Introduce yourself and tell us all about your family! What pets are YOU slaves to?
Diana <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

mmm, I have two cats (and a plethora of other animals) the cats normally wouldn't be considered exotic, except for their breed <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> well one of them anyway. My cat Baby, he is a Bengel ( I think I misspelled that) It's a cross between a domesticated house cat and an asian wildcat. In other words, my cat is more insane than normal <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> My other is a himalayan (once again a spelling problem) not too exotic, but she's fun

Wonderful to meet you! Any pictures you could share of your Bengel cat? Would love to see it!
What is his personality like?
Diana

sadly my digital camera is not in working order... but picture a regular tiger-striped tom cat, only the stripes are made out of lines of spots. He's psycotic. He likes to sit on the ledge above the front door and jump on everyone who comes in.... and yes, he uses his claws to catch himself when he lands. He's my baby though (I've had him since he was a few weeks old) and he cuddles with me all the time <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I must add something... Our kitchen is fairly normal, except in with our wall cabinets we have a wine rack. It's at the very top... today my cat (baby) decided that he wanted to be ON the top of THAT cabinet. but there is no counter below it... so he took a running leap from the top of my computer, caught the bottom of the cabinet with his claws, then proceded to climb his way up to the top of the cabinet ARRRRRRGGGGGGG!! (needless to say, there are claw marks all over my kitchen from him pulling stunts like this <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> )

It is amazing what they can get into. We always say everything is a kitty toy!
Diana

Well I am still out of a digital camera.. but I just found a few pics that were really cute. This is my himalayan (no not purebreed) she's really ticked off at me in this picture ( I just finished grooming her, she hates that)
[imageBellaOnline ALERT: Raw URLs are not allowed in these forums for security reasons. Please use UBB code. If you don't know how to do UBB code just post here for help - we will help out!

oh, and this is Jessica, just under a non-host name <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi.. Im Lin, just joined up here.. and was wandering around lol.. actually I'm usually moderating a fibromyalgia chat at this time of night, but,.. I took a night off...
lets see, exotic pets.. yup got some, oh by the way, I love the blue and gold in your signature!
and tons of non exotic also.. k the exotic are my 39 birds lol.. have finch, keets am. and English, conures, lots of those, cockatiels and a love bird. No macaws tho <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> ( and no amazons <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> ( and no greys <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> ( lol but someday maybe.. have in this house at the moment 13 cats.. ack.. 8 of them are my son's kittens.. they better give them away soon.. sigh! and our five cats, siamese, himalayen, sp? siamese mix, black long hair, fat black and white short hair.
oh.. and my baby, Bo a long hair doxie.. <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> )
ok, how do you get the personal avatars??? thanks
Lin <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Hey Lin, wonderful to meet you! Sounds like you have a house full. With all the birds your house must sound like springtime. I have far to many cats too, though I have never figured out for sure what is to many of anything, ask my husband <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I would like to extend a warm welcome and look forward to talking pets with you and just about anything else.

I had a very sweet guy in Australia created my macaw. He just offered out of the clear blue sky, and I was soooo tickled when I saw it. I love it. Just out of curiosity, having a zoo like I do, do you find it difficult to come up with names??? I am getting so desperate for new names, my rats were name this and that, one passed on to rat heaven and now his companion is called this minus that. Pretty pathetic, must come up with some original names. It would be fun to come up with some original names for pets.
Talk to you soon.
Diana

Jessica,
Good to see you again! Beautiful cat, and big picture:) We have a couple of digitals, and have had a lot of opportunity to compare them. When your ready let us know. Some out there are really bad while some are getting pretty close to almost great. Another words, digital cameras have a ways to go before perfection, but are certainly handy in my profession!
Diana

Hello all:
My name is John, and I am an Aviculturist - that is to say, I specialize in exotic birds - primarily Macaws. While I may know more then most people, I still don't call myself and expert, as there is always someone more qualified just a few feet away. lol

I have been a companion to a couple of Macaws, theya re:
Athena a Female Glue and Gold Macaw, with a very rare set of brown eyes. This is froma double recessive gene combination, as most B&G's eyes usually turn a slivery-grey color at about 6 months - my girl has brown eyes just like me.
She is a very intelligent, with a well developed range of emotions that are just as noticeable as if she were human, not Avian. She is my number 1 baby girl. MY first bird I ever had - I adopted her at 5 months, and now she is turning 6 this december. But I wont be there for her hatching anniversary <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> , as I am going to be busy in Australia for the next 6 months or so. I have the opportunity to go and visit some family, and get a chance to observe some species of birds only found in Aus. I am glad about that!!

I also am a companion to a wonderful and "cheeky" little Hahn's Macaw named Sylvester - the smallest of the surviving Macaw species. About 10-12 cm long and only 0.2 lbs - but he has everybit the Macaw personality of the bigger macaws. I prefer to think of Sylvester as a Macaw Boullion. While he is also a Macaw, and has soooo many traits in common with Athena, there are striking differences - the Hahn's are much more territorial then a Blue and Gold, and much more outgoing in personality.
But he is also more likely to bite and get some blood then the Blue and Gold. Whether it is Napoleon Syndrome cause he is so short, or just the fact that he has almost the same bite pressure, but spread over a much smaller area I don't know for sure. But he also has a very huge loving heart - Once HE gets to know and trust you.

Once I have Sylvester off his cage, and i do mean "his cage", I can litterally pass him to anyone and let them hold him. He will chirp away, talk to you, whisper at you, and just be a very outgoing love bug ( just don't try to take him off of me, or his cage till he really knows you.) But Athena is a different story, she usually don't step up to anyone, with about 3 exceptions, Diana being one of them.
She is very much bonded and attached to me, in just a few minutes you would be able to see just how much she does love her companion, but when she is in her cage, she is willing to play with almost anyone - as long as they know how to play with Macaws, and able to read and understand Macaws body language.

I have been working with Macaws for nearly 7 years, published some articles on the net before, and some in the old Bella Exotic Pets forum, If you have some questions, please ask, I will try to answer them as openly and honestly as possible, and If I don't know the answer, I will also let you know, but will endeavor to find out and help where I can.

During the next few weeks, I may be here sporadically, as I am in the process of getting ready to leave for Australia, but I will answer your questions.

John <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Hi
Im Alison,from yorkshire,uk.
Im new here so please excuse any mistakes i make.
Well in my house we have 2 snakes-1 garter and 1 corn snake and a couple of weeks ago i got a baby bearded dragon.
I did have anoles but a couple died,1 was egg bound and the other 2 im not completely sure,so my remaining female we gave to some-one who'd managed to keep 3 anoles quite happy,1 male and 2 females,so now he has 3 females to keep him happy.
I call my little dragon BO,i dont know why,but i just gave her a name.
Shes wonderful and eating well,but any comments from bearded dragon owners would be most welcomed.
We also have 2 dogs,a german sheperd and a rottweiler x gsd that we homed from the r.s.p.c.a.
Very much like my children or those 2,always up to mischeif.
Well sure ive bored you enough with my pets.

Thanks ally

I wish you a safe vacation. Please send us all pictures from your trip. It is wonderful to see you back in the forum. "We" will all miss you very much. Glad we will have all the umbilical cords attached via computers, it'll make this trip far less painful. Ok, not far less, but maybe a little. My two very special little friends are going through yesterdays mail for me and running the junk through the shredder <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Opps, there goes the gas bill, darn.

You mentioned smallest surviving species of macaw. Do you know of others smaller than Sly and very much about them? Just courious. Before we talked about another macaw that was now thought to be extinct, what was is spinx? The beautiful light blue macaw you posted a picture of in the past.

I'm on my way to cook veggies for my "cheeky" house guest, talking about being wrapped around a little foot.

Talk with you soon, and thank you very much for coming by the forum. Many people have questions on parrots and macaws and it is wonderful to have you vast knowledge to help.
Diana

Ally,
Welcome to Exotic Pets Bella Online!!
Never bored about hearing about others pets. Sounds like you have a happy household. Keep us all posted on your new baby bearded dragon, I think they are beautiful animals.

Can you tell us all more about a anole? It would make an interesting addition to Exotic Pets articles. Speaking of new articles, I should write a new one today. Again Welcome!
Diana

Hi
Well my gren anoles werent the sort of lizard that you can hold-not like my beloved bearded dragon BO.They're quite small,i had mine for approx 1 and half years.
The first 2 i got as a pair and they must've been happy as they mated-we saw it happening.
But then my female looked as thou she was having contractions,so we phoned vets,london zoo etc and did what was advised-putting her in a bowl of warm water,this seemed to southe her,but the next morning we found her dead.
I then got another female,as it wouldnt have been fair on my male,never saw them mating and we put thm in a bigger cage,they werent very happy,you ever saw them near each other,but then just after id ordered another female to go with them-as 1 male can live with a few females,but only 1 male hould be in,i found my male dead.I have no idea why...But just recently i found 1 of my females had died,no warning signs nothing,so i presume there was something i just wasnt getting right.
So my boyfriend knew someone who kept green anoles,so we thought it best to rehome her,as i got so down loosing my pets.
So when we decided on a bearded dragon,i got my full set up,played about with the temperature etc,then when things were right i purchased BO,who most of the time looks great,she doesnt mind being picked up,she has a warm bath-well a bowl with a few mls of water in,then she gets sprayed and stroked.
Sometimes she looks unhappy,i worry,but i hear you'll soon know if theres anything wrong as she wont eat,but shes eating great.
I got her and the crickets sweet potato which for BO i grate with some grated carrot and put calcium powder on,shes eaten that.I got her some green,cant remember off hand which one it was,but i hand fed her some,which she ate,but shes had none since,red cabbage shes not touch or the other vegs i got for her,anyone know what to recommend.
I put her food on the floor,is this wrong and if anyone knows a better way please let me know.
She eats mealworms,but not everyday,she has crickets everyday and is eating quite a few.

Any more ideas anyone please.

Thanks Ally

That is curious, were the anoles ever autopsied? What is their average life span?
Diana

Hi , my name is Allyson from MA and i'd like to say thank you to all of you for posting all of your pet info on here, i am so glad i came across this site. My poor husband never knows what i am going to bring home, and it helps to know there are others out there who just can't say no to a cute face in need of a home. i dont really own 'exotic' pets, they are pretty normal (2 dogs, 2 cats, fish, parakeets, hamster, fish, bunnies, chickens) but i do have a bull,(his name is Moo Montana) and he gets a ton of attention because he's trained! he is truly a dog at heart, so sshhh please dont tell him he is over 2000 lbs! ive got pictures of all of my pets, including him, but i'm not sure how to upload them onto this posting. He's got typical black and white cow-like markings, and is often mistaken for a cow, until they see his giant horns. I took my children to watch a cow give birth at a milking farm, and when he was discovered to be male, the farmer instructed his assistant to take him out back (they had enough bulls and only wanted milkers) he was to be sent to butcher immediately. Well, i said no way jose, and we made the farmer promise to keep him for 2 days so i could get set up, and i went back and brought him home in my ford explorer and bottle fed him for 4 months every 3-4 hours. he has never been around anything but humans and dogs, hence him believing he is a dog. He comes when called, moo's at us for attention, loves to be brushed, runs along side the kids, walks on a leash and kicks a ball! please consider that all of these animals big or small have intelligence, personality and feelings. My kids have learned so much from this pet. He is a real sweetheart.

I am in the same boat, my family is never sure what I will bring home. We all have a great deal to learn from our critter friends. They have much to show us, like how to get along, how not to distroy the earth, ect.
Diana

Well, Im new to the exotic Pet forum, and I can't say I've got much to tell.

My name is Megan and Im from Canada. Im 15 years old and just starting to smuggle pets into my room. I have two beautiful betta fish. One is a Blue Veil tail named Tie, and the other is a bright, vibrant red, and I named him Pon. I had another red boy, but he was a jumper, so I check TWICE to make sure the lids are down...

I just got a hamster a week ago. She's gray, furry and F-A-T. I named her Hooch. She's got such a personality. Such as pooping in her food and sleeping UNDER her wheel. *rolls eyes*

I had a tortoise Shell cat. Her name was Ginger. then Porky, but she, ummm, disappeared last April. I think she got into a fight. For a while I hid a stray tom cat in my barn. He was such a sweetie. Followed me everywhere. He was Frank, but he went missing the same time as Porky <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Living outside, I have a purebred Siberian Husky named Rex. He has the most beautiful blue eyes. He can do the following tricks: Sit, Shake-a-paw, Shake the other paw, lay down, and speak. Not only in English, but by hand signals and in French. He's my precious pup.

Thats all, but Im trying to find a way to get a hedgehog in this summer.

Muahahahah <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Love hedgehogs! They are sooo cute. Tell me more about betta fish. They look so lonely in their little bowls, I know they can be together but their enviroment seems like it should be bigger.

We just had a tiny kitten dropped off at the ranch, talking abut beautiful. But, it is so skinny. We are nursing it back, in fact it played a little today. We have so many animals dropped off here. Don't people realize these are domestic animals and can not fend for themselves?

It is great to meet you. Look forward to many conversatons!

Diana

Well, the betta's have a personality all to themselves. Tie, unfortunately is sick atm, and is lethargic. I keep mine in 1/2 gallon tanks with gravel and a plant, and them seem happy (they blow their bubble nests). Anything smaller is no good, unless its just a hopital tank. Male bettas HAVE to be separated, and it's sad, but you can get a 5 gal. and put a divider in it and keep two males like that... boy does it look pretty. Even keeping a male and a female together is risky. The male will harass the female so badly that she'll eventually die <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

They are said to be the easiest to take care of, not to mention CHEAP! But let me tell you, when they get sick, it's pricey. Today I bought a bottle of Melafix and 2 bottles of Bettaplus (stress coat) at walmart for 13$. Then I got a bucket to mix a medical cocktail in, and it cost 5$... the list could be endless. But when they stay healthy, they run 4-8$ to buy, and 12$ for a Hagen Betta Starter Kit, which keeps them well


If you want to know more, check out the betta thread on the fish board <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I had to think how very special our families are for accepting all the pets we manage to drag home. In just the last week three more cats were dumped off at the Ranch. Meaning the price of an extra bag of Authority making our budget for just cats around 200 a month. We were happy when we found a home for a tiny kitten that was nothing but skin and bones. We went to the vet at PetSmart and the vet tech there took here right in, thrill to have her. Now we have a pug faced calico, nothing like anything I have seen before. She is beautiful. The third cat is also a kitten maybe 2 1/2 months old. Very skittish yet, but will now come up on the porch where we are sitting.
Introduce yourselves and tell us about your animal children!

Please introduce your pet and yourself. I would love to get to know you!!!

My name is Calla and I have a companion skunk and two sun conures. You have a bunch of articles up already! I hope more people introduce themselves because I would really like to meet some more exotic pet type people.

My name is Karen. We have 5 iguanas, 4 of them are rescues. We have 2 of the 4 rescues up for adoption.

You know the first word that comes to mind when thinking of an iguana is � majestic. I applaud what you are doing. You are the solution to the problem. In a general sort of way can you tell us how they ended up in your care? It was wonderful to meet you and your family. Thank you for posting.

I forgot to introduce my self. I am George I appreciate life and love exotic animals.

I am George, Diana's husband. We have had a lot of good friend in this forum. I was hoping to bring this thread forward and see if some of these fine folks don't come out of the wood work. It would be fun to see how everyone is doing and how their pets are dong. &quot;It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes&quot; Salley Field

I have merged the two introduction threads especially since this is my old thread from way back when; and, a second thread was created upon my return. I thought it would be nice to get the introductions in one location.

I wish I knew my account from way back when this tread started. I just signed back up when you came back.It is almost impossible to find information on an account once you change an email address Calla

Gosh everyone is shy around here - I want to hear your voice! I just noticed a post I made many years ago in this very tread. After having so many pets over so many years how hard it is to come up with orginal names. How do you name your pets?

Looking forward to hearing from you

I love your emails but I would sure like to see some introductions coming in. We would all love to meet each other. Kodos for those that get out of their shy attacks.

Well, I'm new to this board, and from Maine. This year marked the introduction of pet rats into our lives---possibly the best pets ever---I am happy to find that at my age I can still be changed! It was a long and deep snow winter. The business of being housebound so long may have played a part. But even more than that, it seems our hearts were open, too. Not really shy, but sometimes I have too much to tell, and don't know where to start. I'll begin with this for now. Rats have managed to steal my heart this year, but not quite enough to steal me away from our great dog, Pepper, who is getting up there.

Rat Dad,

Wonderful to hear from you welcome to the exotic pet forum! I feel very much the same about rats; they have a way to taking over your heart. They are sweet, loving, and intelligent. I would love to learn more about your kids including Pepper.

How did you get interested in rats at the beginning?

[quote=Diana-Exotic Pets Editor]Rat Dad, Wonderful to hear from you welcome to the exotic pet forum! I feel very much the same about rats; they have a way to taking over your heart. They are sweet, loving, and intelligent. I would love to learn more about your kids including Pepper. How did you get interested in rats at the beginning? [/quote] Definitely to do with the winter, and the fact we had our son's girlfriend staying with us ( she had no place to go all winter) and the two of them started with gerbils, then a hampster. We weren't sure we wanted rodents, as they have been nothing but trouble to our old farm house over the years. Still, they all had their appeal. Then, one day when I got in from work, my son was holding up this bi-colored little beast with its arms and feet spread out in the way that I now know rats do when first picked up---he said it was a rat, being given away to a good home. It came from Petco, and a young woman there who, like us, hates seeing these creatures fed to snakes. So she was able to head Cassie, our first rat, our way. I fell for her at once. I'd never seen such an agreeable, easy to please, and eager to please animal in my life, excepting dogs, but Cassie acted this way from the first moment. I warned you this is a long story! So I may have to fill in the details later. So next came Rose, (butterscotch) Dusty (brown agouti who I think is a survivor of a snake encounter, which does terrible things to their psychology, but who we have helped.) Then we adopted old Rascal from a neighbor we never knew, who didn't want him any more. :( Big, squishy lap rat, much older than we thought, but we were blessed with 4 precious months with Rascal.) Then Mac, who we sadly just lost to an inner ear infection, a wonderful boy, and then the two Noisy Boys from Mainely Rat Rescue (we live in Maine,) Plink and Twang. Depending on how much anyone really wants to know, I can post links to Picasa albums I'm creating, and of course hammer away at the keyboard. I, and the rest of my family, are adicted to these little angels.

That is really special. I would love to see the Picasa albums. If you want to post your pet pictures email them to me with their names. I can post the for you if you don't have online storage. Then I will send you the page link so that you can use them.

Wow. With winter suddenly hitting Maine, and two snowstorms later, I realized it's been over a week. Sorry. Well, I'm just starting the Picasa albums, but with more time on my hands I'll put together more. What's there now is one album for Rascal and one for Mac. I just started one for our two Noisy Boys, our adoptees from Mainely Rat Rescue. But it will grow. They all have such personality.I have the pics ready and resized for the others, just a matter of putting them up. I'm not sure I did this right. I need to learn this new (to me) forum's ways! http://picasaweb.google.com/plantman42 [url=http://picasaweb.google.com/plantman42]Our Fast-Growing Rat Albums[/url]

Email me from my bio page, I will send you my personal email, then you can send me the pics and I will put them up for you. I think that is the only way it can be done. I will send the url where the pics are at so you can put them up else where as well.
Diana