Today Nala shed her final skin to become an adult mantis! You can see the skin behind her. The large blob by her foot is a moth, it doesn't realise that when she has 'hardened off' her skin and is ready for action she will go moth hunting...

I found Percy asleep against the glass today so I got my microscope camera out. The first picture is the underside of his toes. The second picture is of his funny thumb that looks like a flower, The third is his tummy scales and the last one his beautiful eye. It's hard to get a good shot without turning the camera light on and then it reflects off the glass. Need to try some different ideas...

My spiney mice like to cuddle up together when they sleep to keep warm. This is what they would do in the wild. For some reason Buttercup my smallest female likes to sleep on top of her sister, sometimes back to front. It looks like Blossom is wearing a bizarre nightcap...the expression on her face looks like she's not that impressed. I don't think anyone really wants to sleep with a bum right in their face! I like this picture partly because it makes me laugh, and partly because you can see the amazing 'hedgehog spines' very clearly.

I (sadly) found a dead blue tit in the garden, and took some pictures with my new microscope camera. The first picture is a close up of the feathers on it's cheek, the second picture is it's back claw. Amazing!

I was amazed to find this little one wandering around the giant stick insect cage this morning. I had adult leaf insects ages ago and they mated and laid their eggs.  Six months later this little one hatches out. ( I keep eggs in a pot in the big cage so babies have access to food and water as soon as they hatch).  I've never bred them before so it's really exciting! I was able to use my new camera microscope to photograph her, she's tiny!