Sorry it took so long to get to this! Life has been a little crazy lately.
The best ways to keep a turtle tank clean for longer are 1) increase the water volume/size of the tank, 2) get a higher rated filter, or 3) do water changes more frequently. It’s important to remember that most filters are rated for fish, which are a lot cleaner than turtles, so ideally you want a filter that is rated for 2-3x the water volume of your tank. I always put a beefy, oversized filter on my turtle tanks because it makes my life so much easier.
For most commonly kept species of turtle in a deep water tank (red eared slider, painted turtles, etc) I would recommend doing a ~40% water change once a week. You could stretch it to every 2 weeks if both the water volume and filter are vastly oversized for the size of the turtle, but you need to keep a close eye on the water quality at first if you want to try that.
If you have gravel substrate in your tank I would recommend siphoning the substrate once a week when you do water changes to pick up trapped waste. I stopped using gravel in my tanks some time ago because it traps far more waste than tightly packed sand or a bare bottom (though it is still important to stir sand substrate to remove pockets of trapped waste).
For things like cleaning algae I do that when it’s built up enough that it annoys me and I have time. Algae is mostly an aesthetic issue and it doesn’t harm the turtles (unless the reason there’s so much of it is because of dirty water).
Hope that helps! If you have more specific questions about your particular situation feel free to shoot me a message or another ask!
Someone’s doing a research on the public perspective of outdoor cats, the more respondents the better. It’s only for cat owners who reside in North America.
Lemon frost is a fairly new leopard gecko morph, one that I was personally keeping a close eye on because of their striking eye color.
(image from Geckos Etc)
However, whenever there’s a new morph, there’s the potential for issues and oh boy does the lemon frost have issues. After a number of them died young, it was discovered that they have a tendency to grow tumors all over the place. In other words, any responsible breeder should immediately stop working with them, since they’re basically just putting out a bunch of animals that die early and painfully. Unfortunately, much like with enigmas, there are still those breeders around that go “maybe I can be the one to breed this out of them! This particular one isn’t sick so maybe 1/20 of its babies won’t be sick!” or the breeders that just don’t give a shit and it’s just cruel.
Poor little lemon babies 😢
It’s also worth noting that the tumors weren’t outwardly visible and only discovered through necropsies – meaning that a “healthy looking” lemon frost could very well actually be severely ill
with the holiday season coming up, it’s important to remember to never get a pet bird as a surprise for anyone, even an adult. birds, even little ones like finches or budgies, are a major time commitment, have expensive specialized care and vet bills, and can be very noisy. they’re also a long-term companion. if you want to get your partner/friend/family member a bird, check and make sure that they’re in a place to take care of one (and want one!) first.
Fact: “if you don’t have the access to a vet, you shouldn’t get any animals” should not be a controversial statement
Only getting animals because they’re cool/rare and/or not getting animals because they’re common is.. a really shitty way to look at animals. Animals are not just accessories and all animals are cool.
Degus are incredibly active critters, they love to run, jump and climb and they need a cage that allows them the space to do this. Most cages I have seen as advertised as suitable for degus are not big enough or unsuitable in a number of other ways. The size of the cage will depend on the number of degus.
Degutopia has a simple calculator which gives you a rough idea of how many degus your cage could be suitable for, however this only calculates volume and as degus are very active it is necessary to work out the floor space in the cage, this is referred to as the Cumulative Available Running Area. Pet shops will often sell degus with cages that are too small for them, I know that a large chain in the UK does this.
Ensure that there are levels the full width of the cage (usually two or three) so the degus can’t fall too far. My guys are good at climbing up things but sometimes struggle to get back down; they also occasionally push each other off shelves if they’re trying to protect their food.
One of the most important aspects of your cage will be whether it has a solid floor. If a cage does not have a solid floor there is a high risk of injury as the degu may break a leg if they slip through a gap whilst running, it is also likely that degus will get bumblefoot, a painful foot infection. If you have a cage with wire mesh floors these can be covered with something such as wood, tiles or as a temporary measure, with cardboard.
If the cage is placed somewhere it is going to get a draft then the cage should be raised off the floor to avoid causing the degus illness. Some cages come with a stand, another option would be to place it on a cabinet.
The cage shouldn’t be placed next to a window or directly in the sun. My guys love sunbathing – any time there’s sun on the cage they will be lying there, spread out, enjoying it. However I ensure that there is no point at which the entire cage is in the sun, there will always be somewhere in the shade the degus can go to if they want.
I have a friend who got a baby ball python about 2 weeks ago. I’ve been leading her to resources on husbandry and she’s been following my suggestions and her husbandry seems good. She tried feeding f/t a week after getting the same and it refused. She tried again 5 days after that and same thing. I attribute the first one with handling too early. She got excited and didn’t hold off. I gave her instructions to not handle until the snake has had its first meal. Now she’s going to try live but I haven’t feed live in a very long time. She’s feeding in the tank and is concerned about the m.ouse getting lost. Does anyone have any live feeding tips I can send her? Not sure where to find credible resources. Thanks!
There is an amount of alarming misinformation in the replies so im gonna do a thing. I mean is this 2k18 or the 1800s wtf
First off, (not @ you ramen-reptile, cuz i think you know this already) feeding in the enclosure DOES NOT cause the snake to bite more often. That is a myth. Feeding ball pythons in the enclosure is almost /required/ of this species. Handling an animal before and after feeding is more dangerous because it is a stressful time for a hungry animal- they are actually more likely to bite!
Secondly NEVER bash/smash/whack a prey item! Its animal abuse first and foremost asnits NOT humane like at all. Secondly when they come to they are panicked and hurt and therefore DEFNESIVE. Congratulations youve not only made a r.at suffer, youve also caused your snake to get bitten by a ra.t which, if youve never been bitten by the way, REALLY FUCKING SUCKS!!! In 10 years of working at a zoo and being bitten by all manners of handleable animals, including a monitor and a fox, RODE.NT BITES HURT THE MOST.
If you feel you need to do this to an animal, you are NOT RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO OWN A SNAKE. Please DO NOT buy one. There are so many alternatives to animal qbuse by bashing/whacking like feeding f/t, learning cervical dislocation, FINDING A RESPONSIBLE FEEDER BREEDER etc.
ANYHOW
For your friend:
Keep a popsicle stick handy, or something similar. You have two options: 1. Only use it if the prey is biting after the snake wraps it, to put into the preys mouth to make the injury less. 2. Use it every time the snake eats. As soon as the snake strikes and constricts, put the stick in the prey’s mouth.
I prefer to remove all furnishing unless they directly disturb the snake- vines, waterbowl, hide the snake isnt in, etc.
Gently plop the prey into the enclosure.
Watch carefully. After 15 minutes if the snake shows no interest remove and return to the pet store.
If the prey shows signs of aggression with you, either biting or scratching expessively, etc do not feed it to your snake. If feeders consistently do this from the same source, your feeder breeder is not performing theyre due diligence and you need to find a new one.
Thanks for the advice with popsicle sticks Heather!
I’d like to note that I’d never do or tell anyone to try to stun live prey! However, as my snakes have been fully on f/t for 2 years I wanted to provide credible safety tips to my friend who just got a ball python that was refusing f/t and trying live.
Don’t let your cats outside. Don’t let your cats outside. Don’t let your cast outside.
No exceptions. Nope, I don’t care if Muffles is super-special and adventurous. Nope, still don’t care that it’s different where you live. Please refer to the original bullet points.
(*gets ready to hit ‘Block’ on a thousand angry cat owners*)
this is a mess
have you gobshites genuinely never fucking heard of farm cats jesus wept, if i never see another fucking townie animal rights activist it’ll be too fucking soon.
the current political system we live under doesn’t give a fuck about nature. wildlife charities have had a huge downward swoop in donations due to the recession caused by the powers that be, fracking is being done on national parks and nature reserves, roads are hastily built through wildlife rich areas and adequate warning signage is not provided…
but no, it’s us ordinary people and our pesky outdoor cats that are the cause of…extinct….species…? really? is this the hill u want to die on OP??? get back 2 me
An article from Mental Floss, sources listed at the bottom of the article:
“84 million House cats in the United States
4 to 18 Birds killed by a typical house cat every year
8 to 21 Small mammals killed by a typical house cat every year
30 million to 80 million Free-roaming, feral cats estimated to be living in the United States. They either survive alone or live in colonies. In Washington, D.C., for example, there are estimated to be some 300 outdoor cat colonies.
23 to 46 Birds killed by each feral cat every year
129 to 338 Small mammals killed by each feral cat every year
1.4 billion to 3.7 billion Total birds killed by America’s cats every year
15 Percentage of all bird deaths estimated to come at the hands — er, paws — of cats
6.9 billion to 20.7 billion Total small mammals killed by cats every year”
(Also you’re putting your cat in unnecessary danger from tons of different threats by letting them outside unsupervised. So even if you don’t wanna give a shit about wildlife, maybe try giving a shit about your cat’s health & life.)
(Also farm cats are often not treated well, not provided with proper veterinary care, and there are other options for rodent control that doesn’t put other wildlife in as much danger)
ifesbob 