HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: bickford@jimmy.dfci.harvard.edu (Paul Bickford)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: Shy rat
Date: 25 Jan 1993 19:17:57 GMT
Organization: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: jimmy.harvard.edu

In article <932625142636@ibm3090.bham.ac.uk> TREHARAJ@ibm3090.bham.ac.uk writes:
>==============================================================================
>I've just bought an 8 week old female rat. The lady in the shop said she (the
>rat!) was a little nervous but would get more confident with handling.
>The problem is that she doesn't come out of her nest very much and the
>slightest sound sends her back in. I need to know whether I should handle
>her everyday or leave her for a while or what, I got her out of her nest a
>couple of times and she sat on my arm quite happily grooming. I have left her
>alone now as it seems a bit off digging her out of her nest.
>
>Andy T.

From my experience, food is the key to earning a rat's trust (isn't
that the way it is with all living things? But I digress...). My
female rat didn't really want anything to do with me until she
associated me with a yummy treat of some sort -- slices of cucumber
worked well for me. Handling every day (after giving your rat 1-2 days
of "adjustment time") is a good thing. Eventually she will get used to
you and her environment. It takes time!

If all goes well, after about a week of bribing her with food, she
will come to you even if you don't have any food to give (classical
training). Scratching her under the chin and behind the ears will also
strengthen the bond between you two -- mutual grooming is a way of
creating social ties in the rat world (in other words, don't get upset
when she starts licking your hands for no good reason -- this is a
good sign!).

If this is making any sense, good. If not, follow the simple rules:
always offer food, and put the rat down when she doesn't seem to be "digging
it" -- the last thing you want is for her to associate bad experiences
to you. Rats remember!

Paul
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|      <include standard disclaimer>         | Paul Bickford              |
| The opinions/information expressed herein  | bickford@jimmy.harvard.edu |
|     are mine, and not my employer's!       | p.bickford@leotech.mv.com  |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Dana Farber Cancer Institute  | "Ahh...we were just talking about you." |
|   division of Biostatistics   | "That's refreshing, Jenner --           |
|       and Epidemiology        |     usually you're screaming about us." |
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Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: erc@unislc.uucp (Ed Carp)
Subject: Re: Bunny Loves Carpeting
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1993 06:29:34 GMT

Rick The Ricker Ludvigsen (ludvig@rtsg.mot.com) wrote:

: I have recently acquired a 1 year old male dwarf rabbit.
: He is completely litter-trained, but he is always trying
: to dig and pull at the carpeting.  I am not quite as 
: worried about the carpeting as I am about him digesting
: the carpet pieces he manages to pull out.
: 
: Does anyone have any suggestions about how to break him
: of this habit.

Do you give him hay?  Are you sure "he" isn't a "she"?  I've seen this in
nesting rabbits...
-- 
Ed Carp			erc@apple.com, erc@saturn.upl.com	801/538-0177
1935 will go down in history.  For the first time, a civilized nation has
full gun registration.  Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient,
and the world will follow our lead into the future.  --Adolf Hitler
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: ferret shows
From: <KAB137@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 18:52:39 EST
Organization: Penn State University

I don't have any info for you, except for the Ferret Expo '93 (Sponsored by the
American Ferret Association) but that is in Maryland on February 6th.  If
anyone is interested in information, or a Show Packet, call Hally Heber at
(301) 898-3228 or Chrissy Cappelluti at (301) 694-0393.

 I am interested in show schedules for shows more in the eastern U.S., so if
anyone has info on any, I am interested in that as well.

-=Kymberlie and Shadow=-
From: TREHARAJ@ibm3090.bham.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Shy rat
Date: 25 Jan 93 14:26:36 GMT
Organization: The University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
NNTP-Posting-Host: ibm3090.bham.ac.uk

==============================================================================
I've just bought an 8 week old female rat. The lady in the shop said she (the
rat!) was a little nervous but would get more confident with handling.
The problem is that she doesn't come out of her nest very much and the
slightest sound sends her back in. I need to know whether I should handle
her everyday or leave her for a while or what, I got her out of her nest a
couple of times and she sat on my arm quite happily grooming. I have left her
alone now as it seems a bit off digging her out of her nest.

Andy T.
From: marty@atmos.ogi.edu (Marty Shearer)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: comments on recent bunny posts
Keywords: bunny, spay, new rabbits
Date: 25 Jan 93 23:37:26 GMT
Article-I.D.: ogicse.49035
Followup-To: rec.pets
Distribution: na
Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute, Atmospheric Sciences, Beaverton, OR

This is a comment on several recent bunny posts.

First on a second rabbit:
     We introduced a second female to our slightly older female
bunny Rosie last fall.  We have a large outdoor hutch and a smaller
(standard size) indoor cage, which easily holds two dwarf rabbits.
We put our new bunny Butterscotch in the small cage, and put it inside
the hutch.  We exercised them separately in doors, always bringing
Butterscotch inside when Rosie was hopping.  After 3 days, Rosie
would only lie next to the cage, so we tried taking them out 
together.  They've been inseparable (except for the following story)
ever since.  They do use the same litter box without trouble, and
are pretty reliable.  I should say, however, that Rosie had always
had a bunny friend (we lost one of our first bunnies in a vacation
catastrophe), and she prefers bunnies to humans.  She likes to play
and can be affectionate, but she really grieved after her first
friend died, and the main problem, I think, in introducing her to
Butterscotch was that she was too excited.

To spay or not to spay:
     A recent post-er asked about spaying his/her female bun, when
he/she had no intention of breeding the bunny.  I felt the same way -
it was, after all, the reason I got two females- and frankly, the
expense gave me pause also.  It was fairly costly, mainly due to the
anesthetic the vet used.  Then Rosie went through a false pregnancy,
and attacked Butterscotch so fiercely we had to separate them.  She
pulled a lot of fur off herself, but even more off Butterscotch, then
bit and drove her away.  She sat on her nest for a couple of days,
then gradually returned to normal behavior, seeming a little puzzled,
and we put them back together.  Two weeks later, Butterscotch went
through a false pregnancy, and I said, okay time to lose those 
hormones.  They were spayed last week, are recovering well and eating
and playing again.  Don't know if that helps with any one else's 
decision, but unspayed females can get very confused.  (P.S.  we
had to practically force feed those bunnies papaya tablets during
those false pregnancies - they both showed signs of incipient hair
balls.)

Rosie, Butterscotch, and the food-bringer


Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: "amy lynn young-leith" <alyoung@kiwi.ucs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Please save this adorable dog...
Keywords: vet, ethics
Organization: Indiana University, Bloomington
Distribution: rec.pets
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 12:01:44 -0500

In article <C1EBzI.H0q@world.std.com> laf@world.std.com (Lisa A Fullam) writes:
>
>Does the implied deception by the vet trouble anybody out there? Sure, the

Doesn't bother me one bit.  It does bother me that people who use pets
like this don't have the shit beaten out of them when they try
something like this. 

>person asking to have a healthy dog killed should have been talked to,
>dissuaded, if possible. But if the owner asked to have the dog killed, and
>the vet agreed, surely it would be wrong to place the animal in another
>home without the permission of the previous owner! For one thing, perhaps

No, it would not.  I believe that by wanting something KILLED just
because you no longer have the time means that you relenquish any
ownership to it, since it IS a living being.  It's life takes priority
over someones "right" to it's body.

>the previous owner knew that the dog bites--it's hardly fair to ask some
>unsuspecting Good Sam-type to take a biting dog. For another thing, this

I imagine that a person coming in to have a viscious dog put down
would clearly state so, and not say, "Oh, it's gotten too big and I
can't keep it any longer."  I doubt that any vet would ever try to
place an unsafe dog with anyone other than someone who knew clearly
what the dogs problem was, and was going to attempt to change it. 

>practice--lying to one's clients, becomes more sinister in other contexts.
>It's not uncommon for people to ask vets, when they bring old, sick
>animals to be put to sleep, "You're not going to experiment on him, are
>you?" This is fairly wrenching for the conscientious vet, who tries, as
>much as possible, to serve honestly, the needs of pets and owners. Lying
>to one's clients, no matter how noble the cause, seems to me only to break
>down the trust between vet and client.

I wouldn't trust a vet who WOULD put down animals just because the
owners were selfish shitheads.  

amy
-- 
alyoung@kiwi.indiana.edu	        	Occupation:  Lifetime Student
*****************************************************************************
*This post was made on personal time and has nothing to do whatsoever with  *
*              the attitudes or opinions of Indiana University.             *
*****************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: christin@cae.wisc.edu (Christine Haas)
Subject: litter training those ferrets
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering
Date: 21 Jan 93 08:35:46 CST

Hi all,

This is yet another inquiry about litter training ferrets - I
have answered many of these myself, and now I am the one asking.

What do you do when all else fails???

I have 3 wonderful ferrets.  And in my small room, they have
3 litter boxes, and they do use them.  But they have also 
decided to use the doorway into my room as their toilet as well.
For one thing, you have the chance of stepping in it when leaving
or entering the room (there is a plexiglass divider between my room
and the rest of the world).  And the second thing is that it
drives my roommates crazy - they have begged me not to put a litter
box there because then they would have to look at it everytime they 
walked by my room (my room is adjacent to the kitchen), and that 
grosses them out.

So, what have I done?  I have spreading food over the area.  It works
for my 2 females (until they eat the food, then when its gone they go
there), but my male could care less and he shits on the food. 

I can't be here constantly, I watch them immediately after they leave
the cage, as long as I am watching, they go in the right place.  I don't
want to lock them up constantly either.   

Any suggestions?  I'm going out to buy a dark-brown towel and I'm going
to soak it in vinegar - lets see how that works.  Clear those sinuses out
anyway.

Chris.

christin@cae.wisc.edu 
-- 


%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Salt Spool, what is this for?
From: <L98CC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Wednesday, 27 Jan 1993 03:20:32 EST
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

The other day I went to pet store, and they had a boxful of something
labeled 'salt spool--for hamsters, mices, and other rodents'.  I bought
one because it was cheap(25c).  I have a hamster and what should I do with
this salt spool?  Just give to him?
-----
Justin Bahk
Boycott Elvis Stamps!
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: mds5597@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Subject: Re: Handling rats & Burmese
Reply-To: mds5597@ritvax.isc.rit.edu
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 26 Jan 1993 15:51:21 GMT

>I learned a valuable lesson that day.  This was also the first time I've ever
>fed a boid.  My Pine (rip) and Corn had always been quite mellow about food
>until it hit the floor of their homes, so I had been lulled into a stupid sense
>of carelessness.  That day I fed the Corn a mouse, then went over to the 6.5'
>Burmese.  I pulled off the top of his tank and started whacking the rat.  Monty
>decided to be much more agressive wrt his food than I was used to, and decided
>to snack early.  Yes, my docile little boy lunged up out of the tank and bit my
>elbow, then proceeded to wrap himself around my arm.  I left him alone for
>several minutes, hoping that he'd let go.  He eventually did, but remained
>coiled around my arm.  I was able to slowly and carefully remove him through
>a combination of unwrapping him and pushing his coils off my hand.  Neither
>was easy.  This was a 6.5' animal.  The next time you think that someone
>coiled by an adult could just push the coils down off the feet, think again.
>Burmese.  I pulled off the top of his tank and started whacking the rat.  Monty
>decided to be much more agressive wrt his food than I was used to, and decided
>to snack early.  Yes, my docile little boy lunged up out of the tank and bit my
>elbow, then proceeded to wrap himself around my arm.  I left him alone for
>several minutes, hoping that he'd let go.  He eventually did, but remained
>coiled around my arm.  I was able to slowly and carefully remove him through
>a combination of unwrapping him and pushing his coils off my hand.  Neither
>was easy. 

	I now have a pair of forcepts to feed Tabatha(corn snake). I feed her
once and she almost bite me. I am a little nervous of what will happen if she
bites me. I do not want to be scared of snakes after a bite. Anyone want to
commend on this...
                                               
                                                      Treky and Tabatha
							    N8VFZ

P.S.
----
Live long and prosper.                   
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: aad@siemens.com (Anthony A. Datri)
Subject: Re:  New Ig brought home
Organization: Siemens Corporate Research, Princeton (Plainsboro), NJ
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 21:59:34 GMT

>time so that he could absorb my warmth.  Some may call that mushy

Not at all.  I believe that if we don't love our pets, we shouldn't have them
in the first place.  After all, they belong here, and we don't.

I was recently forced to move to NJ from TX, and brought my snakes
with me in the car.  If I fired the heater up so high that the front seats
were in the 80's (F), the back seat still only registered around 60.  I
stuck them into a pillowcase and kept them on my lap, under an afghan.

-- 

======================================================================8--<
From: svasi@obelix.cs.uoregon.edu (Nathan Tenny)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
Subject: Help - muscle spasms in leopard frog!
Date: 21 Jan 93 21:33:42 GMT
Organization: Dept. of Mathematics, Miskatonic University, Arkham, MA


Last night I noticed small muscle spasms in the hind toes of one of my
leopard frogs; they didn't seem to be transmitted up his legs much.  When
it became evident that they weren't going away, I isolated him and changed
the water in the tank he'd been in (no signs of trouble at present in the
other frog that was with him).

While I was holding him, moving him from the old tank to a shallow bowl (no
spare tanks--oops), the spasms propagated up his legs; for a while he was
breathing convulsively, more or less in sync with the muscle convulsions.  At
one point his legs went straight out (backwards) and stayed there; I tried to
massage them back into place, but couldn't find the relevant muscles.
Eventually they went back into a normal position on their own.

By this time all four of his feet were pinkish with distended capillaries (not
red-leg, I think, since he wasn't bloated, nor terribly lethargic).  The books
I had on hand had nothing useful to say, except to suggest that I warm him up;
I heated the water in the bowl to about 80-81F (these guys normally live
around 75), gave him a platform so he could get out of the water if need be,
and left him to himself.  This morning things look better; he's breathing
normally, the pinkness is mostly gone, and the spasms are just trembling in
his hind toes.  Also, he shed his skin during the night.

Does anyone recognise this problem or have any suggestions?  The people I've
talked to suspect that it might be a vitamin/mineral deficiency; this seems
odd to me, since a week ago this was a *highly* contented frog (this is the
one with a fondness for talking to the TV, if you remember that thread); it
seems like an awfully sudden decline for a nutritional problem.  And there
should be no toxins in the water--he's been getting a water change every couple
of days, with decent dechlorinated water.

Any information would be appreciated.  Thanks

	NT
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: drk@leland.Stanford.EDU (David Koehler)
Subject: Re: QUESTION 'BOUT RATS
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 93 01:58:27 GMT

In article <1993Jan21.032448.74257@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> dhm1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (DANIEL HILL MCCAULEY) writes:

>    This is probably going to sound like a stupid question. Does the fresh
>    blood of a rat or mouse etc... pose any threat to the human feeding it to
>    his/her snake. (i.e. diseases , etc... spread from the rat to the human
>    through the contact of each other's blood.) It seems to me to be very
>    improbable but I am just making sure.  Thanks!

I suppose rabies, plague, and Lyme disease are among the worst.  Don't know
if rats can carry the last one, and plague and Lyme are spread by the ticks 
on the mammal, not the blood per se.  Not too much risk with captive-bred 
rodents I would imagine.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
      David R. Koehler                         "His DNA is skewed!"
   drk@leland.stanford.edu                       -- Dr. Beverley Crusher  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: seedman@IASTATE.EDU (Varanus Komodensis)
Subject: Re: Monitor Eats Shit
Reply-To: seedman@IASTATE.EDU (Varanus Komodensis)
Organization: Iowa State University
Date: Fri, 22 Jan 1993 15:34:43 GMT

In article <C17zKt.E6I.1@cs.cmu.edu>, tmohler+@cs.cmu.edu (Tim Mohler) writes:
> My savannah monitor took his regular large dump the other day. I saw
> it in the cage, but I was in a hurry, and figured I could clean it
> up when I got home for good.
>
> When I got home, the shit was gone. I assume Balzac ate it. For the
> last couple days, he hasn't been looking too good - even for a
> lizard. Generally lethargic, hasn't come out of his hide box since,
> doesn't chase his mice like usual... looking under the weather.
>
	Monitor lizards will eat anything!
	                         -------- 

> Is there any ill effects to eating your own shit? Can I do
> anything for him? Should I worry about this in the future?
>
	I personally have never eaten any of my own, or anyone else's for
that matter.  I don't feel very well just thinking about it.
			 
> Is this a monitor trait?
>

Serious Response...	I don't think it'll kill him.  Monitors in the wild
-------------------	eat everything from fresh killed to week old carrion.
			A little shit shouldn't hurt him.  I would make sure
			that he has plenty of fresh water to drink, keep his
			cage warm, and keep offering food.  He should come
			around.  

					-=- seedman@iastate.edu

===========================================================================
{                   2ND WORLD CONGRESS OF HERPETOLOGY                     }
{   DECEMBER 29, 1993 thru JANUARY 6, 1994        ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA     }
{                    (say, can anyone lend me $5000)                      }
===========================================================================

Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: gerard@progress.COM (Gerard Bras)
Subject: Re: Handling rats & Burmese
Organization: Progress Software Corp.
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1993 16:04:14 GMT

jgraham@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu (the End) writes:


>Your best bet is to switch her (big Burmese) to dead food. 

Excellent suggestion.  It is much simpler and convenient.  Just make sure 
you use whole animals for a good percentage of the diet.

>After a few years
>of that she will reduce her instinctive agresiveness that is associated with
>feeding.

This is most certainly *not* my experience.

>Nancy (10 ft./4 yrs) has always taken thawed rats. An additional advantage, and
>one that just didn't occur to me for a long time, is that she will also eat 
>regular old Tyson(TM) chicken parts. Cheap and VERY reliable food. When 
>asked, other readers will admit that their Burmese will eat all kinds of
>items (fish, chops, ect.).

I use chicken parts rather frequently.  We call the legs "bent rats".  I've
also fed beef livers, a little messy but nutritious as all get out.  I've
never tried fish but doubt highly that pythons will eat it.  The Eunectes
species, OTOH, probably would.

cheers,
gerard

Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
From: eabyrnes@vela.acs.oakland.edu (eabyrnes)
Subject: Water Dragon?
Organization: Oakland University, Rochester MI.
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1993 22:48:19 GMT

I got a reptile called a Water Dragon and that is about all I know about
the animal. I've been feeding it vitamin dusted giant mealworms and dusted
crickets. I'd like to know more about them, Latin name, where they are
from, what is the best diet, best habitat. It is really a cool lizard with
some neat diagonal stripes. It is also developing a problem...its lips are
shrinking. It use to have nice tight lips which closed nicely, now it
doesn't seem to be able to close its mouth and its teeth and tongue show.
All suggestions will be welcome, I'd hate to lose this guy. By the way I
keep him in a warm 78 degree, humid tank, and he has a basin to dip in.
-- 
*---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---*
|   Ed Byrnes   FAX:  313-651-7392           eabyrnes@vela.acs.oakland.edu  |
|   Kensington Academy & Oakland University     Rochester,MI North America  |
*---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---*
From: dhm1@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (DANIEL HILL MCCAULEY)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp
Subject: QUESTION 'BOUT RATS
Date: 21 Jan 93 03:24:48 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University


    This is probably going to sound like a stupid question. Does the fresh
    blood of a rat or mouse etc... pose any threat to the human feeding it to
    his/her snake. (i.e. diseases , etc... spread from the rat to the human
    through the contact of each other's blood.) It seems to me to be very
    improbable but I am just making sure.  Thanks!

    -Dan
    "The owner of the friendliest burmese python in the world, until you feed
    her!"





                                                        
-- 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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| Electrical Engineering   _-\_<,               ,>_/-_    UC #29 Box 58A      |
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Newsgroups: rec.pets.herp