Today's a new day.

[elephantnose3334]

I'm not really interested in padulariums, I just get cross with the old "bettas live in puddles in the wild so tiny tanks are fine for them" thing.

Understood. How's your shrimp been? Just checking on them because I just wanted to know if they're okay.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Hi @Colin_T,

The Canning Vale LFS is holding paludarium classes and gives UP Aqua (not Bioscape) paludariums to people to create in-store. The one I will be picking is a 60 x 35 x 36cm paludarium ($430, I will spend it with my own money) with 14cm height for the water level and the remaining 22cm for the plants. It holds 29L of water and I was wondering if a betta could fit in the paludarium. I choose the bigger one over the 9L paludarium ($280) because it has more room for the betta and more stable water quality. Classes start at 5:15pm. The one I will go to is on 4 April, but hasn't been confirmed by me and the family yet. The LFS said they have a few 60cm ones to use, so I'll use the 60cm one to my advantage. Here is the link to the paludarium:

UP AQUA TK Semi Aquascape Tank (Paludarium Aquarium w/ Foam Background)SA-60G (60 x 35 x 36cm)

Paludarium tanks are used to create a unique and natural-looking display of aquatic and terrestrial life in a single setup. They provide a suitable environment for a wide range of organisms such as aquatic plants, fishes, terrapins, or frogs, that thrive in a semi-aquatic habitat. Paludarium...

eastoceansg.com

So Colin, any tips on maintaining a paludarium? I'm new to paludariums and although I have kept aquaria for a year, I want to try something new in the fishkeeping hobby. I'm improving on water changes in an aquarium, and I might try to do water changes in a paludarium. Are there special stuff in the paludarium I might add? I like aquaria and paludariums equally, so I am trying my very best in looking after them.

 

[Colin_T]

@Colin_T, can I discuss about your dogs, Chloe (kelpie) and Snuffy (Papillion) in here? Snuffy was much smaller than Chloe. Did the dogs have unique behaviours that other dogs don't have? I don't know why Chloe was declared as dangerous by the city council. I used to like dogs a lot.

Chloe was an extremely smart dog, much smarter than any dog I ever met and smarter than a lot of people I have met. We had a connection and she could read me like a book and I knew what she wanted just by looking at her and most of the times I didn't even have to look at her or even be in the room with her to know she wanted something. She didn't make a noise or whine or anything, I just got a feeling and would check and she needed something. There were times I thought she needed to go outside and I would go out of my room and she would be by the back door waiting to go out. She knew how to open the sliding door to let herself in but couldn't open it to get out because of the design of the door.

Both dogs worked out how to open automated sliding doors. I took the dogs to the library to return some books and got them to wait outside. I never had them on a lead because they didn't run off. I went into the library and was waiting by the counter to return the books when the papillon walked up to the doors to see me. The door opened so she came inside. The doors closed and the kelpie said I can't wait out here alone, so she walked up to the doors and sat down, the door opened and she came in too. From then on they both knew they could go into a building with automatic doors simply by walking up to the door and waiting for it to open. They did it at shopping centres, the library and various other buildings.

Chloe could hunt and was extremely patient. I watched her stalk ducks or pigeons and she would spend 20-30 minutes moving about 10 meters towards it. She would crouch down and keep her tail down and wait then crawl forward one or two steps before freezing. This continued until she was ready to pounce. Snuffy on the other hand didn't have any patience and would just charge in running after anything there. When that happened Chloe would look at Snuffy for a moment and then walk away (I could swear she was shaking her head too). Snuffy would be running around chasing the birds who eventually take flight.

Chloe used to stick her head underwater and pull things out of the river or ocean. She would walk around looking in the water and feeling about with her feet, like a racoon does. When she found something she would stick her whole head underwater, grab whatever it was and carry it back to the shore. She pulled out a heap of brown jellyfish from the river one day and spread them out on the shore. She didn't drop them in a pile, instead she laid them out one at a time with a bit of space between them.

I was collecting at the beach one time and was in 3 feet of water bending down scooping a net through some weed. She decided she wanted a better view so swam over to me and jumped on my back (nearly drowned me in the process). She had a good look around and then hopped off and swam away. The same beach on another occasion and she had been wandering around in the seagrass beds looking for stuff. I saw this black patch appear in the water and something shoot off with Chloe in hot pursuit. She had found a squid or octopus and was porpoising out to sea after it. The water was shallow (about 2 ft deep) and she is bouncing out to sea after this cephalopod.

She stole fish out of buckets when I was bagging them up to sell. I was catching out some rainbowfish for Veba's and had 9 fish in a bucket. I got the 10th fish and put it in before bagging them up. I got to the shop and gave them the fish. A few minutes later and Harry came out and said there were only 9 Melanotaenia lacustris. I thought that as weird and said I would bring a couple more in tomorrow to make up for it. The next day I caught a fish and put it in the bucket. Chloe did her usual and came over to see what was going on. She stuck her head in the bucket and had a sniff before walking away. I caught another fish and put it in the bucket and was going to bag them up but there was only one in the bucket. I went to catch another fish and Chloe came back into the room and looked in the bucket. I looked at her as she lifted her head out and she had the fish in her mouth. I said WTF are you doing? She walked off and ate the fish. I had to keep her out of the fish room when I was catching fish after that.

She stole a 1kg leg ham off the counter once and was walking down the hall with it in her mouth. I said what are you doing and she froze and looked at me. I said you can't have all that, it will kill you due to too much salt and nitrite. She looked at me and was deciding on whether or not she could run away. I said bring it back. She turned around and slowly walked back to me. I said give and she let me have the ham back. It got washed, dried and fed to them over the next week.

I used to have long hair and a beard. I had a shave one day and then went to the hair dresser for a really short hair cut (flat top or something like that). When I got home the dogs came running up to the front door as I entered the house. I said "It's ok dogs, it's just me". The dogs turned around and started walking back to their beds. Chloe took a couple of steps then turned around and looked at me again. I said "It's OK Chloe, it's just me, it really is". She looked at me for about 20 seconds before walking back to her bed. I have never seen a dog do a double take before. I left with long hair and came back with virtually no hair and freaked her out a bit. The voice sounded the same but the face and hair didn't look right.

Snuffy was tiny (2.5kg Chihuahua size) had long hair and she used to get prickles caught in it every spring. I'm sure she did it deliberately so I would pick her up and spend an hour taking the prickles off her at the park. She was an attention grabber. I decided to shave her one spring so she wouldn't get any or as many prickles. We got to the dog park and she knew all the dogs at the park. They all came running over to us because they saw Chloe and I and a small white & black dog. They all stopped about 10 feet from us and stared at Snuffy for about a minute before one of them crept in and had a sniff. Then they realised who it was and all said hi to her.

Snuffy had a great sense of smell and we would play hide and seek. I would hide and then call the dogs. Chloe would be looking for me with her eyes while Snuffy would stick her nose straight to the ground and find me in seconds. She could literally smell my latest scent trail in a house full of my scent, it was incredible. She could do it out in the bush too.

When we went to the dog park there was a guy there called Ron. He had a dog called Abbey. Ron used to carry dog treats with him and he was like the pied piper and would be walking around the park with a bunch of magpies (birds) and dogs following him waiting for treats. Snuffy would see him and run across the park to scab dog lollies off him. She would jump up and put her front paws on his leg (a bit below his knee) and try to scratch him to get his attention. He would give her a treat and head to the group where the rest of us were.

Snuffy was a cutie and everyone loved her. She got kidnapped a couple of times but we got her back. She had been kept in a cage or on concrete all her life (both dogs were adopted as young adults) and when we went for a walk to the park, she would only walk on the footpath and it took about 6 months before we could get her to walk on the grass. Snuffy only ever went swimming once and would normally run along the bank but not go in the water. One day I was walking along the sand bar in the creek because the tide was out. Snuffy was with me (while Chloe was chasing ducks) and I got to the end of the sand bar and started walking in the water. It was only about 1 or 2 inches deep but slowly got deeper. A few minutes later and this white thing that looked like a mop was swimming around me. It was Snuffy doing her dog paddle impression (all her hair was sticking out to the side) and swam around for a couple of minutes before we went back to shore. She was a natural at it but never went swimming again after that.

Chloe would swim all day if she could and I had a paddle board and would take the dogs onto the river with it. Chloe would sit up front and Snuffy in the middle. As soon as Chloe saw ducks or something in the water she would leap into the water and go swimming after whatever it was. Snuffy would then move to the front of the board and point in the direction Chloe was going. I would then spend the next 30-60 minutes paddling up the creek trying to catch the dog who was trying to catch the ducks.

Chloe was declared a dangerous dog because I served the CEO of the Canning Council (Dominic Carbone) with legal papers about a council tree damaging my car. I served him with legal papers on Friday afternoon at about 3:30pm and the following Monday Chloe was declared dangerous. It was Carbone's way of having a go at me for serving him with legal papers. We then spent the next 3 years fighting the case before the council revoked the declaration. They never answered any questions about their case or evidence and got away with making a false declaration. Chloe died a few months after that. They fabricated a case against her and had 4 different breeds of dog described as the same alleged offending dog and 2 of those breeds were from the same witness who claimed it was my dog that had attacked his dog once. Basically the council declared Chloe as dangerous, claiming she was the most dangerous dog in the City of Canning, because I served the CEO with legal papers about a council tree that fell on my car when my car was parked in my driveway.

Most of the council rangers knew Chloe, Snuffy and I personally and had been to my place on numerous occasions because we had been attacked by other dogs (over 50 times in 10 years). I was also in neighbourhood watch and knew what was going on in my street. If the rangers ever needed any info or were looking for someone, they knew where I was and I often had a lead for them. None of the rangers that knew my dogs thought she was dangerous and they would joke when they came around and say "How's the city's most dangerous dog going" and rub her belly at the same time. Then they would laugh about it and say it was bs.

The head ranger (David Herrington) was a person who would bend the rules and lie in court. He is the one who wrote up the dangerous dog declaration and he gave me a hard time over it. He came to my place 2 weeks after the declaration was served to me to verify I had put up warning signs and had the proper locks on the gates. It had all been checked a few days before by one of his rangers and they said it was fine. Nonetheless David Herrington came around with the council's lawyer to check. They parked in front of the fire hydrant that was out front of my place. David and the lawyer came to the front door and said they wanted to check the place. I said it was done 2 days ago by one of his staff. He said "which one?" I said "f knows, they are you staff, you go find out". We had an argument and he started getting all pushy and I said if you don't get off my property now I'm calling the Police. This didn't deter him so after a few more minutes I said get off my property or I will let Chloe out. These 2 guys had never met Chloe and they were freaked because they considered her the most dangerous dog in the City of Canning. They actually referred to her as that on paper in correspondence about the declaration. They got back in the council ranger vehicle and I had my camera with me. I photographed the vehicle in front of the fire hydrant and Mr Herrington was even good enough to hang out the window waving at me while I took the pictures. The council didn't care that he was illegally parked nor did anyone else.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi @Colin_T,

The Canning Vale LFS is holding paludarium classes and gives UP Aqua (not Bioscape) paludariums to people to create in-store. The one I will be picking is a 60 x 35 x 36cm paludarium ($430, I will spend it with my own money) with 14cm height for the water level and the remaining 22cm for the plants. It holds 29L of water and I was wondering if a betta could fit in the paludarium. I choose the bigger one over the 9L paludarium ($280) because it has more room for the betta and more stable water quality. Classes start at 5:15pm. The one I will go to is on 4 April, but hasn't been confirmed by me and the family yet. The LFS said they have a few 60cm ones to use, so I'll use the 60cm one to my advantage. Here is the link to the paludarium:

UP AQUA TK Semi Aquascape Tank (Paludarium Aquarium w/ Foam Background)SA-60G (60 x 35 x 36cm)

Paludarium tanks are used to create a unique and natural-looking display of aquatic and terrestrial life in a single setup. They provide a suitable environment for a wide range of organisms such as aquatic plants, fishes, terrapins, or frogs, that thrive in a semi-aquatic habitat. Paludarium...

eastoceansg.com

So Colin, any tips on maintaining a paludarium? I'm new to paludariums and although I have kept aquaria for a year, I want to try something new in the fishkeeping hobby. I'm improving on water changes in an aquarium, and I might try to do water changes in a paludarium. Are there special stuff in the paludarium I might add? I like aquaria and paludariums equally, so I am trying my very best in looking after them.

That's expensive. You can make a paludarium out of a normal aquarium. There are a couple of ways to do it. Some people put a piece of glass in the back half of the tank to create 2 sections. The back section is filled with gravel or potting mix and the plants go in there. The front section is for the fish.

The other option is using large pots in the tank or putting pots on stands in the tank. Plants go in the pots and the fish swim around the bottom part, including around the pots.

A Betta will be fine in 29 litres of water.

Paludariums are maintained the same as any other aquarium. You do regular water changes and gravel cleans in the fish side and water and fertilise the plants in the other side.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Chloe was an extremely smart dog, much smarter than any dog I ever met and smarter than a lot of people I have met. We had a connection and she could read me like a book and I knew what she wanted just by looking at her and most of the times I didn't even have to look at her or even be in the room with her to know she wanted something. She didn't make a noise or whine or anything, I just got a feeling and would check and she needed something. There were times I thought she needed to go outside and I would go out of my room and she would be by the back door waiting to go out. She knew how to open the sliding door to let herself in but couldn't open it to get out because of the design of the door.

Both dogs worked out how to open automated sliding doors. I took the dogs to the library to return some books and got them to wait outside. I never had them on a lead because they didn't run off. I went into the library and was waiting by the counter to return the books when the papillon walked up to the doors to see me. The door opened so she came inside. The doors closed and the kelpie said I can't wait out here alone, so she walked up to the doors and sat down, the door opened and she came in too. From then on they both knew they could go into a building with automatic doors simply by walking up to the door and waiting for it to open. They did it at shopping centres, the library and various other buildings.

Chloe could hunt and was extremely patient. I watched her stalk ducks or pigeons and she would spend 20-30 minutes moving about 10 meters towards it. She would crouch down and keep her tail down and wait then crawl forward one or two steps before freezing. This continued until she was ready to pounce. Snuffy on the other hand didn't have any patience and would just charge in running after anything there. When that happened Chloe would look at Snuffy for a moment and then walk away (I could swear she was shaking her head too). Snuffy would be running around chasing the birds who eventually take flight.

Chloe used to stick her head underwater and pull things out of the river or ocean. She would walk around looking in the water and feeling about with her feet, like a racoon does. When she found something she would stick her whole head underwater, grab whatever it was and carry it back to the shore. She pulled out a heap of brown jellyfish from the river one day and spread them out on the shore. She didn't drop them in a pile, instead she laid them out one at a time with a bit of space between them.

I was collecting at the beach one time and was in 3 feet of water bending down scooping a net through some weed. She decided she wanted a better view so swam over to me and jumped on my back (nearly drowned me in the process). She had a good look around and then hopped off and swam away. The same beach on another occasion and she had been wandering around in the seagrass beds looking for stuff. I saw this black patch appear in the water and something shoot off with Chloe in hot pursuit. She had found a squid or octopus and was porpoising out to sea after it. The water was shallow (about 2 ft deep) and she is bouncing out to sea after this cephalopod.

She stole fish out of buckets when I was bagging them up to sell. I was catching out some rainbowfish for Veba's and had 9 fish in a bucket. I got the 10th fish and put it in before bagging them up. I got to the shop and gave them the fish. A few minutes later and Harry came out and said there were only 9 Melanotaenia lacustris. I thought that as weird and said I would bring a couple more in tomorrow to make up for it. The next day I caught a fish and put it in the bucket. Chloe did her usual and came over to see what was going on. She stuck her head in the bucket and had a sniff before walking away. I caught another fish and put it in the bucket and was going to bag them up but there was only one in the bucket. I went to catch another fish and Chloe came back into the room and looked in the bucket. I looked at her as she lifted her head out and she had the fish in her mouth. I said WTF are you doing? She walked off and ate the fish. I had to keep her out of the fish room when I was catching fish after that.

She stole a 1kg leg ham off the counter once and was walking down the hall with it in her mouth. I said what are you doing and she froze and looked at me. I said you can't have all that, it will kill you due to too much salt and nitrite. She looked at me and was deciding on whether or not she could run away. I said bring it back. She turned around and slowly walked back to me. I said give and she let me have the ham back. It got washed, dried and fed to them over the next week.

I used to have long hair and a beard. I had a shave one day and then went to the hair dresser for a really short hair cut (flat top or something like that). When I got home the dogs came running up to the front door as I entered the house. I said "It's ok dogs, it's just me". The dogs turned around and started walking back to their beds. Chloe took a couple of steps then turned around and looked at me again. I said "It's OK Chloe, it's just me, it really is". She looked at me for about 20 seconds before walking back to her bed. I have never seen a dog do a double take before. I left with long hair and came back with virtually no hair and freaked her out a bit. The voice sounded the same but the face and hair didn't look right.

Snuffy was tiny (2.5kg Chihuahua size) had long hair and she used to get prickles caught in it every spring. I'm sure she did it deliberately so I would pick her up and spend an hour taking the prickles off her at the park. She was an attention grabber. I decided to shave her one spring so she wouldn't get any or as many prickles. We got to the dog park and she knew all the dogs at the park. They all came running over to us because they saw Chloe and I and a small white & black dog. They all stopped about 10 feet from us and stared at Snuffy for about a minute before one of them crept in and had a sniff. Then they realised who it was and all said hi to her.

Snuffy had a great sense of smell and we would play hide and seek. I would hide and then call the dogs. Chloe would be looking for me with her eyes while Snuffy would stick her nose straight to the ground and find me in seconds. She could literally smell my latest scent trail in a house full of my scent, it was incredible. She could do it out in the bush too.

When we went to the dog park there was a guy there called Ron. He had a dog called Abbey. Ron used to carry dog treats with him and he was like the pied piper and would be walking around the park with a bunch of magpies (birds) and dogs following him waiting for treats. Snuffy would see him and run across the park to scab dog lollies off him. She would jump up and put her front paws on his leg (a bit below his knee) and try to scratch him to get his attention. He would give her a treat and head to the group where the rest of us were.

Snuffy was a cutie and everyone loved her. She got kidnapped a couple of times but we got her back. She had been kept in a cage or on concrete all her life (both dogs were adopted as young adults) and when we went for a walk to the park, she would only walk on the footpath and it took about 6 months before we could get her to walk on the grass. Snuffy only ever went swimming once and would normally run along the bank but not go in the water. One day I was walking along the sand bar in the creek because the tide was out. Snuffy was with me (while Chloe was chasing ducks) and I got to the end of the sand bar and started walking in the water. It was only about 1 or 2 inches deep but slowly got deeper. A few minutes later and this white thing that looked like a mop was swimming around me. It was Snuffy doing her dog paddle impression (all her hair was sticking out to the side) and swam around for a couple of minutes before we went back to shore. She was a natural at it but never went swimming again after that.

Chloe would swim all day if she could and I had a paddle board and would take the dogs onto the river with it. Chloe would sit up front and Snuffy in the middle. As soon as Chloe saw ducks or something in the water she would leap into the water and go swimming after whatever it was. Snuffy would then move to the front of the board and point in the direction Chloe was going. I would then spend the next 30-60 minutes paddling up the creek trying to catch the dog who was trying to catch the ducks.

Chloe was declared a dangerous dog because I served the CEO of the Canning Council (Dominic Carbone) with legal papers about a council tree damaging my car. I served him with legal papers on Friday afternoon at about 3:30pm and the following Monday Chloe was declared dangerous. It was Carbone's way of having a go at me for serving him with legal papers. We then spent the next 3 years fighting the case before the council revoked the declaration. They never answered any questions about their case or evidence and got away with making a false declaration. Chloe died a few months after that. They fabricated a case against her and had 4 different breeds of dog described as the same alleged offending dog and 2 of those breeds were from the same witness who claimed it was my dog that had attacked his dog once. Basically the council declared Chloe as dangerous, claiming she was the most dangerous dog in the City of Canning, because I served the CEO with legal papers about a council tree that fell on my car when my car was parked in my driveway.

Most of the council rangers knew Chloe, Snuffy and I personally and had been to my place on numerous occasions because we had been attacked by other dogs (over 50 times in 10 years). I was also in neighbourhood watch and knew what was going on in my street. If the rangers ever needed any info or were looking for someone, they knew where I was and I often had a lead for them. None of the rangers that knew my dogs thought she was dangerous and they would joke when they came around and say "How's the city's most dangerous dog going" and rub her belly at the same time. Then they would laugh about it and say it was bs.

The head ranger (David Herrington) was a person who would bend the rules and lie in court. He is the one who wrote up the dangerous dog declaration and he gave me a hard time over it. He came to my place 2 weeks after the declaration was served to me to verify I had put up warning signs and had the proper locks on the gates. It had all been checked a few days before by one of his rangers and they said it was fine. Nonetheless David Herrington came around with the council's lawyer to check. They parked in front of the fire hydrant that was out front of my place. David and the lawyer came to the front door and said they wanted to check the place. I said it was done 2 days ago by one of his staff. He said "which one?" I said "f knows, they are you staff, you go find out". We had an argument and he started getting all pushy and I said if you don't get off my property now I'm calling the Police. This didn't deter him so after a few more minutes I said get off my property or I will let Chloe out. These 2 guys had never met Chloe and they were freaked because they considered her the most dangerous dog in the City of Canning. They actually referred to her as that on paper in correspondence about the declaration. They got back in the council ranger vehicle and I had my camera with me. I photographed the vehicle in front of the fire hydrant and Mr Herrington was even good enough to hang out the window waving at me while I took the pictures. The council didn't care that he was illegally parked nor did anyone else.

Today's Sunday. I have learnt more about Chloe and Snuffy and their unusual behaviours. The dogs were extremely smart and I like their such intelligence. Chloe was very friendly, not dangerous as the city council thought. I didn't know why she was declared 'dangerous' until now. Are the intelligence based on luck or do they have it? How old was Chloe and Snuffy?

How did the dogs get their knowledge of you? Interesting animals, I still have dog breed books in my house. I often do like some breeds, but not all of them. I have good news regarding one of the family's labradoodles, the older one has completely recovered from her ACL injuries.

 

[Colin_T]

That's good news about your dog's acl getting better

Most dogs have some intelligence but most people don't make their dogs think. Chloe was also primarily kelpie and they are one of the smartest dogs in the world. All working dogs are smart but kelpies are in my opinion the smartest breed. Papillons are smart too (not as smart as a kelpie) but people use them as a toy dog and don't make them think. If a dog has to think about things it helps them become a little brighter than the average dog.

Hide and seek is a good way to make dogs think. They either look for you with their eyes, listen with their ears, or use their nose to sniff you out. It's similar to what they did in the wild before domestication and relates to them looking for food. They have to listen, look and smell and try to find their prey. Dogs are also masters at reading body language and facial expressions. It's one of the ways they communicate in a pack and it takes practice for them to learn.

Exposing dogs to different things also helps. I took my dogs everywhere and they were exposed to traffic while walking along a footpath, big lizards when out in the bush, shopping centres with lots of strange people, the beach and rivers, and the dog park, which they went to every day at the same time for their routine and to play with their friends. The more exposure dogs have to different things that are positive and good, the more they learn and the better socialised they become.

 

[elephantnose3334]

That's good news about your dog's acl getting better

Most dogs have some intelligence but most people don't make their dogs think. Chloe was also primarily kelpie and they are one of the smartest dogs in the world. All working dogs are smart but kelpies are in my opinion the smartest breed. Papillons are smart too (not as smart as a kelpie) but people use them as a toy dog and don't make them think. If a dog has to think about things it helps them become a little brighter than the average dog.

Hide and seek is a good way to make dogs think. They either look for you with their eyes, listen with their ears, or use their nose to sniff you out. It's similar to what they did in the wild before domestication and relates to them looking for food. They have to listen, look and smell and try to find their prey. Dogs are also masters at reading body language and facial expressions. It's one of the ways they communicate in a pack and it takes practice for them to learn.

Exposing dogs to different things also helps. I took my dogs everywhere and they were exposed to traffic while walking along a footpath, big lizards when out in the bush, shopping centres with lots of strange people, the beach and rivers, and the dog park, which they went to every day at the same time for their routine and to play with their friends. The more exposure dogs have to different things that are positive and good, the more they learn and the better socialised they become.

Intelligence is a key factor on why dogs and fishes like some people. Like when you feed the fish, they recognise you and will accept you, but not other people. Bettas can recognise some people and the owner. Although they live a much shorter lifespan than a goldfish, they have some intelligence, but might not as great as goldfish. The great thing about dogs are they are part of the 'pack', which the owner is the leader and the dogs are 'beta' animals. Extremely interesting. Both of my labradoodles don't swim or do anything like your dogs did. They're just normal pups.

Did you know Chloe's (the dog, not one of the girls) DNA? How do dogs crossbreed, i.e. the origin of the labradoodle? I don't call labradoodles 'designer dogs', just normal crossbreed. I think the dogs came from purebred animals and they bred to create crossbreeds. Did Chloe's DNA get tested after you adopted her? How old was Chloe compared to Snuffy?

 

[elephantnose3334]

Crossbreeds (or mongrels) are interesting dogs. For example, a kelpie crossed with a shepherd dog. They would have both traits (big and stocky, intelligence of a kelpie, etc.) and they are great pets for people with a disability and other people. I heard that labradoodles were guide dogs once, but didn't work as well as Labrador Retrievers do. I would prefer crossbreed over purebred, in my opinion.

@Colin_T, I understand that you lost interest in your hobbies nowadays, but you know and remember them very well. I can help you start getting into them again, if you like. You are destined for greatness, Colin. Everyone in the forum knows you very well. I really like how you remember most stuff in your life, it's incredible. You just need to believe in yourself. Be kind. We live in the same city and we share our hobbies.

 

[Colin_T]

I never had my dog's DNA tested. I didn't see any point.

Labradoodles are labrador x poodle, (cross breed, mutts, man made designer dog, whatever you want to call them). They have fewer genetic problems and using poodle you end up with dogs that have different hair that is less allergenic. Plus poodles and labradors are smart (poodles are smarter) so you get a smart working dog with a less allergenic coat.

--------------------

@Colin_T, I understand that you lost interest in your hobbies nowadays, but you know and remember them very well. I can help you start getting into them again, if you like. You are destined for greatness, Colin. Everyone in the forum knows you very well. I really like how you remember most stuff in your life, it's incredible. You just need to believe in yourself. Be kind. We live in the same city and we share our hobbies.

I have nowhere to do hobbies due to the place I live in because it's so small. A unit with one bedroom that is 12x9ft and has some horrible carpet that irritates my lungs. I sleep in the kitchen/ loungeroom because it has tiled floors and is easier to keep the dust down (less irritating for my lungs). There is a backyard covered in grey pavers that is about 10x14 ft and gets to 60C+ in summer and kills everything out there except the ants, which are also inside the unit. The front is an access driveway covered in the same horrible grey pavers and it gets hot out there too. There is a bathroom, laundry, toilet in one room that has enough room to walk down and turn around and that is it. The open area in the bathroom is about 3x6ft. That's the entire place I live in and if has an area inside for what's left of my garden and that takes up about 6ft square in the loungeroom. So even if I wanted to do things, I have nowhere to do them and my health is failing so there is no point doing anything.

 

[elephantnose3334]

I never had my dog's DNA tested. I didn't see any point.

Labradoodles are labrador x poodle, (cross breed, mutts, man made designer dog, whatever you want to call them). They have fewer genetic problems and using poodle you end up with dogs that have different hair that is less allergenic. Plus poodles and labradors are smart (poodles are smarter) so you get a smart working dog with a less allergenic coat.

--------------------


I have nowhere to do hobbies due to the place I live in because it's so small. A unit with one bedroom that is 12x9ft and has some horrible carpet that irritates my lungs. I sleep in the kitchen/ loungeroom because it has tiled floors and is easier to keep the dust down (less irritating for my lungs). There is a backyard covered in grey pavers that is about 10x14 ft and gets to 60C+ in summer and kills everything out there except the ants, which are also inside the unit. The front is an access driveway covered in the same horrible grey pavers and it gets hot out there too. There is a bathroom, laundry, toilet in one room that has enough room to walk down and turn around and that is it. The open area in the bathroom is about 3x6ft. That's the entire place I live in and if has an area inside for what's left of my garden and that takes up about 6ft square in the loungeroom. So even if I wanted to do things, I have nowhere to do them and my health is failing so there is no point doing anything.

Understood. I know you have a bad situation due to some bad stuff happening in your life. But try your best in taking care of yourself during the situation. I just need some time to ponder about what to do next. My life will slowly go downhill because of issues regarding myself and my family. I'm still a fledgling, even when I'm an adult. Not ready to go to the real world yet.

The addition of misters of the paludarium would cost an additional $85, but I'm okay with my money because I usually save it for stuff. My brother doesn't usually save his money, but I do. I'm learning and costing everything out before I go to the paludarium class.

$430 for the 60cm paludarium plus $72 for the mister equals $502 in total. It can be expensive but I am ready for the paludarium project.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Seeing a glimpse of time and did my research on the paludarium. Trying to learn how to mist a paludarium before I go to the paludarium class on 4 April. I remember the good things. I'm almost ready for a paludarium, just need to do research on the important parts other than the mister.

 

[Colin_T]

The cheapest way to mist a paludarium is with a plastic spray bottle from the hardware. They cost about $10 and you fill them with water and spray whatever plants need to be sprayed. Most plants don't need to be sprayed regularly with water. Living air plants (Tillandsias) need to be sprayed several times a day but most other plants don't. So a mister is not really necessary for a paludarium unless you have plants that need it. Most aquarium plants that grow out of water don't need misting.

 

[elephantnose3334]

The cheapest way to mist a paludarium is with a plastic spray bottle from the hardware. They cost about $10 and you fill them with water and spray whatever plants need to be sprayed. Most plants don't need to be sprayed regularly with water. Living air plants (Tillandsias) need to be sprayed several times a day but most other plants don't. So a mister is not really necessary for a paludarium unless you have plants that need it. Most aquarium plants that grow out of water don't need misting.

Yeah, I know.

Bad news is that my younger sister's Betta splendens Sapphire is in the freezer and will die because he probably had a swim bladder problem. The family decided to euthanatise him, but putting him in the freezer is not humane in my opinion.

Edit: He died and was buried by my younger sister at night.

 

[Colin_T]

Freezing a sick/ dying fish is usually easier for people because they don't have to see the mess. Not a lot of people can hit a fish on the head or cut its head off to kill it. So putting it in a small container of water and freezing it is usually easier.

I froze my rainbowfish when they had TB. I couldn't kill them by beheading and couldn't cope with losing them so stuck them in buckets with a bit of water and put a lid on them, put them in the freezer and walked away. The poor fish deserved better but I couldn't kill anymore fish with a knife or hitting them on the head. It gets to be too much and I just couldn't do it anymore.

 

[elephantnose3334]

Freezing a sick/ dying fish is usually easier for people because they don't have to see the mess. Not a lot of people can hit a fish on the head or cut its head off to kill it. So putting it in a small container of water and freezing it is usually easier.

I froze my rainbowfish when they had TB. I couldn't kill them by beheading and couldn't cope with losing them so stuck them in buckets with a bit of water and put a lid on them, put them in the freezer and walked away. The poor fish deserved better but I couldn't kill anymore fish with a knife or hitting them on the head. It gets to be too much and I just couldn't do it anymore.

Oh. I understand that they deserve better but freezing them is a way to humanely put down fish.