Meet Eva the Diva!

I found Eva, a pearl cockatiel online. Her owner, Farhan had her for eighteen months and decided to let her go due to forthcoming engagement and work commitments.

After a flurry of WhatsApp messages we arranged to meet on Sunday morning, December 4 at Giant Kelana Jaya parking lot.

I arrived first and Farhan minutes later. I sat in the rear seat and there she was in a cage in the front passenger seat. He took her out but she panicked and slammed against the front windshield.Ouch! She calmed down and perched on Farhan's index finger. Instinctively I placed my index finger in front of her and she stepped onto it. Instantly I knew she was mine. I did not have to choose her - Eva chose me!

Our Cute Budgies

It has been just over eight months since we brought the two little budgies home and Nic and I love them immensely. They are very easy to care for and being tame we get to pet them.

The weather has been terribly hot of late and so we had to coax them to get their bath. We actually purchased a large bath bowl for them but they refuse to use it. So we have to use this reptile bowl as usual. It was the first item they used and I guess they too are creatures of habit.

Gorgeous Budgies!

I received a Whatsapp message from Ling Ling at 1.18pm - "Hi Dan, r u still interested in budgie baby? I got four. Three weeks earlier I had initiated contact with her after I read her post in an online site. Unfortunately the budgies had already been sold.

I hesitated to reply but minutes later i got this pic! That's it! I gotta have them.

After a flurry of messages I told Nicole to get ready to head out. She had no idea where we were heading to.

We arrived at the residence around 2pm and were greeted by Ling Ling and her kids, Chloe (she is eight and totally into animals) and Matthew. Lined on both sides of the home were kennels and bird cages. We were in paradise.

We played with the four baby budgies and Chloe's own adult budgie named Junior which incidentally shared her birthday.

So after a lapse of 45 years I am once again in touch with budgies. Why? My late father had over a dozen budgies up until his death in 1969. Sadly his birds eventually died after his passing due to lack of care. I was six then and looking back we had other critical issues to deal with.

 Nicole with our budgies, Coco (green) and Milo (blue)

And here's Puggie!

Nic and I are both animal-crazy and it has always been in the back of my mind to keep another pet dog. My first pet dog was way back in the early 80s - a mongrel named Tommy. Second was a sweet mixed Terrier I called Kim I got in 1986 (I think). 

I searched the classifieds online and called to meet a lady (Lee) to see the two-month old male Pug. Unknown to Nicole I took her to lunch and then to shop for puppy essentials. I emphasized to Nic that we were merely preparing for the possibility of owning a puppy soon. 

The meeting was set for 2pm at a gas station cum fast food joint in Kota Damansara. I told Nic that I had to meet a lady to discuss some business. We parked the car and waited until we hear a soft knock on the window. Ms Lee was holding the cutest little pug in her arms. After 30 seconds I knew this was the puppy for us. We are glad to introduce - Puggie! He's just 800gm and a cutie.

Two Hamsters

Nic and I picked out two Winter White hamsters from The Pet Family pet store in Taman Megah. Nic has named them, Midnite (a Winter Pearl male) and Moonlite (a grey colored female).

Breeding Mealworms

Ever since we got our sugar gliders, we've had to buy mealworms weekly from the pet store. The worms are a vital part of a glider's diet as they are a cheap and easily available protein source. I did some checking online and realised it is easy to breed them. They don't bite, smell, fly, or jump, and are extremely easy to care for plus Nicole has had a lot of fun learning about their life cycle - egg-larva-pupa-beetle. A mealworm is in fact not a worm but an insect larva. It completes it's metamorphosis into a Darkling beetle.

We started with about a hundred worms and soon they morphed into pupae and here is the first beetle.

Penang Escapade (Sept. 10 - 12)

It is Hari Raya and we headed to Penang island for a 3-day 2-night stay at the Hard Rock Hotel. We made a stop in Ipoh where I met my old pal Martin for lunch. After that we hooked up with one half of our Penang relatives at Mama's. Nic is in her traditional Malay dress clutching our two babies (sugar gliders), yeah they came along too.

Our New Pets

Say hi to our pet Sugar Gliders, Honey and Sugar! I bought them for RM400 (RM200 each) from a privateer whereas they would usually retail for RM320 - RM380 each.

Sugar Gliders, also known as Australian Flying Squirrels, are small marsupials kin to possums found in the tree tops of Australia, Tasmania, Indonesia, and Papua-New Guinea. They came by their names from their diet of sweetened fruits and the ability to glide from branch to branch with their membrane flap from their arms to their body resembling retractable wings. http://sugargliderconnection.com

I Keep Thinking About Midnite

Nic did not want to take her afternoon nap yesterday. Her excuse was that she cannot sleep for thinking of poor Midnite. If you saw the video you'd know how much it hurts.

Here are pics later last evening at Midnite's cemetery. In Nicole's hand is a map she drew indicating the grave site. She wants to conduct a memorial and invite our neighbors to it. This was after she insisted on digging up the box to take a peek. I had to teach her to let Midnite Rest In Peace, not pieces! I made a little cross for the grave too. :)

Goodbye Midnite

I fed Nic's hamster some cooked rice at lunch time but did not get any reaction from the little critter. Next I nudged her but realized that something isn't right. Nicole rushed over and our worst fears became reality - the little fur ball is dead. Nic was inconsolable and cried uncontrollably. I am not surprised as she really, really loves animals. I asked her if she wanted to bury Midnite near our parking lot and she said yes.

We only had 22 months with the little hamster but we had fun. She was so adorable and docile. She did bite us the first couple of days (probably out of fear) but since then she was simply wonderful. Each time we open the cage, she'd come out as if to greet us. We'll miss you Midnite! An earlier video at home.

Showing Her Hamster to Friends

I brought Midnite (hamster) to daycare yesterday as Nic wanted to show the critter to her pals. The kids were thrilled. Always great to see the kids so full of joy!

How to Breed Guppies

Aside from isolating the female from the other fish you do next to nothing cos these fellas breed like rabbits. Oh of course you'd need to make sure you have a male and a female, guppies that is. But if you are the totally "by-the-book" kind of person you can get some tips from tons of sites. Here, try wikiHow for starters!

I noticed one of the two females was 'heavy' and it started giving birth at 7.45 pm on Friday. This time we are fully prepared with the isolation tank in place.

The birthing process took about 24 hours, phew just watching is tiring for me! I can see that the mother was very exhausted. I counted 24 survivors this morning and about ten that did not make it (either stillborn or died shortly after birth).

Note: The sole survivor from July 9th is about 1.3 cm long now.

Baby Guppy

I noticed on Monday that one of the female guppies were 'ripe' but I forgot to isolate it and true enough it's belly was 'lighter' on Wednesday. I guess the other fish must have had a feast.

At around 4pm Nicole screams "There's a baby guppy". The room was not well lighted so I thot she must have seen something floating that resembled a fry. I switched on the lights and after scouring the tank for five minutes I found the little fella. It was frail as it must have gone 24-36 hours without food. We do not have food for fry so I am making a hard-boiled egg. The yolk when squashed will do for now.

New fish for Aquarium

It's Nic's thirteenth day and most of the pox crusts on her face and neck have fallen off. We went out to Paramount Garden for fish porridge. She asked to visit the aquarium just three doors away after lunch and we came home with two pairs (2 males & 2 females) of guppies. I did explain to Nic that the males were the colorful ones and that females were the less pretty ones but she refused to believe me. She insisted it was the other way round. Oh well you can't argue with her.

I chose a flamingo red tail deltatail (pic) male and Nic chose a blue flagtail guppy. I hope Nic gets the chance to watch the guppies give birth as I did when I was a kid. Which reminds me I have to get a "breeder box". It is a contraption that prevents the babies from being eaten by the adult fishys.

Dead and Dying Fish

Three of the six new fish we bought has died. I can't figure out why but I suppose they were sick to begin with. That's the good news. The bad news is they have spread their disease to the pioneer batch and a few of them have also kaput!

Of course this could have been averted had I quarantined the new ones before introducing them to their new family. Too much hassle man.

The guppies seem okay as only guppies are hardy little fellas. Oh well, we'll have to find new victims, I mean fish!

Update May 31, 2009; Even the guppies are dying. Looks like fin rot or something. Definitely the new fish brought disease with them as the fish in the other tank are A-okay.

We're Keeping Fish now

Our neighbors upstairs, Lesly and Karyn gave us not one, not two but three aquariums last week. They moved to their new home and decided to lighten their load.

We just bought a few more fish (Black Molly/Platy/Swordtail) to add some color to the tank. The one pictured is the smallest (13"x11") and it came with ornaments and fish too. I am still cleaning up the other two tanks (20"x 12" & 24"x 14"). We do not have space for all three so I will have to give one away. Any takers?

Midnite's Exercise Ball

Picked this item up at Pet Safari, Ikano Power Centre today as I figure it will allow our hamster to move around the home in relative safety.

Good Morning Midnite!

Every school day is the same. I get up at about 7.30am and prepare breakfast. At around 8.15am I begin my ritual of waking Nicole from bed. I have to do my 'Madagascar' cartoon routine of 'Waking, waking', 'Rise & Shining' (you'd know what I mean if you watched the movie). This may take anything from 5 minutes to fifteen. But it has changed with the arrival of her pet hamster.

All I do is say I'm gonna have all the fun feeding Midnite and Nicole will jump outta bed. Long may it continue!

Midnite 2.0 is a Biter!

This little fella keeps biting us. I googled about this and apparently Winter Whites hate to be held or cuddled (reminds me of one of my dates eons ago).

I wonder if the store accepts 'trade-ins'. Midnite 1.0 was an angel as we could hold her and cuddle her as much as we like. We miss you Midnite!

I asked Nicole if the biting was a problem and she said it was okay with her. Told ya she's a tough cookie.

Nicole's New Hamster

I was driving home from Subang Jaya today and stopped by Mentari Biz area. Popped into a pet store and bought a dwarf Winter White Russian dwarf hamster for Nic.

Picked up Nicole from school and told her I had a surprise waiting for her at home. She looked more confused than surprised when she saw the little critter. I asked her what she was gonna name her and she said, Midnite, again! I hope this fella has better luck than her predecessor.