Aura's Ark

10/15/2025

10/11/2025

Excited to see you guys at Halloween Trick or Treat town! As always, its being hosted by Alaska Land at the big building (Centennial Center) and our event is going to be up in the BLUE room!

Our event will NOT be the typical handling / photo opportunity, but rather allowing people to see proper enclosures, healthy exotics, and learn things they might not have known about these animals otherwise!

We will be doing an educational display with our hermit crabs! If Shelley the crab is up for it, you'll get to see the largest hermit crabs ive ever seen or owned. Shes likely at least 20 years old. Shes been pretty chill and not very scared of me lately, so I think she'll do well!

Thank you to Slither Inn Reptile Shop for putting on this super exciting event to show Fairbanks how reptiles SHOULD be kept!

The whole park is getting in on Trick or Treat town this year, there's gonna be food trucks, facepainting, BALLOON ANIMALS, games, and even spooky train rides! Definitely worth attending.

10/09/2025

Everyone, meet Sender 💙 (you may remember him as Lucky at Fairbanks North Star Borough Animal Control)

At just four months old, Sender has already picked up sit, come, down, leave it, jump up, off, look, spin, and even a low crawl.

I’d love for this to just be a happy post about how well he’s doing… but I need to pause here and shine a light on something that matters deeply to me.

The shelter is at capacity again. Too many good dogs, cats, hamsters, and rabbits are waiting for homes; the staff can only do so much. Every adoption matters. It saves that animal, and it makes room for the next one who needs safety. Take a peek at the adoptable pets from Fairbanks Animal Control on Petfinder; there are so many

If you’ve lived here long enough, you know it’s true: Fairbanks is animal obsessed. Not just “we like our pets” obsessed, I'm talking full on, can’t stop ourselves insanity.

People here collect every kind of animal you can think of. If it breathes, someone in Fairbanks will try to keep it.

Part of it is cultural; dogs are woven into Alaskan history and identity.
Part of it is survival; winters are brutal, and having animals around makes it feel less dark.
And part of it is just… us. Fairbanks people have this wild streak of “If I can keep it alive, I’ll try it.”

But here’s the paradox: our obsession is also our problem. We don’t always plan ahead.
Loving animals isn’t enough.

Spay and neuter your pets.

Don’t take in more animals than you can reasonably care for.

Stop backyard breeding.

Commit to training, containment, and veterinary care.

Fairbanks will always be animal obsessed, it’s who we are. But if we want to honor that love, we have to back it up with responsibility.

Bringing Sender home wasn’t the most carefully planned decision; it was a leap of the heart. We’d been talking about it for a while, but when I saw him at the shelter, I knew I had to give him a chance. If there was even a possibility he could be a good fit for our family, and that I could give him what he needs, I wasn’t going to leave him there.

I was discouraged from checking the shelters, which blows my mind, because it could have swayed me away from a dog like Sender.

He’s been a handful. He’s a trash dog. He’s fearful. He’s a food thief. But with patience and consistency, he’ll grow into a good canine citizen.

That’s what every shelter animal needs: not perfection, just someone willing to put in the time.

If you’ve been considering adopting, let this be your sign: now’s the time.

10/07/2025

Remember when I said I’d post a product every single day for a whole month? Bold of me to assume I had that kind of consistency. We made it, what, two days? Legendary.

But.... I wanted to share something exciting:

Big news for Aura’s Ark: today we’re officially moving into our new workshop space!
And this isn’t just any space; it’s the cabin I renovated back in 2022. It’s where I’ve always dreamed of operating Aura’s Ark, and now it’s finally ours to create in.

After all the time, effort, and waiting, it feels incredible to step into it and make it the heart of everything we’re building.

I’m so excited to have the room to spread out, stock up, and keep dreaming bigger for Aura’s Ark. You all have been incredible; the excitement around the new products has been unreal, and it means the world to me.

I’ll be getting back to imagination creations soon, for those of you concerned. but it’s been a busy week. Moving into the cabin, having a friend from Florida stay with me (yes, I’m still trying to convince her to move here), and on top of it all, we adopted a 4-month-old puppy who’s taking up a lot of my timez in the best way possible. 🐾

Can't wait to see what comes!

09/06/2025

This Sunday!

The Dog Wash Fundraiser Supporting GRRF is coming up September 7. Have you claimed your spot? You can sign up here:
https://signup.com/go/pfYsnSj

09/05/2025

Featured Hermit Crab Product of the Day!

Limestone isn’t really a rock, it’s crushed up ancient shells and marine life from millions of years ago.

This means it’s made up entirely of calcium carbonate, a crucial nutrient for hermit crabs.

There are different kinds of limestone. This one here is dolomitic limestone, which means it’s also high in magnesium.

I find it in its rock form and smash it on site so it’s easier to carry back to camp. When I get home to town, I powder it.

It smells kinda fishy, and it seems to be a huge hit with the hermit crabs. Some isopods even live in limestone caves and rely on the calcium.

You can place this in foraging dishes, or scatter it around the habitat!

09/05/2025

Hello everyone! I'm home early, and starting something new for September!

Starting today, I’m challenging myself to list one new hermit crab safe product every day this month!

I've foraged so many amazing goodies this season; some still need processing, but a bunch is ready to go. And let’s be real… you can’t buy it if I don’t list it. So it’s time for me to get off my butt and make it happen

Each day, I’ll feature one product with a little spotlight: what it is, why it’s safe, and how your crabs might use it.

To start us off tonight is my favorite product in my shop! Unfortunately we have a small supply from this season, but I'm excited for your crabs to make use of it!

Balsam Poplar Cotton

The Poplar tree or cottonwood tree is a nuisance to Alaskans, because every spring they bloom these sticky seed pods covered in cotton. The fluff floats around and gets everywhere. The sticky blooms get tracked everywhere, as the the tree produces a crazy sticky sap. But unlike most saps, its safe, and insecticide free. It attracts bugs and acts like a nectar.

Poplar is even safe for Chinchillas, and they cant have a lot of things!

The cotton specifically is really fun for me to offer, as hermit crabs loove textures. They dont have a lot of safe soft items for their habitat beyond nortons nests.

I blend up this cotton, as its produced as a pod, with a stem. Blending it makes it fluffier.

Its a snack as well as enrichment. It disappears from my tank fast.

My favorite way to use it is inside coconuts and hides so they have a cozy bed.

Oh and I didnt mention; it smells AMAZING.

https://www.aurasark.com/products/balsam-poplar-cotton-for-hermit-crabs-1

08/23/2025

Hey Fairbanks! Pauline with Sevs Favorite Flavors will be at this event! Wish I could go!

Pups & Plants – 3rd Annual National Dog Day Celebration
📍 Hawks Greenhouse | 🗓 Saturday, August 23rd | ⏰ 11 AM – 5 PM
Join us for a tail-wagging good time at the 3rd Annual Pups & Plants event, celebrating National Dog Day at Hawks Greenhouse! 🐾🌸
🐾✨ Vendor Spotlight: Sev’s Favorite Flavors
We’re so excited to welcome Sev’s Favorite Flavors to this year’s Pups & Plants event! Discover their thoughtfully curated, all-natural pet essentials—from healthy freeze-dried snacks to durable collars and playful toys—all made with your pet’s wellness in mind. Stop by their booth for top-quality, Alaskan-made pet products!



🐾🐕‍🦺

08/23/2025

Creamers Field be wildin here soon 🤣

Some inspo for you before we see you at the Tanana Valley Sandhill Crane Festival this weekend!

✨TONIGHT✨
Trivia at the Blue and White striped tent outside of the Farmhouse!!!! Registration starts at 6 and the trivia will run from 6:30-8pm. It will be OUTSIDE (just like the cranes!) so bring layers or a blanket so you can stay warm while having fun!

08/23/2025

Hey friends! It’s been a minute!

I've been MIA on here lately, but this time it wasn’t because of stress or overwhelm. I actually let myself relax for the first time in what feels like forever. I got really into the social media groove for a while, then completely dropped off... and honestly? It was exactly what I needed.

I haven’t added anything new to the site in a bit, and I SO appreciate your patience. Behind the scenes, I’ve been quietly foraging the last of the season’s treasures and working on some new (and old) projects. But mostly? I’ve been treating these last few weeks like a vacation, and I feel really good about it. It's rare I give myself permission to be fully, intenrionally recreational. I’ve finally had the space to breathe, to be myself, and to come out of my shell in a new way.

If you’re reading this, I hope you’ll take a second to think about what that kind of rest and space might look like for you.

In other exciting news: I’ve been painting my little workshop cabin in prep to move into a bigger one I renovated a while back and fell in love with. I never had the chance to use it before, but now I finally get to! I’m so excited, there are a ton of plans in the works.

The Hermit Crab Community App is officially live! It still needs some love and community contributions, but it's up and running. If you haven’t checked it out yet 😉

Feeling rested and reinspired, I’ll be diving back in full swing, starting September 5th when we’re back in town for the season. I’ve got serious plans for some fun goodies, and I can’t wait to share what’s coming.

07/27/2025

My hunter friend alerted me that there is now Bison Tongue in my freezer for the crabbies!! THANK YOU Anna!

07/14/2025

I could make a long sappy post about how much I loved going to CrabCon in person, but you can see that on ALL my other accounts. 🤣

I just LOVED meeting everyone.

We're about to catch our flight back to Alaska (After the Lost World Caverns!) And we arrive tomorrow!

I wanted to let everyone know that all orders will be shipped out tomorrow or the next day!

Thank you sooo much for everyone's support, both getting us there, and every order since! You guys are the best!