Catopoly Game

If you’re a cat owner, no doubt you are always on the lookout for great pet cat supplies. Right?

I know it – If you’re anything like me, I’m constantly checking to see if I can’t find a great deal on pet food, cute clothes, games that involve my pets or treats!

What I did find for you cat lovers out there is the neatest cat furniture at Outdora.com in their pet cat supplies section.

Cat Bed from Outdora

Check out one of their adorable beds (left)…too cute – and you could hide some of their toys in the drawer below or treats…

What I didn’t expect to find there, though, were cat safety kits for first aid. Great idea…We often don’t think about how important our pet’s safety is or if you’re prepared for an emergency or disaster with your pet.

Also, something unique I found in their pet cat supplies that I have never seen before were cat memorials. Our pets are so very important to us, don’t you want to make a statement about remembering them? I know our pets are very important members of our family and we honor them with dignity and love…

Cat House

We were at a friend’s house the other day and noticed a piece of furniture with a door in it that their cat kept going in and out of. It matched all of their furnishings in their home and we thought it was just the neatest thing! It is called a cat house.

Now, I’ve seen these before, but they were all “open air”. This one was perfect for their cat that thinks it’s royalty to go into privately and have a siesta or get some “quiet time”! LOL   This site has these sorts of cat houses too.

Cat Tunnel

Whether you’re looking for cat furniture, cat toys, or anything else “cat”, Outdora is a great place to check out that you may not have even thought of.

Plus, ground shipping is free with every order from their website! That’s awesome!

***

I hope you enjoyed this Pet Cat post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Exotic Animal Lover Updates are 1 click away!

Technorati Tags: pet cat, exotic cats, cats, pet cat supplies, exotic pets, cat beds, cat toys, cat furniture, cat safety, pets, cat house, cat games

Looking for Pet Cat Supplies? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

A Kentucky man, Kenny Mahoney, has a motion sensor hunting camera in his backyard, which often picks up images of rabbits, turkeys and deer.

What he found was an unidentified mysterious animal (UMA) on the photo raiding his garden. Check out this video:

Skeptical that it could be bigfoot, but unable to rule it out completely, the investigation moves on in the woods of Kentucky for bigfoot.

They say the figure looked to be six feet tall and had black fur, but they can’t be certain it wasn’t a bear, although it didn’t appear to be one. The form looks like it has a gorilla like head and shoulders with it’s arms crossed.

What do you think it was mulling around his back garden? Let us know by leaving a comment below…

* For more information, check out: Kentucky man says photo might show Bigfoot raiding his garden

***

I hope you enjoyed this Unidentified Mysterious Animal Sighting on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the history of Bigfoot, check out this really great DVD:

History’s Mysteries Bigfoot And Others Monsters Rated: NA Synopsis: The mermaid, Abominable Snowman, giant squid, and dragons are all parts of myths and mysteries. But are some real? The Komodo Dragon was merely the stuff of local legend–until the dinosaur-like, very real giant reptile with an orange

Technorati Tags: bigfoot, yeti, sasquatch, mysterious animal, cryptozoology, UMA, unidentified mysterious animal, latest bigfoot sightings, bigfoot sightings, bigfoot video, Kentucky bigfoot, cryptid, Kenny Mahoney

Bigfoot Sighting in Kentucky on Film is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

If you’re looking for a more unusual common pet, then you’ll want to look for more “exotic” breeds of dogs, cats, birds or fish.

The Pharaoh Hound is a great example of an exotic breed of dog that is domesticated and a fabulous pet and part of the family.

Pharaoh Hound Puppies

Pharaoh Hound

History and origin: The Pharaoh Hound is an ancient breed of hound, going back to the Phoenician empire. They took these hounds with them when they set up residence at Malta and Gozo. They are medium sized and generally used for hunting by Egyptian nobility, they hunted everything from rabbits to gazelles.

Description: The Pharaoh Hound can weigh anywhere from 45-60 pounds and will stand about 21-25 inches in length. They have a beautiful coat, either red or tan that requires very little maintenance. Their eyes are amber and they are known to be very athletic and are able to move extremely gracefully.

About the breed: Documents show that the Pharaoh Hound is the oldest domesticated hound in recorded history. They were very important in Ancient Egypt and played a prominent role in the lives of kings and nobles. Their elegance, intelligence, and power made them very popular among different hounds. They are very affectionate, but cautious, they do not appreciate chaos of any kind around them. They have a high prey drive and you have to watch them around smaller animals because they will attack them. Therefore, they are terrible watch dogs. Pharaoh Hounds are site hounds and need to have constant exercise to remain happy and content. They tend to take a long time to train and you should never rush or force them to do anything. You need to have a high level of patience because if you push them they will become passive-resistant and panic. Pharaoh Hounds have a difficult time learning to “Sit” and “Come.” They tend to be very timid and to avoid this they need to socialize from a young age.

Feeding: The Pharaoh Hounds needs 1-1 ½ cans of branded meats (13.3oz) and it is important to give them biscuits or 3 cupfuls of dry food for an all around diet.

Ideal Home: As long as the Pharaoh Hound is getting enough exercise, they can handle living in an apartment. They thrive in a peaceful environment, and will not do very well with any sort of chaos around them. They are prone to snapping if roughhousing is going on around them.

Owners need to give Pharaoh’s Hound their own area in the home and need to be respectful of their space. Potential dog owners want to avoid the Pharaoh Hound if they are loud and overbearing or have other small pets around the house.Content written by Calvin Witherspoon of ohmydogsupplies.com, check out our complete assortment of car seat covers for dogs online.

***

I hope you enjoyed this Dog Breed post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more great information on Pharaoh Hounds, you can check out this really helpful book:

Technorati Tags: pharoah hound, hound, exotic dog, dog breed, exotic dog breed, hound dog, pharoah hound dog

Adopting a Pharaoh Hound: An Exotic Dog is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

One of my readers – “Buy clownfish” asked me the question:

How much does that book on clownfish cost? I would like to know more on that fish.

I wanted to address that so that others out there are aware too, not only of the book, but about how much clownfish cost to purchase for your own aquarium.

The book he’s talking about is from my previous post about Clownfish. The book costs $15.16 and is all about them.

Actually, clownfish can range from around $14.99 for extra small ones that are more common…On the left is an example of a small Sebae Clownfish that’s tankraised for this price.

…all the way up to more rare and larger varieties like the “semi-picasso” for around $110.00 per fish. To the right is an example of the semi-picasso that’s tankraised for this price.

* Note: You can click on any of the photos to purchase that fish!

That’s a pretty good range with various colors and patterned varieties in between those amounts. So, it’s really up to you which one you’re partial to purchasing for your special aquarium.

There are even black clownfish that are in the mid-range of the pricing. This one on the left is a Black Ocellaris Clownfish for $50.00.

I’ve even fallen in love with these inexpensive, but more rare colored pink clownfish called “Pink Skunks” because of their single white stripe. Aren’t they cute?  These will only set you back $14.99 too!

So, as you can see, there is some serious variety by way of colors, sizes, patterns and whether their tankraised or wild caught.

Any which way, they’re beautiful little fish that have proven to be very intelligent as well.

You’ll want to add an anemone for them in your tank because this is their natural habitat.

Anemone are poisonous and eat other fish, but the clownfish is immune to their sting and use the anemone to protect them. So, they sleep and raise their young inside the protection of the anemone’s tentacles.

Hope that answers your questions!

For more information about their natural habitat, check out: Clownfish on the Great Barrier Reef

***

I hope you enjoyed this Exotic Pet Care info on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Don’t forget the Anemone to keep these little guys happy in your aquarium:

Condy Anemone The Condy Anemone is a member of the family Actiniidae. It is Caribbean in origin and is also known as the Haitian Anemone or Giant Golden Anemone. Though hardy, it requires a moderate level of care. Suitable diet includes filter feeding invert food, Mysis shrimp, phytoplankton and small pieces of Silver Side and raw shrimp. Though it lives in symbiosis with Zooxanthellae Algae, it does not associate with any type of Clownfish. The Condy usually buries its base in the sand for protection and stability. It does best with live rock and crustaceans, although the Red-Legged Hermit Crab is a common predator. Desire to move around within a reef environment makes it a possible sting threat to corals and other anemones. Drip acclimation is recommended for all inverts to avoid rapid changes in water chemistry. Copper based medications can be fatal for inverts. ADULT SIZE: 6 inchesPREFERRED AQUARIUM:20 Gal Minimum TEMPERATURE:74 to 82 pH:8.1 to 8.4 CARE LEVEL: Moderate TEMPERAMENT: Semi-Aggressive lDIET: Carnivore REEF SAFE: Yes Lighting: High Water Flow: Medium

Technorati Tags: clownfish, buy clownfish, black clownfish, pink clownfish, semi picasso clownfish, clownfish care, fish, fish care, exotic fish, exotic pets, anemone

How Much do Clownfish Cost? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Exotic Animal Newsflash:

Seven brand new species of deep ocean worms were discovered that actually cast green glowing body parts when they’re disturbed or attacked.

The team was led by Karen Osborn of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego.

Thought to be used as a defense mechanism to confuse predators, which are unknown as of yet, the  appendages glow green when they’re cast by the worm, and they will actually continue to be “let go” as they’re more and more disturbed.

It’s hypothesized that fish would be their predators as is the case with other swimming worms.

Living between 5900 – 12000 feet below sea level, these species are difficult to find only because it’s difficult to get to. These worms were, then, discovered by remotely operated submarines.

In fact, the worms seem to be very plentiful, often numbering in the hundreds when seen. So, they’re no a rarity deep below the ocean in the northeast and western Pacific Ocean.

They’re thought to have evolved from worms that burrow into the sea floor at deep places in our Earth’s oceans, who also have a bioluminescing attribute.

Their new scientific name is Swima bombiviridis.

Makes you wonder what else is lurking in the great, wide and deep oceans of our planet!

For more information on this discovery and a photo, go to: New species of worms release ‘bombs’

***

I hope you enjoyed this Exotic Animal News on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information about bioluminescence, check out this awesome book about our strange friends in the oceans:

The Winking, Blinking Sea: All About Bioluminescence

Technorati Tags: Swima bombiviridis, ocean worms, bioluminescense, animals that bioluminesce, green bombers, deep sea worms, worms, exotic animal news, Karen Osborn, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, new species

Brand New Species of Deep Sea Worms – The Green Bombers is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

When you read the ingredients on the back of food packages, it’s often we all get “lost”…to say the least.

Well, multiply that by 10 when you’re talking about pet food…pets eat things we don’t…

So, how often do you actually look on the back of your turtle food container and question the ingredients…Not often, I suspect.

Same goes for gerbil food or bird food.

Well, I have information on one ingredient in some fish foods you might want to include in their diet.

If you have fish that aren’t white (and supposed to be white), then Spirulina is a great supplement in some fish foods that will enhance color.

For instance, if you have fancy goldfish, like we do, who are brightly colored oranges, browns, reds, apricot or yellow, feeding them food with Spirulina in it will make them more brightly colored.

We had a white goldfish in the group with a red cap and it started tainting or discoloring the white scales, but made their red cap more brightly colored. So, we stopped feeding her food with spirulina in it and her white scales became white again.

So, depending upon what your goal is with your fish, be aware if there is Spirulina in the food.

In our colored fish tank, they get a healthy portion of spirulina in their food.

Read your labels…

***

I hope you enjoyed this Exotic Pet post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Brighten up your fish by feeding them Spirulina Food:

H.b.h Enterprises Super Soft Spirulina 6.5 oz Super Soft Spirulina 6.5Oz

Technorati Tags: fish food, spirulina in fish food, spirulina, make fish brighter, colorful fish, fish colors, enhance fish color, food for fish color, colored fish, goldfish, fancy goldfish, goldfish food

Spirulina in Fish Food for Colored Fish is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Well, as we all know, TCU’s (Texas Christian University’s) mascot is the horny toad. Actually, it’s also called a horned lizard.

They are ridiculously adorable and are great, placid pets, that are even great with children.

The problem with the Texas horned lizard, native to Texas, is that their food supply is waning. Even as a lizard owner, it’s gotten tougher and tougher to find natural sources for their food.

What Do Horned Lizards Eat?
A typical horned lizard should eat between 20-100 harvester ants per day. This is necessary because harvester ants provide this horned lizard with the formic acid it needs to survive.

You’re thinking, “Well, just find some harvester ants outside and be done with it!”

Problem: Harvester ants have been displaced by the fire ant in Texas, especially Dallas. So, you need to be educated and knowledgeable when looking for harvester ant nests.

Also, you certainly don’t want to capture fire ants for 2 reasons:
1. Their bite can be very painful to a human and they can swarm you quickly.
2. Horny toads will eat a few, but can also be poisoned or get sick from the fire ants’ venom.

For more information on harvester ants, which may help you find a local, natural source for your lizard, check out Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_harvester_ant

If you’re not that “outdoorsy”, then feel free to order them online. You can often find them for about $0.02/ant when ordering 500 or more.

I’ve only rarely seen them available in local stores freeze dried, but they are more expensive for the amount of ants you get. Most local pet stores do not provide ants as a food source for these babies.

Of course, feeding your horned lizard live ants is best and more “natural” for them. Plus, it’s fun to see them in action catching them.

So, before you adopt a horned lizard, be sure you know where to get it’s food. Have fun!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Sauropsida
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Iguania
Family: Phrynosomatidae
Genus: Phrynosoma
Species: P. cornutum

Conservation Status:
This species of lizard is not endangered! Yay world!!!

***

I hope you enjoyed this Reptile post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. For more information on the red ants these horned creatures need and desire, check out this really helpful book:

The native red ants of Texas, favored prey of the endangered Texas horned lizard, are but one of many New World ants known as harvesters. The two genera Pogonom The native red ants of Texas, favored prey of the endangered Texas horned lizard, are but one of many New World ants known as harvesters. The two genera Pogonomyrmex and Ephebomyrmex range from southern Canada to southern Argentina and the western half of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola (Haiti).PHarvester ants are generally noted for their habit of building large gravel mounds in the center of huge clearings, for harvesting the grain of favorite grasses, and for their fiery stings. Some early naturalists believed that harvesters planted their favored grasses around their mounds — a claim that, though mistaken, could be imagined to be true of these well-organized, highly social insects. Two hundred years of study are summarized in this volume, which covers all aspects of the lives of the harvester ants.PThe book begins with the mythology and folklore surrounding the harvester ants of the Southwest and Mexico: the Aztecs believed that the red harvester brought corn to humankind, and Native Americans of the southwestern deserts invoked special rituals to placate the ants when their mounds were disturbed. Following sections describe the ants’ evolution, distribution, nest structure, habits, foods, predators and cohabitors, defenses, chemistry and communication, and sex life. The final chapter considers the ants’ interaction with humans, including its perception as a pest and the history of pesticide use.PAppendixes give the scientific and common names of each harvester ant species, explain how to identify harvesters without technical devices, and provide a complete key to all sixty species. The key is supplemented by illustrations and distribution maps for every species. Anextensive bibliography and a detailed index are included.PThis beautifully illustrated book will serve as both a general guide to harvester ants for the lay audience and a quick, accurate, and inclusive reference for scientists.

Technorati Tags: horny toad, horned lizard, Texas horned lizard, horned frogs, lizards, reptiles, herpetology, harvester ants, fire ants, reptile care

Keeping a Horny Toad as a Pet in Dallas is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

…Do you?

Well, guess what…Neither does your pet! In fact, they have much more hair than we do – they REALLY don’t want to be that hot.

What’s worse is that you may endanger their lives. If it gets too hot for them, they could overheat from heat exhaustion.

You see, many animals don’t cool off like we do with sweat, like dogs and cats. They must pant.

Some animals like the heat, but if you leave them in intense heat for too long, you could literally “cook them alive”, like fish, reptiles, birds and small rodents like mice, rats or guinea pigs.

If it wasn’t bad enough that you were uncomfortable, don’t endanger your pets’ lives – Be sure your auto air conditioning is working properly before traveling or transporting your pets to and from any destination!

If your vehicle’s AC Compressor isn’t working, you will want to get it repaired.

Be sure to check out 1AirConditioning.com for more information and how you can get your AC repaired more inexpensively.

Your pets will thank you, and so will your family and friends when riding in the car with you!

As for animals, they can’t get away from the heat like you can by getting out of the car or opening the window. They’re confined by us.

***

I hope this Exotic Animal Tip is helpful to you on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Be sure to Subscribe to Exotic Animal Lover Updates!

Technorati Tags: exotic pet tip, auto air conditioning, exotic pet transport, exotic pets to vet, driving exotic animals, exotic animal transport

Air Conditioning in Your Car is a Must When Transporting Pets is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

Wow…I just watched a show on Animal Planet this week with Jeff Corwin where he showed us a decorator crab.

I had never heard of a Decorator Crab before this week.

What they do is grab materials from their surroundings to camouflage themselves.

So, they’ll attach seaweed, algae, plants, sponges, etc to the hooks on their exoskeleton so they blend right in with their underwater environment.

Unbelievably neat.

If you had one of these decorator crabs as a pet, for example, and put a number of tiny pieces of material/swatches in the tank, they would grab them and attach them to their shell because that’s what’s in the immediate area where they live.

Awesome animals!

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Brachyura
Family: Majidae
Genus: Naxia
Species: N. tumida

***

I hope you enjoyed this Marine Invertebrates post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. Get your very own Decorator Crab as a pet – how neat is that?

Camposcia retusa “Decorator Crab”- Large The Decorator Crab makes a unique addition to the saltwater aquarium but should be placed in an aquarium with some caution. In the wild they normally use bits of sponge and soft corals to decorate themselves, but have also been seen with anything from plastic to paper on them. They are not recommended in most reef aquariums because they can rip mushrooms or polyps off the rocks use as decoration.In fish-only aquariums they make a nice addition as long as there are no fish that will look at them as food. Fish such as large wrasses, puffers, or triggers are considered predators of the decorator crab. Feed them small pieces of meaty foods, such as krill or silversides occasionally. They will also search the aquarium looking for excess food leftover from your fish.

Technorati Tags: seaweed decorator crab, decorator crab, crab, marine invertebrates, invertebrates, shellfish

Decorator Crabs Know All About Local Style is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover

My hubby and I watched the movie Seven Pounds with Will Smith a few nights ago, which was fabulous, I might add!

In the movie, the main character has a box jellyfish as an exotic pet in a large cylindrical tank!

What an amazing creature, which just happens to have the most deadly venom in the animal kingdom!

In fact, there have been 5,568 human fatalities due to the box jellyfish recorded since 1954.

Extreme care and caution needs to be taken when caring for a pet of this danger level.

Also, you cannot store the jellyfish with any other creature in the tank, as they’ll paralyze it and eat it.

Although so high venomous, the sea turtle is immune to the sting of the jellyfish and is one of their food sources.

However, it is a fantastical invertebrate that you could watch for hours at a time as it pulsates through the water.

In the wild, the seasons of highest risk are from October through May, although they are quite evident throughout the rest of the year too.

Box jellyfish are concentrated in tropical areas such as Australia, Vietnam, Phillippines and Hawaii.

Scientific Classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Cnidaria
Class: Cubozoa
Order: Cubomedusae

***

I hope you enjoyed this Invertebrate post on Exotic Animal Lover! Until next time…

Live Exotically,

Kimberly Edwards

P.S. If you haven’t seen the movie “Seven Pounds”, you really must – it’s dramatic, heart warming, a story of love and loss – Fantastic:

Seven Pounds Academy Award nominee Will Smith (2006, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role, The Pursuit of Happyness) stars as Ben Thomas, a man at a crossroads searching for a way to redeem his heavy conscience. He discovers he has the power to change the circumstances of seven strangers who deserve a second chance. But when one of them captures his heart, he must decide if he should reveal his secret — even if it means giving up on his plan. From the creators of The Pursuit of Happyness, Seven Pounds is an emotionally charged, captivating mystery with a soulful, tender love story and a tearful but joyfully inspiring ending (Movieguide).

Technorati Tags: box jellyfish, jellyfish, invertebrates, tropical animals, marine animals, venomous animals, dangerous animals, Seven Pounds

A Box Jellyfish for a Pet? is a post from: Exotic Animal Lover