Hi guys.  Welcome back to Animal Wonders.  I'm Jessi and I'm honored to be able to take care of all 84 of our incredible animals.  When we rescue an animal, it's our goal to offer them a home for the rest of their life.  Sometimes that means we get to care for them for years and years.  Other times, it's shorter.  However long they're with us, we do our best to give them the happiest and healthiest life we can provide.  It's always fun meeting our newest animals, but today, I'd like to focus on some of our oldest ambassadors.  By oldest, I mean those getting on in years but also those we've had the longest.

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This is Chongo, the lilac-crowned Amazon parrot, and he's been with us since just before we founded Animal Wonders.  He's one of the few animals that doesn't go out to public presentations because he gets really nervous with more than three people in the room and he doesn't perch very strongly, so whenever he gets nervous, he just bails right off my hand.  I've been working with Chongo for eight years now.  He's had a lot of trauma in his past, including trauma to his wings and trauma to his feet, and even if he never feels comfortable going out to public presentations, he'll always have a home with us.  

Chongo isn't the easiest guy to hang out with.  He loves his treats but he gets so nervous away from his home that I can only keep him out for about 15 minutes at a time and we're about to come up on those 15 minutes, so we're gonna go ahead and let Chongo go on back home.

This is Cheeks the rabbit and he's giving me kisses right now.  Cheeks is kind of a familiar face, but I wanted to talk about him today because he's getting on in years.  Cheeks is seven and a half years old and rabbits usually live between seven and ten years, so he's starting to show the signs of his age.  He looks healthy and he acts healthy and spry most of the time, but recently, he's been having some rough times. 

A few months ago, he had a bout of respiratory illness and recently, he's been having some trouble with his GI tract.  We're helping him with these issues and he's recovering quickly each time, but these things can start to happen when an animal nears the end of their life span.  Cheeks is such a cuddler.  He loves getting pets and back and head massages and even when he's out running around, he'll come and jump into my lap for some lovin'.  He's such an awesome guy!  You're awesome, huh, buddy?  I'm so glad that we're able to give him the care that he needs.

This is Domino the corn snake, and she was the very first snake that we rescued.  She's been with us for almost 11 years.  Domino is a sweet snake that went through a lot when she was a tiny snakeling.  We were able to help her through it and give her a lifelong home.  Over the years, we've rescued several other corn snakes and Domino hasn't gotten out to as many presentations as they have, because she does not enjoy being touched while she's held.  CS and Saffron, the other corn snakes, are comfortable being held by anyone and being touched by many people, so we can share them with our younger audiences, but Domino prefers slow, steady movements, so that's how we handle her.

The last guy I want to check in with is Gizmo the sugar glider.  We've already done a Meet & Greet video on him and his friend Gadget, which you can check out right here.  I've been spending a lot of time with Gizmo lately because we've had him for nine years and he's going on 12 years old.  Sugar gliders can live up to 20 years, but the average life span is about 10.  Gizmo has been an incredible ambassador and I'm so grateful that I've known him for most of his life and I'm grateful that we've been able to give him a happy and healthy life.  He has a spacious enclosure, great nutrition which is so important for sugar gliders, companions, and many, many adventures. 

Gizmo is starting to show the signs of old age, so I'm soaking up my time with him.  He's been a great friend and I intend to make his whole life as good as it can possibly be.  

Thanks for letting me share some of the oldies but goodies with you.  I just can't stop loving rescuing these awesome animals and giving them the best I can.  Thank you to all of our supporters, donors, and sponsors for helping us care for all of the animals at Animal Wonders.  If you'd like to help us continue our mission of rescue and education, you can donate on our website animalwonders.org or become a monthly Patron on patreon.com/animalwonders and get fun rewards each month, and if you'd like to go on an adventure with us every week, subscribe to our YouTube channel AnimalWondersMontana.  Thanks guys.

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Patagonian cavies do need vitamin C in their diet just like guinea pigs and we can keep all of these guys together because their diet is exactly the same, a base of grass pellets formulated with vitamin C.