Lifestyle- Vivarium Skull

I got this amazing super large skull from one of my friends (no idea where they got it from but it was cluttering up their house) and thought it would be badass inside one of my snake vivariums.

The skull is made from polystyrene so is non-toxic to snakes and it's hollow so will provide a nice new hiding space. My partner did suggest that I cut out holes in the eye sockets so that the snakes could crawl through but I think they would prefer solid eye sockets so that the hiding places feels more secure. There is a little bit of damage to the front teeth but I got given this for free so I'm not about to moan that it's seen better days.

I put my fist into the eye socket to illustrate just how huge this skull really is. If anyone knows where these skulls are available from please leave a comment so that I can let others know where they can buy them.

Lifestyle- Meet Twist

Last week I mentioned that we were in a bit of a panic getting our house clean and tidy and doing various repairs to our garden fence in preparation for a new dog. Thankfully our efforts were not in vain and we were allowed to collect our new baby on Saturday and bring her home with us.

This is Twist. She is an 8 month old collie cross. It was a bit tricky getting a good photo of her as she is very wiggly but an absolute sweetie. We adopted her via the Dogs Trust who do wonderful work taking in and re-homing dogs. 

It is early days still but so far things are going well. She doesn't seem to understand how toys work and is chewing on a few things that she isn't supposed to but she loves cuddles and snuggling on the sofa. Hopefully it won't be too long before we can get her to understand toys and collie dog puzzles so that she doesn't get bored. 

Lifestyle- Meet the Snails

My various pets are an important part of my life and I wanted to do a small feature on some of them every so often. I have some quite unusual animals including Giant African Land Snails or GALS for short. I wanted to feature these guys first as it's almost October and they'll be slowing down and going into hibernation soon.

I have owned GALS for around 4-5 years now and I think they are wonderful. I realise giant snails are not everybody's cup of tea but I find them to be a very therapeutic creature. Back when I used to work in an office I would often come home tired, stressed and more often than not wishing I could just throw in the towel. A few minutes watching these guys and I would feel a lot of that stress melt away. There is something very calming about watching such a slow paced creature just mosey long, moving slowly, eating slowing, looking at you slowly. They would really help me relax.

This particular snail I'm holding is Eywa. She was the first snail I got and the biggest of the bunch. All my snails are either adopted from the animal shelter or are the babies of said adopted snails. The sub-species I have live for about 9 years so despite being really easy to care for they are a commitment as unlike more common pets such as hamsters they keep on going and going if looked after properly. 

And here's one of her out of her shell and expecting dinner. I think these guys are adorable!