Behind the Scenes

The Creature Teacher, LLC

Behind the Scenes

BEHIND THE SCENES

To read more about Behind the Scenes, just click on the page title: Life with Tiny, History, Beastly Blog 2009, Animal Advice

You see the well-rehearsed presentations, the polished presenter and the picture-perfect pets. But how do those things get that way? Do you just need to know where an animal comes from or what it eats? No matter where I go and what animals I have with me, the curious questions about my business, how it effects my life and how I get it all done are never-ending. "Where do you keep all your animals?", "What does your house look like?", "Is it loud at night?", "Do your animals run around loose and do they like each other?", "Who cleans up after all of them?" "It must be really fun, huh?". So here are the answers to all your questions. This page gives you pictures, insight and a better idea of what being The Creature Teacher is really like. We'll take you from feeding and cleaning to animal health care to the office and even our vehicle. And if you would like to know something about our unique career that is not discussed on this page, please ask us and we'll do our best to bring it life.

THE FACILITY

Stackable cages for salamanders, hedgehog,

tortoises and African bullfrog (he's the one under the white towel)

This rack contains walking stick bugs, cockroaches

and the leaf frog is underneath the brown towel because she likes it dark.

Many wildlife educators keep their stock in their home or somewhere on their property so most of time there really is no "facility" where visitors can go to visit and look around. And even though I live on 9 acres of farm land, all the animals are kept indoors so I can control the temperature of their environment and guarantee that they will not be a victim of a large predator. Our home is over 2000 sq. feet and the largest "guest" room is dedicated to the animals. We even build on another 100 sq. ft back in 2005 to make more room for the creatures!! Our animal room is about 300 sq. feet now, has it's own air conditioner and heater, it's own personal size refrigerator as well as a sink and racks above for dishes. We have a closet filled with towels, extra plastic food containers and surplus supplies. We also have a cabinet filled with disinfectant, latex gloves, carpet cleaning spray and medical supplies like syringes, special feeds and grooming tools.

How do we keep 30+ animals in one room? Well, we stack 'em, that's how. We have four different stackable enclosures including one for the bugs, one for the snakes, one for the spiders and one for various animals like the bullfrog, hedgehog, tortoises and salamanders. One rack system is in the family room and the bird, skink and bearded dragon are in a hallway and the chameleon is in the office.

DAYS OFF/PREPARING FOR THE NEXT DAY

Empty, clean carriers set out for the next days

shows.

Even on our days off (which means we don't have any presentations to give), we still have a bunch of work to do. First thing that needs to be done is to disinfect the animals carriers and put in new blankets. I set up all those carriers that I need for the next days shows on top the Rabbit/Prairie dog enclosure. This way, in the morning, I can concentrate on cleaning and don't need to figure out who needs to go and who doesn't. I just load up those animals whose carriers are set out as I'm cleaning and by the time I'm ready to go, they're ready too.

Also, on a "day off" is the animal laundry, which is about two loads of towels on Monday after a weekend of birthday parties. Monday also brings confirmation emails for the next week, logging in payments and mileage from the weekend, checking on deposits that still need to be received and sending confirmation letters and emails to clients who have booked shows. See The Office section below for more details.

And don't forget, I need to set the alarm, make my lunch, set out my laptop, phone and other office supplies I might need while traveling on the road all day. And don't forget to make sure the car is filled with gas and go to the car wash if needed.

CLEANING & FEEDING

Fresh veggies & fruits for the lizards

Just a sample of the water and food bowls that are

scrubbed and cleaned every day.

My husband Ron and I do all the cleaning and feeding. We wake up around 6 AM to get started and the entire job takes between 1 and 1 1/2 hours every day. None of the animals roam loose or are allowed any contact with one another except Tiny, our 30 pound Sulcata Tortoise and Olivia, the New Zealand Rabbit. They receive a few "free time" hours outside their enclosure to romp about the house and stretch their legs. They get along well with each other and with Zoey, our cat too. Olivia is coaxed back to her house after it's clean with a few treats which she has learned to expect. Tiny stays out most of the day if she is not working. When the weather warms up we will build her a permanent outside structure where she'll be more happy. (Photos of the building process coming soon!!)

Ron cleans the mammals cages and I do the rest. All cages are scrubbed with a professional grade cleanser that kills many forms of bacteria and viruses. Even though there are fewer mammals than the others combined, it's actually a fair trade as the mammals need cleaning every day and some of the others do not. The snakes, for instance, need cleaning once a week maybe and eat just as often. Ron also does the vacuuming after all the cleaning is done. I scrub water and feed bowls and make new food for those animals receiving fresh fruits and vegetables. Our freezer is filled with 5 different sizes of frozen mice and rats along with a bag of mixed veggies and nectar specially made for Lilo & Stitch, our adorable Sugar Gliders. Every Sunday is snake feeding day. I set out 1 pinky rat for the Rat Snake, 2 pinky mice for the Corn Snake, 2 fuzzy mice for the Milksnake, 2 adult mice for one Ball Python, 1 adult rat for the other Ball Python and 1 adult mouse for the African Bullfrog. By the time I come home in the evening from doing my shows, the frozen food is thawed and ready to feed.

Wiggles our Milksnake chowing down

on a fuzzy mouse.

It only takes a few minutes....

...swallowed whole in one big gulp....

....and it's gone!!

Sugar Glider nectar prepared from cooked eggs,

wheat germ, apple juice, vitamins and honey in a blender....YUM!!!

Inside small freezer in animal room.

Inside our spare freezer filled with surplus mice

in various sizes, chicken fillets & mixed vegetables.

A PARTIAL LIST OF OUR FEEDSTUFFS

Live crickets & superworms
Frozen rats/mice in 5 different sizes
Timothy hay, guinea pig pellets, rabbit pellets
Parrot mix
bag of frozen mixed vegetables, canned mixed fruit
cooked chicken & hard boiled eggs
6 ficus trees & 6 rose bushes (food for walking stick bugs)
dried worms & sugar glider pellets
dry cat food for hedgehog
ramaine lettuce, green leaf lettuce, carrots, grapes, kale, spring mix

Total animal food bill 2008: $2,171

Total animal food bill 2009: $2,080

To read more about Behind the Scenes, just click on the page title: Life with Tiny, History, Beastly Blog 2009, Animal Advice

The Creature Teacher, LLC 903/451-1904 972/345-8544 Creeturet@aol.com