MagiStream

ah never saw a pomeranian with the Blue merle coloration heh Zazu's better than most other names I think

Hey fellow pet-lovers! I'm new to the site, so I thought I'd introduce my pets here as well. I've lived with animals for as long as I can remember. Over the years I've had cats, dogs, guinea pigs, snakes, gerbils, hermit crabs, and lots of other stuff, but no birds (just not a fan of them). Right now we just have 2 dogs (black lab and lab mix both rescues), 3 cats (lovely little pound kitties), 4 fish tanks (all freshwater), and a koi pond. I'm no expert on fish, but I know quite a bit about goldfish, koi, bettas, and loaches. Feel free to PM me if you have any trouble with your fish.

Fishkeeping is a huge hobby of mine. Right now I just have a 55 gal with goldfish, 2 divided 10 gal tanks with bettas, and a 24 gal community in progress. All of my tanks are planted. I can't imagine having tanks without plants now. Oh. And the koi pond. That's my pride and joy. It's around 4000 US gal and houses 6 koi.

rosemont that is a beautiful yard and pond! where is it you live? thats beautiful scenery.

Thanks! I live in Virginia, but we're in a very wooded area. Right now I'm getting pounded by snow, however the pond doesn't look as pretty as you would think it does because I have to cover it with a net to keep out the leaves. It's still really peaceful to sit out there in the snow with my dogs.

The budgies know some bad language which they will happily repeat for the vet but my least favorite comes from Dorie, who occasionally burns thing in the kitchen.

Imagine hearing "Holy shit! Fire! Fire!" in your girlfriend's voice in the middle of the night.

Tx... why do your birds talk in the middle of the night?

I've never quite figured that out. We don't cover them because most of the parrot owners around me and the vet have said they don't need it if they're not shrieking or smashing themselves against the bars. If I had to guess, I would say it's the irregular hours we keep. Dee is often up late working cases, I have insomnia, and husband has an on-call rotation every couple of weeks. I think they either see us out and about and because they're birds they don't know the whole family isn't awake or, like us, maybe they're asleep and then get startled so they yell something. That and I had been told that budgies do not talk coherently in anything recognizable as speech. It's therefore somewhat alarming to hear them imitating voices so perfectly at all.

Rosenrot, the pond looks beautiful! We would like one --- I have a pleco which would love the extra room and the husband loves koi --- but around here the raccoons or the Florida panther would devour them. I guess I'll have to content myself with aqua-cultured aquariums indoors.

TNHawke wrote:balls of dryer lint

D'awwww! Are they noisy much?

That's a really nice looking koi pond, Rosenrot. What's it like maintaining it?

Baby diamond doves? They're pretty quiet. They squeep a little bit when begging for food, but mostly they just hang out and look adorable.
They are much quieter than baby finches who peep every time they think they MIGHT get fed until they're so full they fall asleep. And they are MUCH quieter than baby pigeons who squeal loud enough to be heard 3 blocks away...

Here's a newly hatched one from my last successful pair of eggs. Oddly enough, they failed to hatch with all the actual nests I put in the cage, but I gave them a thing of organic wheat grass and they successfully raised their babies in that! (huh... images aren't working, so have some links instead)

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs26/i/2008/ ... hthawk.png

Both hatched, but still damp
http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs25/i/2008/ ... hthawk.png

Size comparison
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs25/i/2008/ ... hthawk.png

10/ 11 days later size comparison
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs28/i/2008/ ... hthawk.png

Feathered, but not fledged - adorable, yes?
http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs26/i/2008/ ... hthawk.png

It's amazing how fast baby diamond doves fledge.

Aww thanks guy. I was just outside with my pond in the snow. Really peaceful. It's my perfect little retreat. The pond is maintained with a recirculating pump that sits in a reservoir. I have a picture somewhere that illustrates how it works. I'll see if I can find it. It's about 3 feet deep and has been in operation now for around 5 years. It will be 6 come springtime. I've never had any problems with critters even though I live less than a mile from a river. I believe this is partially due to the fact that I have dogs and a very thick canopy cover. I think the neighborhood cats also do a good job of running anything off.

I have never thought a bird was cute until those pictures, Hawke. Those little guys are adorable! My favorite bits of drier lint indeed!

TNHawke wrote:I've never quite figured that out. We don't cover them because most of the parrot owners around me and the vet have said they don't need it if they're not shrieking or smashing themselves against the bars. If I had to guess, I would say it's the irregular hours we keep. Dee is often up late working cases, I have insomnia, and husband has an on-call rotation every couple of weeks. I think they either see us out and about and because they're birds they don't know the whole family isn't awake or, like us, maybe they're asleep and then get startled so they yell something. That and I had been told that budgies do not talk coherently in anything recognizable as speech. It's therefore somewhat alarming to hear them imitating voices so perfectly at all.

Yeah, budgies sound like broken radios and mumble a lot, and tend to pepper their speech with chirps or warbles. They don't mumble to the extent of Umbrella Cockatoos, though, I love hearing those talk. c:

I cover my budgies at night because otherwise they wouldn't get enough rest-- their door is right across from my grandparents' door and their TV is on nearly all night/will be turned on randomly and wake them up with the noise and brightness so this offers them some darkness to be secure in. Otherwise they probably wouldn't sleep at all and be up squeaking all night, as Nikki tends to do when he's tired.

edit: Since I remembered I haven't mentioned it in a while, Romeo's starting to get better-- she had another bad bout with her yeast infection that I was able to catch quickly, and i'd administered some bene-bac a week or two ago. Now she's just a little lethargic but active, and is very interested in/protective of her nest box(that she previously wouldn't touch). I'm hoping to get some babies in a while if she's feeling up to it :>

well my kid decided and funny enough it is not zazu like I thought. our new puppy will be named Sora