Worth Sharing!

A Mouthful Of What?

Baby fish?   Have had a lot of fun watching my female Haplochromis sp "Dayglow" tend her batch of fry.  These Haps are maternal mouthbrooders, which means that the female gathers up the freshly fertilized eggs in her mouth and keeps them there until the eggs hatch.  And beyond.  This is my first batch of Haps, so am not sure how long this behavior continues, but it's great fun to watch.  When I realized that the female had a mouthful of eggs (called "holding"), I netted her out and put her in a tank by herself.  One of the options is "stripping", forcing the female to spit out the eggs which are then hatched artificially, but I preferred to try it the natural way.  The fry have been coming out to feed for several weeks, but when the female thinks there is danger (such as when I siphon out the tank and add fresh water), she still gathers them up in her mouth for safekeeping.  They are so big now that she can't completely close her mouth when she is protecting them.  Too funny.  I suppose this weekend I will try to catch her when the fry are all out and feeding.  It's been great fun to watch, but I'm sure she will be pleased to get back in the much larger tank with her Cichlid peers.

One of my other Cichlid females is also holding, one of the Yellow Labs (Labidochromis caerulis), but I have been unable to catch that wretched fish.  I have a smaller tank set up for her and her family, so will have to take all the filters and rocks out of the big tank this weekend so I can catch her and move her out.

Yellow "Lab"

Fun with fish!

I Own Dogs & Occasionally Sell Puppies

Call me old fashioned, but I can't get used to the idea of being contacted about "adopting" a puppy and being asked about my "adoption fee".  Although we rarely have a litter, when we do I SELL the puppies to new OWNERS.  Not "pet guardians" or "pet parents".  Dogs are not little furry people in need of parents - they are dogs in need of responsible caring owners who will raise them to be confident, well-adjusted, well-mannered dogs.  I do not charge an "adoption fee" - that may be what you pay when you get a dog from the Humane Society or other rescue group, but when you BUY a puppy from a breeder you pay a Purchase Price.

I am very concerned about the goal of many Animal Rights groups to take away my right to own a dog or breed a litter of pups, and feel some of the current language plays into their hands.  If you doubt that, go back and look at my posting on the goals of PETA.

Retraining My Blogging

Three days without posting and I could not even remember my Blogger password.  Not sure why I find time to blog on workdays, but not on weekends!  Password taken care of now, but no time left to post.  Lot of happenings, lots of picture, no time.  Guess I'll have to concentrate on catch up this week! 

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend and everything ran smoothly except when the washer stopped working, but we got that fixed too for now.  Saw the whole family, at least the ones that still live in the area.  Dogs had a great Christmas as well, and got lots of extra attention.