Books published by publisher CompanionHouse Books

Reptiles are popular pets, and it can be argued that the bearded dragon is the best reptile to keep as a pet. This newly updated and expanded edition of the best-selling The Bearded Dragon Manual promises to excite new and seasoned herp enthusiasts with its in-depth discussion on all aspects of dragon keeping and its brilliant color photography. Written by a team of recognized herpetoculture authorities, veterinarians, and specialists, this volume offers comprehensive information that will be welcomed by newcomers and experienced bearded-dragon enthusiasts alike. Inside The Bearded Dragon Manual: •History and characteristics of the different types of bearded dragons •How to select bearded dragons as pets or for breeding •Creating a comfortable habitat for your bearded dragon with proper heat and lighting •Understanding typical bearded-dragon behavior •Feeding your dragon a nutritionally sound diet throughout its life •Recognizing signs of disease and how to handle health issues •Informative health and feeding charts as well as helpful answers to dragon-keeping FAQs •Close to 100 color photographs, including a section dedicated to beautifully colored morphs •A special chapter on the care and breeding of frilled dragons

You Love To Drink Tea. Why Not Grow Your Own? If you’ve ever considered raising your own tea, this comprehensive guide is the place to start. Growing Your Own Tea Garden is packed with inspiration and practical instructions for cultivating and enjoying delicious teas. Author Jodi Helmer helps you plan and plant a productive backyard tea garden, with sample garden designs and cultivation advice. She shows you how to choose the right crops for your soil and climate, starting with the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and going on through a comprehensive survey of tisanes, or herbal teas. Discover how to grow the full range of herbal infusions that make wonderful teas, from flowering chamomile and lavender to chicory roots, rose hips, lemon verbena, peppermint, aromatic bergamot and more. Jodi shows you how to harvest, dry and store your tea to enjoy all year long, along with brewing tips and creative recipes. Inside Growing Your Own Tea Garden · Everything you need to know to create a healthy, bountiful tea garden and enjoy high quality tea · How to grow dozens of crops that make marvelous teas, herbal infusions and decoctions · Sample tea garden designs, including instructions for growing tea in container gardens and raised beds · Understanding the differences between black tea, green tea, white tea and herbal tea · How to dry and store your leaves for consumption on cool autumn days · Let it steep: how to brew the perfect cup of tea

Eggs, meat, milk, wool, fur, feathers, and some priceless bucolic bliss. No hobby farm is complete without critters possibly a small herd peppering the field or a microflock flapping around the hen house or pond. A single information-packed volume with everything a hobby farmer needs to know about farm animals, this new comprehensive manual to selecting, caring for, and breeding livestock brings forth the expertise of six hobby farmers, each of whom has real-life on-the-farm experience with the animals she discusses. Whether you’re contemplating adding a small herd of sheep or goats to your existing hobby farm or you’ve always wondered about the benefits of raising angora rabbits or Muscovy ducks, Livestock for Your Hobby Farm provides the kind of guidance you need to begin a herd or flock and expand your pens and fencing. With exhaustive detail, the authors offer complete coverage of chickens, ducks, goats, sheep, cattle, pigs, and rabbits, including the housing, health-care, special needs, advantages and challenges of each.-Extensive sections devoted to the seven major farm animals, including profiles of the most popular breeds and varieties-Detailed how-to chapters on the care, handling, feeding, health, and safety of each animal-Special chapters devoted to the breeding and raising of young animals-Recommendations for ways of capitalizing on your livestock’s output, from selling eggs, milk, fiber, and so forth-Tips for troubleshooting potential problems and warding off diseases, parasites, and predators

The leopard gecko has fast become the reptilian version of the parakeet or goldfish. Considered to be the first domesticated species of lizard, the leopard gecko is attractive, perfectly sized, and easy to breed. Leopard Gecko Manual takes a close look at all the characteristics that have made these attractive lizards so amazingly popular in the pet world. Written by a team of herpetoculture experts and gecko specialists, this up-to-date and authoritative guide provides reliable guidelines for keepers who wish to add a gecko to their vivarium and maintain their pet in excellent health and condition. This second edition is revised and expanded to include new sections on Gecko nutrition and feeding, housing, breeding, and banded Geckos.Inside the Leopard Gecko Manual:How to select leopard geckos as pets or for breedingUnderstanding the anatomy and behavior of these fascinating lizardsFeeding your leopard gecko a nutritionally sound diet, with the latest insights on feeder insects and prepared foodsHow to design and maintain the ideal naturalistic habitat for your leopard geckoDetailed information on all aspects of breeding, egg-laying, and incubationWhat you need to know about skin shedding cycles and tail lossRecognizing signs of disease and how to handle health issuesSpecial chapters on African fat-tailed geckos and other eublepharids

Cacti and Succulents Handbook is your guide to the selection and cultivation of these diverse and fascinating plants. Appealing to both the novice and experienced gardener, this book provides comprehensive information on more than 140 common species and varieties, including their ideal locations, natural habitats, and care and feeding needs. Complete descriptions and color photographs make plant identification easy, and detailed care instructions will help make sure that plants thrive, whether they?re being grown indoors or out, in the city or in the country. Beautiful specimen plants are fully detailed from six garden collections around the world, from Zurich to Phoenix.Inside Cacti and Succulents HandbookEverything you need to know about cacti and succulents packed into one easy-to-use volume.Comprehensive well-illustrated plant directory of more than 140 popular varieties.Covers easy-to-grow choices suitable for beginners, as well as more difficult and desirable species.Color identification photos, botanical and common names, and essential advice.Simple, step-by-step instructions on choosing the right plants and helping them thrive, with tips on propagation, repotting, grooming, and pest control.Features beautiful specimen plants from six garden collections around the world.

"Grow a garden inside! Houseplants bring life and color to any room, and with the right care you can successfully cultivate everything from succulents and bonsai to foliage, flowers, and fruit. Here is everything you always wanted to know about houseplants packed into one easy-to-use volume. Horticulturist David Squire provides simple, step-by-step instructions on choosing the right plants and helping them thrive, with tips on propagation, repotting, grooming, and pest control. The heart of the book is a well-illustrated plant directory that offers a fresh perspective on more than 300 popular varieties, arranged by houseplant families. Each entry features a color photograph for identification; the plant’s botanical and common names; its height, spread, optimum climate and light; and propagation tips. Other essential information on feeding, watering, and grooming is covered in a handy quick reference icon panel.Inside The Houseplant Handbook:Complete guide to caring for houseplants, written by an expert horticulturist.User-friendly reference, rich in practical advice on every stage of indoor gardening.Explains how to achieve lasting success with flowering and fruiting plants, cacti, succulents, palms, cycads, bulbs, bromeliads, and ferns.Step-by-step instructions on selection, watering, feeding, presentation, repotting, grooming, propagation, and pest control.Comprehensive Plant Directory covers more than 300 species with color identification photos, botanical and common names, and essential advice.Quick reference panels provide each species' required summer and winter temperature and light conditions, its watering and fertilizing needs, and propagation tips. "

The coolest guide for kids to learn how to take care of the coolest pets! Learn how to care for: Hermit crabs, vampire crabs, and crayfish Beetles, millipedes, stick insects, and praying mantis Mice, rats, gerbils, guinea pigs, and hamsters Bullfrogs, horned frogs, geckos, and axolotl Spiders, ants, and assassin bugs Corn snakes, kingsnakes, rat snakes, and garter snakes Betta fish, mosquitofish, newts, and snails ...and many more! Unusual creatures can make for the best pets! From reptiles and rodents to amphibians and crustaceans, this amazing guide will help kids learn how to take good care of their first childhood pets. With 39 mind-blowing pet profiles that describe origins, interesting behaviors, cage installation plans, food, maintenance, and more, this book is packed with all the fun information kids will need to keep a variety of easy-to-care-for animals. They'll love learning how to care for, house, and feed their new pets! Inside, you'll find diagrams of each animal's anatomy, high-quality photography, helpful illustrations, and easy-to-read informational blurbs on cool pets from ants and cockroaches to crested geckos and tortoises. Author Tanguy is an animal enthusiast and French YouTube sensation where he shares videos of incredible animals. Passionate about animals since he was a child, Tanguy has managed to make them his life's work. He started out as an animal handler for movies and TV for more than 10 years. Then he created Toopet, a YouTube channel 100% dedicated to animals. With exotic pets come great responsibility, and this awesome guide is the perfect place to discover which one could be the one for you, whether you want cute and cuddly or creepy and crawly! Packed with over 380 photos and illustrations, helpful general info, animal details, care tips, and the author's personal observations, Can I Keep It? is the perfect book to guide kids through the adventure of caring for their first childhood pet! "A wonderful guide for the care of the coolest pets, from bugs and furry cuties to lizards, frogs, and the unusual!"—Robert Hudson, PetRadioShow.com

Who doesn't wish to share his or her home with a cage full of "Furry Mongolian Friends" aka gerbils!? Author Donna Anastasi certainly does! She describes these irresistible critters as "quiet, clean, friendly, curious, active, and easy-to-please." In deciding whether the gerbil is for you, Anastasi offers this advice: "If you are looking for a seemingly limitless cache of cuteness--from their long, fanning whiskers and large almond-shaped eyes to heir bunnylike hind legs and tufted tail tips--then gerbils are for you!" Clearly bitten by the gerbil bug, the author begins by providing some basic natural history about gerbils, their origins on the Mongolian range, and an overview of their behaviors. Anastasi defends her favorite pocket pet and asserts that the gentle gerbil does not deserve its Latin name (Meriones ungiculatus), which translates as "clawed warrior." Filled with terrific color photographs, Gerbils summarizes the basic needs of these adorable rodents, specifically addressing their housing requirements, the cost and commitment involved, and their interactions with children and other pets. The following are devoted to purchasing a healthy gerbil from a pet shop, hobby breeder, or shelter; introducing the gerbil to the home; housing and feeding; taming and handling the pet gerbil; health considerations and potential household hazards; breeding and raising the young; and exhibiting gerbils at shows.The discussion on housing covers the selection of the ideal enclosure, basic housing setup, accessories, safety, and a guide to cleaning the tank. The chapter "Taming and Handling Your Gerbils" offers a step-by-step socialization process to acclimate the gerbil to its new handler and surroundings plus instructions for handling the gerbil and discouraging nipping. All keepers will be interested in the chapter on keeping gerbils healthy through smart preventative care; topics covered include allergies; broken limbs and head injury; teeth, tail, and ear problems; dehydration; diarrhea; heat stroke; hypothermia; mites, and more. Gerbil enthusiasts who are looking to become gerbil midwives will find complete instructions for breeding and raising pups (baby gerbils) in the chapter about reproduction. It covers planning a litter, setting up a breeding tank, mating, caring for the pregnant mom, birthing, fostering, growth cycles, weaning, handling pups, and more. The chapter "Fun with Gerbils" offers ideas for games, art projects, photographing, and training gerbils to do seven fun tricks. Resources include lists of publications, clubs, organizations, and websites. Glossary of terms and index included.

Aggression is a subject that no dog owner wants to talk about, but one that many owners have to face. Statistics show that aggression is not only the most serious problem in dogs but also the top reason for owners to seek out professional help for their pets. Left unchecked, an aggressive dog can become a dangerous dog, and this informative volume comes to the aid of many heartbroken owners who feel that they have tried everything to correct their dogs’ unpredictable and inappropriate behavior. Author and certified dog trainer Annie Phenix shares her belief that many reactive dogs can be rehabilitated with the right training, and she offers her expertise in positive, force-free training methods to desperate owners who have resorted to extreme measures to keep their dogs away from other people and animals.Inside The Midnight Dog Walkers:Stories and practical examples from the author based on aggressive dogs she’s trained and ownedBehavioral warning signs that owners should recognizeDefinitions of different types of aggression and why they occurTips on how to handle a potentially aggressive or aggressive dogThe author’s force-free training philosophy and how she applies it with her clients to effect positive changesPopular myths and misconceptions about training these "grumpy growlers"

You Love To Drink Tea. Why Not Grow Your Own?If you’ve ever considered raising your own tea, this comprehensive guide is the place to start. Growing Your Own Tea Garden is packed with inspiration and practical instructions for cultivating and enjoying delicious teas. Author Jodi Helmer helps you plan and plant a productive backyard tea garden, with sample garden designs and cultivation advice. She shows you how to choose the right crops for your soil and climate, starting with the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) and going on through a comprehensive survey of tisanes, or herbal teas. Discover how to grow the full range of herbal infusions that make wonderful teas, from flowering chamomile and lavender to chicory roots, rose hips, lemon verbena, peppermint, aromatic bergamot and more. Jodi shows you how to harvest, dry and store your tea to enjoy all year long, along with brewing tips and creative recipes. Inside Growing Your Own Tea Garden· Everything you need to know to create a healthy, bountiful tea garden and enjoy high quality tea· How to grow dozens of crops that make marvelous teas, herbal infusions and decoctions· Sample tea garden designs, including instructions for growing tea in container gardens and raised beds· Understanding the differences between black tea, green tea, white tea and herbal tea· How to dry and store your leaves for consumption on cool autumn days· Let it steep: how to brew the perfect cup of tea

After the first tractors appeared on the scene in the late 1890s, it took another two decades and plenty of modifications for farmers to embrace this once-crude technology in favor of the steam engine, further advancing the power-farming revolution. Written by an international expert in agricultural machinery, Farm Tractors takes readers back to the nineteenth century to look at the precursors to modern tractors and travels through the years to follow the machine’s evolution as tractors became indispensable equipment on farms across America.INSIDE FARM TRACTORS:•How steam-powered machinery gave way to tractors, and how tractors changed the way that farmers worked•Prominent early manufacturers and models, including Henry Ford’s legendary Model F, International Harvester’s Farmall, the Waterloo Boy, John Deere, and many more•The use of hydraulics, the advent of diesel engines, the availability of four-wheel drive, and other technical breakthroughs•The introduction of new fuel sources as alternatives to gasoline•Specialized tractors for orchard work, high-acreage operations, carrying loads, cultivating, and other scenarios•The tractor industry’s major expansion following World War II•Modern-day tractors and an outlook on the future of farm machinery