Winter is on it's way!

The temperature has dropped so now busy insulating all the outdoor enclosures for the winter. The hawks are fine, but some of the outdoor reptile enclosures need constant heat and industrial amounts of bubble wrap! All of the vivariums also have their own personal thermostat and heat source, so noone should get chilly.

We are now on Facebook and I am uploading some pictures and videos onto there as often as I can.

Edith, the oldest rat, is starting to slow down quite considerably now. She is an old girl (well over 2) and has been putting on a bit too much weight recently. Even with her wheel and rope gym she tends to just flop in the wheel and wait for someone to come and play. She comes out every day for excersise and playtime and is investigating the printer as I type this!

Nearly the end of the Summer

Suddenly, after all of the problems with cooling everyone down, it seems to be Autumn!

We've had a lovely Summer. At Thurleigh Farm Centre every Wednesday and many Birthday Parties at Weekends.

Some sad news as well - one of our Female African Pygmy Hedgehogs won't be with us next year. Clearing out her cage was one of the harder moments of 2011.

Next major project is building the Owl Aviaries . . . .

Heat, heat, heat!

Normally the biggest problem is keeping everyone at a high enough temperature - today we had the issue of keeping the animals cool. Even with fans blowing, all windows and vents open and even a de-humidifier and misting to get evaporation cooling the main animal areas still hit 34C. Bit warm, but everyone endured it well.

Siren (the Harris' Hawk) was not happy today. She's having a starve day before her debut in front of crowds tomorrow. It's hard to see her peckish (she's a good 10 ounces over her hunting weight, so she's hardly struggling) but I know she'll be a right pain if she's fed today. She's spent the day with her bath under the Oak tree - blissfully shaded. Felt quite jealous watching her bathing in the water while sweltering in the sun.

The animals having the biggest problems in the heat are the Rats. Their drinking bottles are emptying at an unprecedented rate! Have put baths in to aid cooling. Edith (our large female rat) had to come inside and be fussed for about an hour. She loved being sprayed from a mister to cool down.

Can't wait for Wednesday night - hopefully a good rain will ease this humidity.

Clean Hedgehogs

At least after their bath day the hogs are all smelling a bit sweeter - ready for the next Birthday Party.


Siren the Harris' Hawk flew free yesterday and did very well - flew her over the fields and she stayed focussed the whole time. Need to take her along to some busier places in readiness for next Wed at Thurleigh Farm Centre. She'll wonder what's going on when she sees all the children!

Hedgehog Bath

Hedgehogs do not like bathing.

But - if the hog in question is seriously fouled then carefully placing them under slow running water and agitating their spines with a toothbrush can help . . . .

Also arrived . .

As well as finally receiving the reptile food (which they're very grateful for) - another batch of frozen chicks arrived too. Equally important for the carnivores in the collection!

Happy Animals . . . .

Finally the food arrived - so Geckos and Lizards are happy. Rats and mice are ecstatic - chasing their food around like crazy!

Delivery Issues 2

At least it was the frozen food that turned up. Should get crickets and mealworms tomorrow. I know some geckos that will be very pleased to see them.

Delivery Issues

After spending all morning waiting for a food delivery, turns out the driver couldn't find the house. That wasn't too bad - except when it did arrive it turns out half of the delivery was on the wrong truck, heading for Scotland!

First Flight

Siren, the female Harris' Hawk flew for customers yesterday for the first time this year. She did very well and gave an unforgettable experience. She's a highly experienced bird (15 years old) but has had some time off so it was nice to see her back to her old self.

The snake that had problems shed the rest of it's skin (with a little help from some warm water).

Snakes

All the snakes fed well. One Corn snake failed to shed his lower jaw and belly - still tightly attached. Moistened and left to settle.

Website

Well, the website is up and running. Would have done more to it today, but it is snake cleaning/feeding day - also trying to redo the hawk enclosure.