The animals

Bearded Dragon (Pogona Vitticeps)

Origins and Habitat: Bearded Dragons are native to Australia, they can be found in arid, rocky semi-desert regions and arid open woodland.

Diet: Bearded Dragons are omnivorous and require a balanced diet including vegetables, live foods and nestling mice.

Reproduction and Health: Bearded Dragons reach sexual maturity between 10 and 18 months of age. Bearded dragons are oviparous which mean they lay eggs rather than give birth to live young.

Other Information: Due to their calm temperament, social behaviour and hardy nature Bearded Dragons are one of the most popular lizards in the pet trade. The Bearded Dragon is a member of the Iguana family which is believed to be amongst the most primitive lizard family.

Donkey (Equus asinus)

Origins and Habitat: Domesticated, ancestrally, around 4000BC in Africa, the male donkey is called a jack and the female a jenny. Donkeys require a waterproof and draught-proof field shelter or stable.

Diet: Donkeys are browsers and grazers and will eat coarser herbage that horses won’t. Concentrates will be required during the winter.

Reproduction and Health: Reach sexual maturity between 18 months and 2 years. The gestation period is 10-14 months with usually one offspring born. Donkeys are hardy but are susceptible to various conditions such as sweet itch, mud fever, ringworm and laminitis.

Other Information: Donkeys live to around 27 and have 62 chromosomes compared to 64 in the horse. Despite their Western extinction during the Ice Age, Columbus brought four jacks and two jennys to the new world in 1495.

Domestic Goat (Capra aegagrus hircus)

Origins and Habitat: First domesticated around 10,000 years ago in western Iran for milk, skins and meat production. Feral populations are still found throughout the world, including Australasia and Europe. Goats must have access to draught free shelter and be able to browse/graze in a well fenced paddock.

Diet: Domestic goats require access to grass and good quality hay. They should be fed concentrates during the winter and during pregnancy or milking.

Reproduction and Health: Goats reach sexual maturity around six months of age, although most breeders wait until the animal is 18 months old. Males are called billies, while the females are called does or nannies. Gestation is around 150 days with one to three kids born, usually disbudded (horns removed) between three and seven days.

Other Information: Lifespan is nine to fourteen years. Today goats are used for a variety of purposes: fibre; milk; butter; cheese; and meat production.

Domestic Ferret (Mustela putorius)

Origins and Habitat: Thought to be descended from the European polecat introduced to Britain by Norman Invaders in the 11th century. Domesticated to hunt rabbits, Ferrets are naturally curious and benefit from plenty of tunnels and climbing apparatus.

Diet: Up to 70% small mammals, the remainder consisting of invertebrates, ground nesting birds and amphibians. In captivity ferrets will feed on a meat based diet.

Reproduction and Health: Sexual maturity is between 6-12 months of age, the male is called a hob and a female is called a jill. Gestation is 38-44 days, though 12-17 kits can be born, the average is eight. The kits are born deaf, with their eyes closed, they cannot hear, don’t open their eyes or move until they are about three weeks old.

Other Information: Ferrets have been used for racing, showing, and due to their curious nature they have been used to feed cable through pipe networks.

Piranha (Pygocentrus nattereri)

Origins and Habitat: Piranha are a schooling freshwater species found throughout the Amazon Basin. They use a special line of sensors down the sides of the their bodies, called the lateral line system to enable them to find struggling prey in murky water.

Diet: Piranha mainly eat other fish, insects and worms and have short jaws lined with razor sharp teeth that are capable of tearing flesh off a fish much larger than themselves. They will also eat dead animals and bleeding and struggling animals are likely to be bitten in waters that contain large numbers of these fish. However, some species are vegetarian and use their teeth to crack nuts which fall into the water.

Reproduction and Health: Males will dig a nest in rocks and vegetation awaiting a female. The female releases eggs into the water which the male then fertilises.

African Leopard Tortoise (Geochelone pardalis)

Origins and Habitat: found throughout the savannahs of Africa in semi-arid (not dry), thorny-to-grassland habitats. It is the second largest tortoise in Africa.

Diet: this large grazing species requires a coarse, high fibre diet.

Reproduction and Health: wild tortoises reach sexual maturity between 12-15 years of age. In captivity sexual maturity can be reached in just six years. These tortoises can be prolific with some females producing clutches every 8-10 weeks, and each clutch can contain from 6-20 eggs. These eggs are large and spherical, averaging 40mm in diameter.

Other Information: African Leopard Tortoises do not hibernate. Leopard tortoises are probably the most manageable of the medium-large tortoises to maintain in captivity, and in recent years have become very popular indeed with tortoise enthusiasts. Unfortunately, much of this demand has been met by the importation of wild-caught and ‘ranched’ animals, rather than by animals that are genuinely captive-bred.

Corn Snake (Elaphe guttata)

Origins and Habitat: Corn snakes are native to the south-eastern United States and can be found in woodland, fields and around farm buildings.

Diet: Corn snakes are non-venomous and kill their prey by constriction. The bulk of the diet consists of mice and small rats although lizards will occasionally be taken.

Reproduction and Health: the snakes become sexually mature between 18-36 months and mating takes place between March-May with up to 30 eggs deposited and hatching between July-September.

Other Information: Corn snakes are a member of the Colubrid family, the largest family of snakes which accounts for two thirds of all snakes. Most Colubrids kill by constriction, although a few, such as the Boomslang can deliver a venomous bite and have caused human fatalities. Most venomous Colubrids are of little danger to humans as they are all rear fanged and have to chew their victim to inject venom.

Degu (Octodon degus)

Origins and Habitat: Degus are native to the Andes mountain range in Chile.

Diet: Degus can eat a good quality chinchilla or guinea pig mix and must have access to fresh hay.

Reproduction and Health: Degus are sexually mature at nine months and have a gestation period of approximately 90 days.

Other Information: In the wild degus can be found in groups of up to 90 individuals so in captivity they should be kept in single sex groups or with no more than one male with a group of females. Degus cannot digest sugar and are likely to develop diabetes so were first kept in laboratories to investigate their diabetic tendencies.

Domestic Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)

Origins and Habitat: The domestic rabbit is a descendent of the European wild rabbit and was originally used as a food source before emerging as a pet during the Victorian era.

Diet: A complete concentrate diet should be fed along with a high amount of fibre found in grass and hay. Vegetables such as kale, chard, water cress, broccoli, carrots and bok choy can also be included in the diet.

Reproduction and Health: Sexual maturity is reached between seven to ten months of age and the doe's gestation period lasts 28-34 days with between 4-12 kittens born.

Other Information: The largest breed of rabbit is the Continental giant (Vlaamse Reus) which often exceeds 20lbs.

Whites tree frog (Litorea caerulea)

Origins and Habitat: The Whites tree frog is native to Australia and New Guinea. They are mainly found in the forest canopy but can also be located in grasslands and swamps in cooler climates. Tree frogs can also be found around buildings and will often be drawn to household water sources such as sinks and toilets.

Diet: The bulk of the diet consists of insects and spiders.

Reproduction and Health: Sexual maturity is reached during their second year and mating takes place in the summer. Female frogs can lay up to 300 eggs which hatch after 36 hours. The metamorphosis then occurs in three weeks.

Other Information: Although frogs have lungs they absorb oxygen through their skin which needs to be moist. White’s tree frogs can live to 16 years old.

Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollnadicus)

Origins and Habitat: Cockatiels are native to Australia and are found in arid or semi-arid conditions but never far from a water source.

Diet: The basic diet should be a cockatiel seed mixture with cuttlefish, oyster shell grit and mineral blocks available. A selection of fruit and vegetables should also be offered.

Reproduction and Health: An initial clutch of 4-6 eggs are laid 7-14 days after mating, the female then lays more eggs on alternate days. When the last eggs are laid both parents sit on the eggs for approximately 21 days before the chicks hatch. Chicks leave the nest when they are five weeks old but are still fed by the parents for a further two weeks until they are self sufficient.

Other Information: Cockatiels live up to 20 years but have been known to exceed 30 years of age.

Domestic Dog (Canis lupus familiaris)

Origins and Habitat: Dogs are thought to be one of the first animals domesticated by man around 15,000 years ago.

Diet: The ancestor of the dog, the wolf, mainly preys on medium and large ungulates such as caribou, sheep, bison and deer. Domestic dogs are often fed a dry, complete meal or tinned dog food.

Reproduction and Health: The gestation period for bitches is between 59-65 days with an average of 63 days with the litter size varying. Dogs are susceptible to many diseases found in humans such as arthritis, cancer, epilepsy and diabetes.

Other Information: There are 209 breeds recognised by the Kennel Club of Great Britain.

Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigera)

Origins and Habitat: The chinchilla is a rodent native to the Andes mountain range in South America and can be found in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. They live in large colonies and can be found in burrows and crevices in rocks.

Diet: The bulk of the diet should be a complete chinchilla mix supplemented with good quality hay. Fruit such as raisins can be fed as occasional treats.

Reproduction and Health: The gestation period for chinchillas is 111 days and litters are usually small with twins being common.

Other Information: Chinchillas have the highest fur density of any land animal with over 20,000 hairs per square centimetre and it is considered the softest in the animal kingdom. Humans grow one hair per follicle compared to the Chinchillas fifty. Chinchillas must regularly bathe in sand to remove the moisture and oils from their coat.

Cat (Felis catus)

Origins and Habitat: The cat is thought to be have been domesticated in Egypt over 4,000 years ago and domesticated in Europe during Roman times.

Diet: Cats are carnivorous and require a high protein based diet to remain healthy.

Reproduction and Health: Cats are polyestrous which means they come into heat several times a year. The gestation period for a cat is between 63-65 days and on average three to five kittens are born.

Other Information: Cats cannot synthesize taurine, an organic acid found in meat. The absence of taurine in the diet can lead to a condition known as central retinal degeneration (CRD).