Reptiles Leopard Geckos

1. Air dry your laundry.

2. Ask your utility companies for an energy audit.

3. Avoid clothing produced in sweat shops around the world. Women and children deserve fair labor practices.

4. Avoid down and feather products, if allergies are a problem. Replace with organic cotton batting or organic wool.

5. Avoid electric bug zappers.

6. Avoid laundry detergent with phosphates.

7. Avoid plastics in your home.

8. Avoid poultry and meats from animals raised on hormones and steroids.

9. Avoid products from farms that practice inhumane treatment of people and animals.

10. Avoid products tested on animals.

11. Buy locally grown or organic food.

12. Buy organic bedding.

13. Buy organic coffees and teas with the Fair Trade label.

14. Buy organic cotton underwear.

15. Buy organic grains, pastas, herbs, and essential products, in bulk.

16. Buy recycled and biodegradable toiler paper.

17. Buy recycled gift wrap.

18. Compost yard debris and food scraps.

19. Consider giving homemade gifts.

20. Decline drinking straws in the restaurant.

21. Diaper Baby in soft organic cottons.

22. Don't buy a larger home than you need.

23. Don't buy a second home.

24. Don't buy big cars.

25. Don't buy everyone in the family a car. Teach sharing.

26. Donate to your favorite environmental organization.

27. Donate unused clothing and furniture.

28. Eat meatless at least twice a week.

29. Eat more farm stand or organic vegetables and fruits every day.

30. Garden without chemicals and pesticides.

31. Grow your own organic herbs.

32. Hand-wash clothing instead of dry cleaning.

33. Install and use ceiling fans.

34. Lower thermostat in your home to 68 degrees, and 55 degrees when away from home.

35. Lower thermostat on your water heater to 120 degrees.

36. Recycle, recycle, recycle.

37. Reduce disposable products in your home.

38. Reduce watering of your yard and garden.

39. Repair faucet leaks.

40. Replace incandescent bulbs with energy efficient lighting.

41. Sew with organic cotton and natural fabrics.

42. Shorten shower time by 25%.

43. Support environmental legislation. Nag your congressman.

44. Support Fair Trade practices to reduce global poverty and hunger.

45. Support your local farmers market or co-op.

46. Use cloth napkins, or recycled paper napkins.

47. Use organic and herbal soaps, shampoos, and natural cleaning products.

48. Use public transport, or carpool to work, at least once per week.

49. Use recycled paper for writing and printing.

50. Use washable coffee mugs.

51. Walk or bicycle. Leave the car in the garage for awhile.

Susan Fullen-Yurek is an e-commerce entrepreneur and owner of Kushtush.com Organics, featuring organic bedding and organic cotton products for home and family, with consumer information on the benefits of "going organic". http://www.kushtush.com.

Light Bulb Science

Ever wonder how a light bulb works? I mean it seems easy, you flick a switch and "bam" there is light! While not much more complicated than that, there is a little science involved.

To understand how a light works you need to understand certain terms including voltage, watt and amperage. The energy a light bulb produces is called the voltage of the light bulb. Amperage is the energy a bulb uses to produce light. Watts is the electrical flow or energy produced by a light bulb. This tells you how much electrical energy flows through your light bulb within any given second.

In simple terms voltage refers to how strong the force of electricity is that flows through a bulb. Current tells you how fast electricity flows and resistance tells you how much space a current has to pass through. All of these factors impact your light bulbs performance.

When you flip a light switch, a current of electricity passes through your light bulb. The filament in the light bulb then heats up, eventually producing a glow or the "light" we are used to seeing. Believe it or not, most light bulbs are more adept at producing heat than they are at producing light. Traditional incandescent bulbs waste far more energy than other sources of light simply because a light bulb produces so much heat. That is of course unless you use your light bulbs to heat a room!

Now, most people go for cheap light bulbs. Why not? Cheap incandescent bulbs produce a sufficient amount of light and come in various shapes and styles.

You may find however, with a little experimentation your needs are best met with another bulb.

Let's look at some lighting preferences to decide what bulb may work best for you.

High Quality Light

If you want lots of high quality, natural looking light surrounding you there is no doubt about it... full spectrum light bulbs are the best choice for you. Full spectrum light bulbs provide bright lighting. The "white light" or natural light they produce is equal in intensity to outdoor daylight. Full spectrum bulbs are a good choice for anyone looking for a pick-me-up. These bulbs provide a full array of the ultraviolet spectrum.

Economical and Long Lasting

Halogen light bulbs are a good choice for someone willing to pay a little extra to get a high quality bulb in the long run. Halogen bulbs provide more light than a traditional light bulb. They also last much longer. You can use them indoors or outdoors. They do get hot however, so keep this in mind when buying.

Soft and Energy Efficient Light

If you want soft, energy efficient light you may consider compact fluorescent light bulbs. Compact bulbs produce light that is similar to incandescent bulbs, only softer. These light bulbs also use far less electricity than standard light bulbs and last much longer. Because of this they are a good value. You can use compact bulbs in almost any ordinary lamp. Most cost the same as traditional bulbs, so you save money in the long run. Most compact bulbs last up to 10,000 hours. That's several year's value in a light bulb.

Specialty Needs

Of course, if you have specialty lighting needs there are various bulbs to choose from. Projector light bulbs luminate your projector if you have a projector for personal or business use. Tanning light bulbs, much like full spectrum light bulbs, provide a high intensity light. Tanning bulbs mainly emit ultraviolet A and B light to help tan the skin.

Need a bulb for your automobile? Chances are you need an automotive LED bulb. No problem. Chances are the light in your car signals won't go out for a long time. If you want a light bulb that won't go out, the LED bulb is the best choice for you.

Now you know what types of bulbs are available and how a light bulb works. Always remember there is a light bulb out there for any lighting need! Happy lighting!

About The Author:
Antigone Arthur is a successful freelance writer with 10 years of professional experience providing consumers with informative articles on such topics as automotive led bulbs, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and tanning bed bulbs.

Is your rat aggressive?

Does your rats often start fights with the other rats? Does he bite, or scratch you, or the other rats? If he does, I may just be able to help you. Whether he is aggressive towards you or other ratties, it is important to take action to stop anyone getting hurt.

Why is your rat aggressive?

There are a number of reasons as to why your rat may be aggressive. It could be down to hormones All rats go through a teenage stage at around 6 months to a year old. At this stage your rats hormones, can literally be overwhelming him and this may lead to aggression. It can also be down to stress, perhaps he has lost a friend, or he has experienced a change in environment. It can also be caused by illness. If your rat is in pain, or unwell he may become aggressive. It can also be caused by your rats past experiences. If he has been abused by people before, or perhaps not handled enough to know we wont hurt him, he may bite as a defense mechanism. Some rats are genetically more susceptible to aggression.

All rats release pheromones in their urine and these pheromones in males, mark out their territory and can provoke aggression in other rats. Both male and female rats can suffer from aggression, but males tend to more often.

What can you do about it?

Luckily there are several things you can try, to treat your rats aggression.

My Secret Weapon

The answer is often as simple as vanilla essence. If your rats are fighting, or you are having trouble introducing them, this is the way to go. You can buy vanilla essence online or at the local supermarket. Simply rub a few drops at the base of both rats tails and along their backs. It will not hurt them if they lick it off, in fact they will probably like the taste.

The smell of the vanilla essence (which is very pleasant) will cover up their own natural smell, which may be offensive to the other rat (as rats use smell as a way to communicate). The taste may encourage the rats to lick each other and grooming will start the natural bonding process. This is all I need to do to curb any aggression in my rats.

If your rat is being aggressive towards you, rub the vanilla essence on your rat and some on your wrist. This way you will both smell the same and you will be less scary and offensive to your rat.

Patience

When dealing with aggression, or any other negative behavior in your pet, you must exercise a great deal of patience and understanding. Changing behaviors takes time and whilst the vanilla essence will help, you must deal with the problem at the source. If your rat is biting out of fear, your main job will be to build up a trusting relationship. Sit by the open cage relaxing or reading a book and let your rat come to you and sniff you. Offer him a treat when he comes onto your lap. Building a trusting relationship can take time, but is worth it in the end. To deal with fights between your rats have a plant mister of water at hand. Spray your rats if they fight and if this doesnt work throw a towel over them.

Homeopathy:

Homeopathy is a wonderful tool when dealing with behavioral and health problems in your rats. It is entirely natural, so there are no side effects, but it really does work.

PetAlives aggression formula is the best to use for rats. It comes in granule form, so you can dissolve it in soy milk, yogurt or your rats favorite drink and they will lap it up. The product is marketed at cats and dogs, but worked wonders for rats.

The granules have an immediate calming effect and will generally help curb the aggression within a few days. The formula will not change your pets personality, but could change their lives, if it means time out of the cage, enjoying the company of other rats and people.

Stopping Stress

Is your rat stressed or ill? Please check your rat over for signs of ill health. Your rat could be aggressive because he feels ill. Check my rat health checks page for more info and take your rat to the vets if necessary.

If your rat has had a change of environment, or has lost a companion this could be the cause of aggression. Monitor his environment, check he is not too hot or too cold. If your rat is kept on his own, get him a companion. Rats are very social animals and love to have another rat to snuggle up to, groom and play with. Human companionship is not enough. Female rats are easy to introduce, but males may be a little harder. Look at the introducing rats page for tips to make things go more smoothly.

A Final Resort

If you have tried everything and nothing has worked it may be time to consider neutering your pet. in males the aggression may simply be caused by hormones and neutering will stop the surplus of hormones raging around your rats little body. There have been many reports that neutering has completely stopped aggression in pets and made their lives a lot happier.

Of course anesthetic is more serious for rats than say, cats and dogs, so it is something you must consider carefully. You must find a vet who is caring for rats and respects you and your rat. Simply calling the surgery and asking a few questions will usually help you determine whether they are the right vet for you.

After the surgery you rat will need you to nurse him for a few days and then you can begin building up a trusting relationship minus the aggression.

I hope these tips have helped you on the road to a wonderful relationship with your rat.

For more information check out http://www.RatsRatsRats.com

Catherine Smith 2007

The beauty of keeping reptiles is that once you've set up their caging requirements and learned a few basic skills, there are many species that can be safely and efficiently kept within the home and should live out a full, healthy life.

Fortunately the vast majority of the suitable snakes one might choose to keep, such as corn snakes, king snakes or milk snakes, require very little special treatment and soon become very low maintenace captives.

Quiet, well-behaved, not requiring regular walks and virtually scent-free whilst being unusual and fascinating, snakes can be an ideal pet for today's ever-busy lifestyle.

At it's simplest, a glass fish tank with a specially-sold reptile hood or one of the specially made reptile cages (such as those available from http://www.petsmart.com) may be used, and these are often available for sale second hand in local papers.

Wooden cages should be avoided unless they are treated so as to avoid any spillage from the water bowl (many snakes like to bathe) and ventilation should be good as moist cages often lead to skin complaints or respiratory problems.

A length of around 30-45 cm is suitable for a hatchling snake whilst an adult will require a length of 60-90 cm so it can stretch out.

The cage should be furnished with one of the reptile-safe substrates such as beech chippings or corn cob granules and should be placed 1/3 - 1/2 over a safe, specially-sold, low-wattage heat mat to gently warm the substrate for the snake.

These cost just pennies to run each day and generate a gentle background warmth for your pet.

In particularly cold situations such as bad weather, during night-time or in a room which doesn't warm up appreciably during the day an additional form of heat is recommended, such as a gauze-encased lightbulb, to warm the warmer end of the cage (the "hot spot") to around 24-26'C.

This temperature should be maintained at one end of the cage throughout the day though this may drop by a few degrees at night without worry of danger to your pet. If using a bulb a thermostat is recommended to enable you to accurately control the temperature and prevent the cage overheating.

A hide should be included as snakes are often quite reclusive and like to hide away for much of the day, showing themselves early in the morning and later in the evening.

This could be a specially-sold reptile hide but I often simply use a box - like an old cereal box - as they're free and easily replaced when they get dirty.

A solid waterbowl - ideally a terracotta dog bowl - large enough for the snake to submerge itself in (bathing is good for the skin) but difficult to tip over should be filled with fresh water and changed daily as in a warm environment plenty of water is likely to evaporate, and in addition many snakes like to deficate in their water bowl.

And apart from some food you're now all set up!

As you can see keeping the smaller, more docile snakes *doesn't* have the break the bank, nor do you these days need to "make do" with substandard products. Companies like ZooMed make high quality, specialist hardware for just this purpose, and make it available for a very reasonable cost.

Now all you need to do is to convince your girlfriend/wife/mother to let you have the snake itself ;-)

Copyright 2006 Richard Adams

Richard Adams is the owner and founder of http://www.aboutsnakes.com. About Snakes is one of the most popular sources of free reptile information online.