Author |
Message |
Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 12:57 pm
Julie about as thrilled as the day I went through the neighborhood letting the neighbors know it was her 30th birthday ...and the time a few months later when I learned the proper terminology for the different anatomy between boys and girls and decided to share my knowledge with same neighbors. I read an article in Parenting Magazine a while back about good pets for kids and I think Guinea Pigs were the recommended pet
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:06 pm
What do you want to know about turtles Julie? We have two, a box turtle and red ear slider, both water turtles. They are a long term commitment, they live forever and can grow to be huge (like the size of a dinner plate.) They also need a big tank with lots of room. They need a rock or shelf of some kind and a heating lamp with the special light bulb because they will sun up to 12 hours a day out of the water. Their tank needs to be cleaned pretty frequently (we usually do it every one to two weeks) because they can get pretty dirty and smelly. I've been told they are meat eaters, though our turtles kept the feeder gold fish as pets (seriously, those suckers lived like two years with the turtles!) They also eat lettuce, again, so I've been told. Mine never have. They eat the turtle food and that's it. They're pretty easy to take care of really. I find them peaceful to watch. When their tank gets cleaned they get put in a box and the kids can play with them a little (there's really not all that much you can do with them, lol.) When kids come over, especially the younger ones, they always head straight towards the tank and will sit there for a long time watching them. Caleb's taken his to school when they were doing a unit on different animals in class, I dropped him off then picked the turtle up about an hour later. I don't know anything about the land ones, but the water ones have turned into great pets for the kids (we've had Caleb's for geez about 4 or 5 years now and got Dakota's a year or so later.) I have some great links to different sites about how to take care of them, but those are on the old computer (or were at one time, Darren may have deleted them by now.)
|
Cndeariso
Member
06-28-2004
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:11 pm
julie, dogdoc raises turtles. she has two different kinds. you might post the question in her folder.
|
Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:13 pm
My daughter begged us and saved her money up for a Mini Lop Rabbit and we finally let her get one 6 months ago. It's the cutest thing and more fun than the neighbors hamsters and Guinea Pigs. We have it's cage in the corner of the family room and it only took 1 day to potty train. He will run across the room and hop into the litter box part when he has to pee. The pellets are another story, but that's why he is only out when we are there to watch him. The rabbit liked the dog more than the other way around, but we never had any agression problems.

|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:13 pm
Thanks Wargod! Is one "easier" than the other? Is it good to get two? Thanks also, Scooter. A guinea pig probably is easy as they always seem to have them as classroom pets. Much to think about. Any other suggestions or "votes"? Biggest thing I am looking for is "low maintenance."
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:42 pm
They are pretty much the same to take care of Julie. Before we got Johnra, Johnny for short (Dakota was five, she had weird names for everything, lol) I'd read that turtles are solitary creatures and really don't need a friend or companion and that often if you had two in the same tank they could fight. Or they might not. We kept that in mind though and were ready to buy a second set of stuff if they didn't get along. Never had an aggression problem though. They "play" together pretty well. We sit here and watch them swim after each other. Early on, I posted on the board about a couple things that were different, or so I thought, lol. One was that when they get on their rock, they stack. One climbs up on top of the other and then next time the other ones on top. The other thing was that they were constantly humping each other, lol. We made sure they were both boys (didn't want baby turtles) by asking the pet store people, then reading up on how to tell for ourselves and double checking, but for quite a while everytime we looked one was mounting the other and vice versa. It was kinda funny and exasperating at times because they had no decency at all, everytime you looked, people over visiting, they were just humping all over the place! I'm kidding about their lack of decency, but they really did do it all the time and like I said, kids who'd come to visit are just fascinated by them and were always asking, "What are they doing?"
|
Halfunit
Moderator
09-02-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:51 pm
I vote for taking Ryan to Bob's house to visit the adorable Mini Lop Rabbit!
|
Karuuna
Board Administrator
08-31-2000
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:56 pm
That bunny is just too cute for words! Julie, don't feel bad. Your goldie lived a long time for most goldies! Sounds like the turtles live forever and are quite hardy! But not as cute as the bunny!
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:02 pm
That bunny is too cute Bob! Kar, I can't remember off the top of my head how long they live (and they really aren't all that cute,lol) but when we got them we talked about how when the kids moved out of the house they could take their turtles with them!
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:12 pm
we inherited a 13 year old Red Earred Slider Turtle in September. I thought for sure he would be up there with hermit crabs in the 'worthless pet' category, but Bob is the coolest thing! And so personable. He let's me scratch his back (and i am the only one) but when he sees dh, he just gets so excited and splashes around! he will follow you when you walk by. but he is very high maintenence, much more so than my dogs! and this FREE turtle has cost us about $300 in tank/filter/ect and he really should have a bigger tank than the one we have.
|
Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:23 pm
Annie, what I've read is that when they start to get that big, people build ponds or put them in those little plastic wading pools. I'm not quite sure how that'd work in colder climates though, I mean I can't see ours being happy outside in our winters!
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:42 pm
We would be fine if we had a 100 gallon tank, not in the budget right now. I think Bob would flip. I gave him feeder fish and he flipped out, guess the poor guy had never seen them! He did eat some, but 4 of the smarter ones have survived and they live happily together.
|
Bob2112
Member
06-12-2002
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:43 pm
quote:Texannie: Monday, January 29, 2007 - 1:12 pm ... but Bob is the coolest thing!
 quote:And so personable.
 | But, Of course! |
quote:He let's me scratch his back (and i am the only one)
Ixnay on the atchingscra
|
Heyltslori
Moderator
09-15-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:57 pm
HAHAHA!
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 2:58 pm
thank you bob, i needed a laugh!!!
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 3:29 pm
Oh Bob, why do you put such a cute idea in my head! What is the maintenance like? (Like besides feeding, what do you have to do daily? Weekly?) Oh wait, we have beagle mixes. I think they were formerly trained to kill rabbits. Only cuz everytime they see one, they go apeshit over it. Luckily the rabbits are faster than they are.
|
Julieboo
Member
02-05-2002
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 3:32 pm
More quotes about Bob: when he sees dh, he just gets so excited he will follow you when you walk by he is very high maintenance
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 3:49 pm
ya'll!!!! LOL it just seems like i am always doing something with his tank..adding water, taking out water, ect
|
Spygirl
Board Administrator
04-23-2001
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 4:43 pm
That is the cutest bunny I've ever seen! Oh, and the information about the turtles and goldfish is very helpful. I had no idea turtles could be that interactive.
|
Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 5:02 pm
Oh, and guppies can live in salt water believe it or not. We found that out by accident. We were feeding feeder guppies to a salt water fish who never ate them all and the one that was left lived for months in the salt water tank. Also put houseplants next to your tanks. They will each thrive off of eachother. You may want to research which houseplants are poisonous before letting them root in a goldfish bowl or fish tank. Once, we had a firebelly newt and a dwarf frog. They lived in harmony in my ten gallon tank. I filled the tank about half full and placed some anacharis in it that stuck out above the water. I also had one fake lilly pad in there because it was all I could find. That way they could get out of the water if they wanted to. This would be much better in a 15 or 20 gallon tank or even a tank that was more verticle. They are neat to watch. The newt was the coolest thing I have ever had and they would play with the frogs.

|
Mamapors
Member
07-29-2004
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 8:39 pm
I have a really stupid and embarrassing question. I just swallowed a gold crown. It came off when I was eating a sticky candy heart, and I didn't even realize it until it was too late. What should I do? I know this is gross, but I am really scared.
|
Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 8:41 pm
As small as it is, it will probably pass right through. If you're really worried and concerned call the emergency room, ask to talk to a nurse and see what they say.
|
Rosie
Member
11-12-2003
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 8:45 pm
Sheesh, Mama, sorry to hear that. Calling the ER room or your dentist?
|
Mamapors
Member
07-29-2004
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 8:47 pm
I will call the dentist in the morning. Need to get it replaced. Just hoping it does pass through OK. Might call the emergency room. It is small, although is was my back tooth. I know when my son swallowed rocks or penneys we just waited it out.
|
Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 29, 2007 - 8:53 pm
Mama, I would be looking for it to come through and if it doesn't in the right timeframe (you might call your doctor or dentist about that), THEN worry that it might be stuck somewhere. I think it is likely to just continue on through, like the coins my bother swallowed when he was a kid.
|