Week 22

This week, we were on the animal unit which is my favourite thing to do at college. I spent my time cleaning out rabbits and guinea pigs as well as feeding them and giving them water. I also changed the drinking water in the red footed tortoises. This was difficult as there was no automatic drain and the water had to be soaked up using a sponge whilst I was in the enclosure itself. The enclosure was a room by itself which you needed to climb in using step ladders. There were a lot of bugs everywhere and it was very humid as the heat lamp had been on. I refilled the pond with a hose pipe as well as filling up the water in the pond. Next, I used a pressurised spray to spray water all over the environment, although I had to be careful not to spray any of the lamps or the glass or else the window would have to be cleaned.

After that, I was told that the elderly gecko needed bathing as she was unable to shed her skin properly. To do this, I used lukewarm water and put her in it, splashing it over her slightly to moisten the skin, I was then able to easily peel it off. This was really fascinating because it came off in a sheet and you could pull the skin off her fore limb like a glove and you could see the fingers in the remaining skin.

This process is completed roughly every 2 weeks. Usually, they are able to do this alone but her age limits her and she struggles to do so.