Taking on a pet requires a certain level of commitment. For the most part, you will be responsible for the safety and well-being of another creature. Taking care of a turtle is no easy task. Choosing from among the types of pet turtles will entail careful thought. You will want to select a pet whose lifestyle can easily fit in with your own way of living. Here are three common types of pet turtles that you can consider rearing.

Box turtles

The box turtle is one of the more popular types of pet turtles that are found practically all over the world. Wherever there are damp, mossy areas, one is sure to find a box turtle inhabiting the land. These types of pet turtles are pretty territorial and are required to stay near their place of birth for their entire lifetime. As a matter of fact, if you try to remove a box turtle to another area half a mile from where it was born, it acquires the tendency to systematically search for its former habitat. It may not be able to find its way back to its old home but it will spend most of its life looking for it. This is one of those types of pet turtles that you will want to be cautious about because you need to create a living environment that is very similar to its old habitat. A box turtle is omnivorous so it can live off of insects, berries and various types of food products. They are ideal pets for people who live in the country because it is easier to recreate their natural habitat. Continue reading »

Giving medication to reptiles can be “pretty slippery”. With their varied physiological and anatomical make-ups, choosing ‘routes of drug administration’ is fairly complicated. Having to deal with scales, teeth, and a cranky attitude makes reptile medication a daunting task for a newbie.

There are specific techniques that may be used in treating a sick reptile with drugs. Each form of reptile medication has pros and cons that should be painstakingly considered as not to give the reptile more pain.

Administering fluids or any reptile medication through the mouth is tricky since you’ll have to deal with the sharp teeth, possibly venom, and the highly sensitive glottis. Also, any reptile (even any human!) does not appreciate having some foreign object shoved up its throat and thus may be quite uncooperative. They tend to acquire a more crabby temper when sick, too. Usually, a catheter or feeding tube attached to a syringe with prepared slurry or fluid medication is inserted into the throat up to the stomach to avoid flooding into the glottis and causing the fluid to back up into the mouth. Continue reading »

Cat dandruff is common among diabetic cats. A study shows that about 1 in 200 cats have what is known as diabetes mellitus (DM). There are many other kinds of skin disorders that can affect cats. If your cat is suffering from a skin problem, and if you want your pet to get better, here are some things you can do.

Often, a skin problem is caused by poor nutrition. So it’s a good idea to start by changing your pet’s diet if you’re currently feeding one of the budget brands of cat food. There are many high quality foods available on the market. Your vet might even suggest a prescription food to address certain dietary needs.

You can also give your cat supplements of fish oil, which has been shown to help get rid of the dandruff problem. Tuna, which is rich in Omega 43 fatty acids, will also help to improve the problem. Continue reading »

By: Joe Maldonado

Anaconda snakes extract similar responses from most of us, a response smeared by hatred, fear and probably revulsion. The image of this serpent that we carry in our mind is that of a creature that looks vile and is widely known to be monstrous. Apart from a few of the wealthy and the adventurous ones who want them as pets, most of us prefer to see anaconda snakes in TV and glossy travel magazines rather than in our homes and at the patio.

The natural habitat if these reptiles are the dense tropical forests in lovely South America. Found extensively in the Amazon River basin and also other tropical forests, this serpentine creature is worlds one of the largest snakes.

These snakes are carnivores, and prey a range of aquatic as well as land based creatures. While fish, turtles, frogs, dogs, sheep and deer are its favorite preys, anaconda snakes are also know to have constricted and swallowed considerably bigger animals like fully grown deer and even jaguars.

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An iguana is a fascinating lizard pet that when handled properly and gently from the time they are received, are not aggressive at all. When an iguana does show aggression he shows signs of fight or flight syndrome and will hide away or try to fight.

Like every other living being, aggression shows signs of extreme discomfort to the point that the living thing believe it has no other choice but to fight or flight. It’s simply a defense mechanism and in some animals, it is mating behavior. The iguana is also included in this group in that the male iguana will show aggression around certain hormones but that will be discussed later on in the article.
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