A baby parrot goes through five basic developmental stages: neonate or hatchling, nestling, fledgling, weanling, and juvenile or pre-adolescent.
The first stage is the “neonate” or “hatchling.” This newly hatched baby still has its eyes closed and is completely dependent on its parents or humans to provide food and a warm environment.
The second stage is the “nestling.” At this point, the bird’s eyes are open, but it still relies on a parent bird or human for feedings. It …
Introduction
For a variety of reasons, veterinarians do not recommend that owners attempt to breed their guinea pigs. One concern is that breeding will produce more guinea pigs than available homes. As with most companion animals, there are many homeless guinea pigs available for adoption in animal shelters.
Another concern of veterinarians is that the female, also known as a sow, can experience complications during the delivery of her offspring. These complications are caused by the stiffening of the pelvic …
Introduction
Barbering refers to the abnormal grooming behavior of an animal chewing and tearing the fur and whiskers of either itself or another animal. Barbering is known to occur in most companion rodent species, including guinea pigs, rats, and mice. When one animal barbers another animal, it is used as a display of dominance, meaning that the more dominant member of the group chews on the fur and whiskers of the less dominant members. Barbering results in alopecia (loss of …
Chinchillas make friendly and loveable companions. To ensure that your chinchilla is living a healthy life, both mentally and physically, it is vital to provide it with the appropriate living environment, including the proper type of housing, bedding, toys, exercise, and socialization.
Housing
Cages
Chinchillas tend to be much more active than their domestic rodent counterparts. It is important to provide them with a cage that allows them to move around and be active. An optimal chinchilla cage will have …
The scientific classification order that all rodent species belong to is called Rodentia, which means “to gnaw” in Latin. Rodents have teeth (incisors and molars) that grow throughout their lives. In the wild, these animals gnaw on materials such as wood and forage to keep their incisors worn down to an appropriate length. Domesticated rodents such as mice, rats, chinchillas, and guinea pigs also need to gnaw on materials to keep their teeth worn down. If the incisors are …
