No comments about How to Care for Your Degu (Your First...series).

5 comments about The Essential Hamster (Essential (Howell)).

1. The Essential Hamster is practically complete redundancy of Barron's Complete Manual on Hamsters. Though excellent in detail, helpful information, and photographs, this is a waste of money if you already own other manuals on this pet. Typical of this type of book, it covers: Feeding, keeping your pet healthy, behavior, medical issues, and the homecoming preparation tips after purchasing a new hamster. There is absolutely nothing new and interesting added to the "Essential" series. If you own it, fine. However, if you seek detailed, new, interesting, and superior all around material, purchase the Barron's Complete Manual on hamsters instead of this.



2. It was a great book but there should have been a section on breeding your hamster but it did give the info you need to keep you hamster healthy.



3. I have owned hamsters for over a year now and have read quite a few books and websites about the cute little pets. In the last few months I have become bored with the same old stuff in all the books - most, however, have adorable pictures that make up for it, but nevertheless I hoped to find one with new information. Then - behold! - I picked up this book. A very attractive, well-made and well-written book, it is filled with new, interesting and useful info. I actually learned something from "The Hamster: An Owner's Guide to a Happy, Healthy Pet"! On almost every page there is a wonderful color photo of a hamster (or, in some cases, hamsterS). I would reccommend this book to first-time hamster owners as well as the more experienced kind who are looking for new, complete information.



4. If you are interested in becoming familiar with and keeping hamsters as pets, then this is a good book. Released in 1997, it was written by Betsy Sikora Siino and is 126 pages. There are ten chapters along with informative sidebars throughout. Examples of information are physical characteristics, housing, feeding, and health. Besides a color drawing that outlines the external features of a hamster, the rest of the guide contains nice color photos. I recommend this book.



5. This Book is great for the beginner hamster owner.it has chapters on the origins of the hamster, buying your hamster and its home, feeding, handling, and playing with your hamster. It covers all the basics to owning a hamster.It has a very good section on illnesses and how to handle them a section most begginer books really lack in.overall it is the best basic hamster care book I have found on the market.

1 comments about Ultimate Peter Rabbit.

1. This is one of those amazing DK books where you find something every time you look through it ... we're doing a whole unit on Beatrix Potter and this is a treasure trove of information in a very kid-friendly design!

5 comments about Guide to Owning a Guinea Pig: Housing, Feeding, Breeding, Exhibition, Health Care (Re Series).

1. This book is not a good book it gives wrong info and needs to be updated.



2. It is hard to sum up everything wrong in this book. I would give it zero stars if I could have.
   Most of the advice is not only wrong but dangerous to the health and well being of cavies.
   Here are a few of the many points that are wrong, misleading or dangerous:
   1. The nutritional advice will produce a very sick pig. Please don't feed your pigs eggs, cheese, cakes, cookies and seeds. They can choke on seeds, nuts are too fattening and refined sweets will make them ill. The book somewhat puts down pellets (and suggests a couple of aforementioned odd homemade concoctions) and yet good quality Guinea pig pellets, along with fresh veggies, are the best way to insure you pig has a balanced diet with Vitamin C, essential for GP's. Hay is also essential and yet there is almost nothing mentioned and no discussion of the various types.
   2. Shows a pig in a wire bottom cage. Piggies get thier legs caught and broken in wire bottom cages PLUS the cages shown are way too small. Go to www.Cavycages.com and make you own cheaper and better than you can buy premade!
   3. States pigs should be housed separately. This is not true. Pigs are very social animals and need to be with thier own kind. While two adult boars MAY fight, most sows and many boars get along just fine. Of course, house the boars and sows separately unless you want LOTS of little piggies!
   2. Shows a rabbit and guinea pig together and says they "get along". It is doubtful they would fight, that is true, but rabbits have powerful back legs and one jump could kill or injure a piggie. They should not be housed together at the very least.
   3. Calling a photo of a Guinea Pig a "hamster" just proves that no proof reading by a knowledgable person was done. That is just sloppy and unprofessional.
   4. The breeding section never mentions that a sow must be bred before she is 10 months old (IF she is ever going to be bred)because her pelvic bones will fuse at about 12 months, resulting in dead mother and babies in a first pregnancy after that time. This book implies that pigs are not fully mature until 12 months and not at full weight until 18 months, leaving a novice to think it best to wait until then. Very dangerous. Hopefully, no decent person would attempt to breed any animal solely on the information in one chapter in one small book anyway, but this advice will kill your pigs.
   There is more but I simply do not have room to correct all the misleading and dangerous info. Suffice to say, with this much hazardous advice, this book should not even be on the market. SHAME on the ASPCA for giving it a seal of approval.
   Read "The Proper Care Of Guinea Pigs" by Peter Gurney and/or "Guinea Pig Handbook " by Dr. Sharon Vanderlip or check Internet sites for safe, appropriate care of cavies.



3. I bought this book thinking that I'd learn something new, but was very disapointed. The author gives you some info about the topics he's interested in, but fails to give you info about other things. For example, he goes on and on about building your own cages ect., but tells you very little about guinea pig breeding in the chapter he titled "Practical Breeding". Like someone else mentioned, he did right "hamster" instead of guinea pig at one part, which realy bothered me! He also has a lot of unrelated pictures and sometimes put the same picture twice! There are very nice pictures but most of them were of the same breeds (or same guinea pigs), which isn't helpful for those who want to learn about the many different guinea pig breeds. I think this is a very incomplete book. I'm new to guinea pigs, but this book told me very little I hadn't or couldn't have found out about online. I recommend basic reaserch or buying a different book if you want to find out about all aspects of cavies [guinea pigs]. If you still want to buy this book, you can buy mine because I'm going to sell it.



4. For a book with an ASPCA seal of approval, I was very disappointed. The pictures showed guinea pigs on wire bottom cages (very back for their little feet), recommended cedar shavings (another no no) and on pg38 captioned a picture of a guinea pig "The more unique the color variety of your hamster..." It advised housing mutliple cavies in separate cages (this is a herd animal...please) Returned the book in 24 hours. Baron's is a better choice any day.



5. This book is great I found most of my information with it.It tells you every thing you need to know about raiseing a Guinea Pig.I recommend it to anyone who wants to own a Guinea Pig.

1 comments about The Guide to Owning Dwarf Rabbits (Guide to Owning A...).

1. "The Guide to owning Dwarf Rabbits" is a good basic guide to the first time rabbit owner. This book covers topics like Housing, feeding and health. "The Guide to Owning Dwarf Rabbits" is written in an easy to understand style and contains all you need to know for your first rabbit, but is not very in depth for those with rabbit experience.

2 comments about Getting to Know Your Guinea Pig (Children's Pet).

1. I bought my boys 2 Guinea pigs and this book for Christmas. It was wonderful. It gave us all enough information to know what to look for in purchasing the Guinea pigs, and taking care of them. It even has a place to put a picture of your Guinea Pig and information about her/him.



2. PERFECT BOOK FOR A CHILD GETTING TO KNOW THEIR NEW PET

1 comments about Raising Rabbits Successfully.

1. This is a good guide to raising rabbits for meat production. Not only does he tell you how to do things, he says why. He also tells you what not to do and why. Easy to understand, yet very informative.

5 comments about Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories: Breeds of the World.

1. Caldwell has done an excellent work in describing the origins of each domestic rabbit breed, the founding breeder, the evolution of type, or color or use of each rabbit. Included are interesting sections on the evolution of rabbit housing, feeds, clubs and associations. Some of the breed histories mentioned such as the Enderby Island Rabbit are simply fascinating in Caldwell's relation of the breed to the world historical events of the time.Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories: Breeds of the World



2. I was very impressed by the author's willingness to tackle such a gigantic project, and the talent with which he pulled it off! There are plenty of books that will tell you how to care for a pet--- this book is unique and exciting because it goes beyond that, and deals with the actual histories of countless breeds of rabbits. The author's knowledgeability of his subject is revealed by his capable presentation.
   
   Not all rabbit breeds are given the same treatment--- but then again, not all rabbit breeds have the same degree of history surrounding them. If your interest in rabbits is limited to a particular breed or two, you may or may not be disappointed by the verbage dedicated to your personal favorite. But taken as a whole, the work is an incredible feat, and I look forward to future editions.
   
   I would have given this five stars, but it lost a star due to its publication. This book would have been even more spectacular in the hands of a capable editor at a reliable publishing house, but the author went the self-pub route for whatever reason. The knowledge is most definitely there--- but it's just lacking the polish that a good editor could have given to it.
   
   I look forward to future efforts by the author. :o)



3. This is a HISTORY book, not a "let's choose a bunny breed" book. I like the historic drawings, and black and white photos of old breeds. The history is a bit sobering. The methods of developing new breeds, decades and even hundreds of years old, are contrived and cruel. By today's standards of animal care, many of the breeds we have come to admire and cherish would never have come about. I love angoras and lop eared bunnies. Though I would never mistreat them, in any way, to condemn the history of their making would be a bit... hypocritical. They are here now, so all we can do is care for their descendants with the compassion they rightfully deserve. Years of breeding, and selecting have made them vulnerable. They are dependant, so we must strive to be responsible care takers.
   
   Many areas of the book spark interest in things that I hadn't thought about, only to suddenly stop, and move on to the next topic. This book, though long, would be better if even longer. Perhaps historic documents are incomplete, or unavailable?
   
   The color photos are lumped together in the center. I do wish there were more, and larger, photos, and more breeds represented.
   
   I am also still looking for a good "picture book" of rabbit breeds. Lots of rabbit breed books are cluttered with general rabbit care instruction, which is not specific enough for me, and in many cases, too general to be correct. I'd like to see something available in rabbit breed books, which explains the behavior traits, health concerns, and judging qualities of all the breeds, both extinct, and current. -Sharon Warren, www.rabbitsandribbons.com



4. Well I thought this book would tell me about the history and facts about rabbit breeds of the world like the characteristics, behavior and possible health risks a breed could have, also weather it's gentle, large or prone to problems (like for example a well writtien cat or dog breed book would tell). But all this book here talks about it mainly the breeders who developed the breeds, messed with the breeds, mutated the breeds and then at the certain point perfected and brought up a breed. VERY disappointing!!! The history fact includes also some rabbit recipes...and I dont want to say more about that subject but in my opinion this book is nothing for real rabbit lovers who own a pet rabbit as dear companion since the book is mainly for people interested in treating and breeding those beautiful and lovable pets and nothing but disposable STOCK!



5. I was initially a little disappointed in this book, as I was expecting more history on individual breeds, but the sheer number of breeds, current and extinct, makes that a mammoth task for any author, even one as knowledgable as Mr. Whitman, to contain in one volume. As it stands, his rather brief histories on the breeds in the book makes for interesting (if not in- depth) reading and also makes this a valuable book for anyone interested in domestic rabbit breeds. I'd like to see a companion volume by the author, perhaps focusing on histories of the current breeds, to allow the author to fully explore the potential of this topic.
   
   Having said that, the histories on rabbit breeding practices are very well explored, if not always the most pleasant reading for those interested in rabbits as companion animals. It is my opinion that those of us interested in rabbits as companion animals should be aware of the practices that eventually led to the companion rabbits of today, however I know that some may be sensitive to such material and may not wish to read about the history of rabbit breeding. I, however, found his knowledge in this area to be quite interesting, if not always pleasant. The gentleman obviously has spent a great deal of time in the gathering of some of these more obscure histories.
   
   There are many editorial errors in this book, mispellings and such, which can be annoying at times and slightly distracting from the author's work, however I feel that these minor irritants should not dissuade anyone seriously interested in the subject matter.
   
   Mr. Whitman's writing is very dry and to the point; something that many hoping for facinating tales of rabbits may not be prepared for. It reads like a history book, full of names and dates and other such information. The one area of exception, where the author's passions carried him on the path of a storyteller, concerns the Enderby Island Rabbit; the breed which, according to the author's bio on the back of the book, he is most active in breeding, along with other more unusual rabbit breeds. He also goes into quite a bit of depth into the infamous Belgian Hare, although with less enthusiasm than for the Enderby Island rabbit. There is quite a bit of detail dedicated to the varities of Lop rabbits, current and extinct, which is quite engrossing for fanciers of the Lop. Fanciers of the New Zealand will find many pages dedicated to this breed, although this section at times reads a bit dry. For those interested in extinct breeds, there are interesting photos or reproductions of paintings, etc. where available to the author, accompanied by sometimes a wealth of information, and sometimes a mere few lines. Sadly, this is the only legacy of some such bygone breeds.
   
   If you are interested in this book for a historical perspective of rabbit breeding or the history behind how today's rabbit breeds came to be, I'd highly recommend this book. If you are squeamish about past practices and the subject of breeding, however, this book is probably not one you'll want to read cover- to cover. However, I doubt you'll find the types of historical information on rabbit breeds contained in one volume anywhere else.

5 comments about Diseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs (Library Vet Practice).

1. WOW! This book is a wealth of information for a layman guinea pig owner. It contains anything and everything you need to know about the health of the guineas! I've read it 3 times and still pick up some new info. Great book to have in case your guinea is ill.



2. For the amount that this "book" cost, I would have expected a hard cover book with many more pages of information. Instead it was soft covered with very little helpful information.
   This item is not worth purchasing.



3. A superb, informative book for those interested in learning more about medical issues that can affect Guinea Pigs. We (TX Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue) recommend this to all our new guinea pig adopters.



4. I wish I had this book to hand when my guinea pig became ill a few months a go (see recovered by the way), this is a really good guide for guinea pig breeders/fanciers as well as vets. The only problem is I get so worried reading about all the things that can go wrong!



5. Diseases of Domestic Guinea Pigs is my "Cavy Bible." This a "must have" book for all cavy caretakers and companions who are serious about the proper care, health and disease prevention of their cavy. VCG Richardson, 20 years cavy experience and veterinary surgeon is giving the very best information that cavy caretakers could need or ask for. This book covers all aspects of the cavy, and it is written in scientifical and layman terms. The readability is set for ages 12+. The book covers the skin, reproductive, urinary, respiratory, digestive and musculoskeletal systems; the head and neck, behavior and the central nervous system, cavy husbandry, anaaesthetics, surgical procedures, treatments and zoonotic aspects. This book does not recommend that you, the cavy caretaker, in any way try to replace your cavy veterinarian. This book is an excellent reference when discussing procedures with your vet., or if you want to suggest a second opinion. Don't let this book sit on your shelf, digest every word of it and be thankful to have this information available to you!

2 comments about My Gerbil and Me.

1. We are getting two gerbils for our 5 year old son and I have read nearly everything I can get my hands on. This book contains the lots of information while not being too wordy. I was able to read much of it to my son.
   
   If you're only going to buy one book on gerbils this should be it.



2. I am a new owner of Gerbils and this is the 2nd book I got to get more information on the adorable little animal. It's a great book with lots of great information and pictures. I really enjoyed the mini questionaires in this book.