Brendan Had damage from Wilma so last year I "loosened "it up rather than tightened.lol Took everything off the roof except 4 inch vinyl lattice. Going to use vines for shade come summer. The first time I used Zebra finches ,second time orange cheek waxbills.. These didn't work at all for several reasons besides being killed by rats lol The runaway best has been Honeycreepers. No mess of seed eaters and since I water every third day liquid droppings are no problem. They are voracious insect eaters main problem with keeping them in cages.. One small problem they ate EVERY insect so had to supply pinhead crickets. Again no problem as I keep Anoles ,geckoes and two skinks. They ate all the lady bugs as well as the mantis which is why if I try it again thought I'd go up to those tropical GIANTS lol. It's kind of fun to try to get it balanced out but I fear impossible in susch a small area. Warning for those thinking of using Anoles.lol Given good conditions your pair will turn into hundreds lol. Besides what happens when you run out of bugs?? They will starve. I let them come and go as they choose as they are quite common here in florida so if they run out of food they just go outside. Now that the roof is open again I'm attracting wild birds. Which solves some problems creates others. lol Of couse this means I can't keep domestic birds I'm going to try the honeycreepers again not so much for the bug eating but because two clutches would pay for the entire remake of the shadehouse And also they are my favorite bird. Nothing more beautiful than a male in full color. Wilma almost wiped out my bird collection and was thinking of giving them up. except in the dedicated aviary. There are soooooo many problems with keeping birds and I'm getting old lol I added some California and button quail to the aviary as a method of weed control. Too soon for results but they are delightful to watch and they do clean up the floor. Rats and snakes are just minor problems in aviculture unfortuneately . If your thinking of using finches for bug control I could make some suggestions or at leat tell you which ones to avoid lol gary

I think I'll put the tank in the GH but not let him loose in there. It looks like a green tree frog except his belly is yellow instead of white but it says that they can have color variations. The box he was in probably came up through Miami. I caught the lizard that escaped in the GH and he's in a tank inside with a buddy that came home with the frog. I was afraid that it would get out of the GH during the day and freeze at night so they will remain in the tank until it's warm 24/7. It looks like I can use the supplements for the frog that I use for my geckos, sugar gliders and anoles. At least I don't have to buy anymore. With the amount of crickets that I go through I should find a way to breed them. There's probably a whole colony somewhere in the house made up of all the escapees yuck! lol Karyn

Randy, I appreciate your apology. You have to understand that you use jades in a different way. You say you "have a little higher standard of material" and you also said "different strokes for different folks"...well I personally don't like bonsai'd jades, just like you don't like my tree, but we all have different opinions (and by the way I would never say that unless asked...but I'm saying it now to make a point, so I apologize if you took any offense to that). I have an adult tree that I nurtured back to health and that I love very much. When you say "ideal quality material", that sounds very foreign to me. I just have houseplants. I don't sell them or make them into bonsai. And if they are not "ideal", I learn to love them or I try and fix them. In this case, I was simply asking if the drooping branches are dangerous for the tree...I wasn't asking if you or anyone else liked it. I was too afraid of speaking up at the time, but your "compost" comment was hurtful and unneccessary. I've done nothing but the right thing for this jade, and I know how to take care of a jade...but I can't help it if the previous owners caused the branches to look so strangly, and I can't help it if I happen to like it! Yes, I know it's from not being in enough sun, but the damage was done. Anyway, my question was answered (with lack of aesthetic opinion, which is how it should be unless asked)...and it is not healthy to have those dangly branches, so I pruned my tree, and I'm happy I did so. Gnome, Thank you for your constructive advice. I agree...a nice heavy trunk is worth working with. I'm doing everything I can to keep it healthy, which is why I pruned it. It's growing on me, even though I did like the "craziness" of it! To each his own, right? But when I was told it could be harmful for the plant (the branches could break off in random places from being top heavy), I decided to do what's best for it. And my cuttings are rooting now, but you're advice about keeping them upright was helpful for my next pruning (I didn't realize that's why people keep them upright!). Anyway, thanks for your comments and advice. And I do plan on putting the plant outside after the last frost. Gabi

I think it's now fairly safe to say that my yard will not be seriously invaded by the pesky critters. Guess I'm lucky that we bought in a newer development. I can hear the buggers in the older treed areas when I'm in my front yard, but not really in the back garden area. It's actually quieted down a lot in the last week or so. I have found a couple of heads and wings in the garden mulch, but I attribute that to the birds nesting in my ash trees. Wed. evening I did find a live one sitting on the top of hubby's screened seedling cage. Didn't even try to fly away when I walked up to him (or her). My guess is that he was tuckered out & lonely with no friends anywhere within earshot of him. Haven't seen another since then. So ........ keeping my fingers crossed. -- PAM