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I just added the 95th article written by me since Sept this year, I am certainly open to suggestions. What would you like to see that I have missed? What would you like to see more of? I would love to have your feedback; it would help a great deal.

Stay safe!
Hey Diana,
I did a search on this, but didn't come up with anything, so I'm not sure if you've already covered this subject. It's about what are called "teacup" Yorkshire Terriers. This dog is not an exotic pet, but some breeders have tried to make it that by mating the "runts" of litters to create these terribly small dogs.

Many of them only reach an adult weight of only 2 or 3 lbs. and this is unhealthy for the animal, and creates all kinds of problems. Not the least of which is that often fall prey to larger animals and are an easy target for hunting birds as well.

I got a Yorkie last Christmas, a standard one, and in the books I have about this breed it says that many vets and breeders alike are warning people about buying this "teacup" yorkie. There is no such sub-breed, and this is just being used as a way to put outrageous prices on these tiny animals. One of my books says there is a growing movement aiming to outlaw forcing these dogs to be so tiny.

I've been telling people I know about this since I got my little dog - who, at 7.5 lbs is already small enough!

Stay healthy,

Nancy Welker
BellaOnline Yoga Editor
I observed what happened to dogs that were bred too small. My cousin bought a tiny poodle, don�t even remember the term used but it was smaller than a teacup. The poor little thing fell off the couch at their house and broke its neck. The dog was taken to the veterinarian, they were told to keep it in a kennel about as small as it was. The dog�s neck healed and it survived. It almost didn�t survive when it visited me in Northern Minnesota. We had all kinds of birds of prey, primarily bald eagles. I told them not to let the dog down by itself, I caught one out of the corner of my eye and managed to startle the bird and the eagle missed. They took me serious after that incident. In my opinion, it is cruel to animals to breed that small. It isn�t right.

Though your suggestion is an excellent one and a topic that warrants an article and discussion I feel I would be stepping on Sandy�s toes. All the animal topics can easily fall under exotic. There are some cats that are surely exotic. But, I am using the definition of exotic pet as not being a domestic dog or a domestic cat. See, that word domestic covers my rear endy too just in case I feel the need to cover an exotic species within cat. It would be the same thing as people having fox or wolves as pets, which would surely come under exotic.

Thank you for your suggestion, I hope this dialogue can continue on this thread � it is an interesting discussion. Even the definition of what is an exotic pet has proven to be a great debatable topic.
lorrys squirrel genet more repitles oh, and you have conures will you eventually do something on sun conures?
I vote for the Ragdoll cat that is certainly exotic isn't it? So few people know about the them and their gentle nature.
Lory is up, squirrel is written, genet I am researching, the ragdoll stole my blanket last night so am not talking to her lol....MORE suggestions!
I don't see anything on guinea pigs yet. How about the frill lizard or dragon?
Yah, how did you miss guinea pigs?
Guinea pigs I remember writing it quite a few weeks ago. I just never got around to getting it up online. I will do it tomorrow. If I remember right it is an awfully long one, I may need to make it into a few. Complex little critters. Got to make sure we have enough information to keep them happy, healthy, and wise.
Guinea pigs made it out! Try something difficult like crayfish :)
Ok, you got crayfish. I am working on reptiles.
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