A very busy week with lots of new stock coming in. I now have several species of captive bred juvenile scorpions, which is great because they are generally not that easy to breed. My own scorpions are doing well, two Flat Rock scorpions and an Imperial scorpion are carrying babies on their backs. I have housed my remaining two South American Fishing spiders in a large tank and I am hoping that they will breed. One is an adult male and I think the other is a fully adult female but I cannot be absolutely sure. I thought the male had been eaten yesterday, I checked all the hiding places but then realised that he was sitting beside the female on the same piece of wood. It's amazing how well camouflaged some animals can be. The spiders were the same colour as the wood and almost invisible until they moved.
Later today I am expecting another delivery of spiders, scorpions and various creepy crawlies. I do feel that the older I get, the odder this job seems. I know that most regular people would consider it 'different' but I have been doing it for such a long time that I would expect it to become 'normal', well at least to me but I do find that I avoid telling people that I meet exactly what I do. I tend to tell people that I run a small postal business from home and if they push it, I fib and say it's a stationery business. It seems to keep people happy and is boring enough for them not to ask further questions. When I was packing up orders and listening to the radio a couple of days ago, a song came on with the lyrics "welcome to my silly life". It gave me a laugh as I thought that just about sums things up!
I discovered that my best friend 'Google' has yet another use this week. A day rarely goes by when I don't consult Google on something but I have now discovered Google translate and it is brilliant. I don't send many orders aboard and most people speak good English, which is just as well because I only speak English. This week a guy from Greece has been trying to order from my website. The order would not complete because some of the items were collection only and he had also chosen the collection in person option. This obviously wasn't possible when he is in another country. I tried to explain the problem in various ways but I know absolutely no Greek. In desperation I put 'Greek translator' into the Google search and then I just typed what I wanted to say for an instant translation - magic! Thankfully the poor guy managed to get his order accepted yesterday and I shall be posting it on Monday.
I'm glad that Spring is just around the corner now, there are buds on the bramble and I can't wait for the garden to get going again. I am really having problems feeding my Peruvian Fern stick insects, they are not at all fussy and I have ferns growing all around my garden but the leaves are really tatty looking and there just aren't that many left. I daren't buy potted plants as it is impossible to know if they have been treated with insecticide. Many years ago I lost my entire collection due to a treated plant. The stick insects had just matured, I put them into a larger tank to breed and purchased a lovely new fern from the same shop as my previous ferns. I was told that the ferns were untreated, the others had been fine but the next day all my stick insects were dying on the ground, literally on their backs waving their legs in the air. If you have ordered Peruvian Fern stick insects recently you may received several more than you ordered and now you know the reason. The eggs keep hatching, if only they would wait a few weeks!
Well I had better get a move on and sort out some room for all the new arrivals. I need to clear the tables and get everything prepared. I have already sorted out the different size crickets and printed the labels for the boxes and cages.
I must just say that people reading this blog sometimes send comments via the website. I do always read the comments but I don't actually know what to do with them! I get the message 'edit comments' but then the notes are added to my blog and they are generally quite personal and I doubt people would want them on view to everyone. Therefore if you do want to reply to something in my blog or comment on anything, you are most welcome to but it is probably best to just send a regular email to me at virginia@virginiacheeseman.co.uk.
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