In these tough economic times many jobs are uncertain. People are cutting back on spending and being more concerned with where their money is going. Some people are reluctant to start a new business. But one you shouldn’t be afraid to start is a pet sitting business. The pet sitting business has been steadily growing as more and more people have pets. These pets need someone to take them on a walk or feed them when their owners are away, and that’s where you come in. Simply put, pet sitting is a recession-proof business.

In a 2009 survey done by the APPM, 63 percent of households in the U.S.A. own pets, while 45% own multiple pets. There are 75 million dogs and 89 million cats. And let’s not forget all the other animals, such as birds, reptiles, and fish. So what does that mean? A lot of work for you as a pet sitter. The United States Bureau of Labor expects pet care jobs to grow by 22 percent a year.

Pet sitters make between $12 and $22 a visit, a national average of $16. Best of all, most pet sitting jobs take half an hour or less. It’s common to visit the same home twice in a day. You often will need to feed the pet, take it outside for a bathroom break and perhaps a walk, and then play with it for a little while. Just give it the love and attention you give your own pets. If you’re a pet owner yourself, you’ll find this work to be just like the care and attention you give your own pets everyday. But there’s a catch. This time you’ll get paid to do that work!

It’s very possible to do 10 visits a day in five or six hours. At $16 an hour that means you’d make $160 a day or $4,880 a month! There are expenses, but they are very modest, such as transportation, cell phone, and insurance.

One of the best perks of owning your own pet sitting business, besides enjoying time spent with a wonderful variety of animals, is that you’re the boss. You take the jobs you want, you set your prices. Simply put, you’re in charge. And did you know there are no certifications or classes required to become a pet sitter? Not at all. Start up expenses, usually less than $500.

Pets are all around you. Your friends have them. Your neighbors do too. And when those friends and neighbors are at work or will be out of town, they need someone to look after their pets, recession or not. That’s where you come in. Before long, you could be the pet sitter everyone calls on. To learn more about pet sitting, read Profitable Pet Sitting, available at: http://extraincomebulletin.com

Author: Craig Wallin
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Mobile device news

What do you want in an aquarium a conversation piece, a decorative addition to your home furnishings? You may have it with showy animals requiring a minimum of care and attention.

Colorful tropical fish in a beautifully styled aquarium can be the center of attraction of a wall layout; they can even be part of the wall, a living picture outlined by a shadow frame. They can be part of a cocktail table, they can be used as a partition between rooms, they can be used as a bar or back bar or in any number of different ways depending upon the home decorator`s own ideas. The decorative style can be anything from traditional to modern, from handsome hardwood to wrought iron, knotty pine to polished chrome or plastic.

Thus, you can create a charming and distinctive room in your home by the addition of a colorful living picture of underwater life. Your aquarium will be the focal point of attention and conversations with visitors; they will be the source of much pleasure as you watch the beautiful and brilliant color combinations that are constantly changing as the fish swim about. The picture you see is calm and peaceful, quiet and restful, and you will find yourself relaxing as you watch your pets.

Today you can purchase an aquarium and style it to fit any decor from traditional to modern, from handsome hardwood to wrought iron, from knotty pine to polished chrome or plastic. You will find tanks finished so nicely that no other decoration is necessary rectangular tanks with smooth or stippled stainless steel frames, modernistic flared styles where the top is wider than the bottom and is supported from the top of the tank, even large glass balls some two feet in diameter. Make your choice. Your own taste will dictate the tank you want to fit your location and size.

There are a large variety of aquarium decorations available on the market today. Of course, the size of the tank, the type of the fish you keep and your own personal style will dictate your choices.

You can find aquarium decorations for your son`s five gallon tank in his room, complete with baseball regalia to the larger aquariums you would use as the conversation pieces in the living room

Besides decorations, you need to decide on what type of fish to keep in your tank as well.

More than twenty thousand kinds of fishes have been discovered, of which about a third come from fresh waters; new ones are being found every year.

Only a handful of the known species about 200 are familiar to the aquarist, and for him there is a much more useful classification. Firstly, fishes can be divided into tropical and cold water species. The tropical fishes can be divided again mostly according to the way they breed. First, there are the livebearers, which give birth to young ones much as higher animals do; secondly there are those that lay eggs and take no further interest in them perhaps even eating them as soon as they are laid; thirdly, we have those which lay eggs but take care of them, and these can be again divided into those that make a nest of bubbles at the surface, and those that protect them in other ways.

With so many types to choose from, it is wise to do your homework before starting out on putting together your fish aquarium.

Parrots are not merely beautifull birds they are messy and they can be quite loud.

The parrots can’t help this. It is what they are by nature. The large birds like macaws can be window rattlers.

Almost all birds will vocalize early in the morning, sunup and again at sundown. They will do what their species does sometimes for a half hour give or take a bit. Some sing some screech and some squawk. Some species call out to locate their flock or be sure where their mates are. Birds will vocalize as warnings when predators are present or they have become alarmed about something. It only makes sense that pet birds will do the same things.

Should your bird become alarmed it is likely to get vocal. He may call out the moment you leave his sight. Or he may get loud in the morning to let you know the suns coming up. These behaviors in a pet bird are normal and to be expected. If the bird is a large parrot they also can be very stressing, irritating and annoying to you and your neighbors particularly if excessive in volume and duration.

Excessive duration, volume and frequency or screaming often indicates the pet bird is having a problem or is stressed out over something and is just not happy. There are many things that can upset a bird especially a captive bird. So finding out why a bird is screaming is the first step. Some things to look for are.

1. Illness or injury?

2. Hunger and or thirst?

3. Are his surroundings new? Did you move? Did you move his cage to another room?

4. Inadequate attention. Have you and others been to busy to give him adequate daily attention?

5. A big change in family members either added or lost? Maybe a new puppy, baby? Did a kid leave for college? Did someone pass away?

6. Fear?

7. Not enough rest or sleep? To much light, or traffic by his cage.

8. Jealousy? Are you neglecting your bird in favor of a new arrival or pet?

9. Boredom? Unhappy birds most often are bored birds.

Assuming their environment has been stable a period of time. It should be relatively easy to discover the cause of the birds screaming. If you can eliminate the first 8 possibilities then boredom is the likely culprit. Most captive birds get bored rather easily. They eat and perch, ring the bell and wait to interact with their owner for a few hours at least, boring!

In the wild birds spend the vast majority of their time seeking food. Very often they must learn to solve a problem just to get to their food. They have a great deal more to do than just to eat and so should captive birds. Foraging consumes most of their waking life. Infact foraging for food is normal activity and should be introduced to all pet birds. A happy bird is a foraging bird.

Making your bird forage for his food will help keep him occupied when the family cannot. With the help of a good supply store and the use of your own ingenuity this isn’t difficult to accomplish. A good supply store will have a number of toys designed just to make your bird forage. You may have to do a bit of training in the beginning but most learn quickly because there is food involved.

Helping your pet to stay busy while doing what he would normally do if not for you is a nearly surefire way to stop a birds screaming and keeping all birds quieter. Your bird may know where the food is but he will need to think and work a little to get to it. Just as nature intended too. Beats the heck out of eating, ringing the bell and perching doesn’t it?

Ryleigh Cantrell has owned his blue and gold Macaw (Shadow) since 1978. There are two guesses as to why the birds name.The two are inseperable. To learn more about blue and gold macaws.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/my-bird-is-screaming-what-to-do-1388697.html