African Dwarf Frogs (ADF) are considered a freshwater aquarium amphibian species and they are commonly found as pets. The fad to keep a frog as a pet began in the 1960’s and quickly spread to the world wide pet trade. One reason why African Dwarf Frogs make for great pets is because they are relatively low maintenance. ADF’s have webbed feet in the front and the back and they should be fed at least five times a week. When it comes to fish tankss, the water should be swapped out about once every two weeks.

ADF’s are extremely compatible with both bottom feeders as well as algae eaters. There are some tropical fish that make for great tank mates, however some of them are way too aggressive and will fight and injure your frogs. They often times eat the frogs food because ADF’s are known for their slow eating. When it comes to feeding you should never feed ADF’s fish food flakes. The appropriate foods for these frogs are blood worms (frozen or dry), brine shrimp, or cut up earthworms. Note that you should buy these at the store and not dig them up in your backyard.

Because ADF’s are fully aquatic, they do not require any terrestrial surface within their fish tank. These frogs typically remain at the bottom of a tank so it’s important that it be lined with smooth gravel or sand as opposed to rough, rocky gravel. This keeps your frogs comfortable and avoids any kind of skin irritation. Typically, the height of a five gallon tank is appropriate to house African Dwarf Frogs. You want them to be able to reach the surface of the water without strain. Likewise, you should keep your tank covered because these frogs do leap! You should also cover and holes or openings because these little guys sometimes look for a way out. ADF’s prfer to live in water that is about 76-78 degrees Fahrenheit but they will be okay under normal house temperatures as well.

Almost nothing yields fonder memories than growing up with a wonderful dog. Ask any senior about their childhood pooch and you’ll be blinded by the smile that appears on their face.

The secret to a great relationship between child and dog lies first in choosing a suitable breed. Here are 3 dog breeds that will make a fabulous friend for life.

Golden Retriever – These dogs are gentle, kind, people-loving dogs who will greet even strangers with a beautifully feathered wagging tail. They are elegant in appearance with strands of golden hair throughout their coat that make them shimmer in the sunlight.

Available in dark red (even though this color is not recognized by the AKC), a medium brown, or blond, you are sure to find a color that is appealing. They also come in a wide range of sizes with females being slightly smaller than males. The standard weight is 75 pounds, but you can find Goldens in all sizes. They are one of the smartest breeds which makes them a joy to train. Their eagerness to please is a perfect compliment to their great intelligence.

Some tend to be high maintenance in terms of skin issues and grooming, but these dogs are absolutely worth every moment of care you give as they will return your attention with love 10,000 fold.

You’ll need a strong ego to walk into a room with this dog, as all eyes will be on the Golden. If you decide to get a Golden Retriever for your child when they are both young, your child will find no greater friend.

American Cocker Spaniel – This is the breed that Walt Disney made famous overnight in Lady and the Tramp. Lady, of course, was the beautiful Cocker Spaniel with compassion, grace, and beautiful manners. This describes Cocker Spaniels in real life too.

Small in stature their weight range is between 15 and 30 pounds and are generally 16 inches tall, give or take an inch. They have a luxuriously silky coat, long ears, a docked tail, and sweet facial expression. They come in solid brown or black, and many other color combinations too numerous to mention in this article. Research online or at your local library will give you a starting point for all the possible colors from which you can choose.

Their silky coats do require maintenance, and because they are prone to ear problems, keeping their ears cleaned is a must. They also require daily exercise to maintain their proper weight. But a small yard will easily satisfy this requirement. Training, formal or informal, is a good idea to establish the pack leader, and help your Cocker be a well mannered family member.

The Cocker is considered by the American Kennel Club (AKC) to be the number 2 dog breed in America. A properly cared for Cocker Spaniel can live up to 15 years and will make an elegant pet, companion, and friend for your child.

English-Style Labrador Retriever – Well built, intelligent dogs that are exceptionally good with children, Labs come in 3 solid colors-yellow, black, and chocolate. Most weigh in at 70 to 80 pounds with females being slightly smaller. Their coats are fairly easily maintained as they are short-haired without feathering.

Obedience training is recommended while it is still a puppy to establish behaviors that will make it a great pet for your child. Bred as working dogs, they need plenty of exercise and a fairly large yard to keep them happy. They will retrieve anything for as long as you have the strength to throw it. And they are thrilled if retrieving takes them into water as they are strong swimmers.

The English-Style Labrador tends to have a better health record because it is more selectively bred to avoid such conditions as hip dysplasia, elbow defects, and cataracts.

Keep in mind that, like people, each dog has individual characteristics which may not conform to breed standards. Consulting a breeder about the dog you are considering will go a long way towards helping you choose a specific dog from the litter that is best suited for your lifestyle and your child.

The Additional Care the Pets Require

On a brief introduction, ePetdrugs is the right place for the ones who love their pets and want to ascertain their well-being. It includes all kinds of specialized products and routine care that is essential for assisting the pets in staying fit, especially the dogs and cats. There are a series of products such as flea meds named Frontline plus dogs, for addressing the specific need and problems of the pet dogs. Individuals must understand the value of their pets and realize the importance of maintaining them appropriately apart from just feeding or training them. If one is still unsure about what will help in caring theirs pets, frontline plus dogs’ products are a good choice. The individual can consult with the vets to make sure that these products are safe to use on their pets but it must be noted that these Frontline plus dogs’ products are well tested and proven to be harmless. But there may always be the chances of exceptional cases where the particular pet or the dog may not show the expected results or may have mild undesirable effects.

What are Frontline plus Dogs’ Products?

Any pet owner will know the troubles caused by fleas on their pet dogs. Apart from giving the impression of poor maintenance, the fleas and the flea eggs cause many health related issues to both human and the pet. Frontline plus dogs have the unique formulas which are highly effective in removing the fleas, chewing lice, and even the flea larvae within a day. Imagine the dogs being free of all the problems caused by the fleas just within 24 hours. It is not a surprise that these Frontline plus dogs’ products are considered by many as one of the most effective flea meds, which are suggested even by the reliable vets. Apart from these, the Frontline plus dogs’ products offer several other attractive features such as being water-proof which relieves the pet owners from intensive struggle to make sure that their dogs are not washing away the flea meds applied on them while playing in water.

Why Choose Frontline plus Dogs’ Products?

The advantages do not end here as these Frontline plus dogs’ products are easy to purchase, thanks to the availability of online shopping. They are much affordable and worth the amount spent as they have special components included in them which will mitigate the possibilities of fleas recurring. One can note that this guarantee will not be easily provided by the various other products and competitors of Frontline plus dogs’ products. Make sure to follow the provided instructions carefully to get the maximum out of this highly useful product. The Frontline plus dogs’ products are purchasable in various sizes and doses which can be administrated on the pets as per the advice of the vets. In most of the cases, the size of the dog is considered for deciding the suitable dose of flea meds like Frontline plus dogs’ products.

Having Birds as Pets: Responsible Ownership of Pet Birds

There are a lot of people who think that if you want to have a pet bird, it is  like buying it and sticking it in  a cage. Owning pet birds is not just feeding them when necessary and sometimes changing their paper. You have to be very responsible if you have decided to keep birds as pets. Even if you consider to give them some bird toys, it does not mean that you will have healthy and happy pet bird.It is a great responsibility and if you really want to acquire a companion, think in advance whether you are able to handle.

Before you start, consider a few things which are important if you intend to have a pet bird and after that you have to make the final decision to keep birds as pets or to choose a different type of pet.

Think about the cost

Depending on what pet bird you are going to have and how big it is, the expenses are different. For example, the larger the cage is the more expensive it is. Also there are other supplies, be ready to pay for some additional things.

Not only the cage, the same is with the food- the larger your pet bird is the more food you will need for it. Probably you think that all this sounds really expensive and you are right, do not forget that there are also toys and maintenance of the cage, all of them very important.

There are unexpected costs, for vets ,for example, who are maybe not very helpful with birds and you have to seek for an avian specialist who is very expensive.

Think about the time

You may think that you do not have free time to have a dog so you’d better have a pet bird because they do not require a lot of attention. You are wrong! Some people even do not have time for a nap, they will not have enough time for pets, either. For good bird health it is very important to handle them and play with them as much as you can.

Think about the space

Also there are a lot of people who think that birds do not require a lot of space and they are wrong again. The bigger your bird is the bigger space it needs, so be ready to move out some furniture. They also need to fly so if you do not have space for it, you’d better reconsider the things.

But do not forget the great advantage of having a pet bird- you can have a friend for life if you look after them properly, they are real characters and they bring joy and color in your home. Also they live long and they are commitment for a long period.

When you live in a home with kids, pets and their subsequent messes, the carpets quite often will start to look old and dirty long before their due. Following some very easy carpet cleaning tips will help your carpet return to that like new appearance and maintain it for many years to come, no matter what type of accidents or spills occur when the kids or animals are involved.

The easiest tip to follow is to vacuum regularly and know that if you follow this tip religiously you can increase the life of your carpet tremendously. Sand and grit and works like little pieces of glass and when it is ground into the carpet it thins the pile, gives it a dingy appearance and overall causes irreversible damage. Vacuuming every day in these high traffic areas is the only thing that will preserve the appearance of your carpeting and prevent these path areas from forming.

When you have little children and animals in the home you will find that accidents and spills from juice, food or pet accidents are a certainty. It is most important to remember that the faster you remove these marks the easier it will be. Keeping the spot cleaner on hand is the best way to be able to remove these marks as they occur. Oxy clean is one of the most versatile spot cleaners to keep on hand because it works for many food stains and pet accidents but it is essential to follow the instructions on the container to prevent any damage that may occur to the carpet. Also having a wet Vac to remove any residue from your spot cleaning attempts can increase your success rate.

With your animals that doesn’t matter how well trained they are there will be times when an accident will occur. With urine it is necessary to not only remove the stain but the odor because pets have a tendency to return the scene of the crime and repeat. Sometimes general carpet cleaning products will not work and it is necessary to use an enzyme cleaners to remove the stain and odors. These types of cleaners can generally be purchased pet stores and again it is important to follow the instructions on the label. Enzymes in the carpet cleaning solutions make the stains disappear and neutralize the odor, this will prevent any permanent damage from occurring and the pets will not marked the spots over and over.

Along with the regular vacuuming of your carpets, spot removing tips, and overall maintenance it is necessary to shampoo or steam clean your carpets to maintain their beauty. You can do it yourself by purchasing a steam cleaning unit or using a rental. Do it yourself carpet cleaning can be a lot of work but if you are up to the task you can get great results. With any carpet cleaning machine it is important to go slow enough to remove as much moisture as you can. Excess water left in the carpet can cause a lot of damage or develop mold and mildew.

If you are unsure of how to clean a carpet yourself then hiring professional carpet cleaning company is the way to go. Many carpet cleaners can revitalize an old carpet and save you the cost of replacing it with a new carpet. Professional carpet cleaning companies usually carry several different spot removal chemicals which can assist them at making a carpet look like new. These cleaners have the experience to use their equipment properly and reduce the risk of developing mold or mildew.

Whether you are working with a new carpet or just trying to fix an old one, these easy tips will help your carpets look great. Kids and pets can wreak havoc on your carpeting but with the right maintenance you can overcome any damage.

Pet insects and spiders might not be to everybody’s flavor when it comes to choose pets but they can transport a lot of fun and enjoyment. They are not cute and cuddly like a dog or cat, but they can be educational to a result.

And most insects and spiders are very wash and subdued and do not involve a lot of communal interaction. They do, still, entail the same commitment to feeding, custody and maintenance as a more traditional pet. For example, some tarantulas live for up to thirty being, so be conscious of that before choosing one.

For a beginner, hissing cockroaches or a tarantula might be a good span. Go for something that is not noxious or delicate. Leaf insects and cane insects are trendy but they are entirely fragile.

Before business anything, you necessary to find out the regional laws about charge your exotic pet. You also poverty to find out what its diet, housing and unusual requirements are. You penury to know how to control your pet. Some insects are quite robust but others are delicate and a little teen could dent them without realizing. Find out if your catalog of pet is toxic, how to process it to duck being bitten or stung and what to do if that does happen.

Some spiders and insects oblige elite feeding. Hissing cockroaches are tranquil to nosh, preferring fruit and vegetables, but tarantulas hardship special kill. Leaf and stick insects like clear vegetation. An ant homestead might be a good idea if you want something unadorned to trouble for. The ant plowed only requests feeding once a week with a little part of sickly bread and it can be educational for children.

A tarantula makes an interesting pet. Remember they can die from a short reduction because their abdomen is delicate. They are malicious, some types more than others, but being stung is comparable to a bee hurt (unless you are allergic).

Scorpions are interesting, too, and there are several varieties. Scorpions do not like being handled and they might tingle. When handled, they become stressed and this is not good for their wellbeing. Scorpions live up to eight years. If you want a pet you can touch, a scorpion maybe is not the right excellent.

If you certainly want a spider or insect as a pet, there is enough of superior. Make confident, before retail one, that you know everything about their requirements and do as much explore as promising to make indeed the insect or spider is the right pick for you.

Tainted Wheat Gluten Suspected in Pet Deaths

Celiac.com 04/05/2007 – Recent news indicates that wheat gluten tainted with melamine, a chemical found in Asian fertilizers, and forbidden in American pet foods, has been implicated in the sickness of as many as 8,800 pets, including the deaths of up to 2,797 animals, mostly cats1 .

Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, stated that: “The association between the melamine in the kidneys and urine of cats that died and the melamine in the food they consumed is undeniable,” though he stopped short of placing blame for the animal deaths conclusively on the melamine-tainted wheat gluten.

Sundlof did go on to say that melamine, in any amount, is not permitted in pet foods sold in the U.S.

Wheat Gluten is Not Part of Your Pet’s Natural Diet

These stories invite a deeper consideration about the role that non-tainted wheat gluten may play in chronic illness and degenerative diseases in our beloved cats and dogs.

The simple truth is that cats and dogs are, by nature, primarily meat eaters. Dogs are historically scavengers, whose natural diets, according to a recent study by biologists Ray and Lorna Coppinger, consisted of “bones, pieces of carcass, rotten greens and fruit, fish guts, discarded seeds and grains, animal guts and heads, some discarded human food and wastes”3. In the wild, a dog’s diet included only the smallest amounts of grains, while cats are almost totally carnivorous, and subsist in the wild on a diet made up almost exclusively of small rodents. The natural diets of both cats and dogs provide large amounts of animal protein and fats, water, and little in the way of carbohydrates.

Dogs and Cats Should Avoid Grains and Carbohydrates

Most veterinary textbooks agree that both cats and dogs need almost no carbohydrates, yet the so called “recommended” diet of dry pet foods, which is a major component of most pets’ diets, contradicts both their natural diets and the veterinary literature. Many of these dry pet foods are high in carbohydrates, low in animal protein and fats, and contain almost no water.

This fact is largely ignored by major pet food producers, which is also noted in the book Canine and Feline Nutrition, which states that “the nutrient content of most commercial foods includes carbohydrates”4.

Many pet owners who feed canned, moist food to their cats and dogs do so believing that they are providing much-needed meat and moisture to their animals. This is largely true, but what is also true, as came to light in the recent spate of illnesses and deaths from tainted wet formula pet foods, is that wheat gluten is a significant ingredient in such foods.

The problem is that the digestive systems of dogs and cats have not evolved to digest plant proteins like gluten—they are designed to digest animal protein, and gluten is not the same—and feeding these animals foods that contain gluten can result in many of the same problems that afflict their human counterparts who are sensitive to gluten.

Toxic Effects of Wheat Gluten and Other Proteins in Pets…and Humans

According to veterinarian John B. Symes (”Dogtor J”), gluten and other proteins that are added to dog and cat foods are causing many of the same diseases that they cause in their human counterparts. Dogs and cats that have suffered and died from consuming tainted pet food belie the fact that even untainted gluten can cause many of these same problems and more. In human celiacs and gluten-sensitive individuals, untainted gluten can induce both chronic and acute kidney failure. This form of kidney failure is typically called an IgA nephropathy, in which antibodies and immune complexes formed against gluten are deposited in the kidneys, which leads to damage and ultimately failure. Again, this can be chronic leading to persistent blood (microscopic) and protein in the urine or it can be acute.

Dr. Symes claims that it is a startling but well-established fact that the lectins of gluten (wheat, barley, rye) dairy products (e.g. casein, lactalbumin) soy, and corn are all capable of inducing serious health issues in those humans who are sensitive to them. He takes this belief even further and states that such foods are actually not healthy for anyone—neither pets nor humans and they just happen to be more harmful to some individuals than others. According to him anyone who consumes or feeds these foods to their pets on a daily basis will encounter resulting health problems—it is only of matter of time.

Dr. Symes believes that the onset of a lectin-related disorder—whether it be rheumatoid arthritis, type-one diabetes, lupus, etc.—is usually preceded by another event such as viral or bacterial infection. Vaccines can act as triggers as well. The result of such secondary events is a sudden influx and attachment of these inflammatory proteins to various cells in the body, ushering in what we often refer to as “autoimmune” disorders. That term implies an immune system that has gone haywire, attacking the body for no reason. According to him, our immune systems, along with those of our pets, never make that kind of mistake. These conditions happen for certain reasons, and these food proteins are often the cause.

All one needs to do, according to Dr. Symes, is to study celiac disease to see how all of this works and appreciate the health implications that accompany this extremely common condition. That a similar condition does occur in dogs and cats has become painfully obvious during the past seven years that he has been studying the issue. Dr. Symes states: “The Irish Setter is a breed known to suffer from gluten intolerance, but it is clear that gluten is affecting many other breeds of dogs and cats. And why wouldn’t it? It is affecting humans and we have had millennia to adapt to eating wheat. Our pets have only been eating wheat-based pet foods for about 20 years now.”

According to Dr. Symes it does not matter whether they ever tell us that tainted wheat gluten caused kidney failure, or that it be proven responsible in these pet deaths. The fact is that wheat gluten, tainted or not, can, and does cause and/or contribute to these conditions. Thus, according to Dr. Symes, gluten should never end up in pet foods.

To illustrate his theory Dr. Symes points out that the average American dog lives 12 years—13 for cats, when their wild counterparts, eating a natural diet, can live to be nearly thirty and t forty years respectively. For the cause, we need look no further than what we put in their bowls. A European study shows that pets fed with table scraps lived an average of three years longer than those fed commercial diets alone. Why? The answer, at least in part, is that highly processed foods cannot possibly contain all of the essential nutrients found in fresh meats, fruits and vegetables.

Reasons for Your Pets to Avoid Gluten

For all of the reasons stated, it’s probably a good practice to keep wheat gluten and carbohydrates away from you pet in favor of a “natural” diet rich in animal protein and fats and low in (or free of) carbohydrates. As specialty foods can be expensive, a list of readily available pet foods that are free of wheat gluten is provided below.

Avoid senior, lite and diet foods, as they contain increased fiber and carbohydrates and reduced protein and fat, compared to adult maintenance diets. This is the opposite of what they really need, and this food has no scientific foundation. Older and overweight pets usually respond well to increased protein and fats gained through a diet rich in meat, not grains.

Another benefit of this approach is that many dogs on the dangerous non-steroidal and steroid drugs so commonly prescribed for dogs may see marked improvements in their conditions and, in fact, may no longer need such drugs, which tend to shorten dogs’ lives. Many owners who feed their pets fewer grains see less inflammation.

Top 10 Pet Foods that are Free of Gluten and Other Potentially Harmful Proteins

The following pet foods are recommended by John B. Symes, D.M.V., and according to him, none are “ideal”, but each is gluten-free, wheat-free, barley-free, dairy-free and soy-free and can produce miraculous results in treating chronic diseases that are now found in many pets:

1. IVD/Royal Canin – L.I.D.s (potato-based diets)

2. Nutro Natural Choice Lamb and Rice

3. NaturalLife Lambaderm

4. Canidae and Felidae- Dog and cat foods

5. Dick Van Patten Natural Balance Duck and Potato, Venison and Brown Rice, and Sweet Potato and Fish Formulas

6. Solid Gold Barking at the Moon

7. Natura California Naturals

8. Canine Caviar Lamb & Pearl Millet and Chicken & Pearl Millet formulas

9. Eagle Pack Holistic Select®Duck Meal & Oatmeal and Lamb Meal & Rice \ Formulas

10. Eukanuba Response KO and FP

Resources:

1. Your Whole Pet – Bigger than you think: The story behind the pet food recall (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2007/04/03/petscol.DTL&feed=rss.news)

2. Coppinger, Ray and Lorna, Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution, Scribner, 2001. 59 — 78.

3. Case: Cary, and Hirakawa, Canine and Feline Nutrition, Mosby, 1995. 93.

4. Morris, Mark, Lewis, Lone and Hand, Michael, Small Animal Clinical Nutrition III, Mark Morris Associates, 1990. 1-11.

5. Burger, I., Ed. The Waltham Book of Companion Animal Nutrition, Pergamon 1995. 26-27: 10.

6. Symes, D.M.V., Dr. John B. (”Dogtor J”) www.dogtorj.net

For heavier pets, Http://www.petstrollermart.com provides a Three Wheel Pet Stroller, and a Four Wheel Pet Stroller. These steady strollers will come with large wheels so that you can quickly take pets over all kinds of ground. The strollers also will come with water resistant trays for easy cleaning and maintenance, and are put together with waterproof Denier nylon, so your pet stroller can stay with you for a very long time. Front wheel shock absorbers help take on unpredictable terrain and bumps, and help sustain the strength and quality of your stroller. These pet strollers also efficiently will fold down for storage or carrying.

For animals that weigh under 25 pounds, Pet Stroller Mart has an uncommon selection of wonderful pet strollers so you and your pet can get where you should be quickly and readily. You can choose to get a stroller that has more of a conventional carriage look, or decide on a polished pet stroller or a more elegant pet stroller. Even though these pet strollers are developed for lighter, smaller animals, they are still built with the same sound quality of Pet Stroller Mart’s various other offerings for big pets.

For example, if you have two pets that you need to transfer at the same time, http://www.petstrollermart.com offers a fabulous Double Decker Pet Stroller than has the ability to efficiently carry both pets at the same time. You won’t have to bring pet carriers either since each compartment detach readily and quickly and become pet carriers themselves. Also, the cart simply collapses for storage or transport.

Weakened household pets usually may have to be in wheelchairs for pets, and even though the chairs is fairly actually beneficial to pets as far as fitness, other options are available, particularly if the pet becomes weary, or is merely temporarily unable to utilize a wheelchair. This is where disabled and older pets can be helped with a pet stroller. And actually,, a pet stroller could in reality prove very healthful, to the pet, and its owner.

Strollers for pets have only lately begun to be popular, but few pet stores offer clients products like these, and stores that do, sell them for a fair amount of money. Pet Stroller Mart has started offering pet strollers that are available in a range of sizes, colors and designs that fit a lot of environments, and pet kinds. And don’t forget price range. Whether you and your pet reside in the country or the city , Pet Stroller Mart pet strollers are developed to comfortably manage all environments, and truly make it nearly effortless to carry pets where you need them to be.

Even if your animal is not handicapped, a pet stroller can make it simple to transport your animal in case they become worn-out on long walks, especially smaller animals. A lot of people assume that these are simply dog or cat strollers, but actually, they can be for any assortment of smaller to mid-sized pets, like ferrets, snakes or even monkeys. Such pets could benefit better from an enclosed pet stroller.

The versatility of pet strollers offered by Pet Stroller Mart is what truly separates their products from others. They even offer a unique three in one pet stroller that essentially is a carrier for a pet, pet stroller, and even a car seat for a pet. This is just one of the primary benefits of Buying a stroller from Pet Stroller Mart, they will save you cash because you won’t have to purchase other pet storage items. All Pet strollers from Pet Stroller Mart are nearly effortless to clean and maintain, and are developed for simple fold down and storing. The poly/cotton mesh gives extra security and air ventilation for your pet’s transport. So check out http://www.PetStrollerMart.com now to access their wonderful selection and great prices on pet strollers. Shipping and handling is included in the price of all products.