Monday, 26 November 2012
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.
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.
Monday, 19 November 2012
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.
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.
Monday, 12 November 2012
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.
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.
Monday, 5 November 2012
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.
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