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Matt’s Minibeasts & Friends

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Matt’s Minibeasts & Friends

Based in the East Midlands- Reptile/ Minibeast Parties, School Visits, SEN Visits, Scout/ Guide Group Talks, Events, Country Shows & many more! 🐍 🦎 🐢 🕷️ 🐌
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05/06/2026

Welcome to this weeks ‘Factfile Friday!’ So on Monday, we introduced Tammy, our Brazilian Black Tarantula (& made a few people jump with her bold appearance! 😆)- let’s now learn about them!
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Like other female tarantulas, female Brazilian Blacks, can live a very long time. Some have been known to live for up to 40 years!
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Juveniles & young Brazilian Black tarantulas, are born more of a charcoal/ brown colour, then gradually becoming jet black!
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All tarantulas have 8 eyes! Please see the photo of the formation of these eyes. There are 4 eyes that are a bit larger than the others, but they all work together with their main job, to detect predators. Spiders have multiple eyes to be able to see all around them- detecting the shadows and presence of larger animals.
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There are over 900 species of tarantula in the world! Some are as tiny as your finger nail, whereas some can get to the size of your dinner plate! Some are harmless, whereas others, if they were to bite you, would cause severe pain and discomfort.
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When you look above a tarantula and count its legs, you could be mistaken to think it has 10 legs due to its 2 pedipalps located at the front of the body. These are 2, more like feelers, than legs and are used as sensory organs to help them feel their environment and they help to get hold of and manipulate their prey!

01/06/2026

Welcome to week 21 of ‘Meet an Animal Monday’.
This week we are going to introduce Tammy, the Brazilian Black Tarantula! 🕷️

Brazilian Black Tarantulas are sometimes referred to as the ‘Black Lab’ of the tarantula world, due to their calm and docile temperament- and Tammy is just that! Her look however, can put some people off, as she does have long black legs that can make people fearful of the well known, black spider! Brazilian Blacks are standard to large sized tarantulas that can grow to have an 8 inch leg span & this species occupy areas of Uruguay & the grasslands of southern Brazil.

Join us on Friday to learn more about Brazilian Black Tarantulas! 🕷️

29/05/2026

Welcome to this weeks ‘Factfile Friday!’ So on Monday, we introduced Bella, our Boa Constrictor- let’s now learn about them!
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This species of snake is native to Central & South America- ranging from Mexico to Argentina!
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Just like in their name, Boa’s are constrictors. They are a non venomous species of snake that kills their prey by giving them a good squeeze!
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As we mentioned on Monday, Bella is just under 8ft in length! This isn’t as big as they can get. Some adult females can reach 12 - 13ft in length, however this is rare.
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Boa Constrictors are ambush predators. This means they sit and wait for their food to come to them! They will blend in to their environment and wait for their prey to come in close enough reach, for them to strike out and constrict. Other, more slender bodied snakes, are active foragers who will go and hunt for their food.
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Female Boas give birth to live babies! This is quite rare with snakes as the majority lay eggs. Only roughly 30% of the worlds 3,900 species of snakes, give birth to live young, instead of laying eggs!

25/05/2026

Welcome to week 20 of ‘Meet an Animal Monday’.
This week we are going to introduce Bella, the Boa Constrictor! 🐍

We took Bella into our care just over 3 years ago now and for a while, she was our largest snake at Matt’s Minibeasts, until we were lucky enough to give Bertha the Burmese Python a home with us. She will be introduced in a few weeks time. Bella is a 7.8ft, just under 10kg, Boa Constrictor. She attends lots of visits with us, including parties, clubs and is a star of the show at the summer/ country shows we attend! She basks on her Java tree, under her heat lamp or in the sun, & visitors are amazed that she doesn’t just slither away! Big snakes mean big enclosures- she’s housed in an 8ft x 3ft x 3ft enclosure with shelters for her to hide in and large java branches for her to climb on.

Join us on Friday to learn more about Boa Constrictors! 🐍

24/05/2026

One of the reasons I started this business, was to show people how misunderstood these creatures really are. Now, reptile therapy sessions are becoming more popular for every age group. We have been lucky enough to attend a few of these, including visits to places such as brain rehabilitation centres. Seeing the residents be calm and at ease with these creatures, makes this all worth while! Why don’t you book a Reptile Relief session with us- whether that’s just for yourself or a group of friends- come and relax and chill out with these amazing animals! This is their perfect weather too!
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22/05/2026

Welcome to this weeks ‘Factfile Friday!’ So on Monday, we introduced Tigger, our Argentine Black & White Tegu- let’s now learn about them!
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The Black & White Tegu is the largest species of the 11 recognised species of Tegus. They can reach up to 150cm long and weigh up to 9kg!
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If a Tegu feels threatened, it uses its tail as a whip to deter predators!
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Black & White Tegus make for great pets! They are very intelligent creatures and Tegus are only a handful of reptile species, that can recognise their owner, through smell, sight & sound!
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Tegus are omnivores & so eat a wide variety of different meat and plant matter. Tigger generally moves away from the more healthy green food, and is much more interested in the tasty mice, rats, quails and other animals that, if the correct size, she can swallow whole! Tigger can swallow a medium sized rat whole- no chewing involved!
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Just like snakes, lizards smell their surroundings through the mouth and Tegus have a very large tongue with a ‘v’ shape on the end, which helps greatly to catch all of the scent particles in the air!

18/05/2026

Welcome to week 19 of ‘Meet an Animal Monday’.
This week we are going to introduce Tigger, the Argentine Black & White Tegu! 🦎

Tigger is our 2nd largest lizard, here at Matt’s Minibeasts & Friends! Largest being Moose the Monitor, who I haven’t officially introduced yet, so keep an eye out! Our first experience of having Tegus, was when we introduced Tigger to our family and I’m so pleased we did! People say that Tegus are the ‘puppy dogs of the lizard world’ & with her, you can definitely see why! Tigger has attended many visits with me, since she arrived into our care 3 years ago and is such a ‘loveable lizard’. She plods around the floor, letting children stroke her, with not a care in the world! These are very affectionate animals- I will be sitting on the floor in our kitchen, and Tigger will wander over to me, climb up onto my legs and fall asleep whilst I stroke her! If you want a scaly instead of furry dog, this is the animal to have as they act very similar!

Join us on Friday to learn more about Tigger and these amazing Tegus! 🦎

17/05/2026

We are all set up & ready to go at Woodhall Spa Country Show! This is the second time using our new gazebos- I hope you like them as much as we do! With the darkness towards the rear of the gazebos, the lights really make the enclosures stand out! A day full of activities to keep everyone entertained- why don’t you pop over and enjoy a great day out!

15/05/2026

Welcome to this weeks ‘Factfile Friday!’ So on Monday, we introduced our group of Preying Mantises- let’s now learn about them!
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Praying Mantis can turn their head up to 180 degrees! This helps them when they need to stay out of the way of predators, but also when they are searching for their insects to eat!
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These invertebrates will only come together to mate, so definitely not a good idea to keep them in a group or even in pairs! They are very territorial and cannibalistic, so once the stronger one has killed its friend, it will start to eat him! We will leave them separate I think!
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Their bodies are made up into 3 main sections- the head, thorax & abdomen. It’s their forelegs that make Praying Mantis such a headache to insects! On their front legs, they have spines which grip onto the prey which stop the prey escaping! I haven’t measured it myself, but apparently their legs can strike prey in just 50 - 70 milliseconds! That’s quicker than a human blink!
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The longest praying mantis in the world is the Giant Stick Mantis- with females reaching lengths of up to 17cm long!
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Watch the video of one of our Mantis’s devouring a cricket! You may hear the parrots saying ‘Hello’ too! 😆

13/05/2026

This week marks Mental Health Awareness Week. I understand that this isn’t an animal related post, but still something that’s extremely close to home for us. As you’re aware, my dad took his own life now a year and a half ago, due to his poor mental health. I personally suffer with mild depression, anxiety & OCD and currently on medication for it, & so many people I know suffer one way or another with a form of mental health- whether that’s self harm, personality disorder or panic attacks. There’s so many forms of mental health problems that we all battle with in our day to day lives and this week especially, we should all try and communicate with each other, to support others going through these difficult times and ensure that we all get through it together, and not alone.

I personally believe that every single person has some form of mental health, just like we all have our own physical health. Some people’s physical health is better than others, and it’s the same for mental health. One main difference though- you generally can’t see mental health like you can physical health, so we need to talk it out instead!

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