more insects than adults do, plus the whole thing of generally needing them live. I didn’t know that some people had had good luck with offering bug burger though! I mostly thought of blue-tongues because while they still need a lot of meat in their diet, they seem a lot easier to feed since they don’t absolutely need food moving to eat it like a lot of other lizards. You can offer things like wet dog food, bug burger, canned insects, etc. if it’s live insects or frozen whole prey r.odents that are the issue. (Also I thought of them because this is their attraction for me, though I don’t mind feeding some live insects for treats & such. I just seem to be developing allergies to them, so not something I can keep around full time)

I forgot about gargoyles too, thank you!

Would moss balls be okay to add to a turtle’s enclosure?? My turtle (a side neck species) really loves to investigate things and I keep thinking about adding some new enrichment

the-awkward-turt:

Yes! Totally safe. But I will caution you that some turtles seem to take perverse joy in tearing moss balls apart.

I got one for my little southern painted and within an hour he was carrying it in his mouth like a dog, shaking it, and clawing it apart. I was glad he had fun, but not so glad that my moss ball was entirely destroyed within a day of bringing it home. Of course, you may be lucky and have a shelled friend that isn’t so rough on plant-life.

If you’d like something that gives the same look/interaction capability but won’t be immediately destroyed Fluval and Exo Terra both make artificial moss balls that can also help with filtration. My turtles have enjoyed these things for years, pushing them around and such.

Hope that helped!

courtnashe:

I have no idea who made this but it is pure gold.

I’m hoping you or your followers can help me. I recently found out Oxbow Hamster & Gerbil food is really bad for them. Apparently a few people’s pets have died of malnutrition because of it. I’ve been feeding my hamster and gerbils that since getting them, with a few things added but Oxbow is their main diet. Are there any easily acquired brands that are actually good for them? I’m in the US and can order online if needed. Thanks for any help and sorry to bother you!

fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem:

amazingpetenclosures:

I’ve heard a few bad things about Oxbow as well. I had the same issues when I was getting my rats and ended up settling on the Mazuri brand, which they’ve done well on. You kind of have to buy in bulk, but it ends up being a good deal compared to what you’d pay in a pet store. You could also consider making your own food, but that requires quite a bit of preparation and buying fresh ingredients. @fantasticbeastsandhowtokeepthem (hope you don’t mind the tag!) prepares a lot of their own food for a few different types of critters, they might have a few good websites or other sources they could point you towards.

If anyone else has suggestions or a preferred brand, feel free to chime in!

Okay, home!

Here’s a couple of links for hamster food with recommendations & explanations:

http://hamsterhideout.com/forum/topic/132155-under-construction/

This is the site I found while researching gerbils, as I’d like to get a couple at some point – http://www.egerbil.com/gerbil_diet

Everything I’ve read for both species generally recommends mixing multiple foods + additional treats/supplements, which sounds about right, tbh. It’s rare to find a single food that’s going to be perfect. I haven’t taken the time to really sit down & compare diets & nutritional needs, but it does seem like they have pretty similar diets, though there’s still differences.

I think personally I’d go through the recommended hamster foods, see which ones look like they’d be feasible for the gerbils as well (as I’m not finding a similar list for gerbils). Then add additional ingredients to adjust it further for each species.

With only a few animals, I don’t know that you’d want to make your own food entirely – but that depends on whether you have the time & desire to calculate percentages and make sure it falls within the right ranges, plus buying all of the parts, and then storing – you’d likely have to freeze a good amount of it, so you’ll need freezer space for that.

Also the hamster site does have a lot more info in the pinned topics, including info on how to calculate percentages for a mixed diet, which should be very useful even if you stick with mixing commercial foods over making your own food. And both sites have lists of things you can add to adjust the mix in various areas & add more variety/nutrition.

(Also since I’m reblogging this – if anyone reads this & goes “wait, what’s wrong with Oxbow?!”, check the notes for more comments on that! It’s only a couple foods that aren’t great for the animals they’re aimed at, including the hamster/gerbil food.)