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hehe don't know about that. I don't think the drive would have been worth it . I'm a Christmas nut and love the Post Christmas sales on decorations etc.

My AR980 has tinsel I confess. Not much but I really love Christmas and my house is small. The tank offers somewhere to put up my (possibly excessive) decorations!

Olly- ours was like that, if not worse till we got wireless.

Just be very careful about bottle feeding. I worked for the SPCA for many years and bottle feeding can be heart breaking. Even with the best 24/7 care puppies can fail on the bottle. Mum really is best. But if you are sure that mum is not feeding and the pups are in dirty conditions then by all means take her and make sure the other pups will be cared for. Get in touch with you vet and discuss bottle feeding with them as they will be able to give you the best advice. Bottle feeding is exhausting and they really need the care of a dedicated owner like yourself as it will most likely be every 2 hours for a little while.

We got our pup at 6 weeks and I would not go any earlier than that. They need all the care and attention they can get from mum up until then. It is terrible that she is trying to farm them out already. Mothers don't tend to get 'sick' of their puppies and are generally really caring. There can be exceptions but I would try to observe the mum and her pups and see if it really is a game to get you to take her early. We had our Beagle de-sexed before he was 6 months old which was possible due to his rapid weight gain and growth. After a full vet examination they may be able to do her a little earlier? We had aggression problems with Flynn and my parents stud Border Collie, after de-sexing them both they are good friends.

Hi there we have just made it through the puppy stage with our Beagle. I am a very firm supporter of crate training. We couldn't have been without it. He would use it as a 'safe place' when he was unsure of something and we could ensure that he was safe if we needed to be away from him. It made toilet training a piece of cake and ensured that my furniture stayed chew free. I was unsure to begin with but my sister who is a vet nurse convinced me. He slept in it at night and he loved it so much that would go to it to nap during the day also. We also used it in the car to encourage him to feel safe when traveling. You cannot ALWAYS be watching a puppy and the world isn't really a safe place for a small pup so at least in a crate you know they are safe and can't eat or play with anything they shouldn't. Flynn no longer has a crate as has since grown out of it, but his bed is used the same. Honestly for your sake and your puppy's think about crate training. Here is a pic of Flynn in his crate when he was a wee pup...

Thanks for all the replies. I brought them from Pupuke Aquariums (one of my fav shops). I have kribs in the tank and so far the kribs are still the boss. They have only been in the tank for a few days so they def haven't coloured up yet. But already they are making quite an impact. I'd love to breed them as these two have bred in the shop tank but we will see how we go. Yea I love my GBA, He is such a stunning fish, now if only he would show some interest in his female... might be time to buy another large female... anyone know of a nice one for sale?

Yip thats the one!

Typical, Went to Auckland to help my partner pick out new fish for his tank and came home with 2 new fish for my tank. I thought I'd share a couple of pics. These fish really have added a great dimension to the tank. I would appreciate any 'real life' advice from fish keepers who have these fish. I have done my research online etc but as usual there are contradictions between sources.

My partner and I donate regularly, we are common also O+ and A+ but my argument is that more people need our 'common' blood hehe! I never was one for needles but now its not a problem at all. Def worth considering for all the fellow sooks out there!!!! You cant knock it till you have tried it!

Have pm'ed you a number to contact, good luck and be sure to post some pics when they arrive!

We live on a farm and as soon as our cats were old enough they trays were gone, we live in a small house and couldn't stand the smell, not to mention one of the kittens use to flick kitty litter everywhere. Our male recently damaged his leg and we had to leave him inside over night so we could get him to the vets in the morning, he was beside himself. He just would not use the tray, poor guy finally had to admit defeat and use it but he definitely wasn't happy about it!

I use to have horses too and know what a mess they make of paddocks, highlanders will eat dock and any other weeds that horses wont touch, this means that your paddocks are left clean and tidy and no feed is wasted. Would you be willing to truck the animals from Cambridge to you? I know of a great breeder who has many many steers for sale all at different stages of growth and genetics. He is a great guy and would be happy to send photos of his sale stock and offer a choice of colour etc. They come in a few colours, black was the traditional colour, followed by red (Catie), Brindle (Nessie), Yellow (Seren), White and Dun. I personally like a range of colours and hope to breed both a dun and white animal within the next few years.

DonnaM- The little one will stay that way, she is Yellow and may even lighten as she grows, her mother was white so hopefully when mated to a white bull she will throw white calves. Farmchick- That all depends... If you just want them as pets and glorified lawn mowers you can get them at really reasonable rates. Steers can go for anything from $300 which is very close to all other meat breeds. However if you are looking to bred and what to buy full blood heifers and cows it can get very costly. There is a big difference between animals that are registered with the New Zealand Highland Cattle Society and those who are not. Keep an eye on Trademe and maybe even visit www.highlandcattle.org.nz, tons of information there. They are perfect for lifestyle blocks due to their hardy nature and the fact that they were raised on the rough high hills and consequently do not require much feed at all, but do very well on very little (our cattle were put into a paddock that Dad, a dry stock farmer all his life, claimed would only last them a day and were shifted out 6 days later still with feed to spare). They are also a very docile animal that is happy to become a pet. We are still over 12 months away from having animals available and even then we will be keeping any heifer calves but selling bull/steers, if you are looking for something sooner, let me know and I will put you in touch with someone with a larger fold who is willing to sell stock. Thanks for your interest guys!

At this stage they are merely for breeding. They are pure highland cattle and can fetch fairly high prices. However they have a beautiful meat that is marbled yet very low in fat and cholesterol, there are a few select butchers now that ONLY use highland cattle to stock their shelves due to the quality of the meat. These animals are worth more to us as breeding stock than meat but we will most likely buy a steer to fill our freezer (this will be hard for me and the animal would have to be grazed in my parent's beef herd to stop me getting attached). As for their coats, this is a fairly new market, their coats are not thick enough to provide a lot of fibre however animals used for meat are now having their hides made into rugs, not really my cup of tea however.