Adventures Running An Exotic Animal Sanctuary

I started rescuing animals when I was 16-17 and continued for nearly a decade. It all started when I got my first pair of sugar gliders (Mimzy & Misfit) from a pet store that kept them in a tiny, filthy cage with an incorrect diet. Misfit was sick and I gave up all my xmas gifts and anything I could to cover the vet bills and ended up with a dead glider on christmas morning. I was devastated to say the least! And thus sparked my passion to save animals from squalor living conditions. I did this all from my own pocket but for the first few years at least I got free rent at my dads as a teenager. Sometimes people would donate gaming stuff as that was my means of making money which I will post on in the future cause it's pretty interesting. I had to dig to find these photos that go back to when I first started and am sad to realize many have been lost but at least I have these to show you! Though I have a feeling this post is already going to be ultra long.

This here is Boo. She was found in conditions even worse than my first gliders. Being fed bird seed mix, alone in a tiny cage needing medical attention. (Sugar gliders should never be kept alone, they can actually get so lonely they will self mutilate) As you may notice she is missing her right arm. It had to be amputated.

She only got to live a couple more years but it was worth it to see her thriving for that time of her life. She was the sweetest glider who ever stole my heart.

I attached two large bird cages to give them room to glide and filled it with plants

Bella (left) & Penelope (right) on the wheel and Mutah's fat butt below. Those exercise wheels were a blessing, they are lined with sandpaper to keep their nails trimmed

Boo & her family members: Penelope, Neffer, Mutah, Lilo, Bella & Mimzy. These cute fluffy butts got fresh smoothie every day with supplements along with insects, chicken or eggs for protein. Sometime's I'd make them little meals like shepards pie.

All snuggled up in the same pouch. Introducing gliders is a funny process. You switch their pouches so they gradually get used to eachother's scent and then put them in their separate sleeping pouches on 'neutral ground'. A bathtub is ideal for this as it's clean and they can't get out. You do this early in the morning when they're about to go to sleep and they eventually end up in the same pouch. It's so cute!

Picture of me with Mutah on my shoulder munchin a cashew

With my glider family growing I obtained a huge enclosure 8x4x4.

I eventually got my first intact male excited to raise joeys. This is Icarus

Since gliders should never be kept alone and finding a friend can prove difficult (Had to get Mimzy's friend all the way from Washington) I decided breeding would solve this issue for other people and be wonderful to get to experience.

He was quite the character. That tire swing is HIS haha along with all the mealieworms!

And so I ended up with my first joey. This is Shippo

My first ferret named Stinker

I always got a kick out of how that rubber human skull was the favourite ferret toy

Suzie

Suzie loves treats

Squall loves snuggles

Goofy boy

Chinchillas

These are unfortunately the only photos I have of them

First reptile - Bearded Dragon Spyro

These guys are so much fun! And I loved the excuse to keep crickets. Their chirping is so soothing.

Savannah Monitor Dobby

Put my first glider enclosure that they frayed with their claws to good use!

I scored this gorgeous 240 gallon aquarium for only 300$ to provide a roomy habitat for fish that outgrew their tanks and their owners didn't wish to upgrade. I would spend hours watching them swim & interact. Fish are fascinating. Some of the species who resided there: Silver dollar, Gourmai, Maroon, Bala & Iridescent sharks, Barbs, Oscar, Royal Clown Knife, Angel & Parrot (this guy would let you pet his head and swim up to your fingers)

Mississippi Map Turtle - Was so awesome that this guy co-existed with the fish

A hybrid red tail / tiger shovelnose catfish I really wish I had photos of. This guy was already big at just under 2' and would've gotten much bigger. I knew I could only have him temporarily but whilst I did he got to eat all kinds of seafood, sooo much shrimp. Was fun feeding him because his appetite was veracious, watching him snap up big hunks of shrimp was great fun. His previous owner's tank broke so he had to get rid of him asap. I was happy to oblige!

Royal Clown Knife fish - These fish are so cool! They are essentially blind and use echo location, they can also tell food to swim into their mouths with their mind!

*Did you know that most fish see the same way we do? Same colours & vibrancy

Mr. Kitty the neighborhood cat

A portrait I did of him

At around age 19/20 i took a veterinary asst course (which I will post about in the future). Then at age 21 I moved into my own place and as you can see the sanctuary has grown! Sometimes I would babysit people's pets whilst they went away. And sometimes I would take on animals because someone was moving and look after them until I found them good homes.

Aquaponics setup = fresh leafy greens for animals such as the Iguana & Basilisks

Had 7 ferrets at this time - Squall, Luna, Dorothy, Sigmund, Suzie, Stinker & Crash. I let them run around the basement for the most part. (Which is why you don't see any in this photo lol) But when I didn't this was their ferret nation mansion. Ferrets are a riot, let me tell you! They've stolen and hidden many things on me including my wallet a number of times.

My next place I lived at was my transition into being a homesteader which I will post about eventually. The house at this property was entirely donated to the critters. There was a room for ferrets, a room for dogs attached to a yard they could freely go in and out of, a room for the gliders with their 8x4x4 enclosure attached outside. And a reptile room.

And so concludes this post before it gets way out of hand haha