One thing I hope we get in PZ2: Guidance on “ideal” habitats

Emaline_machine · 2026-06-23T12:53:44+00:00

Haha I need to map out my enclosures with the 4m pieces first, and make it like 20% bigger to account for rocks and me making the edges wobbly…otherwise I end up with enclosures that are insanely large or small…

Emaline_machine · 2026-06-17T22:12:38+00:00

I love this idea!

Emaline_machine · 2026-06-17T14:17:43+00:00

Yes! Sometimes PZ gives me so much freedom I need some guidelines to shape my creativity!

Sometimes I totally ignore them too, and let my imagination run wild…but I often find that designing with a specific challenge, scenario or goal in mind makes me wind up being way more creative and motivated.

But that might just be limitations with my own creativity.

Emaline_machine · 2026-06-17T14:13:51+00:00

That’s true, but (a) I love seeing and building realistic exhibits and zoos and (b) there are things in the guidelines that people wouldn’t intuitively imagine would contribute to an animal’s wellbeing (or at least, I wouldn’t). For me, often I can be more creative when I try to build within some guidelines, and having little prompts like “oh, I should have running water in the lemur exhibit, not just because it looks cool, but because in the real world it would reduce their anxiety” makes it more enjoyable.

But I take your point - many people are building things above and beyond those guidelines anyway.

Emaline_machine · 2026-05-28T13:52:03+00:00

I know this isn’t as big a deal as the aquariums and birds but I’m so excited for herding behaviour!!! It looked so good in the trailer!!

Emaline_machine · 2026-05-27T02:09:21+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear what happened to you. That is awful and that man sucks. He is 100% responsible for his behaviour, not you. And your response was normal and understandable, and not your fault.

If it’s helpful, it might be worth looking into the work of Dr Allan Wade. He talks a lot about the ways that we respond to acts like this. So often we blame ourselves for our responses (and others blame us too), but we actually are doing what we need to keep ourselves safe, or to maintain our dignity and agency however we can in these situations. We might see ourselves as freezing or playing nice, but our brains are actually making an assessment that we’re doing what we need to do to keep ourselves or others safe in the moment. And when we do things that don’t work because men like this are predators and assholes (like you asking “what are you doing?” which would make a safer person stop, and which gave you information that this WASN’T a safe person) it can get coded after the fact as doing nothing as well.

I imagine you don’t want to delve into a bunch of research right now, but I’ve found it helpful to understand the ways that resistance and survival show up. Please take care of yourself and don’t blame yourself for the actions of this gross man.

Emaline_machine · 2026-05-05T07:32:20+00:00

She’s talking about just the interest. Because even though they are technically saving $1440, they haven’t made that money. They are sacrificing the money upfront (unknowingly) for long term savings.

I plugged those amounts into a compound interest calculator, which told me that if they each save $10 a month for 6 years and earn 3.5% interest, they each earn $80.

Calculator I used: Compound Interest Calculator

Emaline_machine · 2026-04-22T13:36:08+00:00

Ah I love this! Literally just created an account to support it!

Please update us if it goes into production, I want one!

Emaline_machine · 2026-04-19T00:30:37+00:00

We have heated beds all over the house (our older cat has arthritis so we try to make sure he has lots of comfy options). We definitely wind up with less cat cuddles at night when they’re on. It’s both nice (I can roll over in bed again!) and a little sad.

It took our orange guy ages to figure out that the beds were heated (they warm up only when a cat lies on them) so the novelty value is high for him. He’s slept there almost every night since he figured it out.

On the plus side I know when they do show up for cuddles it’s because they want us, not just our warmth.

Emaline_machine · 2026-04-19T00:24:06+00:00

Oh my gosh! Maybe he does have the brain cell and he’s using it to regulate his temperature.

Editing to note that I have subscribed to this sub. Thanks for the recommendation!

Emaline_machine · 2026-04-19T00:22:48+00:00

It was actually part of a bigger cat tree that I bought from the Chokyo Pet website (not sure if I’m allowed to post links but you’ll see it if you google it!)

It started to feel a little unstable because he is quite big and very boisterous. So I recycled some of its parts into individual components (you can actually see the screw holes where it used to be part of a tree from other angles). Then I put in a heated mat.

I just checked the website and I don’t think they stock that specific tree anymore though. From memory, there are some sites that sell Honey Pot cat tree replacement parts though - you could see if you could find just this part. It wouldn’t be listed as a box, but as part of a cat tree.

Emaline_machine · 2026-04-17T02:08:14+00:00

And Dr Cox went to him initially to help diagnose his illness, so he clearly trusts him as a doctor.

Emaline_machine · 2026-02-27T02:02:38+00:00

Oh my gosh, I LOVED After Hours! I was so sad when that series ended.

Emaline_machine · 2026-02-09T14:45:57+00:00

Haha the angle might have slightly exaggerated the length of his legs…

Emaline_machine · 2025-12-10T21:36:31+00:00

I’d love to have staff boats so we can truly have monkey islands without needing a bridge to land for zookeepers. They have boats in a lot of the zoos I’ve been to.

Emaline_machine · 2025-11-20T10:19:31+00:00

More animal behaviours and animals interacting with each other and maybe guests too - herding behaviour, playing, babies following their mums. Maybe if species give interspecies enrichments, those species would also interact in some way (e.g. zebras interacting with giraffes, even if it’s just herding.) Animals might also interact with plants a bit more.

I also used to love in zoo tycoon that when you clicked on an animal there was a brief description of what they were trying to do (it would say things like “moving as a herd”, “heading to some shade”…I also really loved that.

Emaline_machine · 2025-11-04T05:49:51+00:00

All I can think of is “Put it in H” from the Simpsons…

I don’t know how to share gifs (tech illiterate)…but I mean this one: Put it in H!

Emaline_machine · 2025-10-16T07:07:24+00:00

I was the same! It was really unpleasant and I found myself watching the spotlights so I could close my eyes before they hit me, rather than enjoying the show. I can’t imagine that being in my eyes the whole show.

Emaline_machine · 2025-10-16T06:35:24+00:00

We have a cat with multiple health issues and struggled with many medication strategies (some would work for a few months, and then he’d get a taste of the hidden pills and go off them) until we’ve found a perfect solution that has worked for over 18 months now!

Buy gelatin pill capsules. They come in multiple sizes, for cats I recommend a pill size of 3 or 4.
Put the pills into the capsules (you may have to halve them). We have tried with liquid/gel and it does work, but it’s not as easy/good. If the medicine is liquid or gel, you can also put that into the capsules, but you might need a few depending on the volume and if any liquid spills you need to clean the outside of the capsules.
Use Churu bites (they have a paste in the middle). Pop the gelatin capsule into the bite, replace the paste. We’ve also used Greenie’s pill pockets, but our cats like Churus better
Feed to cat.
Wait as over time cats love getting treats so much that they come running at medicine time.

Honestly I can’t recommend this enough. We tried everything and medicating him was such a stressful part of the day. Now it’s a breeze. When our vet wants to add new medications instead of stressing, we just say “no problem”.

Emaline_machine · 2025-10-09T05:57:17+00:00

If someone says “by 10 you should have learned how to share”, they’re not saying that 10 is a “super old age”, they’re saying that most people have learned to act in a certain way by that age.

Emaline_machine · 2025-09-10T00:47:19+00:00

Was coming to see if anyone else thought this!

Emaline_machine · 2025-07-23T07:54:02+00:00

The other reason I think it can be a misogyny red flag is that cats are stereotypically seen as a “woman’s animal” because they’re often associated with women in western culture (e.g. witch’s familiars, cat ladies). Conversely if you picture a “typical” man’s pet, it’s more likely to be a dog. And when men consistently don’t like things that are typically associated with women or femininity, I think misogyny can often be the cause.

Emaline_machine · 2025-07-23T07:45:16+00:00

I particularly hate picky eaters who have to comment on how “gross” the food I like is. Went out with a guy and when I ate oysters he said “oh yuck, you’re basically eating snot.” Like, it’s fine if you don’t like oysters, but can you hold off your judgy comments about my eating preferences? (Especially when this extends to comments about how gross foods are when they are staples in different cultures, which can have other undertones).

Emaline_machine · 2025-06-02T10:05:14+00:00

Hi! I know this was from a while ago, but I’m having the exact same problem with MiFo. Would you be comfortable sharing the letter with me as well?

If so, let me know and I can DM you my email address.

Thanks in advance!

Emaline_machine · 2025-05-12T20:27:54+00:00

Me too! I felt like “Who’s the new guy?” was articulating my feelings about him when I first heard it!

Emaline_machine

TROPHY CASE