Southerrrngirrl

Hey all, I have two Zebra Loaches, have had them for at least 2 years now, possibly closer to 3. They've always been happy, friendly active loaches. Recently I've discovered that one of them is looking not so well. When viewed from behind and above it looks as though he has two white lumps on either side of his body just behind his eyes. I've tried several times to photograph him but the lumps aren't showing up in the photographs. So I've just got a picture of a loach from a website and circled approximately where the lumps appear. He was eating the other day but he looks kinda skinny too. I was wondering if the two white lumps might be his bones protruding from under the skin?? Last night, he did not look well. He was just sitting under a leaf, then got disturbed by another fish and swam away to the other end of the tank, and sat behind the driftwood. Then he started to roll onto his side, and the end of his body started to float upwards, and it looked like he was struggling to keep himself upright. Now he's gone in to hiding in the driftwood and I'm worried that he's gonna go die inside the wood and I won't be able to get him out. Here's a picture showing the approximate location of the white lumps. (note this is not MY loach)

Yes Spice Girls were from the 90's... good costume idea actually! So.. how did the party go??

I find those flower sticker things that you stick on windows quite effective. Ugly but effective! They attract the flies, then they die and you end up with a little fly pile on the floor. Don't know how well they would work on mosquitos though as we don't have a big problem with those down this way. Or how about those citronella candle thingys? Raid mozzy lamps?? Never used them so don't know how effective they are I agree, wouldn't like to spend lots of time around the robocan things. I keep fly spray use to a minimum around my house, in fact I very rarely use it for flies. I save it for the spiders!

usurpant

lol well this is true!

I used to work for the Mental Health Department at SDHB. Not as a nurse but just a receptionist/admin officer. I was their casual, so my actual work place varied from the drug and alcohol clinic to the child services, as well as the outpatient clinic and inpatient ward. VEEEERY interestings times. Now I'm a CSO (Claims Service Officer) for a loss adjusting company.

I have had MANY fish dreams in the last few years.. most recent was probably a couple of weeks ago. I don't recall exactly what it was about. They are generally disasters like the tank has cracked or smashed or often its in danger as a result of an earthquake. I do recall one where I took my fish out of water and on holiday... I had my Zebra loaches with me on a plane, then realised that, uhhh fish need water so why do I have them with me on a plane to Disneyland!?!?

Here she is.. this is literally minutes after we got her taking a snooze on hubby's lap. and this was from this morning. I was cleaning up a puddle she had made, when she decided that the paper towels looked like a fun thing to play with. I decided that it wasn't such a good thing to play with so gave her a face cloth instead. So she happily dragged that around the house, before deciding it was time for a little nap... on the face cloth!

Mmmm Denny looks tasty. Well done. Bloodthirsty kids ...

Yeah I'm really stoked that they were able to take her in and care for her. I was stressing so much after having no luck in being able to find anyone to look after her during the day. She's a real cutie. Must be at that age were the personality is just starting to develop. She barks a little and its so cute. Wags her tail like mad when she's exploring the house. And when she comes across something that she's not sure of, she sort of bounces back then gets brave and goes back for a sniff. And its funny to watch her run, she's not completely coordinated in that area yet. And walking on the kitchen vinyl is a bit of a mission for her hehe

Update on puppy for those interested: she is now in the care of the lovely people at the local SPCA. They are going to keep her there for 3 weeks, get her vet checked, wormed and vaccinated then we can pick her up on the 15th. I have pics of her from when she was with us during the weekend so will post some tonight.

It looks good! Hmmm...wonder if I would be allowed to have a fish tank on my desk at work?

This is not so much dropping but all the talk of losing and hunting for fish made me recall this. When I was in Form 2, our home room was the science class and they had a tank that had some goldfish in it. One day this kid was getting large pieces of thick cardboard that were being stored near the tank, he spun around for some reason which resulted in the cardboard hitting the fish tank and smashing or knocking it to the floor. I was absolutely beside myself as was my friend. We spend soooooo long hunting for the poor fish. Finally found the goldfish under the teachers desk, dead.

I've seen those backgrounds and they are nice. It'll be worth the hassle surely! Make sure you post pics when you're done

We don't have any family where we live. My parents are in town though, but don't really want to dump this sort of responsibility on them as they are not experienced with dogs at all. Since my last post I've had a thought that just might work. There is a lady who runs the local cattery were we live. She loves animals, and it just so happens that one of her fox terriers has just had puppies in the last month, possibly around the same time as our neighbours dog. So.. maybe we could work some sort of arrangement out where she looks after our puppy for us until its ready to be separated. That way it will get the socialisation skills and care needed, that we can't provide just yet. I don't know if she'll be keen but its worth a shot!

Therein lies another problem. I work full-time. Workplace is an office and is 45 minutes from home. I'm stressing over this now. All I've done this morning is google all sorts of things, from what I gather they could be just about ready to be weaned now anyway? But still its far to early to leave mum and the litter as its still learning critical socialisation skills etc. Last thing I want is to have a puppy that develops bad behaviour because it was pulled from its litter too early. My plan was to get it like just before christmas so I could be home over christmas and take some leave afterwards to do all the necessary training and bonding etc. Then put puppy in to daycare until its old enough to be left at home during the day. If only I could take maternity leave!

Sure I'll check that out with the vet. I'm all for desexing as soon as possible. I don't mean to.. stereotype our neighbour but she does seem... like the type to not properly care for an animal. She is a solo mum, works at the local pub and was "out on the piss" on Sunday afternoon when we first went round to see her. The house is a complete mess, and the garage were the puppies are was not very clean either. I agree with you lmsmith, I think I would take better care of puppy! At least with me it would have more to sleep on than some dirty old bed sheets. And would I be right in thinking that puppies shouldn't really be drinking cows milk? Cos that was the neighbours plan. I'm going to check with the vet today, I'm assuming there is some sort of puppy formula that you can get? We didn't really get the chance to observe mum with the pups. She was locked in the garage with them when we arrived, when the door was opened, she came flying out, stopped to briefly see who was here then took off and didn't even look back.

Saw puppy again tonight, it sounds like mummy dog has had enough of the pups. The neighbour was talking about having to start bottle feeding them. I think she's just keen to get rid of them myself. So hubby said we would bring the puppy home this weekend. Not exactly what I had in mind! The neighbour couldn't even tell us the exact day or even say what week they were born, she thinks they are 3-4 weeks old already. Sounds like she doesn't really care. Thats too early to take a puppy away from its mother right? But what happens if the mother stops feeding them? What else can you do?

Oh no don't worry about that. Puppy will be spayed as soon as she is able to be. Last thing I want is for her and Bob to inbreed! As for Bob, I do honestly feel really bad that we hadn't had him fixed sooner, for a long time there was no need as he was all by himself on a farm with no other dogs around for miles so I guess it was never a priority. And then when we moved to where we are now, the neighbour wasn't there at that stage so again, I guess we never saw it as a priorty. When she did move in and noticed the female dog was displaying in heat behaviour, we did warn her that our dog wasn't fixed yet, but she didn't make any effort to stop her dog from wandering on to our property. I hope to get Bob in to the vet this week, its just a bit tough at the moment with the way things are at work.

Ok so it sounds like a good idea.. how do I crate train puppy then?? Oh btw Flynn is a real cutie, love the name too!

Ahh crate train, no I don't that will be necessary. I got to see pups today, they're still very small only 3 weeks so won't be getting it this weekend like I thought (didn't know how old they were prior to seeing them) They sure are cute though, two boys and a girl. The girl is black with a little white patch on her chest, one of the boys is a sort of light chocolate colour, the other is a much lighter tan, more like mum with the black muzzle, ears and eyes I'm torn now, cos I really liked the chocolate coloured boy.. but didn't want a boy. What really guts me though is when the neighbour came over with the two boys she says "oh these two will be going to puppy heaven". Because apparently she can't find anyone else who wants them. I must have looked shocked because she backtracked and said "nah I wouldn't do that". I'm not convinced.. Anyone else want a puppy??

Awesome! I love a good dress up party. Coloured jeans, check shirts, Doc Martens. Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air saw an episode of this tonight... all I can say is bright colours all together! Cartoons: Animaniacs Tiny Toons Beavis & Butthead Ren & Stimpy Doug Power Rangers Rocko's Modern Life Bobby's World Here's a link to 90's tv shows http://crazyabouttv.com/decades/1990s.html Songs/Artists: Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice Tub Thumpin' - Chumbawumba Boombastic - Shaggy Two Princes - Spin Doctors Love Shack - B52s (its late 80's but was still playing in the 90s im sure) Roam - B52s I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred Cotton Eye Joe - Rednex The Power - Snap! Mambo No 5 - Lou Bega Snap -Rythm Is A Dancer Can't Touch This - MC Hamer Pray - MC Hammer 500 Miles - The Proclaimers I'm On My Way - The Proclaimers Pearl Jam Roxette Spice Girls Steps Ricky Martin Jamiroquai Nirvana Republica Savage Garden Blur Oasis Chemical Brothers Fatboy Slim Madonna New Kids On The Block Dare I say it?? The Macarena! The following list came from VH1 - their top 100 songs of the 90's 100 Greatest Songs Of The '90s Full List 01. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 02. U2 "One" 03. Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way" 04. Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You" 05. Madonna "Vogue" 06. Sir Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back" 07. Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time" 08. TLC"Waterfalls" 09. R.E.M. "Losing My Religion" 10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U" 11. Pearl Jam "Jeremy" 12. Alanis Morissette "You Oughta Know" 13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang" 14. Mariah Carey "Vision of Love" 15. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge" 16. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This" 17. Destiny's Child "Say My Name" 18. Metallica "Enter Sandman" 19. Beastie Boys "Sabotage" 20. Hanson "MMMBop" 21. Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On" 22. Beck "Loser" 23. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue "Whatta Man" 24. House of Pain "Jump Around" 25. Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun" 26. Eminem "My Name Is" 27. Counting Crows "Mr. Jones" 28. Ricky Martin "Livin' la Vida Loca" 29. Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby" 30. *NSYNC "Tearin' Up My Heart" 31. Radiohead "Creep" 32. BLACKstreet "No Diggity" 33. Spice Girls "Wannabe" 34. Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life" 35. Oasis "Wonderwall" 36. C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" 37. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" 38. Christina Aguilera "Genie In A Bottle" 39. Goo Goo Dolls "Iris" 40. Color Me Badd "I Wanna Sex You Up" 41. Spin Doctors "Two Princes" 42. Collective Soul "Shine" 43. En Vogue "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)" 44. The Fugees "Killing Me Softly With His Song" 45. Hootie & the Blowfish "Only Wanna Be With You" 46. Shania Twain "You're Still the One" 47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations" 48. Matchbox Twenty "3 AM" 49. Jewel "Who Will Save Your Soul" 50. Alice in Chains "Man in the Box" 51. Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) "California Love" 52. Sugar Ray "Fly" 53. Naughty by Nature "O.P.P." 54. Joan Osborne "One of Us" 55. Fiona Apple "Criminal" 56. L.L. Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out" 57. Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule "Can I Get A..." 58. Sophie B. Hawkins "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover" 59. Weezer "Buddy Holly" 60. Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison" 61. Sheryl Crow "All I Wanna Do" 62. Live "I Alone" 63. The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy "Mo Money Mo Problems" 64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches" 65. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance" 66. Edwin McCain "I'll Be" 67. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart" 68. Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It" 69. Korn "Freak on a Leash" 70. Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity" 71. Arrested Development "Tennessee" 72. Barenaked Ladies "One Week" 73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy" 74. Cher "Believe" 75. Kris Kross "Jump" 76. Blues Traveler "Run-Around" 77. Ice Cube "It Was a Good Day" 78. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way" 79. Meredith Brooks "Bitch" 80. Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy" 81. Paula Cole "I Don't Want to Wait" 82. Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" 83. The Breeders "Cannonball" 84. Snow "Informer" 85. Cypress Hill "Insane In The Brain" 86. The Cranberries "Linger" 87. Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart" 88. Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing" 89. Liz Phair "Never Said" 90. New Radicals "You Get What You Give" 91. Sarah McLachlan "Building a Mystery" 92. Public Enemy "911 Is A Joke" 93. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories "Stay" 94. Fastball "The Way" 95. Montell Jordan "This is How We Do It" 96. Nelson "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection" 97. Prince & The New Power Generation "Gett Off" 98. EMF"Unbelievable" 99. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)" 100. Gerardo "Rico Suave"

Ok perhaps not the bedroom. Bob is very rarely in the house. He knows he's not supposed to come inside the house so maybe the kitchen will be alright. Creat train??? Yeah I know they bull mastifs are strong. Sammy (the mother) often comes over to our place for a visit, she's a lovely friendly dog but has a tendancy to jump up on you and nearly knocks you over in the process!

Oh... what if he call the whole back yard is own?

Yeah our local petshop runs them.. once a week for four weeks. Not sure what I'm going to do with puppy. We live about 50kms from Invercargill where I work, and where the petshop is. Going to have to bring puppy in with me and find somewhere for her to stay while I'm at work... hmmm.