A week in the life of my busy family 🥰

[Emx93]

Day 1- an introduction
I'd like to start today with a little introduction to the animals who will feature in this week's week in a life. I actually meant to post this last night as a bit of a day 0 but the exhaustion caught up with me and I actually fell asleep while typing

A little dedication to marshmallow who would've played a huge role in this week had she not been called to the rainbow Bridge on wednesday.

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We currently have 8 pets. They are 4 year old callie (a shih tzu), Effie who will be 4 on Saturday (cat), pebble who is 4 (Herman's tortoise), Winter who is 2 (corn snake), caramel, Sally and Addy who are all 3 (guinea pigs) and the star of the show Teddy (Syrian hamster) who is around 2-3 months

Callie


Effie


Pebble


Winter


Caramel


Sally and Addy

 

[Emx93]

The star of the show Teddy:

 

[elusive]

A lovely intro to your pet family, quite a variety you have there & I’ll look forward to hearing more about them all.
Pebble is really cute!
It’s sad that Marshmallow couldn’t be part of this week but she’s clearly still with you in spirit & in your heart.

 

[RainbowBrite]

You have such a beautiful family. I am going to really enjoy hearing all about them.

I am so sorry for the loss of sweet Marshmallow.

 

[Member ID2]

That is a lovely introduction to a happy family. I am very much looking forward to the rest of the week.
Sadly, Marshmallow has gone to the bridge but there is no reason not to include photos and stories if you wish to.

 

[Frida]

All of your pets are beautiful

 

[Emx93]

Thankyou we are so lucky to have them

Day 1- morning bath for pebble
As soon as the kids leave for school, the dishwasher and washing machine are on its time for pebbles morning soak bathing tortoises is important for hydration as well as encouraging them to toilet so pebble gets a soak around every other day as you can see he is a little grumpy this morning
His food will be picked on our morning doggy walk and he will hopefully get to enjoy some mallow and plantain topped with nutrobal (we supplement with nutrobal twice weekly and calcium 5x weekly). The best diet for tortoises is safe weeds which can usually be foraged

 

[RainbowBrite]

Pebble is gorgeous!

 

[Maz]

A really lovely introduction to all your pets and there is a lot to look forward to this week! I have to say, much as all your pets are amazing - I have fallen head over heels in love with Pebbles! His colouring - a certain look on his face in the first photo! They must keep you very busy but foraging for Pebbles while dog walking sounds organised!

 

[elusive]

Walking the dog & picking food for Pebbles sounds like a lovely way to spend some time, he really is a lovely little tortoise.

 

[Emx93]

Winters spray down
Next on the list was a little spray down for winter the corn snake important for humidity to aid her shedding and ofc for the live plants in her bioactive setup

 

[RainbowBrite]

Winter is so cute! She has different colourings to the common corn snake doesnt she? Her viv looks amazing.

 

[Emx93]

Winter is so cute! She has different colourings to the common corn snake doesnt she? Her viv looks amazing.

She is a snow corn morph I'd wanted one for years and one day there she was in my local petshop- I just had to go back for her she was sooo tiny when we got her! I'm obviously bias but I think she's super pretty her setup is one of my favourite ones, I'm glad you like it
Super hard to take of photo of though- a bit like a hamster in the way they pose super sweet then leg it the second you pull the camera out

 

[Member ID2]

You are so knowledgeable! I'd love to see a photo of Winter's whole vivarium. I don't know anything about snakes and would love to learn more about her bio active habitat. If and when you have time. There is something very calm and relaxing about it.

 

[Emx93]

bioactive snake setup
At @Beryl s request
The glass is steamy so I had to open the viv to get a decent pic got a lovely picture of winter herself who I think was thinking it might be playtime and I almost caught an isopod but it legged it
Disclaimer: I'm in no way an expert in bioactive setups or snakes- this is my first snake and first bioactive viv but I found it super fun to setup, winter loves it and is far more active and sheds so much better in it and the maintenance is so low with it! (Limited-no cleanup )
So in essence it forms its own ecosystem (we feed winter once every 7-10 days) but other than changing water and a spray down there is no maintenance involved this is a 4foot by 2foot by 2 foot vivarium and will be winters forever home (unless she grows exceptionally large). The bugs eat the and even the shed (really quickly too!)
So the important aspects are the plants and the 'cleanup crew' (isopods and springtails is what we went with but there are different options I think). The big light across the top is a jungle dawn aka a reptile safe plant light (or as I call it super expensive important piece of equipment and oh calls it dumbledore because its so bright ) and the one in the cage is the heat bulb which is controlled by a dimming thermostat, snakes can have heat mats for a heat source but overhead heating works better for bioactive set ups. The substrate consists of a drainage layer and mesh and then a mix of top soil, coco coir, a little sand, beech chips and leaf litter. The plants, snake and bugs all seem to enjoy this.
The plants need a little trimming back tbh as they really did explode but winter likes to climb them so I'm holding off for now winter (in a similar way to a hamster) likes a lot of clutter, places to hide and a lot of things to do! She loves to climb (even though she's not an arboreal species) so she has a 'sky hide' which she tends to camp out in when ready to shed as well as plants/vines/logs etc to climb

 

[elusive]

Winter’s set up looks so great for her & it’s lovely to hear how well she’s doing in there, she sounds like a very happy snake!

 

[Maz]

That is absolutely fascinating and very clever. I haven't heard of bioactive setups for snakes. I think winter looks happy on that photo!

 

[Roza]

Your family is adorable. They certainly keep you busy!

I used to have a tortoise when I was little. And have kept guineas for many years when my kids were younger.

Snakes are very popular we sell frozen food for them in the shop where I work - Rats and Mice - I am used to handling them now but I always feel sorry for them!

I am looking forward to hearing about the rest of your week.

 

[Member ID2]

Thank you so much for the photos and insight into Winter's bio active vivarium.

This is utterly fascinating and beautiful to read. Winter does look a very happy snake.
What a great environment for the bugs or do they get eaten?

 

[Roza]

Thank you so much for the photos and insight into Winter's bio active vivarium.

This is utterly fascinating and beautiful to read. Winter does look a very happy snake.
What a great environment for the bugs or do they get eaten?

No Beryl. The snake keeps them as pets .