Water is ESSENTIAL for ALL Lifeforms!!!

[BGalloway]

I just need to type this to get it off my chest because it has been bugging me and will continue to bug me until certain persons (not anyone on the forums) get their frigging act together!!!!

When changing water for certain animals, you check to make sure it is clean! Hay in the water can be picked out and the water can be left for another day; bird feces in the water=change immediately! I don't give a rats*** if you just changed it at the beginning of chores, there's bird poo in there! Also, even if the water itself is clean LOOK at the BUCKET! Algae in the bucket is not a good thing! Biofilms are Bad! And worst of all, Biofilms don't grow up overnight! Its not anyone's fault that it grew, if the water stays clean that long fine, but its dirty now so go change it! And my favorite, the black bucket that you can't REALLY see if there's sediment on the bottom unless you REALLY LOOK...well LOOK, and when in doubt CHANGE THE WATER!!!

Would YOU drink out of that? "Well, no, but they're just animals." So What, Animals don't need clean water?!?! You'd let this happen to your fishbowl? your dog/cat's dish?!?! I don't think so! Animals need clean water too! You should look at that bucket on a hot day and say "Dang that looks good I wanna sip of that!"

And on the topic of people not cleaning things like they should, just because we moved these animals to a different pasture and now there's a donkey there, doesn't mean you can just pick up after the donkey and you don't have to pick up the old poo!!! CLEAN!

And the worst part of it is I'm just a student who took part 2 of this class before part 1, so all I can do is give advice and recommend that people do these things. I'm not a teaching assistant, so I can't say do this or I will make your grades fall lower than the stock market. And the TAs know about this laziness among the troops, and still they grade chores too gently! Don't deduct 1 point for this person's laziness! Deduct 10! Let them get a "bad" grade! You were the ones who, trying to be nice, said "don't worry labs only a small part of the grade"; that's an open invitation to slackerdom!!!

Anyways that's my rant. Just needed to let it out. I have spoken with the TAs about this, as can be seen in the rant, and the commiserate but say well what can we do about it. Thankfully a few people are changing their ways, but as for those who still slack off the only ones who suffer are the animals. Irresponsible people make me so angry.:main_no:

 

[Friedbread]

I completely agree with you. I am often appalled by people who ask me about my geckos and other animals and ask, "Do they need water?" Heck yes they need water. What wouldn't need water?!

I'm quite the fish keeper too and when I hear "oh, fish don't breathe oxygen, they breathe water" I just want to tear my hair out! How can people be so ignorant? Just cause it's a flipping fish doesn't mean it doesn't need air. So for crying out loud, stop putting goldfish in unairated half gallon bowls!!!

I can't believe how many pet owners give their animals care that doesn't even meet the minimum requirements of fresh water, nutritious food and a clean, appropriate habitat just because they heard from somewhere that the animal can survive on nearly nothing. Reminds me of the betta-plant-vase combo... ugh.

 

[BGalloway]

Not only are people putting fish in unfiltered containers but they're not changing the water enough! Fish live in water! They drink it, filter it, eat in it, and defecate in it! Fish are living in their own filth and yet people let the tanks get cloudy and gross!!! Or they think "its ok I have water purifying drops." And its the same thing for turtles. How would people like it to be living in their own mess all the time!

The above reasons are why not only fish and turtles, but ANY animal that can fit its entire body in its water dish needs to have its water changed daily! Its like sitting in a bath and then someone saying "now drink it".

Also, clean up poo daily (related because if you leave it in and the animal steps in it then into the water dish where does the poo go? into the frikkin water)! As soon as you see it! don't let it sit there all day unless you have one darn good reason! And that brings me back to the alpacas this fist post was about! The darn chore student this morning only cleaned the poo right in front of the gate (heh, yeah, by cleaned they scooped the big bit in the middle and left the smaller bits in the grass)! They completely forgot to look for other feces piles and when my assistant and I went to catch our boys we were finding it everywhere!!! Thankfully we caught the person before they left and made them clean it up...but SERIOUSLY!!! Is this how you treat animals! Letting them sit in their own filth? Its not fertilizer yet dammit, right now its a parasite ridden eyesore and biohazard! I don't like ordering people about but this is something that needs doing!

 

[leogecko88]

I replace my animals' water daily. Their dishes get washed every other day. I've seen plenty of other people who never change the water.:main_no: