This week we were extremely lucky to have had a visit from Ash from Zoo Lab. Ash bought along some of her fascinating pets with her which the children got to touch and hold.
Zoo Lab amaze, educate and inspire through their ethical and engaging animal encounters. They educate audiences about animals and the natural world.
We met Seamus the giant snail. We found out that a snail is a cousin to the octopus because they both have tentacles. He can also grow to be as big as a football!
We guessed what snails might like to have for their dinner…
“Lettuce” – RU
“Leaves!” – MF
“Even an octopus has tentacles!” – AC
“Snails don’t have hands!” – CS
“Does he have friends?” – JW (He doesn’t as he lives by himself)
We found out that snails drink through their skin and that when they eat red peppers their poo is red! They also have more teeth than any other animal in the animal kingdom and have between 10,000 and 20,000 teeth on their tongue! He also has two noses…so he can smell two different things at the same time!
We met Squib the Snow Leopard gecko. We found out that Squib comes from the desert where there is lots of sand! Squib had a bumpy back and a smooth tummy. His bumpy back helps him from not getting hurt by the sand. We also found out that he can be hunted by predators and when he does he can drop off his tail! It will eventually grow back!
“Does he change colour?” AC
“He’s very soft” – CC
“His ears look like stars!” – MS
We found out that Squib’s ears go right through to each other with a hole. This is in case sand gets in. We also found out that he likes to eat crickets and cockroaches for his dinner.
“How fast can he run?” – SG (He can run up to 3mph!)
“He’s spinning around!” – TO
We met Hagrid the cockroach! He was a Madagascan Hissing Cockroach. We learned that he has a brain in both his head and his bottom! He could also survive almost anything and live in a freezer for up to 5 years! There are only four things Hagrid wouldn’t eat…glass, metal, plastic and stone.
Hagrid hisses “Like a snake” – AL
We also met Luna a 6 year old tarantula. She came all the way from the Island of Honduras. She can live for around 25 years! Whereas male tarantulas might only live until they are 5. We learned that the hair on her legs are actually her ears! She had eaten her dinner last night so was feeling pretty lazy! She had eaten one cricket.
We learned that Luna likes to catch her food with her front legs before injecting it with her fangs and then making a bug soup! Yummy!
“Does she make a spiders web? – CS
She doesn’t climb in case she falls. She makes a rug of spider silk which she lays her eggs on and then gathers it up and hangs it nearby where she watches her eggs and looks after them!
We learned that the biggest tarantula in the world is a Goliath Bird Eater which can grow to the size of a dinner plate!!
We met Dobbie the tree frog! He had big sticky toes for climbing. We found out that Dobbie wasn’t very good at swimming as he didn’t have webbed feet. Dobbie breathes through his skin, whereas “we breathe through our mouths” – AC
“What does he eat?” AF
We learned that Dobbie can change from green to brown depending on which part of the tree he is on and that he loves to eat three crickets for this dinner. Another fun fact that we learned was how Dobbie uses his eyes to push his food down into his throat to help swallow what he is eating!! Dobbie’s croak sounded like a dog barking!
“I have the same power as a frog does! I can climb the walls…unless they are slippy!” CS
Next we met Harry and Dumbledore the gerbils. They come all the way from the desert!
“They are so nice together” CC
“What is his colour? What is his tongue like?” – AF
Harry and Dumbledore both like peanuts as well as all the food we like to eat such as fruit, veg, scrambled egg and roast chicken! They have a life expectancy of between 3-5 years which is the longest of small mammals. They use their tails to help them balance. They can also drop their tails off and run away from a predator, however, it won’t grow back. They live in big families in the wild and love to take care of each other!
Next we met Ronald who was a Giant African Chocolate Millipede! Ronald doesn’t have good eyesight so he uses his antenna to find his way around. He only had six legs when he was born and now he has over 300! His skeleton is on his back which he can shed and then grow a new one!
Finally we met Flickwick who was a stick insect! He had brown and white markings and came all the way from the Philippines!
