Classifieds A little humor....
FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER.
8-years old. Hateful little bastard. Bites!
FREE PUPPIES:
1/2 Cocker Spaniel, 1/2 sneaky neighbor’s dog.
FREE PUPPIES..
Mother, AKC German Shepherd.
Father, Super Dog..able to leap tall fences in a single bound.
FOUND DIRTY WHITE DOG.
Looks like a rat. Been out awhile..
Better be a big reward.
COWS, CALVES: NEVER BRED.
Also 1 gay bull for sale.
David captured a lovely black rat snake in the yard! Figured we'd try to keep it around for a while and see how it fares in captivity. She may have been living in the empty field beside us that David went and cut. So it's only fair to give her some free meals, right? ;)
Here she is upon initial capture.
Though it doesn't get as much traffic as it used to, I still maintain the forum for the Fish Junkies website. Somehow folks seem to miss the note about not emailing me for help...! so I decided to make use of a handy form folks can use without having to go through forum sign-up just to ask me a question. That way I can funnel everything into forum posts myself so I can keep track of them. :D And so the answers can benefit others as well. Along with the website info, the forum posts still get a lot of internet search hits so it's better utilized this way.
http://formspring.me/fishjunkies
Well, the time has already passed for this event but I like to post about local events and this is a popular one, so here is some info about Do Dah Day. http://www.dodahday.org/
31 years now; wow it's almost as old as I am. lol
Axel responded so well to the wireless fence vibe collar that we decided to use a similar training collar to curb a few minor issues. Found a good deal:
Dog Training Collar with Remote Control
$11.99 + shipping
Or better yet, Dog Training Collar with Remote Control
Waterproof, and has a few more options $19.99 + shipping
Aww... Axel made a new friend in the back yard! All the barking was putting Toad off though, so I invited him in.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3841779&l=20335da37f&id=659558404
I just so happened to have the makings for a happy toad home on the pet supplies rack so I set him up and brought him in. ;)
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3841779&l=20335da37f&id=659558404
I forgot to update the pet blog with the new members of the pet household!
I have uploaded some new pics of the updated total combined zoo here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=155859&id=659558404&l=d5b5bcb428
And along with the move, Axel has a new duty: to accept me as his pack leader! He is currently undergoing some training that lets him know he does not have to be a pack leader, but rather instead that we are in charge of him. He is taking it pretty well, even if he is a bit stubborn and needs some reminders. ;) After all, he is 2 years old and this is a whole new lifestyle change for him. It is a good time in his life to begin this process. He is in a new home/location, and no longer has his brother with him either, which changes many dynamics.
So far we're really pleased with How To Talk Dog.
Well, the cucumber has not been too happy for the past couple of days. Bought him on Thurs the 17th, so he's still new. He has been doing fine. But on Saturday, he looked like this pic below. That weird cornsilk-looking stuff is called his viscera, which is toxic stuff they use as a defense mechanism. He kept it hanging out there all day long.
Sunday, he clearly meant business because he ejected the viscera. I'm glad I was home to siphon it out. I touched a couple strands of it and it seemed to sting my thumb! It turned red and hurt. I poured vinegar on it (having heard to do this just that morning on Nat.Geo TV! when getting stung by a box jellyfish to prevent any more stingers from firing their venom.)
I wrote to the helpful staff of Wet Web Media and Bob promptly answered to confirm some questions I had. I feel better getting knowledge from someone who truly knows answers. I tried a couple of forums (my own just doesn't have much saltwater following, having stemmed from a betta community) and have met so far only with nothing, or criticism (nothing at *all* wrong with constructive criticism but minus the constructive part is flat out useless).
All of that to say.... that now I am officially ready (and properly motivated) to take the 20-gallon fresh water tank now and convert it into a saltwater. The Convict cichlid who was occupying it will just have to move back to a 10 because I'm not giving up a 20-long from another pet for him, nor would I have a place to put it when water-filled anyway. Plus the 20-tall tank has its own sturdy stand. If I want, I could even move it into my bedroom.
The light bulb in my tank went out a couple days ago so I was running on an old backup bulb. But we've been talking about the need for increased lighting in the tank already. So instead of just replacing the bulb, David helped out my tank by upgrading my lighting fixture! :D Now it holds 2 bulbs instead of one. So one's a white light 32 watt, and one's a blue light 40 watt. This really ought to help things out!
Not only will the surviving plants and corals now be able to thrive, now I will be able to add new ones to the tank without hesitation. Though they were getting by, they require the additional wattage in lighting to propel forward any. Also, now the polyps that were just hanging in there ought to begin to look healthy again. The mushrooms were doing pretty good but the plants were not, except for some small clumps that hung in there. Those ought to really take off now.
Also bought at the LFS yesterday while we were getting the bulbs - a beautiful Pentaca anceps pink and yellow sea cucumber,
and an Arrow Crab.
The saltwater tank has been nice and stable, the phosphates are in check now, and it was looking a tad empty, so yesterday it was time for - guess what..... a trip to the fishstore!
The existing residents:
Four 4- line Damselfish
Sea urchin
an emerald crab
couple of Mushroom corals that came in on some frags
It has grown!
Another one
several anemones
some Zoa polyps that aren't doing too good now; need to upgrade lighting. :(
Several of these. What the heck are these things!
It has a shell. And antennae.
Here are the new residents:
Sand sifting starfish
2 snails for the sand.
That's his antenna. He's buried under there. hehe
2 snails for the glass (turbo)
hermit crabs
bonus: emerald crab!
Bi-color Blenny
4 Chromis
Tank is looking much healthier and alive now!
Greatly in part to this new sump David put together for me, to help out with filteration
The evil yellow damselfish is finally gone from my saltwater tank. It took David's help to get him out, but we took him to a LFS who would at least take him off my hands.
Now maybe I'll stop losing stuff! He killed off several of the new damsels I was trying to keep. Once I'm sure the tank is happy again (by the phosphates staying down (which they are after we installed the awesome turbo filter box in the sump), as this will help keep the nitrates processing out by the macro algae), maybe I will get a maroon clown back in, and some other things. I miss my maroon clown that I used to have before I moved the tank a few years ago and upset everything and lost him.
While there I also picked up an urchin, an anemone, and a bit of rock with some zoa polyps.
Ratchet the Raccoon, rescued in July 2008 from a missing mother, then raised from a bottle-feeding baby to a young, healthy juvenile now, was released back into the wild yesterday. As you can see in the video, he instantly fell in love with the wonders of the outdoors. He will be safe and happy now out in the national forest.
Farewell, Ratchet! You will be missed by your keeper and all your friends.
Same lil' guy who gave me a HICKEY last August. Yes, a chin hickey. From a raccoon. Sheesh, talk about feeling redneck. LOL
My co-worker HAD to snag a pic of that. I can't blame her. I had to get a copy of that too.
More photos of Ratchet available in my pets' Myspace photo album.
Well, I found the blasted lost snake. I really hope he doesn't find some new way to escape again. I may call him "stupid" but he's really quite clever. However, unfortunately, twice now he has landed his destination at the mouse tanks where I found him and recovered him.
The 2nd time he was recovered with the help of David's clever duct-tape traps! He was totally unharmed but totally immobile. I found him right after he hit the tape.
I tried it this time but me and the cats kept getting stuck LOL, and I was afraid the cat would tape herself up again and I wouldn't be home to free her, so I took it down and that's probably about when he escaped to the downstairs room. He remembered exactly where to go, obviously!
The first time he was lost I'm not sure if he got in the mouse tank while it was upstairs, then I moved it/him downstairs, or if he actually found his way to it by himself the first time.
Oh well. At any rate, I am NOT going to remove him from the sand to feed him again, after he broke out of the feeder box. He'll just have to risk the ingestion!
Arrrrrrrgggghhhh! The stupid corn snake is loose again. Yesterday I took him out of his cage to feed him in the critter-keeper box, which I haven't been doing, and he was pretty ticked about it. He thrashed the lid right open and escaped. Feeding him in the tank was a great idea, but he is usually in his rock, and the feed usually isn't live, so I though I might move him. So much for that. Trying the duct tape trick again to see if he gets himself stuck while trying to escape. Seems like it took a couple days last time.
I've been battling them with powders, medications, and sprays. But today marks the end of the Great Battle! The cats got a flea bath, the final step of the process. And boy, were they not happy about it.
But we're all a lot happier now that the pests are dead. So, we can share a good laugh at their poor expense!
Aww, poor kitties.
Tigger started drooling! I think she was allergic....
I must have brought fleas home from my friend's house when she had a full-blown infestation going on. I've never had them in my house before. My cats are both indoors so they pretty much stay outta trouble. Well, that kind anyway, hahaha. But when they started scratching their necks raw, and I knew what it was. I put some of that back-of-the-neck stuff on them, and it seemed to help, but they just came back with equal vengeance. I powdered the cats down and it kept it from getting worse, but still no resolution.
The cats must have some instinct because they have been staying off the carpet as much as possible. This was good, but also bad because they'd get on top of ... well, everything they could get their furry butts upon: the kitchen and bathroom counters, tables, the piano, my desk, the tv trays, the stove... the vinyl chairs. The problem is they sat there and proceeded to scratch and bite, and bite and scratch, for hours upon end while I was at work. By the time I came home, said surfaces have become COATED in CAT FUR. Bleh!!! And, sometimes slobber. And sometimes, even blood from scratching the back of their necks so hard. Poor things.
Today I had to vacuum everything down really good. Then I went and got some flea carpet powder and loaded down the crap out of the carpet all in the house, except for my bedroom, which has been a cat-free zone. Thank goodness, because that crap stinks after a while. I took all the rugs down and sprayed them down with upholstery/flea spray, and did the same to the couch & loveseat and all their pet beds.
ALIGHT FLEAS, YOU HAVE MET YOUR MATCH!!!
I dunno why I'm blogging about it. It has just been that big of an ordeal, and I am that glad to (hopefully) be done with it.
If not, I have 1 more thing left to do.... BATHE THE CATS.. oh, the horror. But David's plan will make it much, much less unpleasant. I shall NOT fear.
The carpet powder is supposed to kill stuff for a full year....! So that ought to keep the buggers in check.
It's feeding day at the zoo! Here's the milk snake. I have to feed him in the crate; he's way too spastic to find/eat his food in his tank, not to mention the sand, so I WON'T feed him in there.
Here's the sand boa. I also put her in the box because I have her on sand. This way there's NO risk of ingestion.
Awww look, they really can be sweet once in a while. Mom voluntarily went and laid beside Tigger. And they're not even fighting here. hehe
