Mia

Okay, so before you say anything nasty I clearly haven't been riding for very long and that's why my facts and terminology are kind of what I picked up off the Internet. I do riding lessons and am never in charge of spacing or setting up my own jumps or anything of that sort.

Anyway, so how do you know where to place a jump? I assumed you would count the strides to the jump to make sure the horse can jump it, right? But if you're going around the arena and then pulling in to a jump in the center, wouldn't the amount of strides you take change each time depending on how far you are from the jump when you turn to come down the center line? Would it change depending on whether you're cantering or trotting or whether your horse speeds up towards the jump?

Okay, yes, clearly I have no idea what I'm talking about, so really any information you could give me would be appreciated as I'm eager to learn :P

So I've recently come into a bit of money, and my old laptop is really falling apart, so I thought I'd spend the money on a new one. I really, really, REALLY like the look of the 2012 Alienware laptops and they seem really good, too. I do a bit of gaming, mostly during the school holidays since it gets so busy, and lots of video editing, and watch a lot of movies etc on my laptop, which has had trouble with overheating before. I know that the Alienware laptop will improve this, which is one of the reasons I'm interested. Does anyone know if it's any good for day-to-day use, such as browsing, social networking, as I haven't really been able to find anything on this.

Thanks xx

The new TV series. So I just finished episode 4 and am a tiny bit confused. Which of these killings is Hannibal actually committing, if any? And how did he know the Shrike? Maybe I just missed something, or I'm incredibly stupid :P (Also, if it becomes clear in the next few episodes, please just say that and don't spoil :3) Thanks!!

I'm a week into our 7 week holiday off school. I've been hanging out with friends and stuff, but in the mornings and evenings I've mostly just been lying around, watching tv and being bored. I really need a good, fun hobby... something that I can do for a few hours a day for at least 6 weeks until school starts again :P

I'm a 14 year old girl and am willing to try basically anything ^.^

What are your favorite hobbies/pass-times?

I'm a week into our 7 week holiday off school. I've been hanging out with friends and stuff, but in the mornings and evenings I've mostly just been lying around, watching tv and being bored. I really need a good, fun hobby... something that I can do for a few hours a day for at least 6 weeks until school starts again :P

I'm a 14 year old girl and am willing to try basically anything ^.^

What are your favorite hobbies/pass-times?

I've had my budgie Jennifer for about 4 weeks now. She's fully trained and will happily bang at the cage door until I let her out to come sit on my shoulder and head :) I spend heaps of time with her when I'm at home (it's holidays), but I'm worried that she'll be lonely during my 7-hour school days, so I wanted to get her a friend. If I fully tame and socialize the new bird while she's in quarantine, then introduce both of them while they're fully tamed, will they still be friendly towards me? Like, will they still like -- or at the least tolerate -- being held, played with, etc? Thank you for the help! xx

It's a public holiday, and my friend and I are home trying to find something to do! Usually we go shopping or to the movies, but everything's closed today. We're 13 and 14 year old girls. We like to do crazy sh*t :3 But sensibly crazy :P Any ideas??

Hi. I'm using a Macbook, and on word when you type in an incorrect spelling or grammar error it comes up with a little squiggly red or green line underneath it. I may be a bit OCD-ish, but they really drive me insane, and I don't have time to "add them to dictionary" or "ignore" (and it usually comes back anyway).

I write a lot, and in my current document I'm using lots of made up words and kind of unique names, so it keeps coming up with red lines and I can't stand it!

I know how to do it on Windows, but what about for Mac?

Thank you!

So, I brought home a young guy yesterday, but I can't decide whether to get his wings clipped or not!

If I did, it wouldn't be much; he'd still be able to fly around his cage, just not for extended periods of time and not very high / far or fast. While I respect birds in the wild can fly, I think it may be safer... For example, I wouldn't have to worry about un-curtained windows and doors, which I have a lot of.

How much does it hurt? He just got used to me... would the trauma make him shy and scared again?

I got my boy 5 hours ago. On the car trip home he was very friendly, examining everything in his carry cage and even hopped onto my hand when I showed it to him. When I got home I moved him into the big cage and there wasn't much drama with that. But for the past 5 hours he's been sitting there like a statue, uninterested in all of the toys and everything. I get that this is normal and he's just adjusting to his new surroundings, but what can I do to make him come around faster or to make it easier for him? I tried covering his cage with a sheet so he could have some peace, but he started flying around crazily and sqwaking, and the second I took it off he became a statue again. I put my hand in the cage and he allows me to stroke his back and chest, but won't step up or even react to me :P. I'm playing music for him and stuff, but what else should I do? Just leave him and wait? I keep talking to him and he seems to like it.

So, I'm getting a budgie from a breeder in a week or two. He'll be 7 or 8 weeks when I take him home.

It's REALLY important to me that I get a male, as I've heard that -generally- they are easier to tame, like to talk/repeat words more and are friendlier, which sounds good for me as I want this to be a pet I can take out and play with once I've trained him a bit :3

My only concern is that my breeder isn't 100% sure of telling the gender while they're so young, and after looking online I found that it's usually just an educated guess. Is there any way to know for absolute certain? Will a bird vet know just by looking, or will I have to get an extremely long and expensive DNA test?

Help me please! xx

So, first of all, I'm not an irresponsible pet owner. I've owned dogs, cats, mice and rats before, but now I think it's time for a change, and I think a budgie would suit me. Clearly I'm going to do loads of research on them before I get one, but do you have any personal tips for a complete beginner on stuff I should/shouldn't do and how to keep mine as healthy as possbile? Thanks so much! :-)

One of my really close friends has 16 pet mice. She takes awful care of them; she only cleans their tiny tank every 3 weeks, they never get any attention, and whenever I come over they usually have no fresh food or water. I've also been seeing some mites and fleas on them even though they're very hard to handle, as they haven't been handled for quite some time.

What should I do? I have a small mousery, currently with 5 females and 3 males. Usually I have only around 4 litters a year and usually only sell to family and friends, or friends of friends, who love mice. I take excellent care of the mice I have at the moment, all my mice and their babies are brilliantly cared for, but I really can't take 16 more. And I don't know if they can be sold to another family, as they're around 1.5 years old and very vicious, as they've never been socialized. I've tried to get my friend to take better care of them, but she won't listen. I've even tried talking to her parents and stuff, but they're not doing anything. I really don't want to release the mice or give them to snake owners or anything, as they still deserve happy lives!!

What should I do??

So there's this new girl in my school and we've become sort-of friends. She's been here for about a week and we've hung out and stuff and she talks to me openly.

She's been saying some really weird stuff - that she got raped, that she's going to have sex for money as she made a $200 bet with her friend that she could rape 3 guys, that she got pregnant, that she did drugs, that she smoked, ect. ect. We're 14 and in year 9, she's saying all this openly to like everyone and she just got here a week ago and laughing about it.

A close friend told one of the teachers, not dobbing really, just that she was worried about a new girl in the class and the teacher asked for a name and she gave it to her. The teacher then got the school pyschologist and her parents involved and the new girl threatened to beat up whoever told. She's quite big and heavy and she looks like she means it... she used to go to a really dodgy school where there's lots of violence and stuff.

If this girl finds out who told we're a bit worried about what she'll do, so about 6 of us are going to say that we all told for moral / physical support :P

I had no part in this, I'd like to join in as these are all my REALLY close friends and I want to back them up, but I feel kind of bad as I'm the only person the new girl (sorry about names :P) has been talking to and opening up to and everything and I'd feel kind of mean....

Help!?

So there's this new girl in my school and we've become sort-of friends. She's been here for about a week and we've hung out and stuff and she talks to me openly.

She's been saying some really weird stuff - that she got raped, that she's going to have sex for money as she made a $200 bet with her friend that she could rape 3 guys, that she got pregnant, that she did drugs, that she smoked, ect. ect. We're 14 and in year 9, she's saying all this openly to like everyone and she just got here a week ago and laughing about it.

A close friend told one of the teachers, not dobbing really, just that she was worried about a new girl in the class and the teacher asked for a name and she gave it to her. The teacher then got the school pyschologist and her parents involved and the new girl threatened to beat up whoever told. She's quite big and heavy and she looks like she means it... she used to go to a really dodgy school where there's lots of violence and stuff.

If this girl finds out who told we're a bit worried about what she'll do, so about 6 of us are going to say that we all told for moral / physical support :P

I had no part in this, I'd like to join in as these are all my REALLY close friends and I want to back them up, but I feel kind of bad as I'm the only person the new girl (sorry about names :P) has been talking to and opening up to and everything and I'd feel kind of mean....

Help!?

Because I'm bored :3

Hi. So I'm planning on getting rats in a couple of months. I'm 13 and have bred mice for about 3 years, but I'd like to try a new rodent and I think rats are the way to go. I know from experience that, although it's possible, it's very hard to get male mice to live happily together. If I were to get 2 male rats that were already living together, are they likely to get on apart from the odd dominance squabble every now and then?

Also, I make food for my mice and think it's great that I can control what they're eating and would love to do it for my rats! What kinds of things do you have in your rat food, and what things should I make sure to include in mine??

Also, please no mean comments! Clearly I am going to do a lot of research online and in books and make sure I'm 100% prepared before I get them :P I just thought it would be good to start here for opinions/experience. Also, no comments saying I'm "too young" please, like I got on another forum. I own dogs, cats and mice and am completely committed to them and put them ahead of everything else while still taking great care of them :)

Thanks ♥ ♥ ♥

Okay, so first of all, I know the obvious answer is yes but just hear me out here!!

My mouse is 2.5 years old and I can tell she's on her last leg. She looks very fragile and thin and is making a constant, soft squeaking noise (that kind of sounds like a guinea pig; that's the best way I can explain it). She doesn't move much and only gets up to eat and drink. I feel like if I take her to the exotic animal vet, which is 3 hours away, and spend A LOT of money on treating her (I'm 13 and would have to pay for it myself) that I would only be pro-longing her life a few weeks.

So should I take her to the vet? Or just try and make her feel comfortable in her last few days? :'(

I'm 14 and plan to move to either Toronto or Vancouver to study when I graduate. I want to study to become a vet and have found universities that I like in both places. Which place is cheaper and better for me to start out in? And where do you think it would be easier for me to get a job, not being a Canadian citizen (I will apply but that can take a while)? What are the pros and cons?? Thanks :)

So for 3 years now I've been using Carefresh Ultra, and I was very happy. However one of the mice from my latest litter is very allergic to it. She was scratching until she was bleeding and causing scabs to form and her hair to fall out (and yes, I'm sure it wasn't mites or something similar). Until I find an alternative bedding, I'm using shredded paper, and it's not going very well, so I'm kind of desperate. The paper looks very messy all over the place and they can't burrow in it.

What are the pros and cons of the bedding you would use or suggest??

I know not to use cedar or pine :P