EdZoocation

Patience - the most important skill in animal training ✨ Progress with the rescue harris hawk as I’ve opted to work him year round through his moult (this is why he’s got tail feathers missing) Here we can see he’s landed on the floor.. calling him to the glove is a big no as this would reinforce him landing on the ground! After pondering for a minute or 2 he returns to the perch, turns and recalls to the glove instantly. He’s starting to understand the relationship between landing on the perch and the glove being presented 😊

Found our feet now! Wing feathers are starting to come through and it won’t be long until she starts flying 🦉

Progress!! With the rescued Harris hawk 🦅 Confidence in flying to the glove has improved hugely and I’m now getting consistent immediate response times within short distances. Although he will fly post to post I was determined to build glove confidence in the hope customers can fly him in future visits, getting there! Big reward here for the last flight 😄 This will be built upon now in open fields at large distances. Soon he’ll grow brand new feathers in for the year and will enjoy a mix of flying in the countryside for exercise and enrichment and flying for educational visits 🦅

One of the sugar gliders has forgotten which way is up! But they are from Australia after all 🌏 These 2 had their first visit last week as a bonus animal for their training.. they did great, photos to follow! 🇦🇺

Dinner time for the fire salamanders, hunting crickets! Salamanders have been a firm favourite over the previous few bookings 💛🖤

R+ syringe training with macaws, an important skill should they ever need medication to make it stress free for animal and owner. This can be taught in so many species!

I adopted Charlie a few days ago, at only 10 months old she’s in her 3rd home, but won’t be going anywhere now! She’s already feeling happy enough to jump on my knee when asked even without a food reward.. in true Raven style she found her own reward by way of playing with my hoodie 🤣 Ravens will be a big part of this year - they’re as smart as a 7 year old child and brilliant to work with! More Raven facts coming in another post as there’s just too many to share!

Some very serious hand and face washing going on over here! I’ve started doing more training with the sugar gliders in open spaces. Hopefully pairs may be able to start attending events within the next few weeks 😊 (Please note, venues for sugar gliders must be a minimum of 20 degrees C for their welfare)

Slow mo feeding time! You can see she grabs the morioworm almost instantly as it hits the floor! Those who’ve attended sessions with me will know about spider pedipalps.. the two “mini legs” on the front of a tarantula. Here you can see them in action grabbing the prey and directing it straight to her fangs ready for a venomous bite! 🕷️🫦

Morio worms, the KFC of the reptile world “finger licking good” (hypothetically as they’re legless lizards…)

The Peruvian fern stick insects are growing well.. just one or two moults left until I find out which are males, as they turn bright red! The females will keep this black and yellow patterning 😊

Hint hint… please can I have some more?? How dare I put the lid on! Tucking in before I’ve even chance to empty the live food into their gutload containers!

The Disney reveal .. a zazu and his wife 🥰 Hornbills have such a big character, I was glad to see they were comfortable enough to eat around me last night before arriving home and going into an aviary today! They’ll be joining the free flight team for indoor bookings, around breeding! Female hornbills nest in tree hollows and seal themselves in using mud, the male is then responsible for providing food through a thin slit until the female and her chicks break out ready to fledge! I’m hoping they’ll continue to bond together even with human handling so it’s likely they’ll attend events as a pair! They’re only just approaching breeding age so to nest this year is unlikely, but possible!

Aaand pounce!! Vinegaroon dinner time!

Slithering into 2024 with one of my favourite snake species 🐍 Juggling this around other jobs for the last few months has been vital market research on whether to commit myself full-time. The support has been great, my animals have been brilliant and they’re not even trained to their full abilities yet 😄 Big things happening behind the scenes for 2024!

Project parrot continues with the delivery of this black capped lory pair 😄🦜 they’ll move outside early spring after the chance to acclimatise to cooler times, they’re definitely the noisiest of the lorys so far 📣🤣