RITES OF SPRING - The CFZ Chickens have laid their first eggs of the year

EDITORIAL BOOZE-FEST 2

THIS pint is also a Phoenix Breweries one; it's called a Double Gold, and I have to say, it's rather delicious, hence my inability to wait till after the photo before drinking it.

On the blog today:

More yokai from Richard F, a new addition to the CFZ menagerie, the RSPB tantalise Jonboy, we have a new guest blogger, and the ufologists wonder what on earth created the pattern at Bucks Mills. Enjoy....

JOINER OLL

Anyone who has visited the CFZ animals over the last year or two will be hard pushed to recognise this tank. "It can't be the CFZ Caecilians," I hear you say in my mind's eye (if that is not too complicated a set of metaphors). "It can't be the CFZ Caecilian tank, because it hasn't got a crappy lid that Graham put together as a stop gap back in 2006 and never got round to finishing, so in the intervening years it decaued and twisted out of all recognition."


I am sure that you can tell where we are heading with this one! Basically Oll has rebuilt the lid to one of our most prized exhibits, and it looks pretty damn good....

ONE PIECE OF GOOD NEWS

This morning we posted a story about various CFZ animals that have passed on to the great menagerie in the sky. This morning Oll found that something had broken in to the rabbit hutch and that Maureen, Corinna's rabbit, was missing; missing, presumably, by dint of fox.

Several hours later Oll found her cowering in another run at the top of the garden. She had obviously run from the fox and taken refuge in an empty cage. She is now home, safe and sound, and back in her hutch....

WORK ON THE NEW AVIARY

Work is well underway on the second aviary in the bottom aviary block. This will go alongside the aviary currently inhabited by Ichabod Melkdrew the crow, and will await the next rescue birds coming in from Beth.

Last weekend she offered us a baby magpie, and we said `yes` even though we had nowhere to keep it. Sadly, the magpie succumbed to its injuries, but we decided that it was probably a good idea to go ahead with building the aviary anyhow.

For those of you familiar with the CFZ grounds, this means that the perimeter hedge which presently divides us from Dave and Ross B-P's grandmother next door, will have aviaries all along its length.

Whilst on the subject of aviaries, we hopefully will be getting a breeding pair of Reeve's Pheasants on friday afternoon. They will go in the main aviary outside the museum..

FINALLY - THE NEW TURTLE POND

This may look like an old corner bath that we picked up for fifteen quid from the recycling centre, indeed that is exactly what it is, but it is also the new, improved, summer accomodation for Gladys and Cuthbert.

As regular CFZ afficianados will be aware, Gladys and Cuthbert are two large turtles that were donated to us by Darren Naish's boss back in the days when Darren was still a PhD student.

Gladys is a red eared slider - the common terrapin of the pet trade that since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles craze of nearly 20 years ago, has become a relatively common sight in British waterways. The film and spinoffs were unaccountably popular with the younger generation (who are now in their mid-30s) and many of these nice little reptiles were purchased as pets, and then released into the wild when they got too big.

Cuthbert, however, is another matter. He is a completely unknown species of emydid, and as far as we are aware he is the only one in captivity.

Now they have a swish new pond. We saw the bath at the recycling centre weeks ago but couldn't find a way to get it back to the ranch, until someone pointed out that Dave B-P my dear nephew is not only learning to drive, but has a van in which to do it.

All we had to do was to provide a qualified driver to ride shotgun, and the rest was history!

EMMA BIDDLE: The Spiny Mouse Saga

Jon gave me 2 lovely little males to look after, and after deciding to call them Chappie and Pal (after dog food because...my hamster is named Whiskas after cat food), I thought it might being interesting to do a blog on them, so here goes....

Scientific name: Acomys cilicicus (acomys comes from two greek words ‘akoke’ meaning sharp point and ‘mus’ meaning mouse
Country: Turkey
Continent: Asia
Diet: Seeds - granivore, grasses - graminivore, insects - insectivore
Food & feeding: Omnivore
Habitats: Temperate forest and woodland, desert and semi-desert
Description: Like the name says, this is a mouse with spines, a series of spiny hairs along its back that make it harder for predators to swallow them. Like many mammals living in hot climates these mice have extra large ears, which may help them keep their blood cool, like a car radiator. Length from head to base of tail is about 10 cm.
Care: Spiny mice are incredibly simple animals to care for, and require no specialized care or maintenance, other than their need to be protected from low temperatures or severe drafts. Being natural desert creatures, Spiny mice do best with a low humidity level and in temperatures ideally no lower than 75 degrees, and certainly no lower than 65 degrees at any time.

Probably the most ideal cage for these mice is a good sized aquarium with a tight fitting lid, and this is especially a good idea if they are being kept in a location where temperature may be a concern, this is what my two mice are in at present, a reptile heater can be attached to the bottom or back of an aquarium to provide radiant heat, or even a heat mat which can sit under neath .The glass sides naturally help to protect against cool draft. Two mice can comfortably live in a 10 gallon, but for any more than that a 20 long aquarium would be a better size. You can, of course, go even larger, just remember that length and width is far more useful than height to them.

These little desert mice have incredibly low waste, smell, and have virtually no odour. As with any rodents though, they DO chew and CAN escape, so extreme care should be taken to secure lids and watch for any holes that might be chewed in plastic tubes or caging which can be helped by providing wooden chew sticks. Typical beddings sold for small animals (NOT cedar!!!) work wonderfully for spiny mice, whether shavings or the pelleted beddings, however I personally prefer Carefresh bedding which is made of recycled paper, has odour control and is heat sanitised and dust extracted.

Under no circumstances should a single spiny mouse be kept as a pet. They are extremely social animals who naturally live in large groups and are very socially interactive. At the very least, two animals can do quite well together and require no more care or space than one would. The added benefit of keeping two or more mice together, beyond their happiness and health, is getting to watch the wide range of fascinating social interactions that take place between them. With their extremely social nature, two males can even be kept together quite comfortably if introduced at a young age, and almost any combination of mice will live happily together if introduced into neutral territory (a clean cage with fresh bedding) and given plenty of space.

In addition to plenty of space, these very busy, curious, and intelligent creatures need things to do. Running on a wheel is almost always a favourite activity, and provides needed exercise. Grass or wood huts, chew blocks, things to climb on, and tubes or tunnels to run through are all good to keep your spiny mice busy and happy. While they can be happy left in their cage with only the companionship of their own kind, spiny mice are very clever, and one of the more easily hand tamed small rodents with regular handling they can learn to enjoy interaction with their human, and even come to recognize certain sounds and perform simple tricks.

NEVER grasp their tail, as it can easily be broken off and will not grow back. It is important to be careful when holding your spiny mouse. They are very fast animals and have no understanding of how high they are or how dangerous a fall could be if they slip from your hands. Not only is there the danger of your mouse escaping and getting lost, a fall to hard floor can easily be deadly, the best way to pick them up is to either scoop them up in your hands or by allowing them to climb onto your hand.

As with most rodents the diet of spiny mice is primarily seeds and grains. I feed mine on hamster/mouse food. Beware a diet too high in nuts and sunflower seeds. Spiny mice suffer from very few health problems, but diabetes can occur in animals who are fed an improper diet too high in sugar and fat. In addition to their main food mix, spineys need extra protein, which can be provided by the occasional addition to their diet of dog or cat kibble that is high in protein and low in fat. They will also enjoy occasional treats of fruit and vegetables which should be given sparingly, Speaking to some spiney owners in various forums, some even give their mice live crickets or meal worms as an occasional treat! Although they are desert animals, spiny mice still need to have fresh, clean water available at all times, and do well drinking from either a bowl or a bottle, but a water bottle will need to be protected or positioned so it is hard for the mice to chew, and a bowl can be kicked full of bedding during play time.

I have only had them since 24 April and my tank for them is not set up the way I wish it to be for them, it was so that i could settle them down with as little stress as possible, but give it a week or two and I will be changing it quite considerably..... so keep checking back for more updates and adventures of Pal and Chappie.

TWA CORBIES

As you all know, the lower aviary in the CFZ grounds contains a rather manky looking crow who cannot fly anymore. His name is Ichabod Meldrew, ans he is the latest of Corinna's Corvids.

This morning as I was about my ablutions I looked out of the bathroom window, and saw something that I had only read about before. On top of his aviary, cawwing away happily to him were two large wild crows, and Ichabod was perched on the top branch looking for all the world as if they were having a deep and meaningful conversation.

I have heard of wild corvids visiting captive ones before, but never seen it. However I know I'm weird, but I am not so weird as to take my camera into the bathroom with me, and by the time I had gone downstairs to get a camera, they had - loike all the best tabloid journalists - made their excuses and left.

COCKROACH CLUSTER

According to Maxy the baby cockroaches that arrived into the world yesterday are almost certainly the Madagascan hissers rather than the undescribed species.

However Graham took this lovely photograph yesterday which shows several adult Madagascan hissing cockroaches, an adult of the undescribed species, and two of the babies, and I reproduce it here purely because it shows the wide differences in morphology between the two spoecies (and also what my poor dear wife has to put up with us keeping in her kitchen)

COCKROACH CONFUSION

As Max explained a few weeks ago we have a number of colonies of undescribed cockroach species. What makes things even more confusing is that one of our colonies shares its living space with a colony of Madagascan hissing cockroaches. This morning at least 40 babies were found swarming across the cage, but until Maxy rings me I don't know which of the two species they are, because he is the only one that can tell them apart...