Creepy Crawly Critters

Still a long way to go until Bosco is fully grown, but look at him now! 😍
He is growing so well and still enjoying a varied diet. He loves his food so much he races outside of his enclosure and runs at me as soon as he sees me preparing his food.
A lot of the time I will make sure he chases his own food down, this ensures he remains active both physically and mentally, but every now and then, he gets fed via tweezers just to keep our bond going.
... 🦖
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Thank you DaisyChains Day Nursery for having us today, the children were all very brave! And thank you to the children for naming our new Giant African Millipede, here is a picture of our new millipede 'Tobe'.
There is a lot more red colouring on this little one compared to Noodle our larger Giant African Millipede.

Cookie is getting bigger!
Such beautiful looking tarantulas 😍🕷

Our beautiful girl Tulip has such a cute puppy dog face. Don't you think?
She is quickly becoming a favourite here...
Don't tell the others 🙊🐍

To those friends of mine in business, let's help out these amazing kids to continue doing what they love!
#SupportLocal #RhuddlanDragonsJFC

*LONG POST*
Want to meet a few of our baby tarantulas?
I knew you would 😉
... The words in brackets are the Latin names for the species. It is much easier to identify the species using Latin names because a lot of species have the same common names which can get confusing.
I do refer to them as 'it' because they are too young to sex. So until they get bigger, I have no idea whether they are males or females.
Picture 1. This is 'Twix', AKA the devil of the group. Twix arrived as a 1cm spiderling, and is now a 3cm creature of hate. When I try to open the lid, Twix is right there. Front legs up, tiny fangs on show. Twix is a Salmon Pink Birdeater (Lasiodora parahybana).
Picture 2. 'Jaffa' is now about 3cm and a year old, it is a Mexican Red Knee (Brachypelma hamorii). It is growing so slowly which is typical for Brachypelma species. This species is one of the most well known, popular pet tarantulas in the pet trade because of their docile nature. Jaffa however, not living up to the reputation quite yet. Typical baby tarantula, defensive and fast.
Picture 3. 'Pumpkin' is a Mexican Fireleg Tarantula (Brachypelma boehmei). Started off as a 1cm heart attack. Always making a run for it everytime I opened the enclosure. Pumpkin is now about 2.5cm and has calmed down alot. It now would rather run and hide than try to escape, which as you can imagine, is a huge relief 😅
Picture 4. 'Aero' has recently molted and is now officially a juvenile at 5cm. Aero is a Bahia Scarlet Birdeater (Lasiodora klugi). Very closely related to the Salmon Pink Birdeater like Twix but are more heavily bodied and have a more red abdomen. I never usually see Aero because it is always in its burrow, so this picture is a rare treat.
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Another great night at Marine Holiday Park. Now that the animals are back home, I can now show you our new family member, Jabba!
He is a male Cane Toad, and only young so he has plenty of growing to do, males are smaller than females, but they can still get to an impressive size.
... Isn't he such a cutie 😍
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We have a new family member.
We have named him Jabba.
Can you guess what animal he is from the name? 😜❤
... We will post a picture of him later on this evening!
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The smiles make this job very rewarding 😁

It has been a busy weekend with birthday parties, we have enjoyed every second of it!
Animals are having a well deserved rest before another busy weekend next week.

I missed last weeks critter of the week, it has been a busy month, so it is a double feature this week!
Our colony of Madagascan Hissing Cockroaches and Noodle the Giant African Millipede!
These 2 species live together in a replica ecosystem. Also known as a 'bioactive' enclosure. Bioactive means that the enclosure is self sustaining. One big bonus to this type of enclosure? I have small little bugs that do all the cleaning for me!
... I feed the the two species on dead oak leaves, rotten hard wood and fruits and vegetables. Anything that the millipede and cockroaches dont eat, the springtails, woodlouse and baby collossus millipedes will eat. These small cleaners will even eat mould so I dont have to worry about that either!
This enclosure replicates their natural forest habitat in the wild. Both species come from Africa and live in the same habitat types so keeping these 2 species together is fine and their care is similar.
Both cockroaches and millipedes are fantastic climbers so I provide plenty of climbing material for them and they also have deep substrate so they can burrow and turn the soil.
Both of these species are fantastic animals to use in my presentations, they are both super friendly, they dont bite and they cant fly. They do however, have defensive mechanisms to help protect them from natural predators.
Hissing cockroaches will create a loud hissing noise to scare away their predators. Millipedes have a couple, they will curl into a tight spiral to protect their soft underbelly and legs, they can also expel a toxic substance that tastes terrible to predators that try to eat them. The toxicity of this substance is different for each species of millipede, some species being more potent that others, don't worry about our Noodle, she is safe, just don't lick her 😝
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Fantastic night for the owners party! Thanks for having us! We look forward to seeing you all again! Hopefully Lily will have an empty bladder next time 🐍💩

*Critter of the week*
This weeks critter of the week is our amazing girl Coconut!
Coconut is a Honduran curly hair Tarantula.... These spiders get their name from the curly golden hairs they possess on their legs and abdomen. This gives them a cute and fluffy look.
Coconut is a great spider who we use for our phobia sessions. She is a very calm girl and tolerates handling very well. She has been with us now for quite a few months now and is my top tarantula!
One thing I want people to know about tarantulas and why you will find that none of my girls will get handled all too often is purely for the animals safety!
If Coconut is out for a handling session, I always make sure that the spider and person handling are not crowded, the person has their hands over the table or they are sitting on the floor. This is because, if Coconut got spooked and fell from a great height or she was accidentaly dropped, she could potentially have a fatal accident. Tarantulas are very fragile animals and I will never put my animals in any harm.
There is also the potential for Coconut to flick urticating hairs off of her abdomen. These hairs have microscopic barbs on them which enables them to attach onto your skin, this can be very irritating, it can also be dangerous if these hairs get in your eyes.
With this being said, she has never kicked hairs, she has never felt threatened enough to do so.
Please remember, tarantulas are never out to hurt us. Their first line of defense is to run away. If this fails, they will kick urticating hairs (new world tarantulas only), if this also does not deter predators they will show a threat posture, where they will lift up their front legs and show their fangs. If anything is silly enough to keep pestering this poor animal after all the warning signs, that is when bites happen!
*New world means tarantulas from the Americas. Old world species are from Asia, Africa and Australia and are generally more defensive*
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*Critter of the week*
So I decided to start a "critter of the week" where I can tell you more about a certain animal each time.
I have decided to start the first one off with Lily our amazing Boa Constrictor!
... So Lily came to us on World Snake Day in July 2018. She has proven to be nothing but an absolute angel since day one! I have owned many Boa Constrictors over the years, in fact my first snake was a Boa Constrictor named Rosie, she was my world and I was devastated when she passed. When she passed away I swore I would never get another snake, I was truly heart broken... But how can you resist a beautiful girl like Lily!?
As much of a puppy dog my girl Rosie was, Lily is by far the most docile and 'loving' snake I have ever owned. in her short stay with me so far she has never shown an ounce of aggression or stress, she even seems to love being out and with people. Although she is quite a heavy snake, she is very comfortable even with the most nervous of people and will quite happily just relax in someones arms. Every person that has had contact with Lily has said what an amazing and beautiful snake she is and is quickly becoming a firm favourite for everyone.
She is only a year and a half old so has plenty of growing to do and has a forever home with us here at Creepy Crawly Critters ❤️🐍
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Thank you to everybody that came to see us today.
Thanks to you, we raised £143 for comic relief!
Please feel free to share your photos on this page, we would love to see them!
... Thank you to Tk-maxx for having us there for your event.
Leanne & the Creepy Crawly Critters 🐀🐌🦂🕷🐍🐛🐜🦗
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We are here!
Come down and see us at Tk-maxx Here until 2pm!
... Donations to hold the animals. All money is going towards Comic Relief!
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Here is our beautiful Clyde! 🐁 Clyde is in a group of 8 males (all brothers, except for 1 male).
He is a very special boy.
... When he was just a few months old he suffered a stroke, despite this, it doesn't hold him back, he lives life to the fullest and is always up for a play. He celebrated his 1st birthday at the beginning of the month.
He is such a sweet and cuddly boy but unfortunatly he will not attend any events with me purely for his own safety. I don't want to risk him falling while being handled as he is quite wobbly. I just thought you would enjoy this video of him enjoying his nightly banana chip treat 😘
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Join us at Tk-maxx in Prestatyn on the 23rd February for a fun filled day, raising money for comic relief.
Come and meet the animals from 10am
We can't wait to see you there 🕷🦂🐍🐌🐛