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 ..................................