Small World Creations

Some of the Minibeasts are now getting too big for their enclosures!

We are in the process of getting three tanks made for us and so construction of the new habitats should begin on Thursday.

We'll be following the progress of the Stick Insect tanks, Tree frog vivarium and Royal Python vivarium on here.

Once again the summer is upon us . . .

Once again the heat has been nearly unbearable for both us and the animals. Trying to keep the snake room under 35 degrees C has been tricky for the last few weeks.

Luckily we have been very busy so most of the animals have spent most of the time during the extreme weather out and about and have been able to cool off in the evening in their baths.

Our new babies Mibble:

and Bobbi:

have settled in well and are now part of the Chris's Animal Encounter team.

Annie and Clarabel the White's Tree Frogs (named by a Thomas the Tank Engine enthusiast) are also ready to go when we start at Thurleigh Farm Centre on the 1st of August.

Annie:

It's been an incredibly busy year so far but we still have availability for the winter term so if interested please visit our website at www.tropicalencounters.co.uk and see how we can bring your topic alive for the winter.

Too Long . . .

It's been too long since we updated our blog. We've had a hectic year, but the blog has fallen behind.

So what is new for 2013.

We have Degus creating Mayhem and Chinchillas creating more Mayhem than the Degus ever conceived!

Our Mini-beast areas are going well - African Land Snails, Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches, Leaf Insects, Stick Insects, Tarantulas, Millipedes, Scorpions.

Our worm farm is also doing fairly well.

A normal Animal Encounter can expect a visit from a selection of the Mini-Beasts and a mix of Leopard Geckos, Royal Pythons, Boa Constrictors, Blue Rats, Degus, Chinchillas and African Pygmy Hedgehogs.

New Arrivals

We have some new babies arrived for 2012.

Charlie the Chinchilla has taken up residence in the office. She loves a good run around the desks - though we don't seem to have 'chin-proofed' the room quite as well as we thought. Edith the rat really doesn't know what to make of this bouncing half squirrel/half rabbit!

Also arrived this month is a baby Boa Constrictor. It's feeding well, but needs a lot more growing and handling before it'll be ready for meeting the public.

We're now just waiting for an African Pygmy Hedgehog - who should be with us in February and hopefully some hand reared owls later in the summer.

January has been a fairly quiet month, which has allowed us to crack down to building the new enclosures. February is much busier - still room for some Birthday Parties at the weekend though!

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.