I’m wondering how much light fish need? I was thinking maybe someday when I have my own place (aka my dad won’t accidentally kill them) I might get like a big tank and some friends!

amazingpetenclosures:

Technically, you don’t need a light for a fish tank. The light is really more for your benefit than for theirs, since it makes the tank prettier to look at. But as long as you have the tank in a room with windows, that’s more than enough light for the fish (not directly in front of/below the windows, of course!). If you want live plants, that may change depending on what kind of plants and their lighting needs.

Fish shouldn’t really be kept in total darkness, a lot of them do need light to find their food. Other than that, light doesn’t matter. Heck, if you’re some kind of ultra-vampire, you can even get blind cave tetras that have no eyes and therefore don’t care about light levels at all.

What is your opinion on reptile morphs such as spider ball pythons?

drferox:

Ball Pythons are not a species kept in Australia, so I have no firsthand experience with them, but I understand there are certain colour patterns that are associated with a neurological defect, which varies in its severity.

As I understand it most of these snakes live well enough in captivity, but breeding animals with problems just because they are pretty is a mistake we have made over and over again in other domestic species so I would be disinclined to breed from individuals that exhibit symptoms of that head wobble, for fear it may become progressively more severe in future generations.

I will note that there are many reptile morphs which are entirely healthy. Spider ball pythons exist because you can’t have the spider pattern without neurological issues, but there are many morphs which are simply a pigment variation and are entirely benign. Look at the number of crested gecko morphs that exist with no issues.

It’s certainly never a good idea to breed animals just because they’re pretty, but breeding for pretty animals while selecting only healthy parents can be done responsibly. 

dateamonster:

megalunalexi:

dateamonster:

megalunalexi:

dateamonster:

anyone on these interwebs wanna talk about……… clowns?

Hey d’you want to know why some clowns are scary?

i am definitely apprehensive but sure i would like to know

So I learned to be a clown briefly in grade 7. And here’s the thing, clowning is taking the worst aspects of yourself and amplifying them to the point of hilarity (It’s quite good for self-esteem, actually). But here’s the thing, some people try to make their clown a happy clown when they themselves aren’t a happy person, and that is, technically, lying. And our brains are REALLY REALLY GOOD at detecting lies, so warning bells go off. And therefore we get scared.

TL:DR, the only scary clowns are the ones who are lying.

“the only scary clowns are the ones who are lying” is a mood and im not sure how but it really really is

Painting a giant smile on your face and then not having a giant smile in your expression makes the brain go “LIAR ALERT!! DECEPTION!! DANGER!!” 

Also, some little kids (i.e. tiny me) don’t like the unpredictability.

Candiru fish, AKA penis fish

The candiru fish is a species of parasitic freshwater catfish. It normally attacks the gills of large fish. 

Supposedly, it can swim up a stream of urine and into a person’s urethra if they pee in a river that the fish lives in. This is not physically possible, both because you can’t swim up a falling stream of liquid and because the fish is too large to fit into the urethra. Babies are not too large, but have no incentive to swim up someone’s urethra.

Supposedly this is because they’re attracted to the scent of urine. They are not, they hunt by sight. To be fair, this was only discovered recently.

Supposedly the people who live in candiru habitat wear coverings to keep the fish out of their junk. Those coverings are for piranha defense. 

Supposedly there are people who’ve had to have their penis amputated after a fish swam up it. Again, piranha, in this case responsible for the amputation. 

There have been a few cases of an apparently confused candiru fish ending up in someone’s vagina when they were swimming naked. 

So, basically, don’t swim naked in the Amazon. If you have a vagina, the chance of getting a fish up it is very small, but you still don’t want to deal with things like piranha. Also, minnows nibbling on your junk probably doesn’t feel good.

dollsofthe1960s:

Most Memorable Dresses: Jayne Mansfield’s show stealing low cut dress at a party thrown by 20th Century-Fox for Sophia Loren on April 12, 1957 in Los Angeles, California.

If the neckline is low enough that everyone can see your nipples, it is no longer a neckline. That’s not a low-cut dress, that’s an extremely high-cut skirt.

She looks great, though, even if it does kinda look like her dress is melting off. 

i know you aren’t a Rat Expert™️ but do you have any advice regarding whether rats are better to have in pairs or small groups compared to just one on their own. i’m interested in getting a rat as a pet but if they’re social creatures i don’t want them to be lonely.

glumshoe:

Rats are incredibly social! Your rat requires a ton of companionship to be happy, and a solitary rat will develop psychological and physical health problems. It’s best to keep them with other rats of the same sex… pairs can work fine, but I recommend three if you have the space and money to care for them. They form complex interpersonal dynamics and hierarchies that you can observe.

If you want a solitary rodent pet, hamsters should always be kept singly, and can be kept in smaller enclosures than rats. 

Keep in mind that a proper enclosure for a group of rats, even just a trio, should be /way/ bigger than most people think. You want something chest-of-drawers sized and packed with toys. 

Don’t get me wrong, rats can be great pets, they just need companions and a big enclosure.

glumshoe:

bottombobbysinger:

glumshoe:

If you have rats, don’t let them interact with other small pets (or larger pets, for that matter). They can and possibly will attack, kill, and attempt to eat other animals of similar or smaller size even when well-fed, because they are instinctively predatory. 

I severely doubt this is true, and challenge anyone to find a source. Anecdotes will most likely be of rats killing other rats, and litter culling. Rats only cull their litters when there is not enough food to keep the babies alive, or the mother rat is severely stressed.

Rats naturally hunt in the wild. They’re omnivores. I have friends whose domestic, well-fed rats have attacked and killed their parrots and gerbils without warning. Fancy rats will even dive into aquariums to catch fish, if given the opportunity. Rats killing and eating chickens is a fairly common problem on farms. There are loads of videos online of rats attacking birds – I’d add a link, but some of them are graphic.

Squirrels will eat birds if they can catch them, and squirrels are mostly herbivorous. Rats are opportunists and will eat anything they can catch and kill.