Thursday, September 6, 2007
Parrots are birds with gaily and boldly colors. Parrots have even, thin plumage on their whole bodies with solid color spots, which usually contrast themselves.
The most obvious feature of all parrots is the difference between the upper and lower mandibles. Both of them are curved but the upper one is curved downwards and ends like a hook while the lower one is smaller and curves upward. This is only one of the parrots distinctive features.
Another interesting special feature of the parrots is the feet. They show four toes, two of them pointing backwards and two pointing forward. This feature allows them to grasp strongly the objects around them.
Although not all of them, most parrots like to populate trees, tending to live in or close to tropical forests. They eat fruits, wild figs, buds and blossoms, seeds, nuts or berries.
They build nests in holes in the trees, or in some cases, in termite mounds or rocks. Parrots lay 2 to 5 white eggs which hatch in around 3 weeks. Both parents feed the young with predigested regurgitated food.
The eclectus parrot
In this case, the male and female show different colors, the male is bright green with red and blue spots and the female has blue belly and the rest of the plumage is crimson. Both male and female are glossy and brilliant birds.
Where can they be found? This kind of parrots is found in Solomon Islands, Lesser Sundas, N-E Australia and New Guinea. Those birds live in lowland forests and clumps of tall trees. In the early 1980’s they were discovered to be very common in the Malaccan Islands.
The eclectus parrots behavior
The eclectus parrots have strong wings and muscles, which makes them very good flyers. They fly above the forest canopy in pairs or small groups, making loud noises and searching for food. At sunset, they make display flights and gather in large groups, preparing themselves for the night.
Two distinct calls were encountered in the eclectus parrots. While they feed, they have a wailing cry or a mellow flute-like call and when they fly they repeat three or four times a screeching sound
Their food
The Eclectus parrots eat mainly fruits, seeds, nuts, leaf buds, blossoms, nectar and berries. All those are usually found up in the top of the trees.
How do eclectus parrots grow up and reproduce
Usually, those parrots find or build nests in holes in the trees in the high areas. Also they seem to like clearings in the forests or the edges of the forests for their nests.
The eclectus parrot female lays two eggs; usually on wood chips deep inside the nest and for 26 days she will be the only one to touch her eggs. Only the female broods the eggs. During this period, the male feeds her twice a day on regular intervals and those are the only times the female leaves her eggs. 12 weeks after hatching, the young parrots leave the nest.
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Puppy Training and Socialization
When we talk about a dog being part of the family, it's usually because the family took the time to socialize the animal when he was a puppy. The term socialization isn't necessarily training, it just involves teaching the dog what others expect of them. There are many things that a new puppy should be taught if you want to end up with a great member of the family. These include:
Not peeing in the house. The idea that certain parts of your home make an acceptable place to relieve themselves should be strongly discouraged. It's only through learning this behavior will your new found friend ever be considered trustworthy enough to be left alone in your home.
Don't bite. While puppies are naturally curious and playful, biting should not be allowed. It's during those first few formidable months that the pecking order of your family becomes established. A pet should never be considered alpha dog in the family but be subservient to all humans. This means that although roughhousing and playing around is fine, biting is definitely not acceptable.
Sit. While this is a learned behavior, having control of your dog is critical to them being part of your family. You don't need a full-grown dog to charge the door each time the doorbell rings. You may however consider it a positive thing when someone comes to the door that your dog announces the visitor by barking then sits obediently at the door. This can add a measure of safety and put the visitor on notice that a dog is also home.
While there are many other behaviors, you can train your dog to do, socialization should start almost immediately. Showing your new puppy what you expect is easy to do, provided that you are a consistent teacher. The key to teaching your dog anything new is to realize that they have a very short attention span and they want to please you. This means that even during socialization or formal training, any effort to teach a new behavior should be fun.
When you first get a new puppy, it's important that you keep them confined and under control. There's no point in allowing bad habits to develop that will only need to be broken in the future. This is a good reason why allowing your puppy to potty or relieve themselves in the house on newspapers or piddle pads is not the best way to house train your dog.
Crate training works because it uses your dogs natural instinct of keeping the sleeping area clean. This, along with consistent visits outside and lots of praise will result in your puppy not only getting the idea of what makes you happy, but also helps with the socialization aspect of his young life. Visit the link below for more information on how to quickly house train your dog using the very effective crate training method.
While socialization and formal training may be similar, training looks for certain reliable actions from the animal. With socialization, we give your new best friend a lot of slack in doing the behavior.
Abigail Franks and her family love dogs of all sizes. visit her site for information on dog training and the all necessary housebreaking puppy techniques.
Pet Turtles And Possible Health Problems
In case your little turtle is ill, it is very important for its water to be very clean, for its food to be appropriate and carefully chosen and for the temperature to be sufficiently high. The absence of any of these factors causes your pet to get sick. Even the most expensive available treatment is useless, unless the above mentioned conditions are met.
If the turtle’s condition seems to worsen or the environmental changes bring no improvement, a veterinarian must be consulted. You may find an expert either in the yellow pages or at the animals hospital.
* Sneezing and gaping rarely
It is normal for turtles, as it is for humans to sneeze sometimes, because of the water that enters their nose and needs to be eliminated. In case of no mucus discharge and of isolated situations in which it sneezes, no problem seems to be present.
* Sneezing, gaping and coughing frequently
These symptoms should worry you, because they indicate pneumonia or any other respiratory problem. The veterinarian should be immediately seen, and he/she will prescribe antibiotics, will perform X-rays and will recommend you means to take proper care of your sick little friend. Pneumonia in turtles may be caused by water that is too cold. Try to warm it up and wait; in case you don’t notice any improvement, see a specialist.
* Swelling of the eyes.
This symptom represents the first sign that announces an infection, possibly a bacterial one, generated by stress associated with a physical problem, such as scratches from another turtle or foreign substances that enter the eyes. Eye drops may not be sufficient, so you should take your little friend to the veterinarian and, in case the problem only affects the eyes, he will recommend drops of Gentocin. Even if this substance will significantly improve the symptoms, the source of the problem still needs to be discovered and eliminated. It will do much more harm than good to the little reptile to take excessive A vitamin. Never administer it under the form of injection, because this may even kill your turtle. Try some dietary supplements instead.
* Silver colored spots on the carapace
Silver colored spots are usually due to an air collection under the first layer, which will soon shed. It is perfectly normal for this to happen; however you should keep your turtle under observation, because algae may enter the layer and color the spots in green. In case this happens, try to remove the transparent layer with delicacy.
* Shading of the skin
From time to time, a skin exfoliation is perfectly normal. More over, turtles have an increased frequency of the process compared to other reptiles. In case the shading involves only thin transparent skin, leaves no lesions and is not happening in excess, there doesn’t seem to be a problem. On the contrary, in case the peeling takes place all the time, the skin of the turtle turns red and sore, a fungus may be present. A veterinarian should examine it as soon as possible. Another possibility involves bathing your turtle in an idodine solution for 15 minutes two times a day then keeping it in a dry and worm environment for a while.
http://www.turtle-care.com provides turtle care information and a types of turtles presentation.
