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This is how the game goes right--

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CHICKEN DIVERSITY MASTERPOST

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“Chester coming out of the pouch for his first hop. He doesn’t stay out long, but he was brave and that was a great first hop.”

The Kangaroo Sanctuary

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you, a generalist unspecialized mouse or mouselike mammal:

- food goes from esophagus to stomach to intestine

- can eat and digest almost anything

- adaptable and can survive in many different environments

me, a specialized sanguivorous vampire bat:

- food goes from esophagus to intestine to stomach to intestine

- can only eat blood

- will die if I don’t eat for one night (unless someone vomits in my mouth)

- will die if there’s not enough humidity in the air

- will die if I exercise too much

- will become dehydrated if I drink too much

- constantly pissing so I’m not too heavy to fly

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What is your opinion on people who say birds shouldn't be pets?

If we’re talking parrots specifically, I’m one of those people.

Parrots just do not thrive in the standard captive environment, really the most we can hope to do is provide as much enrichment as we can to mimic their wild environments and natural behaviours to prevent countless stress behaviours. Parrots pluck, toe tap, break their beaks trying to chew cage bars, are frequently nutrient deficient, and often have weaker hearts, lungs and immune systems from being in captivity without the right environments to thrive.

Parrots aren’t a domesticated species and they simply do not thrive in our homes. We can not provide enough room for flight, enough birds for socialization with enough space for them to feel safe doing so, we can not provide the lifestyle these birds really need to be as healthy as they should be. We can do our best but at the end of the day when we’re breeding a species that more often than not suffers in our environments it doesn’t make sense to keep breeding them. If the closest we can get to optimum care is just trying to reduce constant stress then that animal isn’t thriving with us.

There’s plenty of birds that do thrive in our homes, pigeons, chickens, even finches and canaries are all extremely loving, trainable, and interactive birds that aren’t all that different than parrots. They can all be taught parlour tricks, can enjoy human interaction, many can sing sweet songs.

Keeping parrots as pets that are already stuck in the trade? Of course, they can’t be released, they need someone who will at least give their all to lead a good life. But consistently bringing more parrots in to a world that isn’t suitable for them? It’s more selfish than anything really.

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I think most of the ppl arguing w/ u over this breeding issue are only thinking of breeding as a concept rather than an action. "we can breed out the issues so the resulting dogs will be healthy at the end!" ok u went from point A to C w/o even considering B-- the act of bringing several generations of unhealthy, suffering dogs into existence in this process. like they think there's a tasteful cut to black when 2 pugs go to breed, and suddenly we have healthy un-fucked pugs. alright, buddy

Fucking oath.

I’d want to make them look a wheezing, snorting French Bulldog while an AI gun is being stuck up their vagina and see if they can still say it’s the best thing for the dog’s well-being.

That’s what they’d have to deal with for generations before significant change could be made to current animals that are suffering these problems.

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So this is my dog Remy. As you can see,I am asking for money to help get a tumor removed. Its located in her ribs and requires some of them to be removed. Please donate IF you can, or simply share this. Please help me help my dog!

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Three out of 7 puppies from a mama dog abandoned in a park were born without front legs.

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I really cannot say how relieved I am to be able to post this as a positive news story, because when the outbreak first started it looked like it might be the end of the kakapo.

This year 82 kakapo chicks hatched, a record-breaking number that was a massive victory for a species with only 142 living adults. Then, in what seemed a cruel twist of fate, the kakapo population was struck with a devastating aspergillosis outbreak. 

In the end, the disease only killed two adults and five chicks. Thirteen birds remain sick but are recovering with treatment.

This could have been so, so much worse, and the reason it wasn’t was due to excellent adaptive management of the developing situation by Kakapo Recovery staff as well as Auckland Zoo (and Wildbase Recovery Hospital and Dunedin Wildlife Hospital) staff going above and beyond their typical duties to offer intense, round the clock care to sick birds.

When conservationists posted on social media that their regular budget was not prepared to handle this unforeseen tragedy, members of the public donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to help via crowdfunding.

“The outpouring of support struck Digby (head of Kakapo Recovery), who recalls how a 9-year-old in the United States asked their friends to donate to the cause in lieu of bringing birthday presents to their party. ‘Here’s a child who’s probably never going to see a Kākāpō in their life,’ he says, ‘and they care about them enough to give up all their birthday presents.’“

This year will still likely see a net increase in the wild kakapo population. Against all odds, the big, green, flightless parrots are going to be ok.

Thanks to @jacquehateshashtags for sending this in!

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Hello may I request some Good Nests? Which nests are best nests?? Which birbs are most deserving of an honorary engineering degree???

where to start?? so many good nests!

a personal favorite nest is the nest of the quaker parrot (also known as the monk parakeet). these parrots are extremely unusual in that they build communal nests, kind of like apartment complexes. the nest has multiple holes, each leading to a separate “home”. as you can expect, these nests become huge and heavy. this is part of the reason why these parrots are banned in some states - their nests, when build on power lines, can start massive fires.

there’s also the wonderful weavers! there are many species of weavers, and their nestbuilding varies slightly between species. but they tend to make ornate hanging gourd-shaped nests, woven tightly enough to pass as some kind of funky basket!

it would be impossible to forget the incredible tailorbird family! these are birds that can SEW! using spider silk, hair, or other fine threads, they delicately sew a leaf to either form a roof over their nest or make a cup to support their nest. they do this so carefully that the leaf rarely browns around the holes.

hummingbird nests may not look like much at first (ignoring them being extremely small). but these nests are built almost entirely out of fibrous materials like spiderwebs and hair. the nests stretch to accommodate the babies as they grow!

and an honorable mention to the half-moon conure, who builds their nests WITHIN a termite mound! the termites make a protective ‘sealant’ layer around the parrot nest, which protects the young.

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This is why you shouldn't use these types of wheels!!! It is so easy for a leg to slip thru the gaps and easily harm your little rodent.

time for a nap

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Wat dis ? Dis foods ? Am..for me ??

HURGRHHRRNLEBLEGHRGH

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Unfortunately our sweet little Romero didn’t make it last night and while I wish the outcome had been different for him I am eternally grateful to those who helped try to save him last night. Our amazing vet came in for emergency surgery, @party_piggies stayed at our house to care for the animals at home, and all of you who offered kind words.

While I know some people will see this as a cautionary tale against spaying and neutering guinea pigs I want to leave you with a few thoughts on that.

First, complications from alters are actually very low with an experienced exotic vet performing the surgery. We have had dozens of guinea pigs, rabbits, rats, chinchillas, mice, and even the occasional hamster altered and the rate of complications has been minimal. In fact, this is only the second complication requiring surgery to fix and both of those were completely freak incidents that had nothing to do with human error or anaesthesia.

Second, I would like you all to consider that Romero would never have been in this situation but for the accidental breeding of unaltered guinea pigs. He came from a mother who had been accidentally bred repeatedly. A store sold a male and female and their owner didn’t have the ability to accurately separate the sexes nor the ability to house the ever growing number of guinea pigs.

It is our policy that all guinea pigs, rabbits, and rats that are adopted from The Pipsqueakery are altered prior to adoption because frankly we would barely need to exist if not for all the accidental breeding. Pet overpopulation is a problem.

Finally, while I have seen the argument made many many times that there’s no good reason to alter guinea pigs I must disagree. A vast majority of older females that come to us unaltered suffer from reproductive diseases that would have been prevented by a spay when they were younger, healthier, and the surgery was safer. Many of the male guinea pigs that come to us have been housed alone for their lives because they are too aggressive to live with another male. Altering those males has uniformly fixed those issues and they have been able to be bonded to others and live happy lives.

We love you Romero. https://www.instagram.com/p/By5DGYpHU91/?igshid=197m3qj727ryb

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all sorts of echoes in these caverns

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Brachicephalics in the netherlands

I haven’t seen a post about this yet but I am so excited and wanted to share some great news;

The netherlands officially banned the breeding of extremely brachycephalic dogs!

Just to make this clear though, not the breeds themselves are banned but the individuals that fall into a specific and clearly defined scheme:

It is illegal to breed with any dog whose nose is shorter than a third of the headsize. (which includes almost all pugs and french/english bulldogs)

Dogs, whose noses are a third to half the length of the head are allowed to be bred, as long as they meet every other breed standard. (This part of the law is announced as an interim solution, sadly I can’t find any details on what this exactly means…)

The scheme is following a traffic light system, shown here:

In an official notice the ministry for agriculture, nature and food quality (Ministerium LNV) announced that they’ll start to control the practical implementation of the new law. And Commedia, the association of dutch pug breeders already stated that they’re following the legal requirements starting now, setting a good example for all breeders in the country. Here’s to hoping that others won’t wait until they’re getting punished until they start to follow the new law.

Qualzucht, the breeding of severly deformed animals, whose life quality is deeply impacted - to the point of being non-existant - is still a huge issue and the law isn’t perfect at all but I think it’s a huuuge step in the right direction. I’d love to see similar developments in other countries, once they see that the breed won’t be “destroyed” by enabling them to breathe a bit better.

This law limits the breeding of a whole bunch of breeds, including pugs, english & french bulldogs, boxers, pekineses, yorkshire terriers, chihuahuas, mastiffs and staffordshire bullterriers.

Almost all information and the graphic are taken from Bollerkopp.net

Finally, please excuse my wording, as I am german which is already difficult enough hehe.

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This is why these dogs shouldn't be bred.

French bulldog skull.

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the eating process: by poncho

1. see it

2. want it

3. eat it