Pets on the Green
Pets on the Green
What to expect, what to wear, and an honest account of what the room is like
No other families, no shared sessions, no strangers in the room — just your group, the keeper and the animals. For the hour, the room is yours. For many of the families who come to us, that is the whole reason a session works when a public venue does not.
Everything happens in one room, and that’s deliberate.
The animal room is heated and air conditioned to keep the animals at a comfortable temperature, which makes it comfortable for you too — in February and in July. Lighting is low and even. There’s no music, no tannoy, and nothing that starts unexpectedly.
The sensory pod is an enclosed, quiet, low-arousal space where a child can be with a gentle animal and nothing is asked of them. For some children this is where every session starts. For a few it’s where every session happens for a long while, and that’s fine.
Outside there are runs for the rabbits and guinea pigs, garden space for sessions that work better in the open, and room to move for children who need to before they can settle.
The room is 8m x 4m. Ten is the maximum in the room, and that includes anyone using a wheelchair. There is space to move round the enclosures, and you are never far from the door.
Access — flat driveway, step-free throughout, and a portable ramp into the animal room that we put up on request. Tell us what you need in the booking notes and we’ll have it ready.
We don’t do free look-rounds. If you’d like to see the place before committing to anything longer, book a single session — that is the look round, and you meet the animals while you’re here.
Everything is by appointment, and we’re not open to casual visits. That isn’t us being difficult: it’s a working animal room, sessions run through the day, the animals need predictable days, and we won’t have people arriving unannounced while a child is mid-session.
Please don’t bring your own pets, for the welfare of ours. The one exception is hedgehog boarding.
Not sure a session will suit your child? Message us before you book and we’ll talk it through honestly — 07748 656269 or ciera.rose@icloud.com.
The hour is your hour in the room. Being collected from the gate and walked through the garden isn’t taken out of it — the clock starts when you’re in with the animals.
Most people who book have never held a snake, never been to an animal handling session, and have no idea what is expected of them. That is completely normal and it is not a problem.
Being nervous around an animal is a sensible reaction, not a failing — and making it easier is the actual job. You will be shown how to hold each one, and if you would rather the keeper held it while you stroke it, that is what happens.
We would rather tell you this now than have you find out on the day. Our home base is a working animal environment. It is clean and well kept — but it is not a clinical, silent, climate-neutral room, and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
Enclosures are cleaned daily, so in practice there is very little odour and it is usually the first thing visitors comment on. It is still a working animal environment, so we will not claim it is entirely scent-free — there can be light animal, bedding or food smells, and sugar gliders in particular have natural scents and scent-marking behaviours. If your child has a very sensitive sense of smell, tell us beforehand and we will plan the session around it. And if it turns out on the day that they can smell something they are not happy with, we have outdoor runs and a bench — weather permitting we can move the session outside. There is nearly always another way round it.
This is not a soundproof room, so we cannot guarantee silence or rule out the occasional sudden animal noise. In practice Rosie, our galah cockatoo, is not a noisy bird — she tends to have a burst of zoomies once or twice a day when she gets loud, and we can step in and settle her. We monitor the animals throughout, and an unsettled or overstimulated animal can be given a break or the session adjusted. We also have a rainforest regulation den inside the animal room, with a sound-resistant fibre optic ceiling, for a quieter moment without leaving the session. We keep ear defenders here for anyone who needs them, and you are very welcome to bring your own.
The room is heated and air conditioned to keep the animals at a comfortable temperature, which makes it comfortable for you too — whatever it is doing outside. The room sits at around 20–25°C year round. No single temperature suits every species, so the environment is managed around animal welfare while keeping visitors comfortable.
A new environment full of unfamiliar people, sounds, smells and animals can be a lot. Our rainforest regulation den is inside the animal room itself, so your child can step back into it and settle without having to leave the session at all — or you can step outside with them entirely. Either way, they come back when and if they feel ready.
There is no expectation of taking part for the whole hour. Watching from a distance is a completely normal way to spend a session, and deciding that handling is not for them today is a perfectly good outcome. Nobody is rushed, and nobody is made to touch anything.
Our room has hay, wood shavings and animal dander in it. If anyone in your group has asthma or a serious allergy, tell us in your booking notes and we’ll talk it through with you first.
We won’t photograph you or your children unless we ask first and you say yes. The photos you take on your own phone are yours. If you’d like us to take some, just say on the day.
Free parking on the road directly outside. We can open the gated driveway for guests with mobility needs, for anyone at risk of bolting, or for anyone who would struggle crossing the road — please ask in advance, as a vehicle may need moving.
We are based in a family garden, so the walk to the animal room passes a sandpit, pool, hammock and trampoline. It is a proper garden rather than a clinical unit, which is part of why sessions feel relaxed — but those facilities are not included in your session, so children stay with their adult rather than heading off to use them. Worth mentioning to your child before the day.
There is a public toilet directly opposite, and the green has cafés, an ice cream parlour, a shop and restaurants about a minute’s walk away.
Route numbers change from time to time — worth checking before you set off.
Knowing exactly what happens when you pull up makes a real difference if your child finds new places hard. So:
The animal room has full-height glass bifolding doors onto the garden. They stay closed to hold the temperature for the animals, but the room is light and you can see out — and anyone waiting in the garden can see in.
Pushchairs are welcome inside — just be aware that the handling area is arranged around the animals, so it is a little tighter than a typical public room and a double stroller, wagon or large pushchair will take up a fair bit of the space. If the weather is fine you are very welcome to leave it outside instead; it is a residential garden, so it is perfectly safe there. Either way it may need to sit in a designated spot while certain animals are out.
Worth saying out loud, because it is the part most people never see.
A one-hour booking never means one animal works for an hour. Animals are rotated as they tire, and another suitable animal comes out so the experience continues. We teach the correct way to handle each species and will gently correct anyone getting it wrong. If rough handling or shouting continues, the interaction stops — that protects the animals and everyone in the room.
We talk about welfare openly during sessions. Children learn that respect goes both ways.
We have child-height handwashing facilities, so you will not need to lift a younger child to the sink, plus sanitiser in the room. You do not need to wash after every single animal — the keeper will tell you when it is needed. Hands are washed thoroughly with soap and warm running water after animal contact; sanitiser is not a substitute after handling reptiles.
Please keep hands out of mouths during handling, and no kissing the animals or putting faces close to them. Reptiles can naturally carry Salmonella without appearing unwell, so young children — particularly under 5s — pregnant people and anyone with a weakened immune system are advised to take extra care. If your child has a particular medical vulnerability, it is worth mentioning when you book.
By appointment only — book online, or ask about a Sunday
