Grand Design Show

It's been an up and down week, Monday was another Bank Holiday (we went to the Grand Designs Show, very interesting). Tuesday was slow sales and enquiries wise but I had plenty to catch up on. I was supposed to go in a hot air balloon on Wednesday but yet again it was cancelled due to the weather (too windy). My son bought a voucher for my birthday last year, it is something that I have always wanted to do - I will have to re-book it again! Thursday was a manic day, loads of orders coming in and the phone didn't stop ringing. I'm always moaning about praying mantids taking up lots of time and not selling but recently I have found them selling really well. I'm delighted because I adore praying mantids, I love the way they turn around and look at you. My last two Green Shield mantids went off yesterday to be filmed for a BBC program. I reared them up from an egg case that I bought and I had hoped to breed them but unfortunately my female fell down on her last moult and ended up stuck in her skin. I tried to remove the old skin but it was hopeless. It's very sad when this happens, it tends to be mostly large female bugs on their final moult. I often hear about this with Jungle Nymph stick insects. It can be a sign that the animal has got a bit too dry and I think this was the problem with my mantis. I hadn't kept this species before but I should have realised by their bright green colour that they needed a higher humidity than most mantids. We live and learn.

I now have four baby Crested geckos, three hatched in the cage with the adults (in a moss box) and one hatched in my makeshift incubator. They are so cute but I am thinking that I may need to sell some of my baby reptiles to pay for my growing collection. I have spent a fortune on reptiles recently, new Exo Terre vivariums, lighting for the tanks, waterfalls to keep up humidity and of course food. I feed my baby geckos on jars of baby food, as well as small crickets and other bugs. My Corn snakes are growing well and looking beautiful. I chose three completely different coloured snakes (well I am a girl). The trouble with selling reptiles is that they are 'proper' animals to me and I cannot bring myself to sell them to just anyone. It is a real problem, I don't want to upset anyone. Several people have shown an interest in my baby geckos, my daughter says I should interview people! Anyway I have decided on May 30 th for my open afternoon. I will put the details on my website soon. I have lots of used tanks and boxes that I could do with selling, they are taking up too much room in my shed and on the verandah. I will get them sorted out for that afternoon and hopefully clear some space and you will get some bargains. I also have some surplus food plants, Privet, Eucalyptus etc.

Well I am off to Henley college now, it's raining and I have agreed to take my daughter and her friend as neither have any lessons until later this morning. My daughter's AS level exams start on Monday!