Baby Sugar Glider Basic Care

Other than avoiding dehydration, the most important thing when caring for a newborn sugar glider, as with any infant, is keeping it warm. Baby sugar gliders are too small to be able to generate enough body heat to maintain a temperature around 80 - 85 Fahrenheit - the optimum for growth and comfort. The following Pocket Pets tips will mean your baby sugar glider shouldn’t have to suffer in this important stage of life.

When carrying your Sugar Glider with you, keeping it as close to your body as you can will provide an almost perfect source of heat. The chest area is the best option; for example, use a chest pocket or Walkabout bonding pouch. Protecting your new charge from the elements with the usual amount of outer clothing depending on the day’s or your region’s climate will suffice in keeping it warm.

The other challenge is making sure the sugar glider is getting enough heat while indoors, at home with you. The Pocket Pets Starter Kit includes an electric heat rock, which acts like an electric blanket for your baby sugar glider. This is an excellent and safe method to provide the necessary heat for your animal. Install the rock in the cage by making a hole for the cable to exit the cage wall and pull the rock up to the hole to minimize the amount of cable inside the cage. Cover the rock with a piece of material, e.g. from an old t-shirt, and plug the device in. Your sugar glider will not overheat by spending too much time basking on the rock like a lizard but can choose the distance, from the rock, at which it rests and sleeps to obtain the heat it needs using the material as bedding.

Training Your Dog To Lay Down On Command

Training your dog to obey commands is an important part of pet ownership . When your dog is properly trained, it is much easier for you to communicate with him and this enhances your relationship. In addition to making him mind you, it may even help save your pet from harm or danger.

Dogs want your praise, so using positive reinforcement when training your dog or puppy is the best approach. Hitting or yelling rarely works, and besides who wants to hit or yell at their dog anyway?

The “down” or “lay down” command is one of the basic commands and should be one of the first things you teach your dog once he learns to sit on command. It is not hard to train a dog to obey commands and once you have done one command, it gets even easier as the process is basically the same for each. Here’s some steps you can use to teach your dog to lay down on command:

1. Get the dog to sit (you should have already trained him in this command)

2. Firmly give the “down” command while gently forcing his legs out in front (this will cause him to lay down).

3. Give your dog praise. Show him you are really happy with your voice and body language.

4. At first the dog will get right back up, but as time goes on you can lengthen the time the dog stays in the down position by waiting to give him praise.

5. Repeat three to five times at each session. Repetition is important but you don’t want to do too much at one time. If you really want to drill it in, you can have several sessions spaced out throughout the day.

There’s more rewards than meets the eye with training your dog. For one the dog gets used to listening to his name. He also will get used to doing things on your command. All in all, training strengthens your positions - you as leader and helps the dog feel secure. Spend a couple of minutes each day training your dog. This will help cement your friendship.

About the Author

Get more dog training tips and find out which dogs are easier to train at http://www.train-the-dog.com

Feeding Bettas

Feeding Bettas

Knowing the right way to feed your betta is fundamental, because not doing it right can have big consequences on your bettas health. Nothing is more stressful than dealing with a sick fish, right? So, let’s do it right, and get rid from the calamity!

Here are some golden rules on feeding your betta.

First, select the proper food. Bettas are selective eaters. A betta specific pellet is ok, but live and frozen foods are preferable. The recommended diet includes frozen brine shrimp and frozen bloodworms.

The next rule is to not overfeed your Bettas. Carefully dose the meals, because even if the fish ate all you give him, he will produce so much more waist when overfed and the pollution level of the jar he is in will go beyond safe range, this problem is smaller if you keep your betta in a larger aquarium. Remember not to leave uneaten food in the Aquarium! Once your betta and rest of the fish is done eating, you must remove all uneaten left over food. If you do not remove it, it will punctually rot and cause havoc in the tank.

Bettas prefer to eat from the upper parts of the water column. They don’t really enjoy eating from the bottom of the tank. So before dropping the food in the tank, make sure you have his attention. Let him see the food, get it close to his face from the outside of the aquarium, let him check out what it is, and then there you go! Drop food in front of his nose. The best way is to drop a tiny bit of food–about 6 frozen brine shrimp, watch the bettas eat it all and then look at the belly, if it looks the same as it did before you fed, it’s ok to give them more, but always watch and make sure to make the second portion smaller than the first.

Your betta should go for the food right away, but if not, watch where the food sinks, and what the betta does. If more than 15 min he has not eaten the food yet, remove the food. Never let the water go cloudy. If it is already, then change it, as cloudy water will threaten your betta’s health. Normally, small bowls or containers should be changed at least twice a week. Larger tank can be changed once a week. And notice if the ammonia and nitrite levels are up the roof, because both are very bad for your Betta. Also be wary of harmful bacteria they can ruin your fish life, but don’t kill of all bacteria in the aquarium since a lot of bacteria is essential for a well functioning aquarium.

During the pre-spawning period you can feed a wide variety of food, including blackworms, Grindal worms, fruit flies, brine shrimp, mosquito larvae and frozen blood worms (all are life except the frozen blood worms). During this period the adult fish may be fed 4 times per day or more depending on how close the fish are to being placed into the spawning tank.

You can start feeding your betta fry, 5 days after the spawning. Feed the fry several times per day, using a variety of foods (infusoria, boiled egg yolk, baby brine shrimp…) made up of small particles.

About the Author

William Berg Has over 20 years of aquarium experience. He runs the website http://www.aquaticcommunity.com which features a lot of information about bettas
aswell as other fish such as cichlids, predatory fish and crayfish.