I started a thread a while ago about getting an exotic mammel. Thanks to rorys advise i looked into an armadillo. They are excellent little things however im starting this thread again as my job may affect what animal i get.

My job is taking animals into schools to teach children about ecology, endangered species etc. I would like to take an unusual mammel to show them so obviously the animal needs to fit into my car and be very friendly.

Feeding and housing not a problem i can accomodate any animals needs, only problem maybe noise as i have a sensitive neigbour.

Any advise guys

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there are lots of mammals you could use for school talks as long as they are handleable, dont mind noise levels and are extremlt tame then any of these are perfect...
meerkat
skunk
african pygmy hedgehog
chinchila
racoon dog
armadillos
tenrecs
giant gambian pouched rats
mara
wallabies
they are more of the easily avalible ones but there are loads more you could you use if you bring the animals up perfect for interaction with children.
stu

So did you get an armadillo? We recently sold a pair to a friend of ours who wanted them firstly as 'pets', but also for the same reason as you, educational talks.

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i'd like armadillos one day, lovely beasties...

of this lot..

meerkat
skunk
african pygmy hedgehog
chinchila
racoon dog
armadillos
tenrecs
giant gambian pouched rats
mara
wallabies

meerkats.. certainly the ones i have worked with and known of.. i would think you would need an exceptional one to be able to actually take out and about and feel safe with.. i personally think there are more reliable options..

skunks.. un suprisingly, these would be a top choice.. of the 7 i have, 4 are reliable enough to take out and about for that sort of work.. and a further one is reliable as long as i am the one holding him..

APH's.. depends how cuddleable you want the animal to be.. aph's can sometimes be stroppy huffy balls of prickles.. one thats used to it, would i think be quite popular.. but not very hands on.. tenrecs, from the few i have seen and worked with.. have tended overall to be nicer animals to be around but even the tame ones i have known have still turned occasionally and gone for hands and fingers.. they have a very nasty bite to them.. and a tendancy to bite and hang on too..

chins.. again, depends how steady a chin you have.. kids do love them, although they are seen quite commonly in pet shops and so on, so may not be considered that unusual..

pouched rats.. again, a well handled well socialised one, would be great to take round.. i have seen ones that are very wild, and they are just manic.. so it would depend a lot on the animal and the upbringing its had

racoon dogs.. i have seen one that was taken round for education work, and was very sweet.. but only the handler could hold it..

armadillos.. i would say another top choice.. everyone seems to love an armadillo, lol..

mara and wallabies.. i am not sure i would have high up the list.. from what i know of mara, they are quite a flighty animal.. they are not exactly small either.. wallabies.. it depends which species.. bennets are known for being nastier than parma.. the parma are the smaller ones.. but even then.. i am not sure how reliable they would be generally to actually take out and about..

to be honest, most of the animals on the list.. if you had an exceptionally steady one, would be lovely to have as an education talking point.. but some of them, as species generally, are going to be overall better than others..

skunks, dillos, gambians, would be the ones i would say off that list..

gambians and skunks i think actually enjoy going out and doing new things.. skunks are definitely good for the cuddle factor and the hands on.. as long as you have one you trust with strangers

another one to look at.. but only again if you work with them from a proper young age.. are the ground squirrels.. richardsons and prairie dogs.. the two richardsons i have here were rehomed from a couple who did animal talks, they had not been worked with much as young ones tho, and so nip when they have had enough.. so were classed as not being reliable enough to work.

short tailed opossums can tame down really well too.. and might be a nice smaller animal to take along..

hth

Nerys

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I think it is very tempting to be able to take into a learning environment an array of exotics, but also l think that considerations do need to be addressed with the species that one uses.

Also it depends if you are going to the environment or the environment is coming to you.

In the case of the six or seven mobile educators that are clients of ours, they tend to work with animals that can not place them into a perilous situation if something was to go wrong, so an animal species that can be controlled very quickly.

Small to medium sized animals are best, not too small, and not too large.

Sometimes, as l am sure you will have done already it takes to check out the competition and see what they are handling and taking with them, and also to note what age groups they are working with so as to moderate the animals you take with you on that level.

If you look at Animazing , Jack Pressman , Beenie the Otter , Impeyan Parties

It takes as said looking at what the others whom are currently successful in their talks and lectures to see what the key ingredients are, and then adapting your own knowledge and experiences to it.

I knew of one chap once that wanted to take primates into the classroom with him, and we advised him not to do this, it is one thing if you have a controlled environment where 'parties' come to you and the animals are visible or not by their own choice, but completely another if you have a sudden squeal of delight from a child and one of your animals takes an
unprecedented leap and either injures itself or indeed injures a child.

Hope this helps

Rory

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Great advise as ever rory and nerys, dont worry rory im well aware how even the most dog tame animal can turn. Also Primates are a masssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssive no with me just from my own beliefs.

meerkat - i feel need to be kept in even larger numbers than pairs so no just cause i could care for 2/3 but not 6/7
skunk - can risk sprayng
african pygmy hedgehog - not very handable
chinchila - not very exotic im afraid
racoon dog - possibly though a lot more reserch needed
armadillos - still top of my list love em
tenrecs - woried about flighty nature
giant gambian pouched rats - us normal rats so not to exotic
mara - flighty nature not great
wallabies - possible but very animal dependant

think im looking at armadillos, racoon dog and wallabies

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skunks... descented ones... don't do da spraying thing

just a matter of finding one tho..

(i'd like wallabies.. if i ever got our paddock free of weeds (and suspect big cats.. lol)

N

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*thinks*

we do have a breeding pair of raccoon dogs on the books at the moment for a client.. we know the pair well having "met" them first when rory sorted out their import and q'tine into the UK. they have been sold on a few times.. (at one point they were down at Simons, where we could have bought them from him for us personally, and i wish we had done so.. but at the time declined)

i would not in any way class them as being workable for animal education... on the other hand.. if they breed, and you could bond with the youngsters.. now that would be a beautiful candidate for socialising and training for outside work with the public.

have you gotten insurance and public liability sorted and so on? as i do know that you will need both. you will also need to be CRB checked to work with the kids..


dillos.. few and far between.. maybe ask marie if she knows of any her end? they have never bred well in the uk that i am aware of especially.. maybe the odd one or two, but nothing consistant.. one pair who do breed always abandon the baby, and the baby is always male.. so that does not help make new pairs! most were imported from the EU, which is becoming a scarcer source as time creeps on.

N

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already doing the work lovey, so insurance crb the works has been done just looking for a new addition. Right google here i come racoon dogs lol

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ahh wicked.. was it hard to get the crb check sorted?? i've done a few trips into schools with the skunks and things, but only for friends and relatives.. i would need to get the crb thing sorted if i were doing it anymore i guess..

N

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