All going well

All going well J I have just re-read my last blog entry (I don’t usually). Wow, it was spot on! I wrote it when I was on holiday in Cyprus and it shows. Away from the chaos of home, I clearly had time to think and put it all down in words.

I have been true to my word and have been cutting back on animals and paperwork since returning from our holiday. I feel much better for it and I still have a crazy number of bugs to care for, especially tarantulas. I have been working on sales and last month was excellent. I started the month with a 10% discount off all items sold through my website and it was so successful that I continued it throughout the entire month. This month I am concentrating on tarantulas and have the “make me an offer on tarantulas” running. I am still trying to get down to a number whereby I can carry out a proper stock take and sort out exact numbers. I feed them all once a week (different sizes on different days) but it takes so long that I can’t find the time needed to get an accurate assessment. This is why it is helpful to both you and me when I am asked for photos. It means that I have a close look at an individual spider and can measure it for the correct size category and also check if it is too close to moulting for posting. If this is the case I then take it off the website and physically put the spider on the moulting shelf J (if the spider is larger than stated on the site, I never put the price up until the customer requesting the photos has decided if they want it!). Taking photos of an individual tarantula was one of my best ideas ever. Not everyone who asks for photos buys but most do.

Certainly, millipedes are popular this year. I sold many last month with the 10% off and I now have lots of little babies coming along to replace them in time. I always have more bugs than are showing on the website. I really enjoy breeding my little creatures and have many projects on the go. I have been especially lucky with scorpions and the like recently and have plenty of babies. The thing about feeding scorpions is that they don’t generally leap out of the boxes when I go to feed them, as the spiders so often do and what a bonus this is J However I do need to use a UV torch to spot some tiny scorpions, what a great tool this is. I love seeing the aquamarine glow. Since the wonderful Tim Baxter came along and showed everyone how interesting scorpions are, my sales have gone from strength to strength. They are very different from tarantulas and I am still learning all the time and enjoying it.

Well, I suppose I had better get on with the packing and posting, today is a busy day. Parcels to get off and plenty of things to catch up on as I had my beautiful, 8 month old grandson for the first full day yesterday and I can tell you it was exhausting. It was also great fun but the house looks like a bomb has hit and I got nothing at all done (I was too tired when he left). He is at the age when you can’t leave him for a second as he is now fully mobile J

A few things my wonderful customers can do to help (I know you want to as I am still receiving the most wonderful TrustPilot reviews almost daily – they really are lovely).

1) Ask for photos if you are interested in one particular spider (not half a dozen! It takes me ages

2) Pay by bank transfer (no fees for me and so easy to change the order or address – unlike PayPal)

3) Check the website before sending an email (you can’t make an offer on a tarantula I don’t have and if it isn’t on the site then I don’t have it for sale).

4) Call and collect (if you are near enough this is helpful, I don’t have to post it and you don’t need to pay for postage)

5) If I don’t reply to your email please don’t take offence, just give me a call (it is so much quicker and easier to talk)

Thank you x