Re: AppleCheeks - The Zoo

by CallaLily Mon 15 Aug 2016, 10:41 am

Great pics. The bunnies are gorgeous and the dogs always look so happy. The calf is adorable, congrats!

by MouseLover Mon 15 Aug 2016, 3:11 pm

That first bunny is especially beautiful Smile

And great doggy pictures!

by AppleCheeks Mon 15 Aug 2016, 9:58 pm

AnonymousMouseOwner wrote:WOW, you are a great photographer! Those look like some happy dogs, and your bunnies are so pretty!

Thank you! It's definitely taken me a fair while to learn all the settings on my camera (having gone from a pretty fancy point and shoot to a DSLR) but I'm finally at a point where I'm happy with the pictures I can get Smile

stephlisa wrote:Wow, I love your new fish, such stunning colours!

He looks even prettier when his fins are all fanned out Wink

MesaMouse wrote:So good to hear from you, AppleCheeks! All of the buns look so plush, like a snuggly kid's toy, just makes me want to hug one . The dogs have the best time possible at any moment and are clearly enjoying splashing about in the water. My current dog loves water if it's coming from a hose or sprinkler -- she tries to bite the water stream and generally runs amok -- but don't show her water for a bath...that's a whole different story to her!

Ironically none of my dogs are 'water dogs' - Gremlin will tolerate water if it means he gets to follow myself or James but otherwise he tends to avoid it. Callie absolutely hated water until she was about a year old and figured out that barking at the waves was somehow really enjoyable. Silly girl. Pip on the other hand, she isn't the type to go for a swim but on a hot day she has been known to disappear for 5 minutes to cool off in the dam down the hill.
Same as your girl though, baths are a whole 'nother story!

CallaLily wrote:Great pics. The bunnies are gorgeous and the dogs always look so happy. The calf is adorable, congrats!

The trick is thinking of names for them all.. The bunnies and calf I mean Razz

MouseLover wrote:That first bunny is especially beautiful And great doggy pictures!

She's actually the only one from that litter that I'm keeping, she's super duper pretty - just needs a name..

by Peachy Tue 16 Aug 2016, 8:16 am

Good to hear from you!! Smile

I love your rabbit pictures, and your dogs always look like they're having so much fun. We took our dog swimming yesterday and I was surprised that she actually enjoyed it. She hates baths and hides in the garage when I use the garden hose. lol

by Rodents rock! Tue 16 Aug 2016, 9:08 am

I love all your babies!!!!! Love

I wish I had the room for more animals, but I live in a tiny apartment, 450 sq ft.

by AppleCheeks Tue 06 Sep 2016, 7:20 pm

Betta fish are addictive..
AppleCheeks - The Zoo - Page 4 14269445_10210468871501812_1039751970_n_zpsbfn8wqb3

And I have room for one more! Very Happy

by AnonymousMouseOwner Tue 06 Sep 2016, 7:23 pm

AppleCheeks wrote:Betta fish are addictive..

And I have room for one more!

Wow, gorgeous! Is it female or male?

by Peachy Tue 06 Sep 2016, 7:46 pm

That's a really pretty fish!!

by AppleCheeks Wed 07 Sep 2016, 3:07 am

AnonymousMouseOwner wrote:Wow, gorgeous! Is it female or male?

Another male - He's whats called an Elephant Ear Betta

abeona wrote: That's a really pretty fish!!

Guess what? He wasn't my first pick! My first pick was actually a "Snow White Crowntail Betta", super pretty but I noticed he didn't seem quite right and with the price tag on him, I didn't want to spend all that money only to get him home and have him die..

by CallaLily Wed 07 Sep 2016, 7:19 am

He's pretty. Reminds me a little of a Betta I had named Grape.

by Peachy Wed 07 Sep 2016, 9:49 pm

AppleCheeks wrote:
AnonymousMouseOwner wrote:Wow, gorgeous! Is it female or male?
Another male - He's whats called an Elephant Ear Betta

abeona wrote: That's a really pretty fish!!
Guess what? He wasn't my first pick! My first pick was actually a "Snow White Crowntail Betta", super pretty but I noticed he didn't seem quite right and with the price tag on him, I didn't want to spend all that money only to get him home and have him die..

Wow, I had no idea there were white betta fish. How pretty! It's too bad that he wasn't healthier. Sad

While I was Googling I found a picture of a 'rosetail'. I remember seeing one once at Petco. It was so lovely. Heart Eyes

by AppleCheeks Wed 28 Feb 2018, 6:34 pm

Heh, I clean forgot about this thread. Apparently it's been a while huh?

"The Zoo" is still incredibly accurate. I don't know how many animals I had when I first started this thread but well.. here's an updated list because why the heck not?!

Cows - Moffatt, Bobby, Alfie, Annie, Arnica, Melrose, Ness, Ella and Lily. Soon to also include a wee bull calf called Archie (Read the post further down for that Wink

)
Chickens - 1 Rooster - Mr Fluffypants and 7 hens along with 5 chicks (2 roosters, 2 hens and 1 unknown)
Quail - 6 hens, 2 roosters (wait.. is that what you call them?)
Goats - uhhh.. Goat. Aka Trouble.
Rabbits - Rubix, Blackberry, Lyra, Asher, Rogue, Bandit, Snugz, Lainey, Leena plus her 4 bubs and 2 un-named does. Oh! And one who will be arriving in a little over a month!
Guinea pigs - Tobi, Little Wonk (male pair) and Dust Bunny, Carrots, Abby and Athea (female quad).
Dogs - Callie, Gremlin and Pip.
Cats - River, Dylan and Isobel.
Mouse - Gidget
Birds - Zombie (lovebird) and Atlas (IRN)
Fish - 4 dwarf chain loaches, 2 angel fish, 1 royal red whiptail catfish, 1 gold bristlenose and 6 or so khuli loaches (these guys.. I wish I knew how many I had left but they're masters at hiding).

So story time!

Archie.
Our stud bull Moffatt is getting older, no surprises there. We got him when he was 2, almost 3 years old back in 2007 - he will be 14 this year. The sad fact is of course that most people don't keep their bulls for this long (you usually keep some offspring and move the bull on) and usually by 15 or so they start not being able to hold their weight as well as they use to. Sooooo.. we began the hunt for a new bull to replace him with. In theory we should still have another few years with Moffatt but honestly, it can potentially take a long time to find a stud that will suit what you personally like and what will benefit your herd, your girls, improve the traits that exist and bring in traits that don't.
A friend of ours had a cow who calved and gosh, he showed promise from day dot. It took some convincing because her price was a tad high for what we wanted to pay - especially for a calf! But hey-ho, she's in the process of training him currently and getting him use to handling/halters etc and we will go pick him up when he is ready!
So meet Archie!

And then of course I haven't actually introduced my two birds - how dare I?!

First up is Zombie. I had been wanting a bird for a little while and had kept asking my Dad for permission (Yeahhh, still live at home) and after saying "no" for what seemed like forever, one day he came home and was just like "Merry Christmas, I've decided to buy you a bird" haha. So I contacted a breeder who happened to have 3 gorgeous baby lovebirds. She had just pulled them from the nest a few weeks prior and was handraising them. True to form, the one I picked ended up not being 100%. She was feathering very very slowly compared to her siblings - they were fully feathered by 6 weeks and she was only 50% there if that. The breeder was kind enough to let me take over handraising and accept all risk that she might not make it for whatever reason.
Low and behold, turns out another breeder had actually had Zombie for a week at some point because the breeder I got her from asked for advice - get this.. somehow.. she wasn't feeding Zombie enough formula and thus she was developing slower than her clutch mates.
Needless to say, it's been a few months now and she's almost fully weaned (cut her last feed out a few days ago). She's 40g and is such a cheeky wee demon lol. Definitely gives my dogs a run for their money - she loves nibbling on their ears Laughing

And then Atlas. Honestly, there isn't a super interesting story behind him. I had a cage spare and Dad made the surprising suggestion that I get another bird so... I found a fantastic breeder and drove an hour to go get him/her - DNA will be coming back in a few weeks. The breeder did an amazing job, he's super confident, loves handling and my god does he love his fruit and veges! The only issue I had was that she did clip his wings.. too much so he can't fly. Hopefully he will still be confident enough to try and learn how to fly once he moults and gets those feathers back!

by River Wed 28 Feb 2018, 7:29 pm

Gotta say, your cat has a lovely name.

Is Atlas an IRN? I love them way too much. I love having a 'tiel but one day I would love to get a IRN! Maybe if I ever decide to stop keeping mice I'll be able to move one in...maybe.

How do you house so many rabbits by the way? I have four and it's a trouble keeping those, much less that many! Zoos are fun, though.

by AppleCheeks Thu 01 Mar 2018, 1:07 am

River wrote:Gotta say, your cat has a lovely name.

Is Atlas an IRN? I love them way too much. I love having a 'tiel but one day I would love to get a IRN! Maybe if I ever decide to stop keeping mice I'll be able to move one in...maybe.

How do you house so many rabbits by the way? I have four and it's a trouble keeping those, much less that many! Zoos are fun, though.

Why thank you! River is my kitten (well actually, she turned 1 recently). She fits right into this mad house. Isobel is 17 and arthritic, she also has renal disease so if I'm honest, I don't see her being around for more than a year or so.. And Dylan, he's 11 this year and also has renal disease. I'm just glad we have gotten him to a point where he is stable - renal disease and a giardia diagnosis last year took its toll on him and his weight dropped a bunch.

Atlas is an IRN, yes! His hatch date was 8th December 2017 so he's still basically a baby. He makes less noise than Zombie which I find funny - she loves to chatter while he only makes noise if he's annoyed, wants something or is just saying hello. 'tiels are lovely too though - it was always a toss up between IRN and a 'tiel for a second bird.

Heh, you're right, I do have a few rabbits lol. A whole bunch of hutches for starters, I live on 11 acres so we aren't exactly short on space and more recently I have a few in a colony type set up which are my pets and retired breeders. Keep in mind though, it doesn't rain here and it very rarely gets below 0 Celsius so housing outside is easy.

by AppleCheeks Mon 12 Mar 2018, 8:32 pm

I can't believe how far Bean *cough cough* Zombie.. has come since I got her towards the end of December. Our main concern when she was young was that maybe she had coccidiosis or PBFD (PBFD is fatal in most cases) but thankfully after a bunch of tests and some word of mouth I guess, I found out it was all due to lack of nutrition in the beginning of the handraising stage that caused some VERY slow feathering.

So these are pictures of her the day before I got her. In all her naked, scruffy glory.

At the time I got her, her siblings were all pretty much fully feathered and well.. 3 months later and she has finally caught up!

And a picture of Atlas, just because. Still waiting on the DNA results to find out if Atlas is a girl or boy.. maybe today.. Maybe.

How about some rabbits?
Asher, Rogue and Bandit are 3 rabbits I got from a breeder on the other side of New Zealand, cost a small fortune for transport but they were completely worth every cent and are from fantastic lines which hopefully will improve my own lines when they are old enough and not moulting up a storm (I've found breedings don't tend to "take" when they're moulting or when its hot).

Bandit, standard rex buck, 1yr, blue point.
Rogue, standard rex doe, 6 months, sable.
Asher, standard rex doe, 6 months, sable agouti.

Also pictured are 3 from my more recent litters. Pandora (self black), Zodiac, (broken lilac) and Lyra (broken havana).
Pandora and Zodiac are litter mates and keepers from my current litter since I've decided to retire their Mum. Lyra is actually their half siblings (same Mum) and a total sweetheart. She's sort of my go-to for public events, she loves attention haha.

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