Downsizing my life!

Downsizing my life! Well I’m giving it a go as there clearly aren’t enough hours in a day. The bugs are doing well, apart from the poor ‘new mum’ Tail-less Whip scorpion who I put in with my adult pair (Fred & Joyce) last week. They clearly took against her as when it came round to feeding day, I opened the cage to a very sorry sight, she had been attacked and half eaten! I had removed her from her babies ‘just in case’ but I thought (mistakenly) that the adults would be fine together. It seems that they are scorpions after all and will tolerate each other if they have been living in a colony or grew up together. They always seem to be such placid creatures but I suppose like other arachnids they come alive at night and hunt. I will certainly be more careful in future. I have never seen any cannibalism in the young ones but then I have never had any problems with the Heterometrus or Pandinus scorpions as juveniles.

Talking of coming alive at night – I mentioned in my last blog that I would arrange an evening where people could come along and look at my tarantulas and other arachnids when they are out and about and most active. I have decided that Friday 22nd July would be a good time so if you would like to come along please let me know. I will be happy if only two or three people call in but I don’t want to be “billy no mates”. I will give a 10% discount to visitors on the evening but there is no obligation to buy, you are welcome to just pop along for a look and a chat. It is nice to meet up with people, I have had several visitors recently. I have someone calling a bit later this morning. I will put a note on the website before the evening but it is still a couple of weeks away yet.

By downsizing my life, I mean anything that frees up time and isn’t essential. I have unsubscribed from the Practical Reptile Keeping magazine. It is a lovely magazine with beautiful photographs but I often only get the chance to literally look at the pictures before another one arrives. The magazines then pile up on my desk waiting to be read. It is always available at Pets at Home and I am a regular visitor there with all my animals, so I can just buy a copy when I have time. I have also unsubscribed from one of my competitions groups. I receive far too many emails and can definitely do without them.

I have decided that the school holidays seem like the perfect time to launch my children's parties and Ginny's Jungle venture so I will have to cut back on my regular bug business and therefore this will probably be my last blog for a few weeks. Please do continue placing orders and keep an eye on the pink information box for any news on my website. Sadly, the bug business that I have been running for well over 30 years is not as it was. I'm desperately trying to plod along but the business is hardly making any money and I therefore hope to do a couple of parties a week to keep things going. I just don't get enough orders anymore. I don't receive anything for the time I spend on animal care or answering emails and phone calls. I only get paid for the animals that I send out. I have had very few orders this week which is quite odd as it is the beginning of the month and this is usually my busiest time. I clearly need to diversify a little but I’m not giving up!

This week I received some UV torches (from China) and I am now selling them on the site. It is fun to view scorpions under UV light and very popular with kids, feel free to grab a torch if you are coming along on Friday 22nd. Has anyone seen any Stag beetles this year? I haven’t seen a single one (not even a dead one) and I’m very worried that the damp weather and lack of sun is the problem. Perhaps this is something I should ask on Facebook? I put a photo of my beautiful Mexican Red Knee, Lily on Facebook last week, I was surprised how many people viewed it and it was good to see that it attracted lots of comments (even if a couple of them weren’t very friendly). Social media really does make me feel my age, people say things to each other that they would never say face to face. My daughter tells me not to take it so personally and I do think I am getting a lot better than I used to be. I recall some years ago that a woman contacted me by email and asked me something very specific about the anatomy of a bug. I politely told her that I didn’t know the answer and she wrote back saying I shouldn’t be selling them then and was really rude. I couldn’t help writing back and pointing out that I thought perhaps she should consult a doctor rather than me. She was not happy with my reply and threatened to “get me”! I am not a scientist, I’m just a pet person, I don’t claim to have great knowledge. I just love animals.

I must get a move on, the bug room really needs a tidy up. That’s another good thing about having people call, it makes me clear up. I have been re-housing and swapping bugs over into yet more Wilko ‘CD boxes’ this week. They really are a perfect size but a lot of the old, unwashed boxes are sitting on the floor. I seem to spend a lot of time washing boxes and tanks. I am also spending a fair amount of time helping unwell family members, not something I can go into in this blog but another reason for cutting back on non essentials.