Hey guys, we're back here at Animal Wonders, and the season is changing! At least it is here in the United States. For those of you around the world that are just now experiencing spring or going into your dry season, keep this video in your files and pull it out when those temperatures start their descent.

We're talking about autumn! In nature, wildlife during this season is going to either be going into like crazy overdrive preparing for winter or they're going to be seriously slowing down preparing for hibernation. Since the animals that we care for are in our home, they're not dependent on their ability to survive, they're dependent on us, we need to provide them the necessities.

Here's some guidelines to help the animals in YOUR care make the transition as stress-free as possible.

(Intro)

Autumn weather is my favorite. I live in a temperate forest of North America, literally surrounded by trees and mountains. I think my favorite part about this season is the awe-inspiring colors. And the crisp, cool evenings.

It is weird that it's so beautiful, but everything is really dying. Well, the leaves are dying.

The shortened days trigger a lot of changes, so here are five things that you need to be aware of when the weather starts to turn.

Shortened light cycles and cooler nights are gonna trigger a lot of our furred friends to pack on some extra fat, and grow a thicker fur coat to help protect themselves against the impending cold. This process is gonna take extra energy, so you can help by providing extra food in their diet. So the increases dependent on their species, breed, size, age, temperament.

So Ruby (laughs), since she's pretty young, she's pretty large, and she's incredibly active with short fur, she's gonna get about 40% increase. But a smaller pup like Charlie, he's older, he has thicker fur, he's less active, he's prolly gonna get about a 10% increase in diet. Kiki's probably getting about a double her diet because this is gonna be her first winter and she's teeny tiny with no fat reserves.

If your dog or cat is strictly indoors, you don't need to increase their diet because they're not going to be experiencing the cold.

All the wild animals in your neighborhood are gonna be preparing themselves for winter. Squirrels and chipmunks are gonna be actively collecting and storing nuts to survive the cold winter months ahead. Be aware; don't let your pet be a nuisance.

As snakes prepare for hibernation, they're gonna get a little grouchier and more prone to strike. So just keep your dog or cat from interfering in that important process and keep them out of harm's way. 

Small rodents are gonna be looking at your home to cosy up and snuggle into. If your pet consumes one of them, you're looking at parasites, making a home in your pet; a dewormer is in order. Be aware that rodent poison may be used by your neighbors. It's a really toxic substance to all animals, so that's putting your pet at risk. Talk to your neighbors about letting you know if they're using the poison. Try and advocate against it, it's a really painful way to die. Some other alternatives are humane traps and ultrasonic pest repellent. 

Speaking of toxic things, antifreeze with ethylene glycol in it is extremely toxic to small animals. Ethylene glycol damages the kidney, liver, and brains and just three ounces of it is able to kill a medium sized dog, which is easy to do because it's sweet and they really like the taste of it. If you need to use antifreeze, look for those that use propylene glycol as a pet-safe alternative.

Fungus can become abundant wherever there's a good amount of moisture. Fall and Spring are the times that you need to watch out for poisonous mushrooms. There's a link below for identifying poisonous mushrooms in North America.

Make sure that the animals in your care always have access to fresh water. If it's freezing in your neck of the woods, check that the water isn't freezing. An easy way to prevent that from happening is just get a heated water dish, pretty easy to get one of these, and plug it right in, you're good to go. That takes care of our outside friends. Let's head on inside for the rest.

For those of you with birds, herps (reptiles and amphibians), or other exotics, check for cold drafts in your home that might be affecting your animal friends. These smaller tropical animals are very susceptible to respiratory infections if they're kept to close to an air vent. Windows are terrible at keeping in the warmth. Move an animal's home away from the window and if you can't, then make sure at least half of the window is covered with a thick blanket to make sure that they have the option to stay warm or cool.

If you have a new pet, brush up on your research and double check that you're providing the right kind of environment for your species. UV, heat, and humidity are incredibly important for the colder season. At Animal Wonders, we have a few more things that we need to take into consideration when it starts getting cold. We put the entire compound's ventilation system on a new schedule, to prevent cold drafts from affecting the tropical birds and other sensitive species. We turn up the heat in the reptile room, we plug in Kemosabe's heat pad in his tree fort, we plug in the heated perches and the heat lamp for Hera the Harris's Hawk. Those are just a few of the things on our to-do list right now. When the weather really starts getting cold, 20 degrees and below, we have a whole 'nother set of preparations to enjoy.

Thank you for watching, and thank you for taking such good care of your animal friends. A big special thank you to our Subbable subscribers for helping us create this content. If you guys have any questions or comments or you wanna tell me a story about Autumn or season changing or about your animals or anything, you can find me on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, or put comments below. Thanks, guys!

(Outro)

Hey guys, I'm Jessi and this is Animal Wonders. Porcupine!

Knock knock?
Lettuce.
Lettuce in, it's freezing out!