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17
SEP
2017
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Dogs love to explore using their keen sense of smell and taste. Usually, a dog will be able to smell a poisonous plant but this isn’t always the case. Some plants can appear ripe and good to eat, but contain unusually high levels of toxicity. This includes commonly found produce such as the acorn from an English oak tree. When out for a walk, you can keep your dog on a short leash to control what plants they go near, but did you know there may be toxic plants in your own backyard? Here are the most common ones to avoid.
Yellow Jasmine
Gelsemium sempervirens, more commonly known as yellow jasmine, looks great in any garden. It is similar to vines due to the way it climbs up buildings. The yellow colour is designed to stand out and be attractive and the scent can create a fragrant and fresh smelling garden as it is spread by light winds.
All of this can make it attractive to dogs, who may innocently chew at the plant. However, i.. [More]
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Dog Owners: Toxic Garden Plants to Avoid
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30
AUG
2017
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How to Maintain a Healthy Canine Diet?
Dogs are true members of the family and they need care and attention, especially when it comes to diet and nutrition. Historically, dogs were always fed on leftovers, but now the majority of dog owners purchase dog-specific food and supplement this with the odd snack or treat. We need to be really careful what we feed our dogs as there are lots of human treats that can not only disagree with dogs, but actually be toxic.
Chocolate and Caffeine
Chocolate contains theobromine which is a stimulant that is toxic to dogs. The theobromine content of chocolate increases the darker the chocolate. Chocolate treats are for humans, not dogs. Poisoning can occur up to 24 hours after consuming chocolate and symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and seizure. It can affect the heart, kidneys, digestive system and the central nervous system.
Caffeine is another stimulant that affects dogs far more than humans. There are plenty of pet owners t.. [More]
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How To Maintain a Healthy Canine Diet
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08
AUG
2017
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One of the most common questions we receive is simply: "How do I get my pet bird to switch from it's current food, to a more healthy diet of Roudybush?" There are several answers to this question. Most birds are creatures of habit and will choose foods that look most familiar to them. Converting your bird to Roudybush formulated pellet diets is mainly a matter of convincing your bird that it is food. There are several methods that can be used; choose the one that is most appropriate for your bird. The most important factor in switching your bird to Roudybush is your determination that it will eat a nutritious, balanced diet. Your bird may initially act as if it does not like the Roudybush, but imagine a child that you are trying to convert from a diet of snack foods, candy and ice cream to a lower fat, healthy diet; it is a similar situation. Once your bird makes the transition you will find that it enthusiastically eats Roudybush.
1) Instinctual. The instinc.. [More]
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Tags :
How To Get Pet Birds To Eat Healthy Roudybush Diet , How Do I Get My Bird To Switch To Healthy Roudybush Diet , Bird Food South Africa , Bird Pellet South Africa
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10
JUL
2017
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Many pet parrots in South Africa are not fed a nutritionally balanced diet and this is mostly due to a lack of understanding by owners. The biggest problem is providing poor-quality seed-based diets. Yes, seeds do make up a large part of wild parrots' diet. However, not all seeds are the same, and those available in the pet trade are often woefully deficient in nutritional value compared with seeds from plants growing in the wild. Many pet shop bought seeds are often old and contaminated with fungal toxins and moulds.
Parrots tend to select one seed type and, before long, they will eat only that. The classic example is sunflower seeds. Many birds that have eaten a diet of exclusively sunflower seeds for years will suffer from malnutrition internally, but from outside they may appear to be okay. Pet owners should think of parrots like they do children - if you offer a child one plate of sweets and another of broccoli, they most likely would never touch the broccoli.
.. [More]
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Why Seeds Are Harmful To Parrots in South Africa , Parrot Diet 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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26
MAR
2017
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There are numerous foods available for dogs and sometimes it is difficult to know what is best for your four legged friend. At Burgess they only make foods that are healthy and contain the best of ingredients to make sure your dog stays happy and healthy. Burgess Sensitive which is now available in South Africa from 1 March 2018 is great for all dogs, but is particularly suited to those with a sensitive digestive system as the recipes are free from the usual ingredients that can upset your pet’s stomach. The recipes contain just simple, high quality ingredients like tasty British Turkey and Scottish Salmon.
Feeding Tips for When Your Dog is a Puppy
Introduce Burgess Sensitive in the early days gradually over a week, by mashing a little down with hot water to create a paste and cooling to room temperature. Gradually add less water until your puppy is eating the dry kibbles. If your puppy is already eating dry food, transition them slowly, over .. [More]
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Tags :
Burgess Sensitive Dry Food For Dogs , Dog Food South Africa
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25
MAR
2017
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Hand-rearing a baby bird can be quite difficult and requires feeding every few hours by an experienced foster mom. However, many bird owners prefer purchasing just-weaned or about-to-be-weaned birds. Hand-rearing a bird over six weeks of age who has no problems and eats readily can be a very rewarding experience.
How Much to Feed
A baby bird should be eating 10 percent of his body weight per feeding. A 500-gram bird would need 50 milliliters of formula per feeding. A baby this age should be fed approximately three times per day.
It's important not to feed your bird if he still has food in his crop, which is the enlarged portion of the esophagus at the base of the neck, from the previous meal. Food in the crop for more than three to four hours is a sign of crop stasis, or slowing down, and could be the beginning of a bacterial or fungal overgrowth in the crop that can make your baby bird ill. If you feed your bird too much at each meal, his crop can become overs.. [More]
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How To Hand Rear A Baby Parrot 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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07
MAR
2017
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Gerbils are active and entertaining pets, but there are things they require to be completely happy, including an environment that caters for their very specific gerbil needs.There are many species of gerbils, though the Mongolian gerbil is the type most commonly kept as a pet. Their scientific name Meriones unguiculatus translates as ‘little clawed warrior’. These burrowing rodents are naturally adapted to desert environments in Africa, India and Asia. Although very agile, they can’t climb well due to fur covering the soles of their feet.
Roommates required
In the wild, gerbils live in extended families of one breeding pair and their offspring of several generations. Pet gerbils need at least one companion and are happiest in same-sex pairs or small groups as they breed from three months old and can swiftly produce a litter of four to 10 babies every 24 days…
Somewhere to burrow
Burrowing is a very important behaviour for all gerbils. .. [More]
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Why We Love Gerbils
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12
FEB
2017
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We would like to urge all rabbit and guinea pig owners to stop feeding their pets muesli-based foods in an effort to improve their diets. Please dump the junk. There is no such thing as a healthy muesli food. Muesli-style foods, which can contain flaked maize, peas, pellets, grains and seeds, are extremely low in fibre and have been shown to increase the risk of serious illness in rabbits and guinea pigs, with the PDSA PAW Report 2013 stating they are the cause of deadly dental and digestive problems.
We think pet owners should ditch plain grains in favour of nutritionally rich pellets that aid digestion and dental health. Any changes to your pet’s diet should be done over time though so not to upset their digestion.
Why stop, why now?
Even if your pet has been fed a muesli-based diet all their lives, they will still benefit from a swap to hay, leafy greens and nuggets. Just introduce it gradually and in small quantities to reduce the likelihood of stomach .. [More]
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Tags :
Stop Feeding Muesli To Rabbits & Guinea Pigs
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