Annabelle

This is Annabelle in the dark, making funny faces at me.

The Dark.

The Dark

A lot of people are scared of the dark, but I love it. I love taking my dog for a walk in the woods at night and just listening to all that is going on around me. The wildlife really does come alive at night. It is their time ,their time to take over.

I keep nocturnal animals at home and we have a fair few available at work. I have foxes at home and there is nothing better than spending an hour or two ,or three. Sitting in their enclosure with them at night and watching their interactions with each other, and with me. The difference between night and day is amazing, they are so much calmer at night I think it is because they know they have the advantage and can literally disappear from my view if they wish. During the day they do sleep a lot and they are just not as excitable, they seem to skulk around a lot more, they just seem to love the dark.

I enjoy the same thing with reptiles, especially amphibians as this is when they do most of their activities , from singing , feeding to mating and breeding. Just setup a nice planted tank with lights and heating and you could watch it all night , and lets face it beats the hell out of x-factor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of my favourite wildlife watching experiences are with nocturnal animals seeing my first Tawny owl when my dad took me out late one night . Or my first time sitting down wind of a badger sett with my mate from work and watching their little noses poke out to make sure it was safe and then seeing that black and white striped face , amazing and I will remember these forever.

Now the days are shorter we might as well enjoy the dark.

Trying Times

Trying Times

So it had to happen, the reptile trade has come under fire and been thrust into the public eye. Just as the bird trade has again and again, the APA (animal protection agency) and other people including an ex reptile importer are trying to shut down the trade.

They have been attacking trade shows by going to local councils and drumming up support closing the show before it gets time to even open its doors. They are able to close these venues on the basis that it is illegal and also under the illusion that the animals are suffering being kept in tubs and transported around the country via poly boxes.

These animals in my eyes are not suffering , they have been bred for captivity and with the advances in technology and equipment they are better looked after now than they ever have been. In our shop we make sure that every reptile goes to a home with everything it needs for a happy healthy lifestyle. Most of the people I know that go to shows have thought about what they want and know what they are getting and will have the equipment to look after their purchases.

We as shops, reptile enthusiasts, keepers, and friends have to pull together and work together because if they close the trade shows what will be next…..shops…..keeping them at home. We are not the only country to have these problems with it being illegal to keep spiders and scorpions in France and you are not allowed to use lighting in a wooden viv so you have to use glass. In Belgium you can only keep a very few species with most having been destroyed.

How far will it go…..I do not know , what I do hope is that they listen to us, without us we are not going to have a lot of these species, we wont be able to bring the technology forward for lighting and heating for the future , where would zoos and breeding programmes be without the money our industries have ploughed into technology. We will not learn half the stuff we now know if we cant keep them.

A conflict of terms

Captive farming vs. captive breeding
Working in a shop you hear both sides of the story but I wanted to delve deeper into both worlds. Farming the active production of plants or animals , a simple phrase but does this apply to captive bred populations??? Take the Royal Python…When most people think of captive farming they thing of a wide open space in Africa the native home country of the Python where the animal is mass produced. Some people would say they are farming them in America masses of Royal Python morphs are produced in great numbers to sustain the ever growing market. Both operations come under the defined meaning of the word farming.
There are pros and cons to both , if we take captive farming in Africa it brings revenue for the farmer and therefore the country, it makes jobs for people , a percentage of all babies have to be released, the blood of wild type parents is much stronger than that of captive bred ones, on the other hand a lot of people believe that the females are not given the time to recuperate after laying eggs , some think that not enough are being put back in to the wild , they may come in with parasites and diseases which could spread through captive populations, and does the industry need these farmed ones when so many are captive bred.
Captive bred animals have been kept under certain conditions and therefore less likely to be stressed and less able to come in contact with parasites or diseases. They are not infringing on wild populations and the buyer knows exactly how it has been raised making for an easier sale in the shop. On the other hand unless the gene pool is widened the strain of Royal python will be under great stress from genetic disorders and the costs are greater.
It is not only Royal pythons that are farmed a great number of reptiles are now commercially farmed and not just for the pet trade , as we farm cattle for food some south American countries farm green iguanas for meat and so are crocodiles. So if a few of these animals come in to the pet trade is it a bad thing, are we not saving their lives by giving them a chance to survive in captivity
It was not a clear cut decision for me on which one I prefer as I have delved deeper in to this controversial issue I have unearthed a lot of peoples opinions from both sides , a good friend of mine who runs an import business believes that royal python farms will cease to exist as he believes that certain quotas are not being met and with the rise in captive breeding thinks its not needed. While working in a shop I have bought both farmed and locally bred , could I see a difference, honestly No , they both fed they both thrived under captive conditions. The customers who bought them did not seem bothered by the fact one came from a farm in Africa and one came from an incubator just down the road.
I am still undecided in whether I am pro farming or not. But all the information I have gathered and all the people I have talked to have had an influence in my decision making process. At the shop I always try to go for captive bred as not only does it help conserve the animals but it is generally cheaper especially when we breed our own. I feel the general public are very much in the market for captive bred stock as more and more books are having a major influence on this but remember they all came from the wild once and the more species that are bred in captivity the more chance that they will survive the test of time.

Feed the Birds

With winter on its way we are reminded once again to feed the birds. I at home have seen a massive increase the amount of birds visiting my feeders. This year all across Europe beech mast and acorn crops have failed this includes our own crop, this means that a lot more birds from the mainland have crossed seas to our shores.

Jays like the one above which i took a photo of as it ate peanuts have come to the uk to forag for food. 700 of these beautiful birds were seen coming in off the sea in Norfolk only a month ago. Chaffinch and Brambling are another two species that have been hugely affected by the crop failure.

At the Japanese Koi Company we will be expanding our range of wild bird foods so please rember to keep those feeders stocked up.

Facebook

Weird title i know , but seeing as i am addicted to facebook i am moving the day today stuff to a new jap koi animal page and leaving my blog for big write ups so all please like my page which will  be full of not just pictures but stock lists , pics of staff doing stupid things and of course animals.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Japanese-koi/262040933869946

Winter is coming

So after after a rather wet summer and not a very hot one, the nights are getting longer and the days are getting cooler. The Raccoon dogs have now grown their winter coats or should i say have growwn into their winter coats.....

A long summer

Annabelle update

So this is Annabelle now she is turning into a very fine fox indeed. The silver has come out lovely but she has retaind the black tip on her tail which i love. She  is unbelievably calm and still enjoys running round the garden with the dogs. still. She is just starting to get her winter coat through and her tail is becomming a bushy foxy tail.

Back Online

At last a computer with a keyboard that works, well a lot has been going on at work and at home. New enclosures going up at home, with fox training going well.
 At work we have been busy with the summer holidays and a lot of people coming into the shop buying,selling and having a good look around.
 One of the best bits about exotic animal care i think is watching kids when they have their first experiance with a lizard or snake. Another great thing is helping those with a fear of the abnormal, seeing an arachnophobe holding a tarantula is great and i feel i have acheived something. Having been there once before i know how hard it is but now i love spiders and all other creatures.

Here is a pic of the little baby African dwarf dormouse all grown up.

locust log

Roger came up with a good idea on how to feed the genets and raccoon dogs the other day. Exploring their natural instincts to look in hollow logs and dig away at bark he has hidden locusts in various logs . As soon as the new feeders went in they were straight on to them. The genets face was practically stuck and the female raccoon dog basically picked the log up and launched it.

You may also see a big water bowl in with the raccoon dogs full of rocks (this is not for doing their washing in), Roger noticed that the dogs would start to paddle in shallow dishes, he wondered if it was a natural instinct to move rocks and stones to see what was hiding  under them. So clever old Roger found some nice round stones put them in the bowl and the female straight away started moving them. He hid some treats under the rocks and they found them straight away.

Roger will be postiing some videos soon of these antics.

Fresh Ideas

As of late not much new stuff has been happening in our animal zone, so we have been creating new toys and chnging the environments about so the animals do not get bored. What we dont want to see are animals pacing up and  down the enclosures looking thoroughly bored.

The Raccoon dogs have had a toy put on the end off a long chain so that they can pull it till their hearts are content. Makes a bit of a racket when it is clanging about but the male really does seem to enjoy it.

The Senegal ground doves have been mating and laying eggs and even though i put three nest pans at different hights she insists on laying eggs in the food bowl. Not wise with messy/ boisterous starlings about. Hopefully she will get the hang of it.

Tomorrows job for me is to create something for the armadillos, i am thinking of something to put food in that they then have to dig up and destroy to get dinner. Maybe something better will come to me in a dream.

The owls have a nest box which i have found poo in so someone has obviously been nosing around in there, good signs for next year and the breeding season.

The hanging baskets are looking rather fab at the moment and bring a bit of colour to the display.

Our centre piece. Love it.

Will we add more animals to the animal zone ..................................

Awwwwww

Baby animals always have that cute factor and these chaps definately have it. These are African Dwarf Dormice and its the first time we have been able to breed these little guys. Have had a couple pairs in the past but they have never bred. This is the second litter and she is a great mum. Three babies on this litter compared to one the first time. Always nice to see babies in the shop.

Recent goings on

The main big change at the Japanese Koi Co is the change the car park has seen. We have move some of the containers which has doubled the size of the car park. We do still have to move one but that has to wait until september. We had a 1 million pound crane come and move the containers. It was a rather impressive machine.
The Tenrecs have been doing great and eating every worm in sight, this week my four year old son has dug up half the garden looking for worms for the little critters. Although i think he loves it as every morning he pleads me to go help. The kookaburra that were looking at the nest box gave up as soon as the weather changed back to wet, so hopefully next year.
I got a nest box up in the owl aviary so again next year we may have baby owls as well.
The Raccoon dogs have been coming out on the lead more and the female is looking rather rotund. Maybe pregnant but we are all waiting to see. In the next week or so i hope to have the webcams sorted so please keep an eye for them..
The Genets are doing great but have shown no interest in breeding possibly to yong or possibly to hand reared only time will tell.
My fox is coming along beautifully and is looking like a proper fox now. She should be almost fully grown by christmas and is becoming much better on the lead.

big move

Please bare with me

Due to overuse my computer said enough is enough, so bare with me while i sort another computer out. I will try and blog as soon as possible.

Sorry

Adam

White faced scops owl

Her are some pictures of our latest arrivals

how to walk your raccoon dog

roger and the genets

Some recent pictures

 Above is the male Raccoon dog a most endearing animal, who you may see around the shop on his harness.

 Roger, He is the human in the photo above, has been working at the shop for a few years and recently joined the team full time. Really glad he has become part of the gang as he has an afinity with animals.

 Armadillos , the true diggers of the animal world, they may take a while to wake up but when they are, these guys do not stop.

 The Genets above and below with yours truly, I the bigger and almost as hairy one in the photo above.

Massive hopper

This is the worlds second largest grasshopper in the world, with the biggest only being a cm bigger. It was bought into the shop by a very good friend of mine Mr Ian Pitts, who is breeding these giants. The eggs take a year to hatch so extreme patience is needed when breeding them. They feed on bramble so are easy to keep but need a spacious accomodation.
Thank you ian for bringing them into to show the staff.

Good old friends

I love hearing good news about old friends. I have decided to write a post on Japanese koi companys good friend Ben Andrew. He is an old collegue of mine and i had the pleasure of working with him for five years, we worked alongside each other in the animal departments.
We also had another shared interest British Wildlife , if you think its boring 'get out there and see for yourself' I have been a keen wildlife watcher since i was very young. Ben although relatively new too it compared to me has fallen head over heels for it.
He got me into photography a few years back and Ben has excelled in this field. Winning competitions and having photos shown in exhibitions. His work is inspiring and does something more it tells a story which is so hard to do with pictures.

Well here is his website : www.benandrewphotography.co.uk

Here is a link to his award winning picture: http://www.hertsad.co.uk/news/stunning_picture_of_st_albans_heron_wins_photo_contest_1_1110928

Please take the time to check his website out and look through his work. I believe this guy will go on to achieve a lot more.

Thanks for all your hard work over the years old chap.

Roul Roul partridge

The crested wood partridge also known as the crested wood pigeon is a native bird of Indonesia found over a wide range. It is a game bird and makes our pheasant and grey partridge rather drab in comparison.
The male constructs very elaborate nests using twigs and leaves the female will choose one to conceal herself and her eggs. They feed on insects, shoots and fruit as they rummage around the forest floor.

 The male above is a black green body with an awesome red crest the female a little less flamboyant and is a beautiful green colour.

lowland streaked tenrec

Goings on at work

We are having lots of work going on around the site at the moment. It always seems busy at the Japanese Koi company and our hard work pays off the site looks fantastic. This new extension will remain a surprise but will look amazing when finished. I cant wait to see it.

Pekin Robin

These birds are amazing , so sort after these days i ahve a couple of pairs in the tropical aviary at work. They have settled in really well and i managed some nice shots today. Native of far east asia a small bird that is always on the go.

Beautiful birds

Black hooded red siskin, if like me you are a birdwatcher, birder, twitcher or just all round animal geek. This bird really is one to see they may be small at 10cm but they make up for it in colour  and song.

Unfortunetly these birds are really hard to photograph because they are in a white cage , but i am going to come up with a way to photograph all the birds in a more natural way. You really do have to come down and see these in person though.

In the wild these are rare and in Venezuela  and Northern Colombia where they originate from they are considered vunerable. Which means they are on the decline and on the way to extinct in the wild. In captivity there is a good number so not everything is lost.

A different Hedgehog

Lowland streaked tenrecs.

I met these guys for the first time a few weeks ago at a friends, they are extremely cute and really ...weird. They are Madagascars version of the hedgehog, although they remind me more of shrews, they move around the forest floor looking for their favourite food .... earthworms. They occasionally take other small insects and fruit but their staple diet is earthworms.

They only reach 6 inches in length but they are covered in coarse hairs and some of these are modified into stiff spines.

They have tiny eyes but have amazingly sensitive whiskers and a very acute sense of smell. This is how they find their food in the night when they lurk the leaf litter layer. They are located on the reptile department at the Japanese koi Company where they are kept nice and warm.

An amazing animal to observe and very glad to have the oppurtunity to look after them.

cub in the lab

If you have been to the shop recently you may have noticed a puppy looking object behind a door leading to a small room. The small room is known as the lab and the puppy looking object is known as a Silver Fox. Annabelle is a seven week old fox cub who belongs to me and at the moment she comes to work as i am in the process of weaning her. I acquired her at between 4 and 5 weeks old and have spent the last few weeks weaning her off milk on to solid. She is part of my family and has been bought up with my dogs, duck and kids. A mad combination when in the garden!!!!

I have had many dogs and really enjoy the challenges that training animals has. Annabelle is such a little character and unbelievably agile almost more cat like than dog like. She is so friendly and has an amazing memory and for some reason loves running away with bras!! Although the other half does not care for running after her bras.

Silver foxes are the  black form of the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) and are bred for the pelt and are heavily farmed in Europe and Russia. A disgusting trade and one that should no longer be allowed to take place.

She will come to work with me every now and then after she has been weaned as socializing is really good for her.

I have put a few pics up so you can see how she has grown up an amazing transformation....

This week i will write about lowland streaked tenrec, black hooded red siskin, white faced scops owl and pekin robin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Working with animals

When working with animals you have ups and downs. Some days will be better than others, on monday my rescue German Shepherd was sadly put to sleep. Old age had got the better of her and a tumor had caused internal bleeding. She was found abandoned on a road with 14 other German shepherds!! The blue cross found her and put her in kennels which she could not live in due to chewing herself up. She was then put in foster homes until finally reaching me , I have had the pleasure of looking after  her for the past two years. Since the first day i got her she has been my shadow, wherever i was she was right there beside me.

We have been up Mount Snowdon, sat on a 300ft cliff overlooking the sea, we have fallen in rivers and nearly got run over by a stolen van. I hope she enjoyed all those things as much as i did.
She was between 10 and 12 when she died and although a very sad occasion for my family i do look back at the good times and how much i have learnt from her.

I would like to say thank you to the blue cross and i would like to urge people to rehome or rescue a dog, even though they may be old they have an awful lot to give. People say you cant get to know them as you dont see them grow up, my Molly would have defended my family from a raging bear if need be!!!!
http://www.bluecross.org.uk/

Molly , Best friend , Shadow.

raccoon or dog?

So here is the first picture of our new raccoon dogs, they are simply amazing. I took about 500 pictures of these and the burrowing owl a week ago, i spent about two hours processing them to go and delete them. Now i normally would not admit this but i did cry a little!!

Stupid computer!

Anyway, they have settled down very well, the winter coat is nearly fully out and they are looking beautiful. They are using all the platforms in the enclosure and i hope to put some more in soon. The next plan for them is to get them both leash trained and out for some walks. This could take some while but they are so friendly i hope it does not take that long.

It is very obvious from this picture why they are calleed raccoon dogs, the dark mask resembling that of the raccoon from north America. They are not however related in any way, they are a canid so are related to foxes and domestic dogs.

new beginnings

If you have been to the shop recently, you would have noticed a lot of changes in the  new animal zone. Not everything goes to plan, we were offered an 8 month old Crested Porcupine, he had been hand reared and was a magnificent animal. He was an animal that could pose a threat if he wanted to, he seemed gentle natured and very calm. Unfortunetly he did not settle in too well, he was pacing a lot and seemed only interested in food. We gave the chap a good couple of weeks to settle down but he did not. He looked unhappy and this was just not fair. Luckily the breeder of the animal understood and was able to take him back. I do feel bad that he had to go but having an unhappy animal is not what we want. All the other animals have settled in really well.

So we had an enclosure free, i went to collect a silver fox cub for myself who you may see round the shop from time to time. While i was collecting her i was shown some more animals , i fell in love with a particular pair of animals called Raccoon  dogs. A beautiful animal of the Canid (dog) family native to the far east. They were and still are farmed for fur and last year a sick and disgusting film from Japan was released showing live animals being skinned. We have a young pair, the male is extremely friendly and will explore every pocket searching frantically for food. The female a little older is gentle  and calm and is getting used to us. I have built an array of shelves in the enclosure and all are being used. They are currently moulting out from their winter coats and you will probably see them scratching furiously to get rid of excess hair.

Also new is a small aviary with a flock of java sparrows, a flock of birds is alwaays exciting to watch. The relationships within the group can cause great conflict. You will see mutual preening , fighting and courting which all goes towards the pecking order. Java sparrows are a small bird from the east where huge flocks can destroy crops. In the USA they are also causing a stir as escaped birds are reaking havoc on crops in the southern states.

One last addition to the collective is 'Chico'. He is a Burrowing owl, found across central America, they use fence posts to scan their territories. Burrowing is used loosely with these owls as most of their homes are generally made my other animals such as Gopher tortoises. I have used large bore pvc piping for his burrow which you may see him running in and out of. I hope to find him a female as soon as possible.

Some more good news on the Kookaburra front the hen (female) was in and out of the nest box today so fingers crossed for this season.

A sad state of affairs.

This week has not been the best for the reptile crew at the japanese koi company. On Friday morning i stumbled on the fact that two of our most expensive snakes had been stolen. A 2009 bred pied royal python worth £1499.99 and an albino royal python bred last year worth £699.99.
The tanks were locked so they were definately not just missing , we do have some leads and finger prints have been taken.
Obviously we are concerned for the welfare of the snakes and would like to get them back. We have had snakes stolen before and we have had convictions so we are hopeful the people responsible are bought to some sort of justice.
If you or your friends know of anything that might help us in the conviction of the people who have done this then please call 01462850822. I will also mention that the owner has also said he will pay £5000 to the person who helps lead to a conviction on the criminals.

Whats going on...

A quick update on the birds, the Turacos are not up to much on the breeding front. I hope to get a new nest pan in the aviary for them in the next couple of weeks, set in a more secluded area. The kookaburra are doing really well, the female has started flying to the fist and the male is now taking food from my hand. They have yet to enter the nest box but i think that next year will be more likely. The tropical bird aviary still needs some tweaking but will explain more next week.

The mammal front is also coming along well, the Genets are very tolerable of each other and ever more friendly with us. A big hit all round. The armadillos have been seen mating so our fingers are crossed. We have some new mammals arriving this week and there will be more pics and videos soon.

Gus- a sneak peek

Meet Gus, a cheeky chap.

Genet or ganets!

Yummy!!
Feeding the Genets is always fun and whoever meets them is overwhelmed with how friendly they are. As soon as they hear the padlock on their cage go, they are out and waiting at the door. We feed our genets a range of food items their favourite are locust and thawed out mouse. They will take food very gently from your hand or straight out the bag if you're not quick enough!

They also eat chicks, rat, quail, mealworm and ferret biscuits. When you have finished feeding the genets, you will have both of them in your pockets and up your trouser legs looking for more. The male has a very lovable trick of jumping on your shoulders and spraying his scent on you, now although he is just doing it to prove you are his. It really does smell!

Fruit gobblers

White cheeked Turacos are mad about fruit they swallow it whole like this one above is showing. Or they will eat off the floor and take chunks out of their meal. Banana is a firm favourite and in Africa where they live in the wild they will often be seen at banana plantations.
Ours are fed a wide range of fruit including blueberries, cherry, blackberry, apple, kiwi, pomegranite, banana, grapes and a whole lot more. During the breeding season they may take mealworm for their young. We also prrovide a bit of green stuff such as watercress which they often consume.