Sandra asks…
I need some helpful tips on puppy caring please?
I just got a girl labrador puppy on New year’s day. And I have a really important questions to ask! She’s 4 months old.
She hates being left alone in her crate. And whenever she’s out with us inside.. she’s sometimes pees on the carpet/bathroom and kitchen floor only.. But not a whole lot..(we live in an apartment by the way). My point is.. What should I do with her when my whole family is out? I’m in high school.. my dad goes to work and comes home around 6.
We got her from breeders and they said she has to be in the crate when we’re gone. But I’m afraid of her whining and barking while were gone…and might get complaints from other people in their apartments.
I also need to add this…
She LOVES water. So how often should i give her water and not have her peeing inside?
and she loves to chew on a few objects.. not that much though..
I’m just afraid, if I leave her out in the apartment, while i’m gone. she might tear up something.
admin answers:
Ok I have a male Labrador he is now almost 7 years old and he is still a wild man I wish we would have taught him how to be in a crate while we are gone during the day it is a great way to train your dog to love it as his or her din, and a great way to potty train. Make sure your puppy is only in the crate during the day maximum of 6 hours only then take her out as soon as you get home or who ever gets home the earliest so she can go potty. Unfortunately a lot of people who have dogs in apartments tend to be to busy to take care of them or walk them because it is hard to take them for a walk during the week in your busy schedule so have your family members take turns walking the puppy. Also make sure the crate is not too large it has to be big enough for the puppy to turn around in but not too big so that she can pee in there and not lay in it. Meaning if it’s too big she will not learn to not pee in her crate. To continue potty training take her out as much as possible, and as she grows you will have to sell or give away the crates that are too small and once she is fully grown she will have a permanent crate for while no one is at home and I also recommend having your puppy sleep in the crate during the night so she does not get into trouble or potty anywhere in the apartment. And if you have the ability to get her professionally trained I defiantly recommend doing this for walking on the leash and basic training. Most crates come with bowls that attach to the inside of the crate door so she can have water in her crate but not spill it. I would put the least amount you can in it daily so that it won’t become a play pool lol. You can find sprays at pet stores to spray the objects with that will make it not taste good, and you can buy a bark collar for her that is the only humane way to do it if you ask me it does not shock the dog it has a box on the collar that sprays a citronella spray in their face that they don’t like the smell and taste of this will stop and control your puppy from barking while your gone you can also get this from a pet store they are semi expensive but worth it!! They really work we used them at both Vet Clinics I worked at. Because although I love my dog he never learned to walk on a leash properly and pulls me everywhere like a rag doll because he is such a nut, lol in fact im stalling right now on walking him because it is so impossible to walk him…instead I get walked if you know what I mean. But our dog is not crate trained he has only certain areas he is aloud in and we kept a baby gait up at first to train him to stay in a certain area. He does great but I would stick with the crate it gives you all around better control and the upper hand with your dog. Good luck! And I’m sure she will do great Labs are awesome dogs!
Lisa asks…
Puppy clean up tips?
I’ve been taking care of a friends puppy and he’s had a few “accidents”. I’ve cleaned them up by blotting the area with paper towel then wetting it down with water and soap then blotting again.
Is this enough to keep the areas from staining and smelling down the road?
I’ve always caught the mess as soon as it’s happened so it’s not like it’s sat and soaked into the carpet for an extended period of time. Only for a matter of seconds while I’ve gathered things to clean it up.
I’ve had him since Monday and he goes back to his owners tomorrow (Friday) night
admin answers:
It should be fine but if you notice an odd smell start using carpet cleaner. I had 2 pups and a mom so I know how you feel.
Mary asks…
Should I get another Leopard Gecko?
I have had one leopard gecko in the past who died from eating sand. He was on carpet for the last year or so of his life. Now that I do have carpetting, I’m thinking about another gecko and improving my care. I need to know:
How long should they be handled?
Could I raise it by feeding it canned insects? I fed my previous one live insects, but they just drove me crazy.
Where should I get it? PetSmarts leos are normally unhealthily skinny so where could I get a healthy one?
Temp. of cool side and hot side?
And anymore care tips like wet-boxes and such would be appreciated.
Thanks
admin answers:
Ok i got you covered.
[1] Sometimes i take mine out to play with them (i know im weird). I usually do this for 30 mins. They should not be out of heat for so long, so 30 mins is good. But i dont know if you want to like, HOLD, him for so long. That would kind of get boring..=] but not if were to set up some hides on a blanket in your room for him to crawl around and run for a little while.
[2] Canned, well you could. It may not work, because they only are attracted to moving things…so it could get hard. You may have to move them a little bit to trick him into thinking it is alive.
[3] If you dont want to get it from Petsmart, i recommend just going here http://www.blackle.com/ and looking up “reptile shops in ___”. But if you got your leo years ago then it was probably on sand. If you are worried about impaction from pet stores i dont think you need to worry because now they are living on carpet as babies.
[4] Too keep it quick– 85 on cool side, 90 on hot side,…a hide on each side with a heating pad under the hot hide. And one moist hide for a shedding aid. At night the temps should go down to 75-80 with a heat pad on.
[5] ok so i use a hide from the pet store for amoist hide, just a simple rock that you can open. Like this:
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.js…
They come in small/med/lrg so thats good.
(they are quite expensive, but it is something very durable and mine lasted me 5 years already. And they are not web only like it says, you can find these everywhere!)
as a baby i used a small and then moved up as he got older for more comfort. But i dont think they mind being curled up or anything so you dont even have to get a bigger one. As a baby i would just fill it with paper towels for padding… A thick, soft layer for padding. Mist this with water daily, or when it gets dry. When they grow up you could use moss that you ccan buy instead. This is more natural and pretty
if you dont want to spend the money, just empty out and clean a:
x margarine container
x ziplock container
or basically anything you can can a big enough hole in for them to climb in/out in.
Http://geckosetc.com/images/cs/delicuphi…
Http://www.vmsherp.com/images/LearningCe…
Http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/vi…
Other tips:
[x] Vary the diet. Mealworms, crickets as a staple diet. Waxworms and superworms as treats only. Variety is the spice of life!=]
[x] Never keep it over 95 degrees in the warm side.
[x] Give monthly baths in shallow warm water that hits the tummy for loosening them up and helping their digestion.
[x] Make sure they have nice fat tails.
[x] Dont feed veggies to them as a good diet, like some people say. It will kill them. Not enough nutrients.
[x] fresh water daily.
Here is a care sheet i typed up and use for some of my answers. I hope this helps. You probably know most of this stuff, but it is meant for beginners, but maybe you will find something helpful in it…
You will need a glass tank, (at least 10 gallons) a light BULB and light fixture, food and water dishes, substrate, a hide box or two, food, thermometer and a few other decrorations if you want .
Ok so i use REPTICARPET for a substrate. DO NOT use sand, because when the gecko eats, he eats some of the sand too, and it can cause sickness and death if it eats too much sand on accident.
You will need a warm side of the tank and a cooler (not cold, but just colder than the other side) for the gecko. They like to have both sides available, because they need to be comfortable. For the warm side it has to be about 85- 90 degrees F at all times. They are desert animals and need warmth to survive. If you want to take him/her out for a while to play or whatever, it can be out of the warmth for about 30 mins, comfortably. So anyway. Place the lamp on the right side of the tank, for example with e heat pad. Turn the bulb off at night and only the heat pad at day. This will be the warm side.
So then you will need a hide box or something for it to sleep in, and TO HIDE. This is one of the most important things you can have! Fill the hide box with some paper towel or moss (you can buy this at the petstore) and wet is, so its damp, but not SOAKED in water. Leos NEED some type of humidity. What i do is use moss and spray it with a spray bottle every day and change the moss every week. If you use paper towels, i think it would be best to change it every day. Have a roll to yourself and put a new damp sheet in every day, to prevent bacteria growing and such. So good, we have this. You can add multiple hides, if you like. PUT THE HIDE IN THE HOT SIDE. It will be there most of its time and likes to be warm. You can put one in the cold side too, so it has options. A log or some vines, fake plants, anything like that is also optional, just for fun for your gecko.
Next is food dishes. You need a shallow water dish, you dont want the gecko to drown… A nice green shallow dish is good. (what i have). You do not necessarily need a FOOD dish, but if you feed mealworms, which i will get to in a moment, you may want them so they dont crawl out. Now.. VERY IMPORTANT! You need some of this liquid WATER CONDITIONER for your leo. This is a blue liquid. Every day, change the water and put in ONE DROP of the stuff. What it does is take out the chlorine and chemicals that are bad for your gecko. You can ask someone at the store for it.
Ok. You will need to feed the BABY leos 1-2 mealworms a day. Adults will only need 2-4 every other day. If you like crickets instead, you can always throw in 5 or so and let your ADULT eat them. I do not receommend this for babies. So every other day you should dust them with calcium powder, also at pet store, to maintain good bones. WARNING!! If you use crickets, and say your gecko only eats 2 out of four one day, it is a good idea to take the remaining uneaten crickets out, they can nibble on the gecko.
Ok next. Ummm.. Cleaning.
You dont need to clean that much, but the repticarpet should be soaked and dried with water every month, and vacuumed. Scoop out any poops as soon as you see them. Take your hide(s) and soak them in water and towel dry them too every month or so too. A healthy gecko is a happy one.
So. I think that about does it. Any other questions, feel free to email me…
Go to my profile and email me!
Lizzie asks…
Could someone answer a few questions concerning my new rabbit?
About a week ago my sister and I noticed a black and white rabbit hanging around our backyard. One day while picking vegetables from the garden, the rabbit hopped up to my sister. We thought that it was obviously domestic because of it’s color and behavior so we put it in our old guinea pig’s cage until we found the owner. We asked around the neighborhood and someone said they had seen the rabbit around for over a week. After trying to find the owner for quite some time, we finally gave up and decided to keep it.
My first concern is that we have no idea how old our rabbit is. It’s a dutch rabbit that seems to be full grown, if not maybe a little smaller. It weighs about 3 pounds (it was off on its own for a while and probably lost weight since it was only eating greens.) I heard somewhere that you can sort of tell by looking at how many blood vessels are in the ears. It looks like there are hardly any. It is quite lazy during the day and very hyper in the evening. My guess is that its around one years old but it could be younger or way older. What would you say?
Secondly, we aren’t positive on it’s sex. I’m pretty sure its a girl though. We checked her bottom and there wasn’t anything popping out. Also it seems she has a flap under her chin (dewlap) which are suppose to only be present with girls. Is she for sure a girl?
Also, we found a bump on her neck that was very strange looking. Turns out that it was a tick. We removed the tick with tweasers and washed the area with soap and water. Now there is a little bump there that seems to be a scab. Is she at risk for infection or disease? We are pretty positive it wasn’t a deer tick.
We’re still using our guinea pig’s cage, which is 24 by 24 inches. We keep the door open at all times since the cage is in our screen porch. Since she is sleepy during the day she almost never gets out, but she still has the option. At night we keep the door shut and we’re worried she needs more space but don’t want to keep the door open since she may poop and pee everywhere. Is all of this okay?
We started out using newspaper bedding but she kept ripping it up. We’re keeping the bottom bare until she is litter box trained. Once she is potty trained we are going to put a square of carpet or fake grass in there. Is this plan okay?
Litter box training. We are using a shoe box top for now but will eventually upgrade to a real litter box. We put our hamster’s care fresh bedding at the bottom and clean it out every 2 days. She’s been peeing in the box for 2 days now without any accidents and will from time to time use it to poop. Most of her poop is everywhere else in the cage. We put all of the poop into the litterbox and try to show her that she needs to poop in there. We have a rack of timothy by the box but it isn’t helping too much. Any help?
Our rabbit eats A LOT. She’ll go through a little more than half a cup easily everyday and want more. If we keep filling the bowl it seems like she’ll eat more than a cup. We are afraid to give her more because we don’t want her to get really fat. Should we keep limiting her food to half a cup?
She prefers drinking from a bowl rather than a water bottle. Is this fine? Also, we fill her 3 inch wide 3.5 inch bowl 2-4 times a day. Is she drinking the right amount? It almost seems like too much compared to how much our large guinea pig use to drink.
If our rabbit is a girl should we get her fixed? I read that female rabbits almost always get uterine cancer if they aren’t fixed. I also heard it makes them nicer and easier to potty train. Our cousins rabbit got fixed and she ended up dying a week later. Even though the success rate is extremely high we are still concerned. Also how much to get this done?
Any other advice or tips would be greatly appreciated. I know the best way to get these questions answered are to take it to a vet but we don’t want to spend the money. So please don’t say “take it to a vet.” Thanks!
admin answers:
Idk yeah i got 2 points
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