Me & My Menagerie

Warm sunny days can only mean one thing - sunbathing. Well why should the critters miss out ? Chinchillas and degus get taken out into the cool shade to sleep and play in a cooler environment. Lizards and snakes get to explore the Manor Garden :)

Kale

Diego

Shiver

Jackpot

Kale & Shiver

There are more photos from this session over on our Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/critterishallsorts

Wow !! What exciting times here at Critterish Allsorts - I haven’t done a major blog in a while, but I have been blogging the significant stuff as its happened … .

New Critters

New Logo

New Corporate Identity

Well it is all new - we have an ALL NEW AMAZINGLY AWESOME WEBSITE !!! Not only does it sport the new logo, and all of our critters, but you can actually click on your favourite critter and then SHARE it with your friends, as there are Facebook Like and Tweet buttons on each critter!!! If you want to adopt a critter it can be done from the new website too!!!

The logo and website were the work and brain child of Huw Rowlands (huwslife on here) and his awesome company Inspired Worx Web Design the man is a web artist, not JUST a designer.

Well we love the new logo, but it meant a total rebrand for us - so we have the new shirts that you have already seen, we have a logo’ed bag a whole new corporate identity!! Its fun, its fresh and its colourful, meaning that you will know when you’ve been CRITTERED :) On top of that we have now also branded our transport boxes, which have branded towels for the critters comfort

Looking awesome, I think you’ll agree - its those little touches that make it special!!

All of the new critters are doing well, Cake is growing, Mat is REALLY growing, Smooch is great fun and getting bigger and loving a fuss, Tori is still a typical king snake and mighty grumpy, Katarina is eating well and spinning like you wouldnt believe. We have had 3 newbies : Omega (a leopard gecko who was gifted to us and gets her name from the marking between her eyes) and Wubble (a whites tree frog who is awesome!!) and Tinkerbell (our new mini lop - who is an awesome pet therapy bunny)

There is a video of Smooch getting her regular exercise in Lizumba - chasing locusts all over the kitchen :) - on our You Tube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwjn-klX7iQ 

Bilbo is progressing well, and I am hoping to fly him at some point this weekend. He is returning to the glove more readily and we have really become close. Despite his attempts to try my patience, I have persisted and it has really been worth while. We have creance, will fly. We also have a transport box (kindly supplied by Bob Park of Armitage Bird of Prey Centre), so that we can start to take Bilbo out - he will hopefully make his debut this evening, for the Breakaway May Weekend Getaway - meeting children with bowel and bladder dysfunction.

Voting closes this weekend for the Whats On 4 Little Ones national awards, and we’re hoping that we’ve done enough to WIN the category that we were nominated for “Best Children’s Party Entertainment” - we will know towards the middle of May… . keep em crossed :)

We have been incredibly busy since mid January, recording record month after record month after record month. The business is really starting to come into its own and be a really successful venture. This is thanks mainly to our Pet Therapy contracts with two psychiatric hospitals in the Midlands. Between them these guys take around 6-8 full days of animal assisted therapy each month for their service users who see a great deal of benefit from their interaction with the critters. We are now working with them to develop a blueprint for animal assisted therapy, within mental health, which will see us pioneering this holistic treatment within this area of health.

Another thing that I have been busy with is a new initiative - C.A.R.E.S. (Council for Animal Resources in Education & Society). I have spear headed this, an idea I came up with after seeing a number of organisations in this business sector start up in the Midlands, without any of the proper organisational construction. This means that some of them are operating outside the law - not only could this cause harm to the public and animals, but is also potentially dangerous to the businesses who operate WITHIN the law, as it could tarnish our reputations. In addition to this the EU initiative on Non Native Species Control, will create a very close observation of our businesses in practice, and any operating illegally will bring us all under suspicion. CARES will provide a regulatory body to ensure that all organisations, like Critterish Allsorts, operate legally and to certain standards of excellence as laid down by the regulatory body - which will be run and manned by several of us in the business sector, and create a quality stamp of approval, that customers can use as a reassurance of the quality of service that they will receive. 

C.A.R.E.S. is still in its preliminary stages, but already has the backing of 5 competitors (all over the UK) offering the same high standard of service as Critterish Allsorts AND Staffordshire County Council … there are also other MAJOR animal welfare bodies who are wishing to back the initiative. The desire is to get all of the hard work done by the end of 2012 and launch CARES at the Education Show 2013 at the NEC in Birmingham next year. Wish us luck and watch this space.

Well I guess that brings us up to date … keep looking for the odd update showing new critters etc, and dont forget :

Follow us on Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/critterishallsorts

Follow us on Twitter : @CritterishUK

Check out the ALL NEW website : http://www.critterishallsorts.co.uk/home