...and the rest.

[bug_n_flock]

Hey guys.

I'm new here but so far am enjoying the forums and interacting with people and learning new things and how different people do different things. It's fabulous!

Right now my personal flock is teeny tiny, but that does not mean my home is empty. I've got a thread up for Mr. Fatty Dingdong, and sort of one up for Alex Bird, so here goes the one for the rest.


I basically maintain a personal private zoo. Currently I have 11 guinea pigs, 2 chinchillas, 4 rabbits, 2 bearded dragons, a leopard gecko, a boa constrictor, a male african bullfrog, about 20 milipedes, tens of thousands of various species of bugs, a cat, 2 dogs, and a whole lot of rats(not pest rats, lol). The animals in my care change fairly frequently, I am always taking in rescues or project animals and rehoming critters as they are able. I also breed several species currently, and have bred even more in the past. I am mostly lately studying genetics and nutrition.

I've had critters anything from giant monitor lizards to a very spoiled house duck. All sorts of interesting animals come into my care, and I love sharing them with people who wouldn't otherwise get the chance to interact with them.

I, and someone very dear to me, am about to move to a large plot of undeveloped land in the southish on which to build a homestead and raise exotic animals and do research. We have been looking into getting aza certification so to be able to work with more endangered species and perhaps work with breeding programs across the world. Dreams, right?

We plan to have emus and other ratites, all sorts of wonderful reptiles and mammals, and of course: parrots! I can't wait to have the space to build such enclosures for all the critters as to have them not even realize they are confined.


For now though my days are mostly spent learning and cleaning up poop.

 

[Terry57]

Wow, what an amazing furry, scaled, feathered and many legged family you have!
Wishing you the best luck on your move, please keep us updated!
Any pics to share of everyone?

 

[clark_conure]

So you have a cockatiel a budgie as your owner.... are the other animals respectful of their superiority? also i'm sure the duck used to keep the other animals in line, they don't take crap from anyone in my experience.

 

[bug_n_flock]

For the most part, yes. The cat tries to eat the birds, and the dogs also are a danger. I don't trust any reptiles with the birds, nor do I trust adult rats with them. Fatty Dingdong has claimed a litter of 2 week old rats, though. When I have them out to socialize, he comes over and goes into their carrier and grooms them, it's really quite sweet. I'm trying to figure out a way to share photos better here, but I am considering putting a link to my google+ collection for the animals, but I am hesitant as I tend to like keeping some level of anonymity on and between websites.

Edit: for the first year the duck was bullied by the dogs but after that he was 100% in charge. Funny story: one time animal control was called out for us "keeping a wild goose in captivity". The ACO saw it was a duck, and a very spoiled housepet at that, and left. I laughed so hard when I realized he had come on a literal wild goose chase.

 

[Kentuckienne]

edit:...funny story: One time animal control was called out for us "keeping a wild goose in captivity". The aco saw it was a duck, and a very spoiled housepet at that, and left. I laughed so hard when i realized he had come on a literal wild goose chase.

unladylike loud snort!

 

[bug_n_flock]

With the cold winter weather and the unfinished cellar and the 100+ year old house, pest rats have moved into the cellar! They are driving my dog crazy, who is currently snorting while trying to inhale the rats through the floor. He was trying to dig down to them, but I asked him to lay off of the hardwood floors, as they are considerably older than both of our ages put together.

He is half scottish terrier, and a decent part of his diet is (humanely euthanized and raised specifically for the purpose) feeder animals(mostly frozen rats lately). Poor dog can't understand why he can't reach his dinner.

My rats live on the third floor, well away from the cellar rats, and are raised to be pets. They cannot come in contact with the cellar rats. I am surprised Rabid Rob has let the cellar rats move in unchallenged. Rob is our resident Opossum, and he is awesome. He eats our extra unsecured garbage, and scares anyone who happens to startle him. Great neighbor! Love wildlife(from a respectful distance)!

EDIT: the garbage thing happened one time and we learned our lesson. But have seen Rob a few times since then so know he is still around.

 

[bug_n_flock]

I wasn't sure where to post this, but I guess here.

[ame="https://youtu.be/hXif36pbaco"]Alex meets a baby guinea pig - YouTube[/ame]

A couple of days ago one of my female pigs had her first litter. Guinea pigs have a horned uterus, which results in some interesting potential complications. Orb, aka mommapig, had one pup on one uterine horn, and 5(!) On the other. Now, Guinea pigs have been known to have up to 17 pups in a litter, but usual is 1-4. Their babies are precocious, being roughly equivalent to the developmental stage of a human child at 3 years old.

Basically, orb's giant baby was stillborn, as was one of the tiny ones. One tiny one I was able to revive, but it passed away yesterday unfortunately. The last three pups are still only about 2/3 the size of a typical newborn guinea piglet, but at least they are strong and getting stronger. Until they are stronger and bigger, though, I have the three of them in a small cage with their mom and their grandmother (she *Just* weaned a litter so is still lactating and in "mommy mode" so is giving extra care). So I think the pups will survive, but until they do they look cramped and that is why. In the video, you can see another pig(Orb's sister, Maggie) in the pen on ground level. This is where the pigs usually live together as a group. The pen is 8'x4', the pigs have *plenty* of room to run around.

I decided to let Alex meet one of the babies, though. :3 He was scared of the baby bunnies, but he apparently likes baby guinea pigs. When I scold him in the vid, he wasn't biting the baby, just grooming it, but you know how it can be sort of unpleasant when they focus in on one spot and the wee piglet didn't seem to want Alex focusing in on its ear.

Sent from phone