u/OpALbatross

Hello! I am adopting an 8 year old Brazilian White Knee tarantula this weekend.

Be honest; am I going in over my head or should this be okay for a first T?

Any advice on enclosure size, set up, substrate, water dish size would also be appreciated.

I'm planning on getting an 18x12x12 tarantula crib enclosure filled with at least 6 inches of substrate. She's currently in a glass tank with a thin layer of substrate which I know is not ideal.

Thanks!

I'm trying to get into the hobby and was hoping someone here would be able and willing to talk about care tips, enclosure setups, and where to get supplies.

Currently looking at getting a curly haired tarantula as my first.

I've been trying to find a way to increase electrolytes but so many recipes use citrus. Today I attempted my own and so far, so good!

- 1/4 tsp Himalayan salt

- 1 ginger capsule (could also probably add 1/4 tsp ginger powder)

- roughly 1/4 cup pomegranate juice

- mint leaves

- cucumber (may omit in future)

- roughly 30 oz of water

I wanted to share in case it helps someone else. If anyone else has a recipe they use, I'd love to know that too!

Hello. I have an American Bulldog / pit mix (rescue). He turns 10 in September and is 72 pounds. A few years ago, the vet said his life expectancy was likely 10-12 years, maybe 13. He has a ton of allergies and is already on allergy serum. He is dog reactive and gets very stressed at the vet / in the car.

He has a large mass on his thyroid (it feels like the size of a tennis ball, hard, doesn't really move). The vet didn't notice anything in April. He has a lot of wrinkles, so we didn't notice it until my sister felt it last week. We took him to the vet immediately.

The vet just called and said he has Thyroid Carcinoma. She recommended that we take him to the cancer center in the city near us. We originally said we weren't planning on treating something terminal / canccer due to his age.

The vet seemed annoyed when I said we wanted to focus on quality of life over quantity of life and asked if we could bring him into get his thyroid levels checked (which we did). She also recommended potentially using a steroid or a pain med, which we are fine with. We are waiting on the thyroid test results.

He seems to be drinking more water and coughing a bit more, but with the heat and his allergies, it didn't come up as a red flag. He also has been trying to eat more grass recently. Besides those things, he is acting exactly the same.

Finances are a concern. The cancer center has financial assistance you can apply for. I tried to call and ask questions today, but they are closed for the holiday.

I don't want to prolong his suffering. I want to focus on quality of life. Cancer treatment in humans is brutal, and a dog isn't going to understand what is happening. The mass is already so large that I feel like conservative treatments are likely off the table.

Is it worth taking him to the cancer center for more tests when he is already almost 10? Or if ethically we feel it is wrong to treat it? I don't want his last few months to be spent stressed, in pain, sick, and confused.

Hello!

I am starting to feed birds bit by bit, but want to have more crows.

I have read that unsalted peanuts are the best, but my husband is allergic.

I am also allergic to all mammal (Alpha-Gal) so suet is out as well.

What can I put out for crows that isn't peanut or mammal based?