Based in Essex. Parties - Events - Filming - Photography - Schools - SEN & more! AAL 19/00027/PERANI
(60)
15/11/2024
TONIGHT!!! S2 of Silo drops streaming on Apple TV starring with a cameo from our veteran stunt rat Jason (pictured with his back up Bruce), for
This was our second time working with Rebecca (last time was 2018 on movie Life, also with rats) and she remembered us and the rats, with whom she was completely taken by and spent lots of time having cuddles with them on side of stage between takes.
When she learned that we name our rats after action movie hard men, Rebecca asked us if we would name our next baby stunt rat after her, and so our youngest little dude is named Rex! I'm sure you'll agree that (human) Rex is a total badass as Juliet in Silo, and we can't wait to see how this series plays out. Hopefully we'll get to cross paths with her again in Rex the rats' lifetime so he can meet his name sake!
14/11/2024
We are SO EXCITED for this one!! What an adventure it was doing this one for Charlotte Wilde Film & TV Animal Trainer
Oopsie! We forgot to fo a shout out for our veteran stunt rats, brothers Vinnie and Bruce, who turned two years old on Sunday! Happy belated birthday boys!! Two is officially old- sadly rats only tend to live for 2-3 years, they really break your heart, but they live life to the max with their super huge personalities.
These two are right on the edge of retirement, and to support them in their advancing age, they get special porridge for breakfast with joint supplements and oils to help keep them supple and in good health.
08/11/2024
🎬 Fab day shooting out on location with rattos yesterday for .tvanimals ... tricky set, and an action we'd prepped for a few weeks for! Veteran stunt rat Vinnie (left) smashed it, with his understudy Idris (right) waiting in the wings in case back up was needed, and youngster Rex (centre), who still has his L plates on, had a lovely day out getting used to all the sights and smells that are involved in filming. Obviously my supporting humans were all brilliant too!! 💪
02/11/2024
Did you know that snakes don't have eyelids, so can't blink! When they periodically shed their skin, they also shed the special scale that covers their eye. This bit is called their brille, spectacle or eye cap.
31/10/2024
Halloween fun at this week for their family day where Gracecand Joe got spooky with Max the boa constrictor and some of our awesome arachnids! Such a fun afternoon ☺️ 🎃👻🧙♀️🐍🕷
29/10/2024
Last weekends biggest (and cutest) star... the one and only, Chuck!
27/10/2024
Another epic day with the dream team at for the science festival... We heard there were something close to 6000 visitors yesterday and almost as many today! Wowee!! No wonder we're worn out! 😅 What a brilliant weekend of celebrating science, sharing our amazing animals with everyone and inspiring the next generation of youngsters to explore STEM subjects 🥰
26/10/2024
Four very tired but happy rangers!! What a day we had at
Huge thanks to everyone who came and made it an awesome day!
We'll be back tomorrow- Animal encounters 10sm til 3pm, three animals in film talks in the lecture theatre and big snake walkabout too!! See you there!!
23/10/2024
Look who's back out on the glove!! You might not recognise him now his head is gold instead of white (he'd gotten bleached from him love of sunbathing) but this super fresh looking fellow is our crazy boy Brandy! 🦉
He's finished molting after having a rest for the last 8 weeks (aka "stood down") to eat as much food as he can fit in his face and grow a new set of feathers. He was absolutely raring to get out and do a bit of flying today (second pic is yesterday before we put his kit back on, which he allowed us to do without catching orcrestrsining him 👌😁) and remembered all his cues, what a legend!
It'll be another couple if weeks before he's back on duty with bookings as he needs to work on his fitness and social skills after his time off, but he can't wait to get back out for some encounters with you lovely lot!
🤠 Our newbie Archer is still holding the fort and available to book for private 1-2-1 owl encounters in your home, schools, scouts, parties and more. Give us a shout if you'd like to book an encounter!
21/10/2024
So here's the BTS Rings bits I promised! There's not much because it was a pretty top secret project, but also we were very blooming busy the whole time we were on it! Started in October 2022, and worked on and off through to April 2023. There was SO MUCH that went on to prep for this job- measuring every reptile under the sun so they could decide which animals they wanted, lots of pics and videos being sent in, prep so the rabbits (that didn't make the final cut) could get used to working on a harness, and riding in a wheel barrow, sourcing loads of extra millipedes (that didn't get used at all!), sending in pictures of snails on the hand, on a glove, on a tray, and then a design that I came up with for the concession tray (that they ended up using for the actual prop I wore while in costume as a snail seller in the dwarf cave market scene!).
It took a lot of (wo)man power to take care of all the animals on set when we were shooting the desert scenes- most days we had giant bunnies, tortoises, dragon, skink, and stick insects on board. The weather was cold, so we had extra handlers on the team to get the animals sorted out in their heated on-set rest areas while those of us that needed to went through hair, make up, prosthetics and costume ( a process that can take up to and sometimes more than 2 hours and that we'd have to complete by 7-8am, so many mornings we'd be leaving the ranch at 3am or even earlier to get there in time.
Prosthetics was a new one for us- we're very used to wigs and occasional body padding, but having fake ears, feet or nose was wild, and a pretty gruelling experience to go though- I gained new respect for actors who wear prosthetics for films after this experience! All the prosthetics were individually made to fit us after a fitting day and we had several sets each to get us through the project. The hobbit feet were like thigh high latex boots, that took 2-3 SFX artists at once to get on you!
We didn't use any bugs in the end because the set was too dusty for their welfare to be looked after, and they were kept cosy inside a ventilated heated poly box on a thermostat! Because of the long hours, all our animals needed accommodation that provided them with their needs (light/heat/UV for reptiles) and space to move around, stretch and exercise, and to hide if they wanted to, which we facilitated with tactical towels or cardboard panels for visual barriers, and the rabbits huge travel box clipped straight onto a secure crate so they could come and go as they liked.
One of the fun things about working on big projects like this is meeting other specialists and learning about their jobs- I got to hang out with stunt coordinator Ashley Beck, who is a bit of a celebrity at my kickboxing club, which was super cool, and we worked very closely with the props team who were stationed next to our section, and were creating all the props our animals would (maybe) have to interact with such as the barrow, crates and baskets. They also fabricated the "dead" model rattlesnake you may have seen Dory taking venom from in one of the scenes- I was called on to consult on positioning the fangs inside it's mouth and training the actors how to "safely" handle the prop as if it was a real venomous snake to make the sequences look more realistic- and they did a great job, we thought!
This was such an epic project and we hope you've enjoyed watching it as much as we have- we're so grateful to Dogs & Animals for having us on board for it, and to the whole team at Exotic Explorers for collaborating with us too. It took a village!!
19/10/2024
Final episode of ... nice big close up of Grace with handler Sonia and stunt dog legends Barley and Opi, and a glimpse in the moonlight of awesome tortoise Zola, kindly loaned by for the project.
Boy we got cold, wet and muddy, (and hot and sweaty and dusty!) on those sets! Every day presented its own unique challenges but we always managed work it out and to crack a smile and have fun in between takes, and it's been so fun to see the fruits of our labour watching this iconic series! Massive thanks to Stuntdogs for having us on board this epic project and to all the amazing animal handlers and carers who helped make it possible. 🙏
17/10/2024
Join me next month at Anglic Ruskin University- Writtle Campus, when I'll be giving a talk about Human-Animal relationships as part of the guest speakers line up for the Chelmsford Science Festival!
This event is free to attend, but you do need to register (link in article)
CSES (Chelmsford Science and Engineering Society): The hub of Engineering, Technology and Science in Essex.
15/10/2024
We had a fantastic time last weekend at the Southern Veterinary Zoological Symposium running exotics handling workshops! Huge thanks to the zoo vet soc at Cambridge Vet School for inviting us and to all the delegates who came and took part!
12/10/2024
🎬 💍✨️ Rings of Power S2 Ep5... who spotted me!? Representing @ This time I was disguised as a dwarf (padded suit, massive wig, MASSIVE nose!) in the cavern souk, pedalling giant snails (snail concession tray, my design!), you might have also spotted a wee alligator I coordinated in the same set and then there's Harfoot Grace clutching Pete the dragon back in the desert settlement as the scary giant dudes rock up to make some threats...
Catch up with Rings of Power streaming on Amazon video and stay tuned for a bts feature post in due course!
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Who's seen Disclaimer? This was the epic job where we thought we were doing a handful of dates for @charlottewilde.tvanimals and it turned into almost a year, and me cutting my teeth as a cat trainer assisting Charlotte's team. This was one of the craziest and most challenging jobs I've ever experienced but what an experience! (When you watch it bear in mind that every time you see the cat its doing its moves on cue, with two or 3 handlers hidden out of sight, cueing it to do what it needs to do!) A total honour to shoot with Alfonso Cuaron and his team too, it was a film mak8ng process like nothing I've witnessed before, such was their attention to detail. Sadly our budgies didn't make the final cut but I'm so proud to have contributed to this one.
Streaming now on Apple TV.
#disclaimerseries #disclaimer #trainedcats #charlottewildetvandfilm
Earlier this month we visited two different regional youth groups within Essex to run careers focused animal encounters sessions- we had an absolute blast sharing our experiences of working with animals both in zoo careers and in the film industry, as well as a good helping of animal handling workshops with the young people who attended to sessions in Basildon and Stanstead respectively.
Massive thanks to the Essex Youth Services teams for choosing to work with us!
All our volunteers would agree that working with our cheeky barn owls is probably one of the biggest perks of helping out! Today our newbie Nicole learned how to safely and correctly fly a bird with our boy Archer, so she's all set to assist when we have the owls working at bookings, or when we carry out routine exercise with them. Way to go, Nicole! ✨️ Skills like tying falconers knots and reeling in the creance (safety line) take longer for everyone to master- all in it's own time though, and the challenging bits are all worth it when you're working with a bird on the wing! 🦉
#learningonthejob #volunteerperks #barnowl
Our gorgeous emperor scorpions turned 4 years old this summer and we love them to bits! Here they are, Apollo, Nebula and Orion, all returning to their enclosure after a big clean and spruce up.
Emperor scorpions are listed under CITES Appendix II, meaning they are not currently endangered but could become threatened if harvesting them from the wild is not regulated- their biggest threat in the wild being over-harvesting for the pet trade.
We are very proud that our scorpions were bred in captivity, right here in-house at Reptiles Etc! 🥰
#emperorscorpion #pandinusimperator #scorpion
We had such a fabulous time returning to the Essex Grapevine club to run an evening of animal encounters with the SEN group who's club members meet here every week. Rangers Kyra and Chelsea introduced everyone to a range of different creatures for super sensory experiences including slimy snails, smooth snakes, spiky lizards and fluffy rats to name a few!
Thanks to all at Grapevine for having us back!
#sen #animalassistedtherapy #group visits #animalencounters
It's been a while, but here's a #wildlifewednesday !! Dedicating this one to Arthur, who's inspired me to try and make more bug themed videos!
Meet the Garden Orb weaver! A very cool little garden friend. I was so lucky yo capture this one in action!
#spider #gardenspider #orbweaver #wildlife
Today was a very proud day! Archer did his first free flying (without his safety line)! Our owls usually work outside on a line (AKA "creance") on for two reasons- safety in case a gust of wind catches them, or they get spooked, also to help keep them safe from overexcited dogs and kids in public places, and secondly, because by law, flying birds of prey requires the land owners permission!
Our good pal Becks at @allthingsalpacaltd kindly allowed use to use her field which is a nice safe environment in which to exercise Archer. Thanks Becks! 🙏🥰
This morning our barn owl Brandy went for a vet check as something wasn't quite right with his molt- the physical act of molting can be uncomfortable and itchy, and new feathers growing through called "blood feathers" (as they have an active blood supply, which then recedes back one the feather is fully grown through and hardened up) can be very sensitive to touch and easily damaged.
Brandy being Brandy of course managed to damage one of the blood feathers on his wing about- possibly banging it while entering his next box or maybe it was itchy and he yanked it with his beak while grooming- either way, the half formed new feather got snapped and fell off in the aviary. Everything looked OK but we monitored him closely, and fast forward to this weekend, we spotted things were looking off in the area where he broke the new feather. A quick vet visit for a sniff of gas to knock him out for a close inspection revealed that the remaining part of the broken feather shaft wasn't growing through the sheath properly and was causing a bit of an issue, so the vet removed the remaining bit of feather, and a brand new one should now grow through normally and unhindered.
We are so proud of Brandy for being so calm and easy to handle today, as often birds of prey can get a bit wild or nervous when they're stood down and not in working condition, but he happily let me put kit on him this morning so we could safely transport and handle him without having to grab him, and didn't bat an eyelid when we wrapped a towel around him to give him gas.
While he was out and boxed it gave us a good opportunity to get in the aviary to mow the grass, weed, and give everything a good scrub down, and as you can see from the video, once back in his home he relaxed right away with good shake (watch and you can actually see the dander and a feather fall out of him!!) put his leg up (a sign of relaxation) and then once I left he got straight down to the important business of eating lunch followe
Been a bit rubbish with general animal content lately as we've gern so busy with film projects and shoehorn in our encounters bookings on the weekends! So, enjoy a moment if one of our adorable death head hawk moths enjoying some honey for breakfast!
This awesome species has evolved to mimic honey bees in order to infiltrate their hives to steal yummy honey without getting attacked by the bees! Turn the skull marking on their back upside down and it looks like a bees head!
Archer Update: Our new boy went offsite today for the first time and flew in the woods!! Last week was spent perfecting his hope out of the travel box onto the gl8ce, which had proved a bit challenging when moved into different locations. Once we had that down, we put him in the box in the van and ran the engine while stationary, brought him back in, hopped him out of the box to reward and repeated, adding short journeys to build up his confidence. He handled it so well it was like a different bird from the one we first brought home! Today he took everything in his stride and was so calm and focused while we took him out!
Next challenge is working more on his indoors work, as he finds that more challenging than working outside, but, he has made great progress with that recently too!
#barnowl
Join us is wishing our fabulous Ranger Kyra a very happy birthday!! 🥳 Here's to the best housemate, animal carer, trainer, general PA and friend anyone could ask for! Have a fantastic day lady! 🎂🎈🥰🎉🥳
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About Us
Originally established in 2007 as “Snakes and Ladies”, we have been operating full time as Reptiles Etc since 2015, headed up by Grace Dickinson, who has been working professionally in zoos and the film industry since 2002 (with many years voluntary work previous to this!) specialising in herpetology, falconry, education, displays and animal behaviour and training. Grace has an ND in Animal Care, a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Behaviour, LANTRA falconry qualification, animal transport certification, City and Guilds Award in Education and Training. Grace has worked a lot in reptile rescue and rehoming as well as wildlife rehabilitation and conservation volunteering, and over the years has gained some amazing friends and colleagues in animal industries that have taken her all over the world in search of knowledge and new experiences!
Having kept exotic pets since 1995, Graces’ biggest passion is sharing her animals and knowledge with others, and that is what lead to the birth of Reptiles Etc- allowing her to work her passions alongside a zoo career, and now full time, whether it be running animal training workshops at conferences, zoo consultation, lecturing in colleges and universities, educational show and tell sessions in schools, animal encounters at fetes and kids parties, “face your fears” sessions for corporate teambuilding functions, or training animals for TV, film and media or writing for specialist magazines and even performing walkabout and belly dancing with her snakes at special events!
Reptiles Etc have a wonderful selection of creatures, all tame, trained, licensed and fully insured for purpose, and almost all of which are from rescue or rehome backgrounds. Grace workes closely with a dedicated team of cherry picked, qualified zoo and education professionals to bring only the very best services to you, no matter what your requirements, be it education, action or introductions, with the very highest standards of animal welfare, always!
Do visit our website, www.reptilesetc.co.uk for more information or send us a message today with any enquiry or for a quote, we can’t wait to hear from you!
You can also follow Grace on Instagram @gracedickinsonswildlife for a range of animal related videos from wildlife and nature to animal husbandry and exotic pet advice!
Worth Noting: Did you know, the law changed last year regarding the hire of animal encounters and performing animals? The Welfare of Animals Regulation 2018 came into full affect in April 2019 and means that if you are hiring animal encounters or performing animals for events, film or photography, the company you choose MUST, by law, carry an Activities with Animal License (AAL) and display their license at public events they partake in as well as on the homepage of their websites and social media. We are proud to have passed our inspection and carry this license.
Our AAL Certificate Number is: 19/00027/PERANI.
While you are welcome to hire animal services from others, please make sure if you hire animals from any company or individual that they have this license to assure the welfare of their animals and your own compliance with the change in legislation. The original “Performing Animals License” become obsolete from April 2019.
