Creating the Perfect Finches Nest

When creating a finches nest is very important to know what will benefit the birds in terms of size and materials. Creating it can be easy and affordable; you've just got to know how. Remember that for a finch building a nest is about safety and shelter.

You can purchase pre-made nests from most retailers, and also on the internet. Some are boxes made out of wood while others are more like circular baskets; they are made of natural materials hand woven. They are popular because they look like what you would see outside.

You can get nests which go on the inside of the cage but to save space it is advised to purchase one that can be attached to the outside and where the top can be opened. This'll guarantee that the young ones are safe and secure after hatching and also means it can be cleaned and air dried. It'll be cleaner and more reusable in the future, cleaning also prevents disease.

They are originally tropical birds so you might consider a 'finch nest box'. It is wooden with a hole on one side which allows enough air in but keeps the adults and young finches warm at night.

A double finch nest is good for saving space. It is a box but with a partition dividing it. Remember though, not to give this kind of nest to two territorial finches.

You can recreate how a finches nest is in the wild by finding a tray and filling it with soil and grass seeds. Wait for them to grow, let the finches build their nest and put it in the cage.

When it comes to materials for the finches nest you can use things collected from home or purchased. By instinct a finch will collect anything when building the interior of its nest so make sure the materials are clean, safe and natural. Synthetics are bad for the health of your finch. Also make sure, if you're using string or threat to cut it into small pieces with no unwanted excess, so they won't get tangled up in it.

Make the finches nest sturdy enough on the outside but soft enough on the inside. They like to line their nests with feathers so it's worthwhile having a good supply available. Feathers of various types can be purchased at affordable prices online and also from pet stores.

All finches have their own unique personalities and this will come through in how they build their nests. Each new nest may be slightly different than the last.

Remember to avoid constant handling of their eggs. They are made with tiny pores that allow the chick enough air. By touching the eggs too much you are cutting down the finches air supply quite a lot which will be bad for their health.

Building your finches nest is easy and affordable. It is possible to create a happy, healthy environment for them, you've just got to know the best materials to use, the one's to avoid, and what will keep your finches happy.

Animal Communication and Healing - Talking With Horses

As the concept of animal communication becomes more universally accepted it can bring extra insight and help toward understanding behavioural problems. This may make a difference if an animal is considered to be out of control, or is displaying signs of stress or discomfort for no apparent reason, and the owner is considering parting with it. Coupled with hands-on healing, communication is very useful as a complementary tool as it can bring to light problems that are not easily noticeable. However, it must always be considered complementary and it can never replace veterinary care.

Whilst studying animal care I was invited to a riding stable to see a small pony, and a large mare, both young animals that were not behaving well despite having had several vet checks, and also having had help from an animal communicator. The small pony had not given any idea as to why she was naughty and seemed to enjoy her misbehaviour. When I started the hands-on healing, to my surprise (and also to the surprise of her owners) she relaxed completely, almost to the point of going to sleep, she behaved very well, obviously enjoyed it, and went off happily. We were no wiser except to conclude that she was young, liked being naughty and would need a lot of training. The large mare, Betty, was very different, according to the communicator she was aware that her owners had talked of getting rid of her, she was very frightened about this but, nevertheless, when being ridden after a short while she would rear up and throw the rider off. She had received many veterinary checks, and also had checks on her spine and there didn't seem to be a valid reason for this. She was quite relaxed whilst I moved along her right side and came round to the front, in fact she was friendly. As I moved round to her left side she became more tense, and as soon as my hands went past her shoulder, her head came round and she pushed me firmly away.This was repeated in front of her owners who said " We really have done our best and nothing can be found to be wrong." Eventually it was decided that as she was only young, and of good stock, she would go to a breeding stable to see if she could be a brood mare in due course; her behaviour was only difficult when she was being ridden. At that stable she was given a complete body scan, and was found to have an ovarian cyst which was affecting her left side, once dealt with she became much happier and confident and now enjoys life. Whilst the healing and communication could not solve the problem it was able to show that the horse was genuinely frightened, and had a good reason for her apparently dangerous behaviour.

The concept also works the opposite way in which the animal itself instigates the communication. I was given a very good example of this when having a telephone discussion with a friend about a horse she planned to buy. As she explained to me that a veterinary check had taken place, and that a problem with one leg had shown up on an Xray, and this problem would need looking at and would cost more money, I had the image of a horse's head come into my mind and the distinct feeling that they should not waste their money. I could 'see' the horse clearly in my mind and was able to describe it, and it appeared to be the horse my friend was talking about. We were both amused by this occurence but wondered if she should go ahead with the purchase, was this the 'message' that was coming across? She referred the Xray back to the vet that had taken it, and he said " that is just a shadow on the Xray, is nobody capable of reading an Xray properly?" The horse's leg was fine and the purchase was made, we could not explain how the horse had managed to join in our conversation, but she is a very sensitive animal may be as we were concentrating so hard on her we made a connection.

There are different ways that people use to make the connection with animals, I personally think that anyone that is a genuine animal lover would be able to do it, and also anyone that is a genuine healer. In the UK a prominent animal communicator is developing a system he calls 'The Trust Technique' and he is using it with wild animals as well as domesticated ones. Another very experienced horse owner is using E.F.T.(Emotional Freedom Technique) to great effect. This is a therapy that uses tapping with the finger on meridian points around the body, a bit like the concept of acupuncture but without needles. As an E.F.T. practitioner she used the technique on herself when she had experienced a serious fall, and was very wary about getting on a horse again; and as the technique had worked for her she used it on the horse as well. Since that time she has helped many people, and animals, sometimes from a distance using photographs.These are her words " Horses, more than many domestic animals, are just big emotions on legs. They FEEL everything, and some of the emotions that appeared to me whilst tapping, surprised me with their complexity."

As our knowledge about the working of the mind, human and animal, grows and expands, I believe that we will accept that many of our pets, and animals that we are connected with, blend with our energy systems, and we with theirs benefiting human and animal alike.

Do Cats See In Color Or Black And White?

For years the general consensus was that cats saw the world in black and white, and did not have the ability to perceive color. Recent research has shown evidence that suggests that cats may have a great deal of color vision after all. It's now believed that cats can see different shades of the colors blue and green, but that other colors are not all perceived as we see them. Cats only have two types of cones (photoreceptor cells) in the retina of the eye that are responsible for color vision. There are three types of cones, and cats are missing the cones that correspond to the color red. Humans have all three, allowing us to perceive more color and intensity of color. It's believed that cats have a limited ability to distinguish the difference between reds and greens at all - which is actually a form of color blindness also found in humans.

To answer the question simply - no, cats do not see only in black and white, but they do appear to suffer from a form of color-blindness.

While humans definitely have cats beat in terms of looking at a sunset, their vision in other areas is vastly superior to ours. While they have less cones in their eyes, they have more rods - making their eyes more suitable for perceiving motion than color, and more suitable for seeing at night. Cats are hunters by nature, and their visual skill set provides excellent tools for that. Cats can detect the most minute motions far away, and hone in on them in a way we couldn't even hope to do.

Cats also have fantastic night vision, due to their eyes ability to control brightness to their advantage, needing very little light to see. A cat needs only one sixth of the amount of light a human needs to see. This is achieved as cats have what is called a tapetum lucidum within their eye. The tapetum lucidum (which means "bright tapestry" in Latin) lies just behind, or sometimes within the retina and reflects light that passes through the retina back into the eye, giving that cat a vastly increased ability to see in very dim light. It's this tapetum reflecting light back that sometimes causes a cat's eyes to appear to glow in the dark.

The cat's night vision is also improved by their very large pupils. Cats have slit pupils, instead of the round pupils humans have. This elliptical design serves to protect the cat's eye from too much light, as cats are not 100% nocturnal like most other creatures with very large pupils. The slit shape allows the pupils to dilate and contract more drastically and quickly than a round pupil can, to adjust to different extremes in amounts of light in the environment.