Self-indulgent pet thread
- Thread starter ShiftyBagLady
- Start date
Vincent aka Steve is a big comical lovely boy. We have only had him since last September and he was a rescue boy but he gives us so much pleasure with his daft ways and his Steve Mcdonald looks.
Hopper aka fang was a stray that moved in with us about 9 years ago and was the most loving, gentle cat we've ever had.
CRI
Registered Chooser
My lovely boy Hopper (aka Fang) who died two weeks ago
Sorry to hear about Fang.
Looks alot like my "brother in law" Bart (minus the fangs though.)
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
treefrog
Saddle up
Thanks peeps. Wee Floyd seems a bit lost, he's lost two cagemates since May and he's all alone, poor wee thing. Giving him lots of cuddles.
Cheering the thread up with another parrot video, of her making her weird squeaky-plork noise. Not sure why facebook make videos SO DARK.
Cheering the thread up with another parrot video, of her making her weird squeaky-plork noise. Not sure why facebook make videos SO DARK.
Dovydaitis
Official fishco fish groupie
how adaptable would Floyd be to a new cage mate and are you not ready for a new rattie?
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
Agent Sparrow
the age of slippers and migraines
treefrog
Saddle up
I don't want to rush into getting another squeaker, Floyd's had two leave and one introduced (only to disappear suddenly
) since May and I think he just needs a little time to settle. I'm also not sure I want another ratteh, but then it's about what's best for the rattie so we'll see how he goes.
CRI
Registered Chooser
I don't want to rush into getting another squeaker, Floyd's had two leave and one introduced (only to disappear suddenly
Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about Tedrat.
I would so love to have rats, but I don't know if I could deal with losing them so soon. It's difficult enough with pigs and managing the "succession planning." Best of luck whatever you decide though.
CRI
Registered Chooser
Am going to see a lady about a cat (rather than a man about a dog) on Sunday. She's a 3 year old retired "breeding" queen who's neutered and looking for a forever home. My instinct is to be a bit 
about anything attached to animal breeding, but I really, really want a Maine Coon Cat (yes selfish, but for lots of reasons) and don't want a kitten specifically. Go on, tell me off! 
This is one of the reasons I want a Maine Coon!
about anything attached to animal breeding, but I really, really want a Maine Coon Cat (yes selfish, but for lots of reasons) and don't want a kitten specifically. Go on, tell me off! This is one of the reasons I want a Maine Coon!
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Am going to see a lady about a cat (rather than a man about a dog) on Sunday. She's a 3 year old retired "breeding" queen who's neutered and looking for a forever home. My instinct is to be a bit
This is one of the reasons I want a Maine Coon!
Oh, come on, I'm certainly not going to tell you off! One of my Oriental Shorthairs is an ex-stud, and the other one was, you know, bred by a breeder. It's people who let un-neutered cats out on the streets to breed willy-nilly or think their cat should have a litter before being neutered that are responsible for there being too many cats, not ethical breeders who breed a few cats of a particular breed to keep a breed going. If you want a Maine Coon, then bloody get a Maine Coon - you shouldn't apologise for that. You shouldn't ever feel that you ought to apologise for that.
CRI
Registered Chooser
Okay, thanks 
In the guinea pig fraternity, folks are really polarised on this - the idea being if you are pro-rescue you should be anti-breeding. But just as you say with cats and "hobby breeding," the problem is more with irresponsible pet owners who think it will be "cute" for their kiddiewinks to learn about the facts of life by letting their pigs have a litter (and then what?) and think it teaches them "responsibility" to put them in charge of a small, totally dependent, living creature (which they'll get bored with sooner or later probably.)
Back to kitties - Maine Coons tend to get on with dogs, so as this will probably be the thin end of the animal wedge, it leaves the door open for a dog in future! (Not literally, but figuratively, if you know what I mean.)
In the guinea pig fraternity, folks are really polarised on this - the idea being if you are pro-rescue you should be anti-breeding. But just as you say with cats and "hobby breeding," the problem is more with irresponsible pet owners who think it will be "cute" for their kiddiewinks to learn about the facts of life by letting their pigs have a litter (and then what?) and think it teaches them "responsibility" to put them in charge of a small, totally dependent, living creature (which they'll get bored with sooner or later probably.)
Back to kitties - Maine Coons tend to get on with dogs, so as this will probably be the thin end of the animal wedge, it leaves the door open for a dog in future! (Not literally, but figuratively, if you know what I mean.)
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
CRI - also if she's retired and neutered by the age of 3 then that's a good sign of ethical breeding practices - a 'kitten farm' type operation would keep her going far older. As Maine Coons mature late, she's probably had at most 2 litters, and been retired at a good young age. Be suspicious of getting a pedigree cat (or any other animal for that matter) if they do not give you the third degree before agreeing to let you have an animal - when I got Sonic it was worse than a job interview!
CRI
Registered Chooser
I think you are right. This particular breeder isn't having any more litters until next year, so definitely isn't in it for the money! I'm prepared for quite a grilling on Sunday. She won't be ready to move for at least another month they said, as she was only neutered a couple weeks ago. I guess it's not that different from getting a retired greyhound.
Will keep you all posted. I have a feeling it will be up to her whether she will have us rather than other way round!
Will keep you all posted. I have a feeling it will be up to her whether she will have us rather than other way round!
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Another thing is that with animals that have particular breeds, breeders (if they are doing it for the right reasons) are interested in breed conservation - if no-one was actively breeding Maine Coons or Oriental Shorthairs they would eventually die out and it has happened with many cat breeds (such as the Boston Rex), they simply do not exist any more.
Edit to add: Also an ethical breeder will always take back a cat (and may even make you sign a contract to this effect, so that you have to return the cat to them) if for any reason you cannot keep it, even years later - there is no way that a good breeder would let one of the kittens they bred end up on the streets on in a shelter.
Edit to add: Also an ethical breeder will always take back a cat (and may even make you sign a contract to this effect, so that you have to return the cat to them) if for any reason you cannot keep it, even years later - there is no way that a good breeder would let one of the kittens they bred end up on the streets on in a shelter.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
^ treefrog, if I could have liked that more than once I would have done so. Does Pockle like being sprayed with one of those plant-misting bottles? Jasper used to love that - not directly on him of course, but set to mist and aimed slightly above him so it fell like very light rain onto him -he'd go into full on bathing mode with his wings out and shaking himself and shrieking with excitement, absolutely bloody loved it. Probably goes without saying use a new spray bottle that is just for the parrot and has only ever had water in it, not a bottle that is used on plants and might have contained plant feed or other chemicals!
Edit: oh I'm curious to ask - do you know for sure that Pockle is a hen? I always refer to my Jasper (RIP) as a he, but with Senegals there's often no way to tell visually, and I never had him DNA tested to find out - as I wasn't interested in breeding it was unneccesary. 'He' never laid any eggs, but Sennies don't tend to be prolific layers if not bonded with a mate, so not laying eggs is no indication. I loved my parrot so much but I was never certain of gender, and it didn't matter. I referred to 'him' as male, because 'he' kind of seemed male -but I never knew for certain.
Obviously it's easier to tell with some species! I also have often had budgies, they are easy to spot whether male or female once a few weeks old because of the colour of their cere (for those who don't know, the cere is the fleshy band around the nares/nostrils, in adult male budgies it is blue, in adult females it is brown and can go a bit flaky when they are hormonal - and that's the only external difference between genders. You can tell the difference between male and female cockatoos because of the colour of their eyes - females have brown irises, males have black. Eclectus parrots take gender dimorphism to the extreme, males have bright green plumage, while females have bright red and blue. But it's impossible to tell by sight for many species of parrot).
Edit to add: Photo of a pair of Eclectus parrots - yes these two are just a male and female of the same species. Any offspring they produce will be green if male, and red/blue if female.
Edit: oh I'm curious to ask - do you know for sure that Pockle is a hen? I always refer to my Jasper (RIP) as a he, but with Senegals there's often no way to tell visually, and I never had him DNA tested to find out - as I wasn't interested in breeding it was unneccesary. 'He' never laid any eggs, but Sennies don't tend to be prolific layers if not bonded with a mate, so not laying eggs is no indication. I loved my parrot so much but I was never certain of gender, and it didn't matter. I referred to 'him' as male, because 'he' kind of seemed male -but I never knew for certain.
Obviously it's easier to tell with some species! I also have often had budgies, they are easy to spot whether male or female once a few weeks old because of the colour of their cere (for those who don't know, the cere is the fleshy band around the nares/nostrils, in adult male budgies it is blue, in adult females it is brown and can go a bit flaky when they are hormonal - and that's the only external difference between genders. You can tell the difference between male and female cockatoos because of the colour of their eyes - females have brown irises, males have black. Eclectus parrots take gender dimorphism to the extreme, males have bright green plumage, while females have bright red and blue. But it's impossible to tell by sight for many species of parrot).
Edit to add: Photo of a pair of Eclectus parrots - yes these two are just a male and female of the same species. Any offspring they produce will be green if male, and red/blue if female.
treefrog
Saddle up
AWESOME PARROT STUFF!
Oooh, not tried a bottle! I have a misting bottle that I used to use on the rats if theit playfighting got too intense so it's just had water in it. Will definitely give that a go! She has a perch in the shower after a very successful first shower time but she doesn't like it (typical parrot) so a bottle sounds perfect
No idea for sure, but she seems quite feminine for some reason so after some swapping around I settled on female pronouns. There's no gender difference in quakers so it's guesswork or a DNA test really. Both sexes make the nests so that's no tell either!
Eclectus parrots are just stunning. There's a woman in Auckland with a female who rides around on her shoulder everywhere she goes, looking very serene and beautiful.
Epona
Sonic: 1 Nov 2006 - 8 Jan 2022
Yeah I know what you mean, Jasper just seemed like a 'he', so he was a 'he' to me. I wasn't going to pluck feathers or have blood drawn to have a DNA test done to check gender just for my benefit.
That's awesome that someone has an eclectus go on her shoulder everywhere, they tend to be quite shy/nervous birds, so that one must be a particularly confident one to be happy going all over the place!
That's awesome that someone has an eclectus go on her shoulder everywhere, they tend to be quite shy/nervous birds, so that one must be a particularly confident one to be happy going all over the place!
