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Happy Pet Migrator Mallard Duck Toy
by Kirst09
I have 2 dogs at home, an Italian Spinone (Lottie) and a Tibetan Terrier, but only the Italian Spinone likes to carry things round in her mouth and give them to people, so when I saw this on offer in Pets at Home I had to get it for her. I got my little one some dog treats so she didn't feel left out! The RRP for this at Pets at home was ... £5.99 but it was on offer for 50% off, meaning that I got it for an absolute bargain of £2.99. This mallard toy comes in a variety of sizes; I ended up purchasing the Large as our dog is like a small pony. You can also purchase the same thing online for around the £6 mark, on Amazon you can definitely get them.
Product Description
It is identical to the one pictured above in terms of colouring and it has very soft "fur" if you will. There is a squeaker, or should I say a "quacker", inside the duck. It is very well put together and I haven't noticed any manufacturing faults; if anything I would say that the stitching is very well done and also extremely strong to deter the dog from ripping it apart.
Before I move onto anything else, I feel it is important to say that Lottie bounded over to me and took the duck from me as soon as I pulled it out of the carrier bag - I didn't even have time to remove the sticker. I eventually managed to pry it off her several times that night and removed the sticker bit by bit. She did actually have one of these mallards that came with her as a puppy (obviously it was a lot smaller) and she seemed thrilled to have one more adapted to her size! Dad confessed to me that he had thrown her little one away several days before as it was so worn out.
Performance
It was visible (or audible) early on that the squeaker worked an absolute dream! It really sounds a lot more like a duck than your typical squeaker inside a toy, so that I was impressed with (although somewhat less impressed at 7am the morning after). The duck slept upstairs after that. Lottie literally beats the living daylights out of this duck just to make it squeak; if it doesn't squeak, she will persist until it does! She became very attached very quickly to this toy just after Christmas and she still carries it about the place now. Amazingly it is still intact and showing no signs of wear or tear. God help you if you want to take it from her; you will be met by a firm grip and a warning growl as if to say "don't you even think about it". Having already withstood a fair few weeks of playing and recalling how much her other duck put up with over the years, the quality really is impeccable and in my opinion definitely reinforced to withstand many a playtime.
Quality/Price
I had honestly been thinking about getting her a big duck toy, so the fact that it was half price was just a pure bonus. They seem sturdily made and withstand some pretty tough play from our huge but gorgeous dog. I wholeheartedly recommend these to anyone with a gundog or any other dog that happens to have hunting instincts, just maybe don't take them to the park to see the real thing straight after! You can also get this toy in a variety of other birds such as a swan, Canadian goose and a pheasant. I might have to get her one of these for her next birthday or something!
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Exo Terra Solar Glo Mercury Vapour Bulb
by dawnmarywhite
The Exo Terra Solar Glo is, as advertised, a sun simulating bulb. Also known as mercury vapour bulbs (MVB), these not only emit light and heat but also UVB rays. These are essential for reptiles, and this type of bulb is one of the closest things to the actual sun you can provide for your captive herps.
These are really the ... budget MVB of the reptile world; they function well when they work, but are of a lesser quality than some of the other brands, and they don't last as long in terms of general wear and tear or UVB output. I have found it very difficult to get an answer as to when these bulbs should be replaced due to diminishing UVB levels, but as it happens it's not been something I have needed to worry about yet (more on why later). But it is worth noting that even when the UVB has 'run out' they will still illuminate and appear to be working, so you must keep a note of when you started using it to ensure you are always providing the necessary UVB. I know of people who use these for plant growth/in greenhouses once they replace them, as they still put out a lot of light and heat when the UVB is done.
These bulbs need to be suspended so they hang straight down, having them mounted at an angle, such as with a clamp on lamp holder, can cause flickering and shorten the life span. Also, they need large holders as they require a lot of cooling air flow around the bulb; if this is restricted the bulb will overheat an cut out. Overheating and cutting out further shortens the life span, and once one of these bulbs has been switched off it must be left for around 1.5 hours before turning it on again - this is to allow the filament to cool down fully. These bulbs are not suitable for use with thermostats of any kind for this reason, but can be used with a simple on/off timer to regulate the photoperiod.
Possibly the biggest advantage (other than UVB quality) of these bulbs over separate UVB / heat sources, is that they are neat. You only need one holder (albeit the huge ones) and one socket. This is a huge advantage for those of us who have large collections and not enough sockets! The downside of this though, is that if your bulb blows you are then without heat AND UVB and you must cobble together something, for heat at least, in the meantime.
I have one of these Solar Glo bulbs on my indoor turtle pond, and it has been really good; the heat and light it kicks out are plenty sufficient, and the beam is quite wide giving good UVB coverage. The turtles in the pond love basking under it! This is the only enclosure I have a MVB on so far, and I have to say how much I appreciate the tidiness as this indoor pond is at the back of my living room - the most public room of the house (and the only one with 24 square feet of safe floor space for it). It is a talking point, certainly! So I love that I only have one bulb and fixture over it because believe it or not I am actually very house proud and like everything to be in its place.
However I have had my fair share of issues with these bulbs; the first bulb I bought only lasted three months before it blew, despite me treating and mounting it optimally. It just didn't flick on one morning with its timer. The very same thing happened with my replacement bulb, after 3 months again. So I am on my third one in seven months! If I hadn't bought it from such an excellent company I would be fuming and my rating would no doubt be lower! Many companies do not offer any guarantee/replacement for bulbs (though it does appear to be becoming more available now), as their very nature make them fragile and obviously these companies cannot control how the bulb is treated once it reaches you. I bought mine from Zooplus.co.uk for £24.99 delivered. I planned to replace after 9 months-1 year, but so far have not had to think about that, since I've had a new one every 3 months!
But, when compared to other MVBs, the Solar Glo does come off favourably in terms of price. It is literally half the online prices of other leading brands, but these are higher quality and may be guaranteed for 1 whole year (Arcadia) or known anecdotally to last up to 2 years (Megaray) before the UVB diminishes enough to need replaced, so in all honesty it is false economy. The Solar Glo is a great introduction to the world of combined bulbs and is a good choice, particularly if you need to buy a new holder for it too (the large ones can be very pricey), as it will help keep the overall cost down.
I would recommend these to others if they were looking for the best price. Don't get me wrong, when they work they are perfectly fine and do everything they should do. But in my experience they are not a hugely reliable bulb. I would recommend they be purchased from Zooplus though, as that way it's win-win with their fabulous customer service. I would recommend another brand if price was no object though, such as Megaray or Arcadia both of which I think now retail for around £40 (not including P&P).
So I'll see what happens with bulb number 3, if I can afford to I will change to a better quality brand when it needs replaced, but if not I will continue to use these, so long as I can keep buying them from Zooplus!
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Happy Pet Tug Of War Rubber Dog Toy
by -michelle-
One of my dog's toys I found whilst sorting out their box was this Rubber Dog Toy.
~Happy Pet Tug Of War Rubber Dog Toy~
Rather a strange looking thing, the one I bought for my dogs is yellow, made of very tough rubber in the shape of, well a bit like a lopsided bow tie I guess. It's about 13 and a half inches ... long and about 4 and a half inches across, measured from the widest part of the toy. The general idea with this toy is for Red to pull one end while I pull the other and play a sort of tug of war game together. Not the case here though, I pick up the toy to play and Red curls up and goes to sleep. Yes this toy is that interesting to him. Even Pippa's not that impressed with this toy. It seems like it's probably to much like hard work for them.
To be fair though, my dogs are extremely lazy (they're just like me!) but for most dogs I'd have thought a game or two with this pull toy would be quite fun for both dog and owner. I would imagine a dog to get quite a bit of exercise from using this toy correctly, or in my dogs case using it at all!
It is very strong and hard wearing, but I guess a dogs toy would have to be, I'd like to say that this dog toy has lasted well with lots of use but I cannot say that as my dogs have hardly even looked at it in all the time I've had it. I guess I should get rid of it really but I just can't bring myself to throw away something that hasn't a mark on it. I do think though, this toy would still have lasted just as well had my dogs played with it more, it's very well made, well it's just a bit of rubber really, but it's strong and seems very durable.
~Where to get one........if your dog can be bothered~
I bought mine quite a while ago now and to be honest had forgotten about it, till I started to sort out the dogs toy box. I bought it from a pet shop and paid around £2.00 for it. After doing a quick Google search I found these dog pull toys available from an online store called Pet Favorites and it's priced at £2.49. The toy comes in various different colors.
So for me buying this dog toy was a waste of time, but if you have a dog that can be bothered to play games with a toy such as this, I'm sure both you and your dog would have fun with one of these.
I'm giving this Happy Pet Tug Of War Rubber Dog Toy 3 stars, it's a sturdy enough dog toy but not a lot of use to me.
Thank you for reading my review which may also be posted on other sites.
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