Answering your animal queries
Check out this funny little comic type factoid about the Mantis Shrimp… shared to me by a friend. It’s funny but also interesting and informative. This little animal embodies both the light and the dark side!
NB.
The information provided is not my work; just of interest to me, and therefore shared.
Over 8 posts, I am going to go through cat breeds, and cover some basic titbits about the breeds; a little bit of history surrounding the breed, including the original use for the breed, and some other interesting facts.
This, the first, post will cover A-C of cat breeds. In the follow-up posts I will look into cat breeds from D-F, G-I, J-L, M-O, P-R, S-V, and W-Z… basically I am doing an A-Z of cat breeds, covering 1-3 breeds per letter.
If I do not cover the breed of your cat in this post, and you would like me to; please leave the breed in the thoughts comment box below, or post it via the contact page, or get in touch via any social media pages listed at the end of each post – this way I can include your breed in another post (either the follow-up, or a repeat with different breeds). Do the same if you want more information than I have provided on any particular cat breed, or if you would like to share a photo of your cat(s)!
Country of Origin: Originally believed to be Ethiopia (f.k.a. Abyssinia – hence the name); now believed to be along the Coast Egypt
Lifespan: 14/15 years Breed Size: Medium
Fur Length: Shorthair Colour(s): Ruddy, sorrel, chocolate, lilac, blue, fawn and silver
Breed History: Officially first recorded in Britain in 1882. One of the first was Zula; she was the first of this breed to be brought over from Abyssinia – this was in the 1860’s, by Captain Barrett-Leonard. The breed standard was set in 1889, which makes the Abyssinian breed one of the earliest (recorded) pedigree breeds. This breed has always been a companion, and a show (pedigree) breed.
Outstanding Physical Trait: The Abyssinian cat has large, tufted ears – giving it a look of alertness. All colour varieties have ‘ticked’ coats – the most common colour (Ruddy) is a golden colour with black ‘ticks’.
Country of Origin: America (as the name suggests)
Lifespan: 12/13 years Breed Size: Medium
Fur Length: Shorthair and Longhair Colour(s): All colours
Breed History: Originally, it is believed to be, the offspring of a short-tailed brown tabby cat and a seal-point Siamese. This breed was then developed, and the breed standard written and rewritten, until today’s breed standard and the breed pictured below was achieved.
Outstanding Physical Trait: The ‘bobbed’ tail – measuring approximately one-third to on half of the length of an average cat’s tail.
Country of Origin: America
Lifespan: 10-15 years Breed Size: Medium
Fur Length: Shorthair Colour(s): Orange/brown, or white
Breed History: Said to be a cross between a domestic cat and the Asian Leopard Cat in the late 1880’s – early 1900’s. Today’s Bengal cats are said to be the produce of the offspring of these wild X domestic; however not retaining any wild cat DNA in current breeding lines.
Outstanding Physical Trait: Markings giving a “wild” appearance with large spots/ rosettes, and a pale underside.
Country of Origin: France
Lifespan: 19/20 years Breed Size: Medium
Fur Length: Shorthair; double-coat Colour(s): Blue or Silver
Breed History: The true origin is unknown, however the theories surrounding this breed are;
– the breed is thought to have been name after the Carthusian monks (of South Africa),
– or after the Spanish wool, Chartreux Pile (due to their dense, woolly coat),
– or that they originated from Iranian mountains, hence the need for the thick coat.
In the late 1920’s they started to be selectively bred in Europe, which led to the breed standard we know today; being officially recognised in American in 1970.
Outstanding Physical Trait: Due to the shape of the head, and the roundness of the face, this breed appears to be smiling – and is known for its’ “smile”.
All images are open source, Google images, or my own – or photos donated for use by the pet owners.
If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of my social media pages…
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In 2014 I covered A-Z of dog breeds, with some basic facts and other titbits. The posts covering the A-Z of dog breeds can be found by clicking the lettered categories A-C, D-F, G-I, J-L, M-O, P-R, S-V, and W-Z – in which the breed you’re searching for is found in.
If the breed you’re looking for has not been covered, but you would like it covering, please get in touch, using the information in bold at the end of this post.
Following on from dog breeds, I will now (over 8 weeks) cover cat breeds.
If you have a cat, and would like me to include the breed in the upcoming post, please get in touch with the breed of your cat, using the information in bold below.
If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of my social media pages…
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Tortoises, or land turtles, are one of the most popular reptile species which are keep as pets. Nowadays, we have a bit more knowledge about these unusual animals, which allows us to take the best care of them that we can!
Tortoise species which are kept domestically, typically have lifespans of 60-80 years. Lifespans differ between species.
As previously mentioned in my Reptile Awareness 2015 post, reptiles are endothermic (cold blooded) and need to bask in the heat, to absorb heat, to get moving! A heat source needs to be fitted in the vivarium (enclosure) for this purpose – but at one end of the vivarium, and far enough away from the other end, that your tortoise can move into a cool spot when it likes. The natural source of heat is the sun, which naturally also provides UV, in a domestic environment, in the vivarium, a UV bulb should also be fitted. UV is a good source of vitamin D which aids in shell and bone development and growth. Without adequate heat and UV, your pet may become ill, or worse.
On a personal level, I would not recommend heat rocks or mats for any reptile species, as these can get very hot – if the animal is lay on a heat rock or mat when it’s too hot, it could cause harmful burns.
Before looking into diet, you need to know if the species of your tortoise is a herbivore or a carnivore. If it is a carnivore, ensure you know what you can and cannot feed your pet – including sizes (likely food source will be pinkies (newborn mice)). Most pet tortoise species (at least, that I have had the pleasure of caring for since I was 16) are herbivores. As with any herbivorous animal, you need to know what fruit and veggies and other greens are safe to feed your tortoise, and which are not!
Also, pellet foods supplement a diet vegetables and fruits and other greens; the pellets are filled with balanced nutritional requirements suitable for the tortoise species. The diet should also include fibrous plants like grasses and weeds.
Good greens, veggies and fruits include white nettle, dandelion (flower and leaves), corn poppy, apple, chickweed, bindweeds, chicory, clover, heather, sow thistle, rose petals, fuchsia, nipplewort, peach, clover, grape, honeysuckle, bittercress, melon, blackberry, raspberry, knapweed, leafy salads, lettuce, apricot, watercress, curly kale, brussel tops, dahlia, spring greens, pumpkin, coriander, parsley, rocket, carrot, parsnip, strawberry, carrot, tomato, kale, courgette, cabbage, and bell peppers. Leafy greens should be the bulk of the vegetation.
Don’t forget to provide fresh water daily for your tortoise, don’t put the water bowl under the heat lamp, to ensure your pet has cool water to drink. Tortoises like to bathe too, and will often sit in their water bowl .
The best types to buy are the bowls with ramps/staggered sides to enable your tortoise to easily climb in and out – not that they will always use the ramp! Often they will bathe themselves when they are shedding (they shed in bits like a lizard, not all in one like a snake), to help remove dead skin and relieve itching.
Tortoises have always been quite popular, however, some things that previous generations have done with their pet tortoises, were (unknowingly) not in the best interests of the animal… Such as, painting the shell – this is a big do not as the paint can block the air holes in the shell, and cause suffocation. Some tortoise species will go into hibernation during the winter months, they will wake come spring-time – your pet is not dead, and does not need to be buried or disposed of!
If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of my social media pages…
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Happy Reptile Awareness Day!
Reptiles come in all sorts of shapes and sizes; colours and textures; habitats and countries… Even within one species type the diversity is vast! All reptiles are ectothermic – this means they cannot generate their own heat; and must warm up using external heat sources, to enable them to move around and function. Alligators, Crocodiles, Caymans, Komodo Dragons and other large reptiles, are often shown on Nature Documentaries sat out in the sun to warm themselves up to start the day. The sun is the main source of heat for wild reptiles; as well as sitting on rocks and other surfaces that have been warmed by the sun. Reptiles kept as pets have various sources of heat on offer for their vivarium (tank) – heat mats and rocks are popular, however can be dangerous as the animal can get too hot and stick to these and overheat (often fatally). The best source of heat (in my opinion) are heat lamps, sectioned off from the animal, so that the animal cannot come into direct contact and harm itself.
Lizards come in many colours (many can change colour), different scale types, even legless! A lizard is defined differently from a snake because they have eyelids and (internal) ears. Snakes come in a variety of colours and scale types also; snakes do no have eyelids or legs or ears (internal or external). Snakes ‘hear’ through their jaw by feeling vibrations. Personally, from handling both legless lizards such as the Glass lizard and various snake species including the Corn snake; I find a big difference between the two is how fluid and graceful the movements of a snake are – how they will curl around your arm and up your neck so smoothly, and how a legless lizard is very much the same in its’ movement as a lizard with legs – moving a bit less fluidly, it always made me think that the movements seem jerky on a legless lizard, but fitting to a lizard with legs. Don’t get me wrong, a legless lizard moves around perfectly well in its’ own way, as it was designed to do – but the movement between a snake, a legless lizard, and a legged lizard are varied and unique, and perfect in their own way.
Chameleons have feet uniquely shaped to grip trees and twigs perfectly; Geckos have ‘sticky’ or ‘sucky’ feet to grip a wide variety of surfaces, Bearded Dragons have long nails well adapted for clinging to surfaces, and for digging. Turtles – sea and land (aka tortoise) – move rather slowly in comparison to most reptiles when on land. Land turtles or tortoises have claws for digging, and legs for walking; Sea turtles move brilliantly in the water with flippers for swimming and gliding in the water, however are poor movers on land – despite this they manage to move onto beaches and dig nests every year for laying. Terrapins have feet in between the two – they have little claws on webbed feet; moving fairly equally on land and in water. Alligators and Crocodiles (and the like) move swiftly in the water, making it their home for most of the time.
There are many, many reptile species – feel free to contact me with any question about any species, and I will respond to the best of my knowledge.
Please enjoy below the images (either my own or Google Open Source) of various reptiles species.
It’s Batman Day! Now for those who know me, it’s no secret that I love Batman and the whole world of Gotham! The comics (in my opinion) are epic – DC I applaud you.
In the spirit of Batman Day, I am doing a short post on the creatures that inspired Bruce Wayne to become Batman – become what you fear… and what did Batman fear? – Bats!
Na na na na na na Bat-Facts!…
All images are open source, Google images – not my own.
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The scientific name for this arachnid is Poecilotheria metallica. Some other names for this blue beauty include; Gooty sapphire ornamental tree spider, Gooty sapphire tarantula, Metallic tarantula, and Peacock tarantula. This tarantula is so named due to the location of the only known habitat of the species – this tarantula species is (so far) known to inhabit a protected forest in the town of Gooty, India. The known distribution of this rare species is less than 39 square miles.
The blue colour is more intense in males than females. The young start off as more of a lavender colour, which gradually becomes blue, and then gets more intense into adulthood – as seen in the image above, the juvenile still retains the lavender colour, but has already begun to change to blue.
Adults grow up to 6-8 inches (14.5-20 cm) in length, on average. The Gooty Tarantula matures between 1-2 years old; and can live anywhere between 12-30 years – living longer in the wild (up to 30 years), with shorter captive lifespans (averaging 12 years old).
As you can see by the image above, this is an arboreal tarantula species – meaning that they live off the ground, in the trees and plants (as opposed to being a terrestrial species; living on the ground/ in the undergrowth). The species is so rare, that it is classed as critically endangered on the Endangered Species List. This species was thought to be extinct for 102 years; it was rediscovered in Gooty in 2001.
All images are open source, Google images – not my own.
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Tail chasing can be a harmless behaviour; however, when performed regularly, and encouraged, can become a behavioural problem (and even damaging to the health of your dog).
Tail chasing (see video) often starts when the dog is young. When you have a puppy, and it is playing and bouncing around and being adorable and silly – and it chases that waggy thing behind it, and the pup is running in circles trying to catch that wild tail! You sit watching this cute display; cooing and talking to the puppy in your excited voice (you know the one I mean)! This, to your puppy, is encouraging the behaviour.
Try, despite how adorable it can be in a young dog, to discourage this behaviour. If you don’t, this behaviour may lead to obsessive compulsive behaviour or damaging attention seeking behaviour in your adult dog. The word compulsive is used to describe the repetitive, irresistible urge to perform a behaviour. Discourage this behaviour as a puppy, and throughout the life of your dog, to reduce the likelihood of this behaviour problem occurring.
Adult dogs with obsessive tenancies can become obsessed with catching their tail, and if they do, they can obsessively chew. The behaviour does not necessarily have a purpose to it, however the dog feels the need to perform it anyway – even past the point of pain. This can be severely damaging to the health of the dog, as obsessive chewing can occur past the point of pain and cause series damage (which can be a behavioural problem in and of itself). A dog who repeatedly performs a compulsive behaviour may find that it gets in the way of normal activity – normal life. Tail chasing becomes the primary need in the life of the dog – so much so that the dog may lose weight, due to missing meals performing the behaviour; the dog may become lethargic/ exhausted, due to staying awake more to perform the behaviour; the dog my become anxious when not performing the behaviour.
This type of behaviour is more likely to develop in dogs whose living conditions cause stress/ anxiety. Dogs in situations where they are stressed; which can contribute to the compulsive disorders developing. Such as; dogs who spend a lot of time tied up, or confined to living in small areas, or a dog experiencing social issues – long separation from a companion or discord in social relationships, for example. Dogs with the opportunity to perform normal dog behaviour, or do not get the chance to socialise with people and other animals can succumb to obsessive, compulsive behaviour. Alternatively, there could be an underlying medical issue causing the behaviour.
Seek advice from your vet if you suspect that your dog has an obsessive behaviour – your vet may refer you to a dog behaviourist. Your vet will also be able to tell you if the behaviour is being caused by a health issue, and treat any health problems caused by the behaviour.
Image is open source, Google images. The video is a YouTube video, from the search result of “dog tail chasing”. The image and video are NOT my own.
If you have any questions or comments; please post a comment below, or contact Ali’s Answers via one of my social media pages…
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Assistance dog week is about recognising the hard work and effort put in by assistance dogs on a daily basis; and appreciating the new lease on life they give to those they assist.
Assistance dogs are not just a companion; but a carer. The person needs to put so much trust in their assistance dog, just to do the daily activities that most of us take for granted!
I know from being led around an obstacle course, by a brilliant guide dog, at a dog show; trusting this assistant dog to keep me safe, was really hard. Obviously time builds up trust; but having the courage to put your trust in these assistant animals is something the people they assist have to do. Once the bond and trust is established, it’s well worth it (at least in my opinion)!
Guide dogs assist blind people; they learn how to think of leading around, and looking out for, a person – someone a lot taller than themselves. Obstacles that the dog could easily manoeuvre has be thought about by the dog from a human point of view; can my human navigate this obstacle? If yes, they will proceed. If no, they will find an alternate route. Knowing hazards and dangers that we take in the stride of daily life, need to be learned by the dog. Knowing the daily activities, that would not normally pose a hazard in daily life, need to be learnes how to navigate. Things such as; knowing when it’s safe to cross the road, standing a safe distance from the edge of a train platform, knowing how to get to and from home from various locations, and much more.
Mostly it is the Labrador that takes on this role, also commonly used is the Alsatian. For blind people with allergies to dog fur, the Labradoodle is being considered, as it does not moult.
Guide dogs wear bright yellow harnesses with a metal bar for the blind person to hold, when the dog is working. When a guide dog is just on a lead, it knows it’s off duty for the time being.
Hearing dogs assist deaf people around the home, and out and about. Hearing dogs learn various visual displays to signal different noises – the deaf person needs to learn what signal means what, so the lesson can take the appropriate action. For instance, the signal for the doorbell going and the signal for the fire alarm going off – not 2 signals you want to mix up!
Hearing dogs wear a plumb/ purple harness with a lead. Most commonly, hearing dogs are (Cocker) Spaniels, due to their brilliant hearing. However, the Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel x Poodle) is increasingly being used these days; beneficial for deaf people with dog allergies, due to not moulting.
Dogs for the disabled can be any breed really; often larger breeds such as, Labrador or Golden Retriever as larger breeds can reach things higher up. However, your pet dog can become a Dog for the disabled, if you suddenly require one, and would prefer your current companion; the smallest I have seen in this instance was a Miniature Poodle.
Dogs for the disabled do everything required for the person; from helping with the shopping to helping with laundry to just opening a door.
There is no doubt how much these dogs help and enrich the lives of those they assist – and we’ll worthy of a week of recognition!
This Assistance Dogs Short Documentary video is part of a documentary, which just gives a better idea of how assistance dogs help the lives of those they assist. This is not my video; the link is to a public YouTube video.
More of a re-discovery, than a new discovery; this little bird was thought to be extinct for the past 70+ years! Previously, the last sighting of this bird was in 1941! It was first discovered by British naturalist T.C. Jerdon, in 1862.
Their habitat was diminished by the development of local communities; with humans building on the habitat they had demolished. The Myanmar Jerdon’s Babbler lives in grasslands and floodplains, in Myanmar.
This bird is small (like a Sparrow), measuring 16-17cm in length; brown in colour, with a pale underside. The Myanmar Jerdon’s Babbler has a distinctive call, which is what led the team to the re-discovering of this little creature – the call was heard, recorded, and played back; resulting in a reply from the bird itself! The team has estimated there to be a population of approximately 10,000.
Hopefully, this once ‘extinct’ species will continue to rise, and make a come-back!
