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.

kookaburra tenderising a mouse

Not for the faint hearted ...

Over the next few days i will be posting some pictures of the different animals at feeding time . If you dont like mice hanging out of mouths i would turn your head now...

I will start with the kookaburra as i have spent some time with these guys over the past two weeks. They will start off up high on their branches and swoop down on to their prey. They are feeding well on locust, chicks and mice.

Yesterday when i approached the enclosure the female was very happy to see me. I walked in sat down and offered a mice on my my hand she accepted obligingly..

Happy girl.

These large kingfishers have a wide gape and swallow prey whole.

A very happy looking kookaburra.

Crunchy on the outside, smooth on the inside

Armadillo

Greater Hairy Armadillo
Chaetophractus villosusAn armadillo from the Dasypodidae, they can grow up to 16 inches in length. There are two species in the family and they are known for the long hairs along the side of the animal.

The most numerous armadillo in South America found in grasslands , forests and savannahs. They are accomplished diggers and can obtain oxygen from the soil without inhaling soil particles due to specialist membranes. We originally designed the aviary with lovely potted plants these were soon removed from the pots, and so we re-designed their enclosure. We have built a large box and filled it with around 100kg of bark to dig in, they spend most of there time in here rooting around for food.
They also like their large tubes of cork bark where he hide food for them like in the next photo.

 They have a varied diet with up to 60% oof this being fruits , they also eat a lot of insect foods and even small mice, birds and eggs.
Armadillos have developed a ridge of bony plates along the back which gives it protection against its predators. Another way of escaping predators is to dart in to a burrow and use there very strong legs to wedge themselves in. They typically have one to two young a year.

Here is an image where you can see the individual plates that makes the armadillo , armoured.

This pair are extremely curious getting their noses into anything and everything, i even had one half in my pocket today.

kookaburra at japanese koi company

He is eating a mouse so shut your eyes if squeamish. They get loud towards the end.

Its NOT a cat!!

Genet
Genetta genetta

Its not a cat , actually it is a cat like mammal of the order Feliform. They are closely related to Civets, Linsang, Fossa and mongoose.They are between 16 to 20inches long with the tail measuring up to 20 inches long. Genets can live up to 20 years.

They are highly arboreal and agile, easily leaping up to 6ft from branch to branch. Due to the fact we had a large enclosure with plenty of hight i wanted to use as much space as i could. Here are a few pics of the jungle gym we built.

I will try and get some footage of the genets jumping from branch to branch. The genets have hiding areas both high and low. Generally females will use hides such as  tree holes and and males will use ground hides.
These genets are widespread in north Africa some parts of Southern Europe (Portugal) and the Middle East.
We feed the genets on a wide range of food items that include mice, rats, chicks, locust, mealworm and ferret biscuits.

We chose these genets as they were hand reared and had been kept together, on the first day we got them i was able to feed them by hand. Since then they have grown ever tamer coming to see us as soon as we go near the enclosure. We are able to touch them which helps when we need to tend to any injuries they may incure. It also helps when feeding as we know that both are feeding and we can keep an eye on how much they both eat.

Genets are amazing animals and i am glad Niki convinced me they were a good idea.

Settled in...

Some good news on the kookaburra front. As i was sitting in with the pair today feeding them, the male was passing food to the female. This is a huge part of the bonding ritual. It shows many credential things to the female, it proves the male is a strong and industrious hunter . It shows that the males territory is well stocked so a good place to rear young and it shows he well tend to her when she is incubating the eggs.
What was also quite amazing was like other kingfishers he presented the food to the female head first. Now most kingfishers do what it says on the tin, they eat fish and fish are consumed head first so the scales dont get caught on the way down. I guess it could not let go of this natural instinct when evolving.
I hope to upload a video of these birds calling to each other in the next couple of days.

Kookaburra

Kookaburra
Dacelo novaeguineae

The largest of the kingfisher family the laughing kookaburra is famous for its raucous call. After hearing this for the first time today , it is an amazing noise unlike anything I have heard before. They are known as the ‘Outback alarm clock’ as they will call from first light.
A native to Australia and New Guinea. They come from a wide range of habitats not being that closely associated with water. They have adapted well to an urban scene entering gardens for scraps but are more common in scrub, forest and arid savannah.

They perch up high flying down with that magnificent bill to catch their prey. This consists of lizards, snakes, small mammals, birds and insects……not Fish.