Bad day (not the worst)

Okay so multiple things happened today that really aren’t so great that happen to all of us, but I thought I’d share because let’s be real - it’s happened to all of us. (Also I’m fixing these things right now.)

1. Mari’s heat bulb died and I gotta go to the worst store on the planet and give them my money to replace it. (Petco... I hate them so much.)
2. Mari’s BSFL turned into flies and I had to get my insect net and catch them all and release them near my compost bin. I currently have 0 feeder insects and have to get a stupid can to hold me over until the BSFL can be delivered because I’d rather Mari have some mildly salty insects than risk a brain parasite in petco live crickets. (I give her salad as her main course.)
3. My cockatiel is about to lay eggs and so she’s really aggressive with me.
4. My sister wants me to drive her to Party City for a plastic table cloth.
5. I have like 2 lab reports, 1 English take home exam, 1 western civ paper, And 1 orgo pre-lab due at the end of the week. I also have midterms next week including my ecology midterm which is super hard because I am not good with meteorology AT ALL. Not to mention I have an orgo exam next week, too, but I actually really understand organic chemistry, so that’s good.
6. My dog is licking his ding dong in front of me as I type this. I hate the sound he makes when he does it.
7. Mari decided she doesn’t like arugula anymore and so now I have a huge box of arugula that I won’t eat because it’s too spicy for me. She’s such a weirdo. ?

That's a lot to deal with at once! The black soldier flies can be fed off as well. They are a tasty treat. If you find any missing, look along windows. They tend to congregate on windows and are slow enough to just pick up by pinching them with your fingers.

It's always good to have an extra heat bulb (or a few) on hand since they tend to burn out suddenly. I like to just order some halogen bulbs online and stash them for when needed.

As far as the arugala goes, it makes good salad. You could whip up a simple dressing with a lemon and some olive oil. Zest the lemon and juice it, add a few tbsp of olive oil, whisk it and add maybe some chopped garlic and a little salt & pepper. Then toss the arugala in it. You could add things like pistachios or almonds along with some fruit like apple slices or dried apricot and some crumbly feta cheese.

I'm so sorry your day went like this I really hope everything gets better for you

We've all been there! I've just been dealing with my daughter who is an 11th grader in high school. She has aches and pains over her entire body due to a demanding softball schedule, wisdom teeth coming in, has been stuck at home for 2 weeks because there was a COVID outbreak at her high school, her cat is constantly meowing at her (he's needy), and she has to help with getting her 13 year old sister to her softball practices and other junk (and she never ever says please or thank you to her older sister).

Being a kid is hard. Having responsibility is even worse. You're doing a great job though. How exciting that your bird is going to lay eggs! Do you breed her or do they lay unfertilized eggs periodically?

CooperDragon":1ulfv279 said:

That's a lot to deal with at once! The black soldier flies can be fed off as well. They are a tasty treat. If you find any missing, look along windows. They tend to congregate on windows and are slow enough to just pick up by pinching them with your fingers.

It's always good to have an extra heat bulb (or a few) on hand since they tend to burn out suddenly. I like to just order some halogen bulbs online and stash them for when needed.

As far as the arugala goes, it makes good salad. You could whip up a simple dressing with a lemon and some olive oil. Zest the lemon and juice it, add a few tbsp of olive oil, whisk it and add maybe some chopped garlic and a little salt & pepper. Then toss the arugala in it. You could add things like pistachios or almonds along with some fruit like apple slices or dried apricot and some crumbly feta cheese.

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I’m not sure if lemon is good for their teeth because they can’t brush the acid off. Mari doesn’t even know what a fly is when I present them to her - she kinda looks at me like I’m crazy for even trying to feed it to her ? she’s a strange woman.

Edit: OH WAIT THE SALAD IS FOR ME?! ? oops, I’m sorry, I had an exam today so I’m fried.

saraho":17haj4ms said:

We've all been there! I've just been dealing with my daughter who is an 11th grader in high school. She has aches and pains over her entire body due to a demanding softball schedule, wisdom teeth coming in, has been stuck at home for 2 weeks because there was a COVID outbreak at her high school, her cat is constantly meowing at her (he's needy), and she has to help with getting her 13 year old sister to her softball practices and other junk (and she never ever says please or thank you to her older sister).

Being a kid is hard. Having responsibility is even worse. You're doing a great job though. How exciting that your bird is going to lay eggs! Do you breed her or do they lay unfertilized eggs periodically?

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Kiwi just has her annual period and then goes back to normal. I don’t breed her, and I don’t plan on it.

loljelloclowdz":1llialhh said:

Mari doesn’t even know what a fly is when I present them to her - she kinda looks at me like I’m crazy for even trying to feed it to her ? she’s a strange woman.

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When you say "present" did you mean you tried offering by hand or just dumped them in the enclosure with her? Because she may not recognize it as food unless it's flying around.

Ardie initially didn't seem interested, but then I kept watching and noticed his eyes were tracking the fly's motion. Then he snapped it up when it got careless and flew near his mouth, lol!!!

Two more emerged after that one and he had a great time stalking them, though he prefers the smarter lurking and waiting approach instead of acrobatic jumping around some beardies are known for with flies. :lol: (more specifically, he waited until the two flies were both resting on his basking rock, crept close, and then CHARGED at them before snapping up the one that banked too close to him)

Of course, Ardie is also only 3 months as of this post so for Mari, she may just not recognize them as food because she's an older beardie.