A Paw-some Night at Guides!

Did you know that a hamster can run the length of a human marathon four times in one night? Or that a female tarantula can live for 20 years? Neither did we until we went to our local Pets at Home store for a free animal workshop!

We got to meet lots of the animals and learn all about them. First we met Gus the Syrian hamster who is two and a half years old, which is pretty old for a hamster! He isn’t for sale, he lives in the office as the store’s pet! He was very patient and let all 11 Guides have a cuddle. He had long claws but they were soft so they didn’t hurt you.

We also met a lovely bunny rabbit called Marble who had one droopy ear and a guinea pig called Geoffrey who was only 12 weeks old! Emma from Pets at Home told us all about the animals and how to care for them.

Then Jamie showed us a coral snow corn snake and we all took turns at holding him. Even Ruby and Katy held him and they weren’t too sure at first! He felt cold and was very strong. Jamie told us he is just one long muscle! We learnt that you can only stroke a pet snake in one direction or you might damage its scales.

The last pet we met was a Brazilian red knee tarantula! Lots of us thought we were scared of spiders, but actually the tarantula was really calm. He wasn’t at all like a house spider. Jamie told us that the tarantula flicks its legs when it gets stressed. Unfortunately we didn’t get chance to meet the chameleon because he was feeling grumpy that day!

At the end of the workshop we said thankyou to Emma and Jamie and we all got our Animal Active badge! It was really great fun, we loved the animals so much that one of the mums said we should get searched before we left the shop to make sure we hadn’t got any hideaways in our pockets!

By 125th Edinburgh Guides