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21
DEC
2017
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South Africa has the largest number of pets in Africa, with numbers totaling 7.4 million for dogs, and 2 million for cats. If you are one of these many lucky pet owners, you probably love nothing better than spending time in the Great Outdoors playing, walking, or just relaxing with your pet. Both dogs and cats love running and jumping in the garden, and dogs also benefit from at least one walk a day. Keep your lawn safe for your dog by removing the biggest risks and toxins, and stopping your dog from escaping.
De-Cluttering Your Garden
Your dog will probably run at lightning speed from one end of the garden to another, pouncing on leaves and rolling in the grass. Reduce the chances of injury by keeping the yard completely free of sharp tools and machines your dog can fall on or trip over.
Store all chemicals and cleaning products in a garden shed, to avoid ingestion.
Avoiding Toxic Plants
If your garden is filled with v.. [More]
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Crucial Elements of Pet Friendly Lawn
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18
DEC
2017
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‘Tis the season to be jolly but, for our pets, it’s also a time of hazardous foods, poisonous plants and dangerous decorations. Ensure the four-legged members of your family have a safe and happy Christmas by following DR SUZANNE MOYES’ festive advice For those pets who have seen a Christmas or two, the sudden arrival of a pine tree, tinsel and plates piled high with mince pies, will likely be taken in their stride. However, for young animals, all these exciting new things require close inspection, which can lead to all sorts of problems.
All You Can't Eat
At this time of the year, many of the foods we love to tuck into will do our pets more harm than good – so those pleading eyes must be ignored. It’s far better to keep your pets on their usual Burgess diet. Festive foods on the blacklist include:
Pigs in blankets: Fatty, salty meats such as pork can lead to pancreatitis.
Mince pies and Christmas cake: Raisins and sultanas (a.. [More]
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Christmas Perils For Our Pets
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16
DEC
2017
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Guinea pigs have been popular pets for generations. Today, we are better informed about how to care for these friendly little creatures, so that we can provide them with everything they need to enjoy happy and fulfilling lives. Small, sociable and chatty, guinea pigs or ‘cavies’ originate from the grasslands and lower slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America. In the wild, they live in close family groups of 5 to 10 individuals, though several groups may live in close proximity, forming a colony. When keeping them as pets, the challenge is to care for them in such a way that meets all their needs and enables them to exhibit their full range of natural behaviours.
1. A Safe and Suitable Place To Live
A good quality hutch should be draught-free, predator proof and, along with plenty of Carefresh bedding, provide a cosy place to sleep. However, traditional small hutches do not provide the space guinea pigs need to behave normally. A hutch should just be vi.. [More]
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Our 7 Point Guide To Be A Gold Star Guinea Pig Owner , Guinea Pigs South Africa , Food Guinea Pigs South Africa , Caring Guinea Pigs South Africa
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26
NOV
2017
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Looking for smart and sociable small furries who love to interact with humans and provide hours of entertainment in daylight hours with their endless energy? Then you’ll find degus an absolute delight!
The degu is a small rodent that is native to Chile. In the wild, these supremely social animals live in groups of up to 100, where they dig complex burrows to hide from predators, complete with nests and food stores.
Unlike many small furries, degus are diurnal, which means they are active during the day. These lively little creatures, which look rather like large gerbils, love human interaction and will be happy living in a busy home where there’s plenty going on for them to keep a watchful eye on.
In Good Company
The first rule when keeping degus is never to have just one. These small pets need the company of at least one other degu chum (ideally from the same litter) or they will feel vulnerable and depressed, which will have a detrimental eff.. [More]
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Why Degus Are Becoming Popular Pets in South Africa , Degus Food South Africa
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26
NOV
2017
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It is a sad fact that the majority of pet parrots are fed on nutritionally deficient diets. There are several factors that encourage this to happen but these are mainly due to the ignorance of many bird owners and also owners of pet-shops. The majority of pet psittaciforms are given a seed-based diet to eat.
Seeds fall into two categories: sunflower seed, peanuts and pine nuts are large seeds that contain a lot of oil. Small seeds such as safflower, hemp, millet and canary seed contain mainly carbohydrate. Seeds are high calorie, low in calcium with a poor Ca/P ratio, low in most vitamins, have either low protein content or a limiting essential amino acid, usually lysine or methionine. Seed based diets have little to recommend them nutritionally but they are easy to store and do not deteriorate visually. They are also universally attractive diet to many parrots.
In many pet shops the seed quality is poor, is stored for an unspecified time and in unspecified circumstance.. [More]
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How to Recognize and Prevent Nutritional Diseases in Parrots
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16
NOV
2017
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Everyone wants their pet to live a long and healthy life. For many years in South Africa it was thought that rabbits live maybe three to five years. Overall, rabbits are living longer these days thanks to a combination of specially trained veterinarians and better knowledge of how rabbits should live and what they should eat.
Domestic rabbits usually live between 10-15 years, in contrast to wild rabbits, which may only live a few years because they deal with disease, starvation, and predators. Though there are a variety of rabbit breeds, it’s difficult to determine whether specific breeds live longer than others. Larger breeds often have a shorter lifespan than smaller rabbits, but there are many rabbits which can prove you wrong. The oldest domesticated rabbit on record is 18 years. Today people are feeding rabbits much better food than in the past and keeping them inside more often, which protects them from weather and predators and can help them to live longer.
.. [More]
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Tags :
How Long Do Rabbits Live South Africa , Rabbit Lifespan South Africa , Pet Rabbit Food South Africa
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27
OCT
2017
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While they might have a unique appeal that not everyone can appreciate, rats are one of the cleanest pets you can own – and they even laugh when you tickle them...The thought of rats as pets may not be everyone’s cup of cocoa, yet these clean, clever creatures possess lots of loveable qualities and make superstar animal companions…
Squeaky Clean
Contrary to popular belief, rats are fastidiously clean. Like cats, their tongues are rough, which helps them keep their coat spic and span. In fact, cleanliness is extremely important to a rat’s health – so it’s essential you keep their accommodation just as spotless by regularly cleaning out their cage using pet-safe disinfectant and replacing bedding material – but always add a little of the old bedding to the new so that your rats recognise their own special scent and don’t get stressed. Rats can also be trained to use a litter tray, which helps to keep their home even cleane.. [More]
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Join The Rat Pack , Pet Rats South Africa
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25
MAY
2017
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According to a study published in Royal Society Open Science, the type of accommodation you provide your hamster has a big impact on their wellbeing. Researchers from Liverpool John Moores University tested 30 hamsters to determine if enriching their environment – by adding toys and bedding to their cages – would change the decisions they made when faced with an uncertain choice.
What they found was that hamsters with extra toys and cosier bedding such as Carefresh were more likely to make optimistic decisions than those with fewer luxuries – such as being willing to try out different drink bottles to see if the water was especially tasty. Less optimistic hamsters were more reluctant to try new things. Scientists see optimistic judgements as an indicator of positive wellbeing in humans, so using the same methodology to indicate wellbeing in hamsters makes sense. After all, it’s the closest we humans can get to determining if our hamster is hap.. [More]
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Create An Ideal Home For Your Hamster , Hamster South Africa
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19
MAR
2017
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Degus are not common household pets so there is a misconception that they are hard to look after, or they have special dietary needs. This could not be further from the truth, degus are very easy to care for and feed.
The only special consideration revolves around their susceptibility to health problems related to high sugar foods. Degus are very sensitive to sugar in the same way humans are with diabetes. Sugary foods should be avoided. But with some care on your part, it’s not hard to make sure they are receiving a healthy balance of nutrients from their food.
The degu diet in the wild consists of grasses, seeds and roots. It is nutrient poor so they spend a great deal of time foraging and eating. Degus need to keep their digestive systems busy with a mix of two kinds of fibre moving through their gut at all times (these types of fibre are called digestible fibre and indigestible fibre).
The majority of the degus diet should be high in indigestib.. [More]
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Tags :
Degus Need A High Fibre Diet South Africa , Feeding Your Degus Healthy Food South Africa , What Do Degus Eat South Africa , Degus Food South Africa , Degus Diet South Africa
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18
NOV
2016
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There is a lack of scientific study on avian nutrition, especially as it relates to different bird species, but most experts agree that a good diet for parrots begin with a formulated pellet diet with a variety of other foods added as supplements. A diet based primarily on seeds is deficient in many nutrients, including vitamin A and calcium, and is too high in fat.
This is not to say that seed do not have a place in avian diets, but many birds come to prefer them to the exclusion of other healthy choices and can be fussy when it comes to trying a varied diet. Some birds will even pick out a couple of favorites from a seed mix, which further reduces the nutritional balance in the diet. When it comes to parrot nutrition, consider seeds to be somewhat like junk food: birds love them, but they are not the healthiest choice.
For most species of parrot, seeds should only make up about 10 percent of the diet. Some species, like budgies and cockatiels are naturally seed eate.. [More]
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Tags :
Bird Food South Africa , Parrot Seed South Africa , Parrot Food South Africa , Why Seeds Is Only 10% Of Bird's Diet South Africa , Corret Diet For Pet Birds South Africa
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