Quarantine tanks

So you have decided to create an aquarium for your house.  You can have a professional company build you one or you can either purchase one or build your own.  No matter which choice you make, you need to think about introducing new fish to the existing aquarium.  You will need to have an area in the aquarium that you can quarantine the new fish, so that they become acclimated to the aquarium.  You need to watch them, or check on them, to make sure they are acting in the manner that the species normally acts.  The recommended time to be left in quarantine is two weeks.  If you have a saltwater aquarium, then you need to quarantine any new coral that you plan to add to the tank.  Coral can bring disease or pests into the tank.   There are some species that you may not want to add to the general population of the tank, so you have a quarantine section for them.  Bettas may be one of these species. 

So another reason for having a quarantine tank is to isolate any sick fish from the regular population. So how do you create a quarantine tank?  It should be a separate tank than the main tank that you use to maintain the fish. So what do you need to set up this quarantine tank?  Water from the existing tank because it contains the nutrients that are familiar to the sick fish. A filter that will hang off the back of the aquarium,  but make sure not to use carbon in the filter.  Carbon will remove the medicine from the tank.  If it is a fresh water tank, you need a heater to keep the temperature between 72 and 82 degrees.  An air stone to give the tank plenty of oxygen.  Fish usually like to hide if stressed.  You can use PVC pipe for the hiding spots.  Then you will need the same type of test kits that you use for the main tank.  These test check the quarantine tank for pH level, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.  The fish net needs to be different than the one that is used in the main tank.  That way you will not infect the main tank with disease from the sick fish.  Because you will be using the water from the main tank there is no need to follow the steps for setting up the water for a new aquarium. 

Also you need to have the quarantine area to move any sick fish so they do not infect the rest of the aquarium.  When treating the sick fish the quarantine tank will be like a hospital.  This will keep any medicine from affecting the other fish in the tank.  Usually the quarantine tank is for the salt water fish because fresh water fish do not get sick as often as salt water fish.

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Did You Know That Dogs Suffered From PTSD

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Did you know that animals suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) just like humans do.  When a loved one dies all of the people that were close to them grieve.  The death cause some of the loved ones to suffer from PTSD.  The same is true for your animals.  I know you have seen pictures of dogs lying beside their master grave site for days.  I know of humans that just mope around for days and even weeks when their pet dies.  So the death of a master is one of the causes for the animals to suffer from PTSD.  There are other things that are just as hard on our animals.  Some of them are floods, fires tornados, and earthquakes.  The animals are placed in cages and are removed from their comfortable environment for a period of time.  They are away from the masters in a different facility.  Sometimes they are shipped many miles away to new homes.  They cannot find their way back to familiar surroundings.   Sometimes they are moved around from shelter to shelter, again removing them from their master and their homes.  Even when the animals are rescued the rescue organizations can ship them all over the USA.

So you go to a rescue facility to adopt a furry friend.  You know that their physical condition is great but you may not realize that their emotional state is in a bad place.  Animals suffer emotional issues just like you and me.  It is hard to give specific instructions as to what to do the help with the emotional stress.  Things like give them their own space, or be patient with them until they get use to the environment will help some, but will not heal their emotional stress.  You may want to think about talking with a professional animal communicator.

The communicator has several abilities:

                To sense and or feel the different levels of energy within the animals
                To experience the animals emotionally
                To catch glimpses of the inner emotional state
                To animal communicate with their new human companions

Having a professional communicator does not mean that the animal will be cured of the mental stress.  The animal may open up with their problems because they know that the communicator will listen to them. 

When you are suffering from PTSD, trust is lost.  Once the trust is lost it is hard to gain trust back.  It also takes a long time.  So if you have recently brought a new animal into your life consider using animal communicating and energy healing to help heal any past serious trauma.    

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Bring Home a new cat/kitten

Oh what an exciting day it is when you bring a new kitten or cat into the family.  Make sure to research the different breeds to find the breed that fits your life style and habits.  Many cats live a long time so make sure you will be able to care the feline when your kids go off to school, they move out and cannot take the cat with them.  Where do I look for a cat or kitten?  One place that not only serves as a great source is your local humane society.  By using the local humane society you will give the cat or kitten a new lease on life because their time at the society is limited.

When time comes to actually adopt a cat or kitten, you will need to have these necessitates on hand: food and water bowl, bed,   grooming tools and most importantly, toys to occupy their mind.  You will also need a scratch post and climbing trees for them to do the things that come naturally to them.  This will also save your furniture and curtains. Cats like all other animals need their exercise, so you should have a feather teaser or maybe a laser pointer that you can use to interact with your animal.

Make, sure you can afford them.  Remember you will need to buy food for them.  Also, the veterinarian trips can be costly.  If the animal is a kitten, the trips to the vet may just be once a year for their shots and annual checkup.  If the animal is older, or is sick, then the cost will be greater.  The Vet can also place a microchip under their skin so if the feline gets lost you may be able to be fine them easier.  You should also have the feline neutered or spayed.  The cost of these procedures are usually cover in the cost of adoption.  There is pet insurance that you can purchase to cover some of the expenses that you may have.

It is really important to animal proof your house.  Make sure that any extension cords are put away.  That will be hard to do with lamps on side tables.  Make sure that you have all medicines, chemicals, and cleaning products in an animal proof enclosure.  You may need to use a child proof lock to keep the cabinet closed.  Keep the doors to the dishwasher, washer machine, dryer, and microwave closed.  Prior to using these appliances, open the door to verify that the cat has not curled up inside to take a nap.   This is the same thing you need to do if you have a child.

If a cat or kitty is in your future, have fun with them and enjoy your new family member.

Several Reasons for Aggressive Behavior

A couple of causes for your pets to become aggressive are getting a bath and trimming their nails.  The problem with trimming their nails is that it is easy for you to cut the nails too close and actually cut the blood vessels that are giving the nails their blood supply.  This makes the animal jittery whenever you pick up the nail clippers to trim their nails.  The second most common cause for your pet’s aggression is giving them a bath.  You take your pet to the shower or tub in the house.  Outside you may use a hose and somewhere that your pet will remain clean after you wash them. You are all set to wash them and the pet begins to struggle, so you do what come naturally, that is to restrain them so you can give them a bath.  Now whenever you say the word bath or try to take them to the shower, or tub, they will fight you.

What do you need to do to give your pet a happy experience when it is time to trim their nails or to take a bath?  If it is a puppy, start by showing them the nail clippers.  Rub their paws with the clippers, softly. Include a treat when they will let you rub their paws, with clippers, and not show any aggressive behavior.  Do this for a few times and then move into the next step which is actually trimming the nails.  Again, if they show an aggressive side, stop the trimming.  Go back to the rubbing of the paws with trimmers.   If your pet is an older dog you may have to break the aggressive behavior that the previous owner caused.  Start as if they were a puppy, and before long you should be able to trim their nails and give them a bath.  Make sure that the water is warm, not hot or not cold, when bathing your pets.  This will give them an enjoyable experience.  Follow the nail trimming and bathing with a treat.  Also, brushing their coats, between baths, will also go a long way to make them feel comfortable when it is time to bathe them.

If you are experiencing problems and what you have tried does not settle your pets down, take them to a vet.  Make sure you let the vet know there is a problem so they can work at making your pet comfortable.  There are also businesses that you can take your pet for a bath and trim.  There are even some businesses that will come to your house, instead of you having to take your pet to the groomer or vet.

Good trimming and bathing

Dogs and Their Toys

So it is your dogs birthday or it is some other significate date in the life of your pet, so you go out and buy toys for them to play with and have fun.  Are the toys costly? If the answer is yes or no the next question is do the pets destroy them?  If they do this can be costly to you and it can be dangerous to the pet.  They could ingest pieces of the torn toy.  So without toys to enjoy and chew on, they will turn to other items to chew and enjoy ie: shoes, furniture, and magazines.   What to do? 

You need to train your puppy by using the toys as a positive reinforcement. What does that mean? While training your puppy to follow your commands, and they do what you ask them to do, give them the toy as part of the reward.  As long as they respect the toy and don’t try to tear it apart, let them play with it.  If you observe them being rough with the to, distract them by calling their name or clapping your hands.  Once you have their attention, praise them for being good and give them the toy back. If they continue to play rough with the toy, take it away from them until the next time you have play time. Just remember that you don’t want to punish them, just let them know they need to be nice with their toys.  This will save you money because you will not have to continually purchase toys.  If your dog appears tense or will not bring the toy to you when you ask for it, it may take a professional trainer to help you train the dog.

For new toys, I would suggest that you do not leave your dog alone with them until you feel comfortable that are happy with the toy and will not destroy it while you are away.  Having toys for your dog to play with while you are away will help them not get anxious while you are gone.

Have fun[O1] [O2]  playing with you dogs and their toys

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Training my new puppy with  needed  skills

I have bought a new puppy.  How do I socialize the puppy so it will interact with the family, and public, in a responsible manner?  Depending on how old the puppy is you, you can find a puppy school, if young, or go to an obedience school, if older.  A puppy school is usually found at a veterinarian office.  This sets up a relationship with the Vet, provided you will use this Vet for the wellbeing of your puppy.  The puppy school consists of a group of owners and puppies to teach the new puppies different commands i.e. sit stay come etc.  You want a class with a small number of puppies so that you can do more one on one time with the instructors.  Also, look to see if the school has one instructor and a couple of instructor’s aides. If the puppy is older you can find an obedience school to enroll your puppy.  If going to an obedience school remember you need to enroll yourself for the class with your puppy.  You should also work with your dog, at home, to reinforce what the puppies have learned in class.

Once the pet has graduated from school, you still need to reinforce the training all the time.  Make sure you tell all of your family members that they need not to overwhelm your pet.  Let them eat in private and do not crowd them.  Family members should spend quality time with the pets.  Make sure to walk them to get exercise.  That is a good method to socialize them with other dogs in the neighbor as well as other humans. 

Millions feed our feathery friends

There seems to be hundreds of people that feel the need to help our feather friends by putting feeders in the trees and bushes.  This is to feed both wild birds and domestic birds.  You might ask the question why? Well they do it to bring beauty and song into their lives for relaxation and education.  There are many different feeds that you can purchase.  You can also make many different feeds from all types of material.  Here are some of the feeders you can buy: suet, fruit, liquid, platform, free standing, tube, platform and ground.

Cardinals eat a variety of wild and "feeder" seeds, including sunflower, safflower and most other seeds in basic wild bird seed mixes. In warm seasons they also eat insects and worms and feed their babies mainly an insectivore diet.

The adult cardinal food consists of insects, spiders, wild fruits, berries, and weed seeds. In winter, they eat more seeds and berries since insects are few. Cardinals prefer to perch while eating at bird feeders, so the ideal bird feeder would be is a hopper type.

Cardinals also enjoy ground feeding.   The best wild bird food for cardinals include black oil sunflower, buckwheat, black and gray stripe sunflower, and safflower seeds.  Cardinals usually are the first birds to feed in the morning and the last to feed at night.

There are many species of birds throughout the states and so many regions within each state, that you will have a good opportunity to add bird feeders to your patio or garden any time of the year

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