Hi guys, welcome back to Animal Wonders.

I'm going to do another ask Jessie. You've asked questions and now i'm going to answer em.

All right. my first question comes from Liz j I have a question for the next episode of Ask Jessi. I live in Holland and I'm almost 14 now. But when I'm older I want to do something just like you're doing now.

So I was wondering, how do you get people to want your presentations? I mean, there had to be first time. So, how do you get people to know you?

Great question. In the very beginning when we are waiting for our permits to be approved in order to take the animals out to the public in exchange for a fee, we started by giving free presentations at local community events. It was at those events that we met some of our very first clients.

They had a great first impression. They enjoyed our honesty, enthusiasm for the animals and passion for education. The more free public presentations we did, the more people we got to meet and connect with.

And we eventually starting getting calls and emails requesting us for school programs and birthday parties. Our marketing strategy has always been word of mouth. My biggest tip is not having big and cool exotic animals it's getting the audience to have an emotional connection with whatever animal you're sharing with them.

Next question comes from Empep 12. I've heard lots of horror stories about parrots that love one person but attack everyone else. Could you explain why this happens and some ways to fix this problem?

I think this is a great topic to bring up. First off I think we should stop seeing it as a problem because it's actually a fairly normal parrot behavior. Some parrots accept multiple humans as companions but many will choose just one human to bond with and act aggressively towards everyone else.

If another parrot tries to come into their nesting site or interfere with their relationship they will defend both with vigor. If a parrot has bonded to a human this instinctual behavior remains the same just in a different setting. Pairs will try and drive intruders away from the human mate.

Or they could try and drive there mate away from the intruder. Meaning they will sometimes attack their human when another person comes too close. This is completely normal behavior and it's not necessarily something you can fix.

However, you can use positive reinforcement training to increase calm behavior when another person comes near. To do this the owner should give the parrot a treat every time the other person comes into the room. Don't haven't come too close at first.

You want to slowly introduce the idea that good things happen when they see another person. Over time, have them move closer until they can calmly sit or stand near the parrot without triggering their defensive behavior. There's a good chance that the parrot will never fully accept anyone else besides their chosen human.

But that's just the reality of parrot behavior. And the next question comes from Isobel Donnelly. Have you guys ever have an animal escape?

Yes we have, but it's not something I'm proud of because it means a mistake is made. We do have backups in place in case someone misses closing the door or locking a lock and I like to think that every mistake made is an opportunity to make improvement. Two notable animal escapes happened here in the reptile room.

I was doing my morning rounds and I discovered that the door to the corn snake enclosure was completely open. I immediately check to see if CS was still in her enclosure and of course she wasn't so I started checking the rest of the reptile room. Fortunately, when we designed the reptile room, we made sure that we sealed all possible exits so I knew she was somewhere in the room.

Later that day I found her happily curled up in the dirt of a plant on the top shelf. The other one happened with Daisy our red tail boa. Her enclosure has two locks and they have to be turned at the same time with the key in.

The problem was the keys have been left in from the day before when she was cleaned and she ended up rubbing against one of them causing it to turn and one side of the door was ajar. She squeezed her way out and made herself at home behind our heaviest stack of enclosures. She was so content in the tight space that it took three days to coax her out.

It's important to remember that all of us are going to make many mistakes in their life and if you work with animals sometimes your mistakes will involve the animals. We do our absolute best to minimize the chance of a mistake be made by having protocols and schedule. However, we also have backup systems in place that focus on preventing any harm coming to an animal if we do make a mistake.

Double barriers seal rooms, multiple check-ins throughout the day and written protocols are always to help minimize human errors. And our last question comes from Derek Brimhall. I've seen a lot of your videos and I love animals a lot too.

I have one question what animal is the hardest to take care of and why? I think the hardest animal for us to take care of is probably Kemosabe the prehensile tail porcupine. He's right there.

One of the reasons that he's difficult is because he's the only one of the species that we care for. So we have to order special food just for him and it's expensive. he also requires an arboreal tropical environment so that means that he needs branches to hang out on. Hi buddy, I know tell be about it.

Which means that we have to build him a sturdy climbing system so we can hang out in his tree fort. Another thing that makes him difficult to care for is that he's a very active guy and he's awake at night so we have to provide them a lot of toys and other things that help keep his mind and body stimulated. He also doesn't like to be touched so all of his care has to be done with his cooperation.

And probably the most difficult aspect of Kemosabe's care is his medical needs. Every three months he's a home visit for a veterinarian to trim down the overgrowth on his incisors. Since the only has one on the top he can't do it on his own.

This requires constant monitoring and also adds to his expense. Kemosabe is all cozied in now he's going to go back to sleep. I want to thank you guys for asking all of your questions if you have any more questions for me you can leave in the comments below and if you want to go on an adventure with us every week subscribe to our YouTube channel Animal Wonders Montana we'll see you next week.

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