bettamonchelle

doomburgerdoodles betta/aquarium blog :B xe/xem pronouns : I'm an autistic trans person. Current tanks (all cycled+heated+filtered) and fish (bettas): James Bucky Pond- 5g planted dirt bottom tank, Barron Von Blooberry - 3.5g fluval view ->Soon moving to in 10 g dirt bottom planted tank, Toothless - 5g planted fluval chi

[fuck-yeah-aquascaping]

Planted aquarium on a budget:  Filterless nano aquarium technique without supplemental carbon dioxide presented in detail by Enrico Fortuna. 

[equikage]

As a contrast to the previous gifset, I wanted to make one with the classic video by Dr. Sophia Yin showing counter conditioning in action. This is a dog that had been displaying aggression severely enough to be up for euthanasia. The stimulus prompting aggression in this video is having his face blown on. While we don’t hear anything about the dog’s history, it’s pretty easy to assume that this is fear-related, as shoving your face at a dog’s face is pretty aggressive body language, a lot of smaller dogs have fear-related aggression due to their boundaries being ignored, and I don’t see any resource-guarding behavior.

You can’t draw a complete parallel, but there are a lot of similarities between this video of an aggressive dog and the video of the aggressive horse. This dog seems to be making a big aggressive display and then retreating, instead of continuing the attack with the intent of causing serious injury. The horse had its movement restricted to the round pen, and this dog has its movement restricted by a leash. Both are unhappy and dangerous animals.

Dr. Yin resolves the aggression by pairing the provocative stimulus (blowing on the dog’s face) with food. After only a few brief sessions and a bit of time, the dog no longer exhibits aggression when prompted. He doesn’t enjoy the stimulus (he still moves his head back and away, and there’s a bit of lip licking) but having his face blown on no longer provokes aggression. Instead you can see eagerness for the treatment and what looks like enjoyment of the exercise (tail wagging, what looks almost like a play bow or an attempt to get a reward with a behavior he was taught, ears forward, open relaxed mouth, looking up at her face). His emotional reaction and outward behavioral response are dramatically different.

I don’t present this as an example of why counter conditioning with food is a preferential miracle cure (dogs are a lot more likely to exhibit aggressive body language, so the horse probably had way more of a backlog of fear, whereas this guy’s fear could be worked around relatively quickly. I also wouldn’t ever recommend anyone tackle aggressive body language straight up with a leash restraining the dog, and definitely not by blowing into the dog’s face, where it’s so easy to get bit) BUT this shows a similar scenario, similar aggression, and a different protocol for resolving the problem that doesn’t involve the use of an aversive stimulus to work around aggression.

[allbarksomebite]

I remember watching this video in around 2010 and being amazed that this “counter-conditioning” was such a powerful technique. It was one of the videos that made me up my training game big time, and learning about CC was a massive help in socialising and rehabilitating Breeze. 

I did think she was totally mad and was about to lose her nose! Definitely not a dog or situation for novice trainers, but a really useful video about hugely helpful technique.

[theredspeedos]

I’m definitely into this, but I do have a question- why does this work, as opposed to making him display his aggressive behavior more? It seems like this could also been seen as Dog displays aggression->give treat-> dog acts aggressive to receive treat. What would the difference be between this counter conditioning and training a dog to be more aggressive?

[equikage]

The difference there is the difference between operant and classical conditioning. Operant conditioning is training as we usually think of, which is controlling conscious behavior. Classical conditioning addresses involuntary reactions, like Pavlov’s drooling dogs.

In this situation, Dr. Yin isn’t trying to change the dog’s behavior, she’s trying to change the dog’s emotions. Once the emotional state has changed, the behavior goes away by itself.

[mango-pup]

I also get that this works, but I don’t understand your explanation of why you don’t just accidentally capture the aggressive behaviour? The dog doesn’t know your counter conditioning not operant conditioning.

This is something I struggle with teaching mango not to bark at the window, I definitely taught her to bark once and look at the human when trying to counter condition. We are doing better now by treating pre-bark and giving an alternative behaviour if she’s already barking, but it would be interesting to know more if you have the time?

[h42el]

Maybe another way to put it:

“Dog displays aggression->give treat-> dog acts aggressive to receive treat.”

So why doesn’t this teach the dog to be aggressive?

Because the dog is not thinking operant-like about the aggressive behavior. He’s not thinking “oohh I behaved aggressively and I get a reward!!” He’s feeling scared of something, but that something is always followed by a reward, so he learns it’s not scary. The aggressive response associated with his fear goes away too.

It’s the same reason why you can give your dog a reward at every thunderclap, and it doesn’t teach them to be scared of thunder- the fear response wasn’t operant. You’re not rewarding their fear, you’re associating the stimulus, thunder, with good things.

Dogs don’t think “oh, I think I’ll experience some fear now” it’s not something they (or you for that matter) can /will/ themselves to feel.

Plus fear is so aversive you wouldn’t even if you could. Counter-conditioning does “risk” accidentally creating fake on-purpose behaviors. A la the story of the barking dog from Reaching the Animal Mind who was given treats for barking, but when he tried to bark on purpose, it was more of a uncertain high pitched yelp. That said, those are easy to stop because the behavior is no longer fueled by the underlying emotion.

We humans have a profession that’s all about rewarding people for pretending to have all kinds of emotions: actors. And they still need to practice at it for years. Think about that- you can have a fight with your mom or a heated thanksgiving dinner debate and it’s genuine emotion- but a team of actors staging the same thing have to really work at making it seem real. And someone who’s portraying a criminal doesn’t then become one after the director says “cut!”…. Fake on-purpose behaviors are just not the same, for the same reason- you can’t will yourself to feel emotions on cue. Maybe method actors would disagree lol but that’s the gist of it.

[mango-pup]

OK, that makes sense, trying to train a dog when they’re over threshold gets you nowhere, and that’s what you would be doing if you were trying to capture aggressive behaviour . And we got rid of ‘bark look at human’ behaviour but just ignoring it, which was a lot easier than getting rid of barking (still working on that, but we make progress).

Thanks

[books-and-barns-deactivated2017]

The above explanation works for the layperson, but it doesn’t have a lot of scientific basis. The reality is that we’re only just coming to understand reactions and ‘feelings’ in animals, particularly because of the efforts of some incredible trainers and dogs who are letting us get a glimpse into the conscious mind of a dog via MRI machines. It’s what we THINK might be happening, but realistically all we have to go on is hormone interactions and other foundations in behavioural science.

This is, of course, one of the main challenges of training dogs and interacting with dog trainers. Most people owning a dog do not have any sort of training in applied ethology. Most dog trainers have no idea what applied ethology is. But it’s important, and it helps us to understand consistencies as well as inconsistencies.

To make an explanation with a bit more evidence behind it, we’re performing a chemical override using differing hormones that are released as a response to eating, over the stress hormone cortisol that is heightened when experiencing ‘fear-inducing’ stimuli. There’s also usually a motivation present for the dog to eat, so the dog may have been deprived a meal in the morning (not unusual, many trainers withhold regular meals and choose instead to feed them as rewards, but by doing so you create a motivation in the animal to perform consummatory behaviours, like eating. It’s a perk that motivation increases for the reward.) and is driven to perform a consummatory behaviour to satisfy that motivation.

It has also been shown that if you create a motivation in an animal, and don’t allow them to perform consummatory behaviours to decrease their state of motivation, the existing high state of motivation can actually cause stress. Performing consummatory behaviours to decrease motivation lowers stress. So realistically, there are many small factors coming into play here, many of them related to hormones within the body, that are contributing to associating certain stimuli with good things.

This is a multifaceted issue, but from a physiological and behavioural standpoint, these are just some of the many factors contributing to altering an animal’s perception.

You can indeed capture the wrong behaviour (this is because there are multiple factors working in tandem, you can choose to appeal to classical or operant conditioning while training, but it doesn’t mean you will completely turn the other off, we’ve learned dogs are making inferences in ways many young children are, they are constantly absorbing information.) which is why narrowing the criteria is important. You cease to reward for just anything other than, for instance, biting your face off. You shape a new behaviour as an alternative. Many trainers will just reward ‘not barking’, but you’ll also notice that people will instead reward not barking to start and then will start to reward when the dog lays down, when the dog goes to their crate or lays in their bed. They shape ‘not barking’ into a new behaviour, increasing the criteria from ‘don’t bark’ to ‘don’t bark and turn away from the window’ to ‘don’t bark and turn away from the window then walk to your bed’ and finally ‘don’t bark and turn away from the window and lay down in your bed’, versus leaving the dog to their own devices where they might pick a new behaviour that isn’t ideal. Especially if we’re talking motivation that was previously satisfied by the undesired behaviour, and they are now having to perform displacement behaviours to try to satisfy the motivational state.

You’ll see the idea of teaching an alternative behaviour or task a lot, and you can probably think of a couple you’ve taught your own dog even accidentally. My dog had an issue jumping up, so I realized I was teaching him a replacement behaviour as I continuously asked him to get toys for the visitor instead, as when he retrieves a toy and comes to offer it he keeps all four feet on the ground. I often remind him, but without intensive training or focus on it, he has started to go looking for a toy after being told not to jump up. He is making the connection himself, even without training, that if he has all of this pent up excitement…to use it productively.

[eruditionanimaladoration]

@why-animals-do-the-thing

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

This is an incredible breakdown.

For laypeople who follow this blog - I highly do not suggest trying to recondition aggressive behavior by yourself. Yin was an amazing and skilled professional (rest in peace) and you’re way better off getting someone with training to help you than trying to work with aggression yourself. It’s not worth the risk.

[kaijutegu]

Have reptile, need tile?

Tile is a great thing in pretty much any reptile tank. It’s a fine substrate for many species and can be used to create warm, belly heat-providing basking spots quite easily! Here’s a list of some websites that offer free samples of tile. Be sure that you get ceramic/porcelain tile or stone tile; don’t get glass or plastic! Remember that reptiles get around better on textured material.  USA (some of these will do Canada as well) American Slate- you have to contact them for free samples. I haven’t given it a shot, so I’m not sure how generous they are with their samples. BuildDirect- up to five free samples- I suggest going for slate tile or the outdoor pavers. These are totally free, including shipping- and you don’t need to put in any credit card info either. BuildDirect also has turf samples if you want to play around with astroturf in your tank. Fireclay Tile- five free samples and they use environmentally friendly, lead-free glazes. This is a small business so if you wanna like, buy tile from them… not a bad idea, y’know? There’s a five dollar shipping charge here. I don’t quite know what their texture is like, but they do these cute thin brick tiles that could add some nice texture to a tank. Florida Tile- limit of three free samples per day. You have to give them “project information,” so just fill that in with your own information. I think they sell mostly to contractors, but as far as I know, private individuals can order, too. If they ask, just say you’re working on an animal enclosure.  GoHaus- up to six free samples. MundoTile- I’m not sure how many free samples they’ll give you! Snapstone- they’ll send you four 6x6 samples for a small shipping fee.

In addition, I found a few places doing cork tile samples. Cork tile is an amazing insulator! I don’t know if you could use these for backgrounds, but with winter coming, you might want to pick up some of these if you’re doing a diy insulator for any of your tanks. Duro Design- they have three sample packs to choose from. Cork, bamboo, and “other.” You have to enter an estimate of how many square feet your project needs. I put in “10” because that’s how many square feet I’d need to build insulators for the two cages I’m thinking of making insulators for. They said something about their flooring people contacting me and required my phone number, so we’ll see how that goes. iFloor- they’ll send you five samples! They did not require any credit card information from me. iCorkFloor- they’ll send you at least five samples, but you have to pay a small shipping fee. 

I ordered samples from BuildDirect, GoHaus, Duro Design, and iFloor, so I’ll post about those as they come in.  And then, one from overseas… UK

MarleyEternit- go for the slate roofing tile! I’ve heard this place sends you whole roofing tiles, which make GREAT basking spots for geckos and smaller snakes.

If you know any other tile sample places that send things out for free, please add on to this list- especially if they don’t require credit card info, as a lot of people who need this list might not have that on hand. 

[gayfarm-archive]

Snake housing: My alternative to fish tanks.

If you own a snake, you’ve probably heard of or experimented with the popular practice of keeping snakes in plastic tubs. Breeders almost always use tubs, because they are cheaper, more space-efficient, minimize cleaning time, and actually provide better temperature and humidity control. Most snake owners keep their snakes in fish tanks or glass terrariums, which is generally an appropriate housing method, but can prove to be incredibly expensive, space-wasting, difficult to regulate temps and humidity, and often hard to clean.

A lot of people don’t approve of tubs as cages for snakes because they either think it looks ugly or that it is cruel to the snake because the tub is small and/or dark.

However, I believe that these simple and highly customizable tubs are a valuable asset to snake keepers of all kinds, and are totally underrated as cages. They don’t have to be small, ugly, or dark, and they don’t have to be stacked one on top of the other.

This is a pretty large Sterilite tub (116 quart, I think) in which I house a 4.5 foot boa constrictor. It is nearly the equivalent to a standard 50 gallon fish tank. I bought it at Target for around $15-25, a huge difference from the ~$150 you would pay at Petsmart/Petco for a 50 gallon tank.

The two locks on the sides have proven to be quite secure, but the tubs may require extra securing methods for a more rambunctious snake. I have not experienced any escapes, whereas this particular snake apparently managed to escape from her old aquarium a whopping 4 times.

I use Ultratherm under-tank heaters from Reptile Basics which are specifically designed not to overheat and are inexpensive, unlike many other commercial (ZooMed) UTHs. The tub is slightly raised off the surface of my dresser so that the heater is not pressed against the wood. This tub has quite a few airholes (can be made with a wood burner/soldering iron/drill) to allow for adequate air circulation and humidity control.

As you can see I’ve decorated the tub in an attractive and simple way. The fake plants were all bought at a dollar store for $1, rather than Petsmart/Petco for $15-30. I found the driftwood and sterilized it myself, which can be done by boiling or baking the pieces to destroy all possible mold/insects/other nasties that come from the outdoors.

I use Harlan Teklad Lab-Grade aspen chips which come in 20 pound bags for $10 each plus a few $$ for shipping. That’s exponentially cheaper than the ~2-5 pound bags sold by most pet stores for $10-20. The aspen is of equal if not better quality than pet stores, and has practically 0% dust content!

To clean the cages, I simply remove and inspect all the decorative furniture and scoop it like a cat litterbox once or twice a week. Once a month I do a more complete cleaning: I take out all the furniture and soak it in water, dump all the substrate, spray and wipe the tub with Chlorhexadine. I dry it out, add new substrate, and once the furniture is dry, I put it all back, snake included! ;) None of the smells, smears, and stains that occur with glass habitats.

I’m not saying that my way of housing is the best way. I just think it is awesome in that it is affordable, attractive, efficient, and has been great for keeping my snakes healthy and comfortable. :)

If you have any questions/comments, feel free to send them to my ask.

(Eve is pretty deep in shed at the moment, but I thought you might want to see her in her home!)

[sillymisslaura]

Future 5 gallon Betta home. Never mind the reflection of the living room light… Is this acceptable?

[steelthebetta]

For a betta? Definitely.

[bettamonchelle]

I have this tank as well! I definitely suggest using alternate lighting for your plants if you're only using the light that came with the tank, it's not quite sufficient. A simple 13-14w daylight cfl in a clip lamp would do! I'd also recommend a secondary filter of some sort, like a sponge filter, as the chis filter isn't super great. Otherwise it's a great home for bettas :)

[kittje]

Gladys likes to climb the wall even though she isn’t very good at it. Go Gladys Go. (Gehyra marginata: Halmahera Gecko)

[faithbeforefear]

He is 300% creepy.

[rate-my-reptile]

Excuse Me To Pleas Tuch This Weird Long Body

[whalecomrades-deactivated201612]

Four Free Female Bettas

I’ve been in and out of the hospital for the past month, and before I got really sick I had tried starting up a sorority (it is in a heavily planted 20 gallon), but they just keep fighting and it’s stressing me out like crazy. They are all crowntails from petco, and I just want them to go to good homes. I’m willing to drive up to an hour out, I’m in the SF Bay Area. I’ll send pictures in trade for descriptions/pictures of the setups they’d be going to. Happy to answer any questions. Please boost

[bettamonchelle]

This is what I spent all day yesterday doing. Since no one seemed interested in taking my lil dudes I had to do something to make bloo's tank easier on me. So dirt bottom... Jars? Lol Fingers crossed the plants can grow enough to eat all the nitrates in our tap water >_<; certainly works in ponds tank!

[nationalgeo]

[fsthhdwefg-deactivated20180515]

Folks, THIS is where your bettas come from, not rain puddles and waterlogged footprints.

[auspaws]

[velociraptorsquadron]

That’s a lot of weird dogs.

[reptilisss]

they look healthy

[doomburgerdoodles]

As you all know I’ve been having a difficult time lately, both mentally and physically.

And because of that I’ve been unable to properly care for my fish.

They’re both a year+ but they deserve better :/

So, ive thought on it for a while and decided… If there’s any responsible owners out there in the westminster Maryland area or even Manchester up to Gettysburg that would like to adopt these guys, please send me a message here! I don’t want to ship them out as they haven’t had super stable care, and bloo’s fins remain chomped to bits, but I have shipping bags for safe transport via car, so you’d have to be willing to meet in person.

They’re free to a good home!

They both have 5 gallon fully planted, cycled, filtered and heated tanks I’d be willing to part with for $50 all equipment and plants included, if you’re interested just let me know and I’ll give details.

And please boost this if you can~

[doomburgerdoodles]

As you all know I’ve been having a difficult time lately, both mentally and physically.

And because of that I’ve been unable to properly care for my fish.

They’re both a year+ but they deserve better :/

So, ive thought on it for a while and decided… If there’s any responsible owners out there in the westminster Maryland area or even Manchester up to Gettysburg that would like to adopt these guys, please send me a message here! I don’t want to ship them out as they haven’t had super stable care, and bloo’s fins remain chomped to bits, but I have shipping bags for safe transport via car, so you’d have to be willing to meet in person.

They’re free to a good home!

And by good I mean a home that will give them 2.5 gallons+ cycled, filtered and heated tanks.

They both have 5 gallon fully planted, cycled, filtered and heated tanks I’d be willing to part with for $50 all equipment and plants included, if you’re interested just let me know and I’ll give details.

And please boost this if you can~

[scalestails]

Beefsquatch the firefish (Nemateleotris magnifica)

[allcreaturessmall]

I had three slider turtles surrendered today - three. Two are babies, like the little one shown up top. Yes, they were each surrendered in one of those. One is an adult female, pictured below with the turtle “habitat” on her back for comparison. All are in neglected condition with poor shell health. SO… This is what you need to understand when getting a turtle. 1. The little baby turtles sold on the beach, the fair, at flea markets, in little hole-in-the-wall shops? Are illegal. Turtles under 4″ in general are not being legally sold. This has been a federal law since about the mid-70′s due to salmonella outbreaks linked to the turtles (google it if you don’t believe me). Anyplace selling these turtles for any reason other that research or education is doing so illegally and, if they come in a little “habitat” like the one shown here, unscrupulously. 2. Turtles can not survive in tiny critter keepers. They should live 30+ years but most will only make it a few months in such containers. Why? Well: 3. Turtles need 5-10g of water (not tank, water) per inch of shell length to keep clean and happy. What’s more, they need: 4. Heat and UVB to digest, absorb calcium, and grow. Both of the tiny turtles we got in today have severely soft shells from calcium deficiency, and one has a mild respiratory infection from inadequate heat. 5. They also need filtration to help keep clean, or they can develop shell rot, bacterial infections, eye infections, etc. Even with a filter, expect large WEEKLY water changes. 6. A dry area to get totally out of the water to bask. Lacking a basking spot can lead to shell rot, which can go bone deep and be lethal. 7. A nutritious, fortified diet, PLUS fresh foods. Baby turtles need plenty of protein items while adult (sliders) will need a good portion of their diet to be vegetation. Those crappy oversized pellets baby turtles are sold with are not complete nutrition in and of themselves. 8. Finally, turtles need educated owners committed to a high-maintenance, long lived, LARGE pet with significant space requirements. Slider turtles and cooters, the most common species sold in those horrid little boxes, can grow to over a foot in length. The big girl pictured could still easily put on another 5″ or more in size and will need to live in a good hundred gallon tank (at least) to be happy and healthy. Don’t be an impulsive, uneducated, crummy pet owner. Only get a turtle if you’re ready to provide everything - I mean everything - they need to grow, survive, and thrive.  And yes, the turtles pictured are now all living in spacious, filtered, heated, UVB’d environments to recover from their negligent care. 

[newts-in-hats]

This is SO important!!

[the-awkward-turt]

^this this this this this

It hurts my heart how often I see stuff like this.

[biofaunaexotics]

Turtle husbandry is one of our most asked about topics. Please guys, do your research!!

[bob-artist]

Ebo is basically a pokemon.  He just goes around saying his own name all day long. (unmute this)

[bird-bum]

EBO EBO EBO

[starry-skies-hazy-eyes]

@hiija 🐥

[drjustinelee]

Awesome info on what to do if your #puppy is chewing #training

[towetnosesandwhiskers]

YES YES YES YES YES

[happytripawd]

I get so many Asks about puppy nipping - here’s a good quick guide! Note: we had the most luck with the method of replacing your hand with a chew item as opposed to just yelping.

Also please remember this is something you have to do repetitively over time (and the length of that time depends on the dog; sometimes days, sometimes weeks, sometimes months, sometimes.. yep, some might take over a year until nipping/biting/chewing is gone completely), but generally the more consistent you are the quicker it will taper off.

Show your puppy what you want them to do instead of punishing what you don’t want them to do! They’re pretty smart little sponges :3