Tag: Animals

Zoo Experience

Today I went to Colchester Zoo to do my Zoo Experience Day that I got for my 40th birthday.

I opted for the experience that had Elephants, Birds of Prey and Reptiles.
Last time I was up close with Elephants was in Sri Lanka when I was on honeymoon, we both got to feed a small elephant calf and watch them have their lunchtime bath in the river.

I had to pick reptiles as I have one myself, thought it would be great to see other reptiles and where they live. If I`m honest I wasn`t too bothered about the Birds of Prey – but I have to say they were probably the best part of the day!

The Elephants
They were great, huge beasts of an animal, I got to feed one up close and watch them coming in at the end of the day to be locked up for the night. The metal work on the cages is unbelievable, but then when you have something that big you can`t have it made of chicken wire!

The Birds Of Prey
These were unbelievable and as I said by far the best of the day purely because of the surprise that I got. I wasn`t expecting them to be like they were.
I got to hold, with the help of a very thick glove, small owls up to a very large and menacing looking Eagle which weighed an absolute ton.

Reptiles
I was looking forward to seeing these – I got to see –
Rhinoceros Iguanas – I loved these, they were great, they move like you wouldn`t believe especially when going after a flying locust. They came charging up to us when we went in their enclosure, they for that close that I managed to give one a stroke 🙂
Green Iguanas – they were not quite as big as my boy Yoda but it was still great to see some, in a huge enclosure.
Giant Millipedes – not strictly reptiles but they were in the same room as them. We used to have 3 giant millipedes so was nice to handle one of them again.
Snakes – I was holding one just as my boy looked through the windows at me, he so badly wanted to come in and hold them with me.
Komodo Dragons – these were the last reptiles that I got to see. We went right into the enclosure at the back, where we could see them. I was only a few feet away from one of them, they are phenomenal creatures.

I would love to do that again.

Rex – the new pet

Today we went to get H his birthday present from one of his Granddad’s.

He asked him if he could have a snake, and granddad was only too willing to get him one. Unfortunately granddad could not be with us when we went to get it, and needless to say he wasn’t there either to pay!

So, we had a look at a few snakes and settled for a nice quiet corn snake that H was able to pick up and hold with no real issues, I didn’t see the point getting one that he couldn’t hold or one that was too big, as it might be a bit daunting for his to start with.

We picked a nice stylish vivarium for her and a few things to go in it along with some fluffs for her to eat. All that set me back just over ÂŁ180!! Some contrast to when we got Yoda all those years back as a rescue case from the RSPCA man that we knew.

We get her home and set everything up in H`s bedroom, laying down the law about what he can and can’t do. He decided to call her Rex, after Commander Rex out of Start Wars! I guess we need to get her sexed as soon and she is old enough to make she we have the right name for her – but then I guess once we have called her something we can’t go back on it.

I can see that Rex is going to be interesting, the wife won’t go anywhere near her or help us with her, so I guess it’s me and H doing it all.