My journey from animal care to reptile rescue!
- thereptileroomie
- Sep 11, 2025
- 7 min read
The Reptile Room - Ireland has been a long time in the making. Find out how we got to where we are; taking a look back through TRR owner's childhood pets, qualifications and more!
In the beginning there were hamsters....
Goodness me where do I even start here? I was raised in a neuro-funky household where the dopamine rush from getting a new animal was our drug of choice and It helped having a mother who never said "no".
Not that we were spoilt by any means, but the weekly stop at the pet shop after church was a highlight for all of us, including my mother.
As long as I can remember we have always had animals; it started with my mothers pet hamster, then came Benjie (adjacent) our little black cat, then three more rescue hamsters who had babies and turned into ten hamsters.
After Benjie passed away, we rescued two more cats, then two rabbits, then we got two guinea pigs (quickly becoming twenty guinea pigs). Then gerbils, a dog, rats, mice, chinchillas and a flock of birds - so... many... birds!
We loved and cared for them all to the very best of our ability but the house stank! We had cages stacked in every single room of the house! We even turned our conservatory into a rabbit and gunea pig run - as in we had three hutches with the doors permanently open and the entire conservatory floor was covered in sawdust. there were hay bales tied up for them to reach and carrot toys. Oh it was great fun...my mother may disagree with that statement though!
Animal Care Qualifications and a new start...
It will come as no surprise that when the time came to choose what to study at college I naturally chose a Diploma in Animal Care. I then undertook an additional Diploma in Animal Management, which I passed with distinction.
The more practical subjects were my favourite - animal behaviour, exotics management, animal health and wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. I often got to bring in animals from my own collection to aid us in class - Spike my pygmy hedgehog was a great hit during wildlife rehabilitation as we got to practice handling and bandaging him, he got to snuffle around the classroom when he wasn't needed for a practical demonstration.
At home, I focused on my chinchillas; a passion that lasted through my college years; their little personalities, twitchy noses and sweet disposition... I adore everything about them. I turned my sister's bedroom into a chinchilla room (she had moved out by then, and the chinchilla's were far less annoying) for my eight breeding chinchillas and their offspring.
So committed and intrigued by the world of chinchillas was I, I researched everything I could find on their natural habitat; I learned that it was very difficult to establish them as pets when they were first introduced into the pet trade as their diet was very difficult to replicate and their housing needs are quite unique compared with other small furries.
I was always seeking new ways to enrich and make their lives as content as possible. Of course, many of my college assignments ended up being based on them (even the assignments you wouldn't... like Chinchilla grooming. Pssst inside joke: Chinchillas don't require grooming...like, ever.
London without my pets
Once I had completed my studies, it was time to leave home. I decided to take the huge step of becoming an au pair in London for a while; leaving behind the city I had come to call home in Birmingham, UK.
Though I was more than ready for change, it was heart-breaking to have to leave many of my beloved pets behind or rehome them. My animals not only provided me with much needed comfort and love, but they gave me a sense of purpose.
My very best friend agreed to take my rats Reggie and Georgia, I had Abby spayed so that she could live out her life with her mate Ozzy and friend, the gorgeous ebony chin Eli. My mother agreed to keep my dog, Skampy, as she loved him (almost) as much as I did. I sent money back each week for their care. I hated leaving them.
After two years of being an Au pair in London, I yearned for my next adventure. Eventually, I found a position in the Republic of Ireland.
Bags packed and flights booked; the time came for me to move to the Emerald Isle. After living for so long with no pets, I realised that something was missing from my life; something that needed to be with me in Ireland in order for this new adventure to feel complete.
I missed my chinchillas, the thought of buying new ones never entered my head - chinchillas can live for for up to twenty years and mine were barely middle-aged so I made the decision to bring them with me as soon as I could. Abby had been in my life for twelve years by that point: she was family!
And so, as soon as I was settled in my new home in Ireland, I persuaded my then boyfriend (now husband) to drive/ferry over to the UK bring them home!
My partner built the most spectacular retirement home for my chins (from scratch!) in our living room. The chinchillas lived out the rest of their lives with us in my new Irish home. They were a crucial part of our family; I remember vividly how my eldest reacted to getting to pet Eli for the first time.
In that moment, I knew that my passion for working with animals and providing them with the best life possible was not only what brought me immense joy and purpose, but could also be an incredibly useful element of my children's development.
All three Chinchilla's lived a long life, each passing away peacefully at 16 to 20 years, respectfully. I am so, so glad that I made the decision to bring them to Ireland and that my young family got to meet and love them. I miss those guys!
Life gets complicated; Autism and parenthood.
After the passing of my dearly departed chins, I was reluctant to get another small furry pet - the challenges I was facing as a as-yet-undiagnosed autistic mother of three as-yet-undiagnosed autistic children were immense. I still had the desire to keep animals but couldn't accept any extra mess or smell or excess noise at all.
My world as a stay at home mom was loud and chaotic; my need to control that was, at times, completely overwhelming. I was entirely preoccupied with the goal of being "the perfect mother" and providing for my children in a way that, perhaps, I had not experienced as a child. I was driving on empty and obsessed with ensuring the best, cleanest and tidiest home for the children. I was a "Pinterest mom"; Meticulously planning themed birthday parties, making pinatas, baking endless specially concocted confectionary, preparing endless "inspired" art projects and day trips.
All of which left no room for anything else - including my own sanity!
I am sure any new parent can relate to the
above. Of course, I did not realise it at the time but I was also experiencing (undiagnosed) Autistic behaviours such as obsessiveness over projects and emotional dysregulation. On top of this, I hadn't fully processed the long term affects of growing up in a (physically and emotionally) dysregulated home.
Thankfully, life has a strange way of showing you the way...
Covid 19 Lockdown : The world goes quiet
I say this hesitantly, as I am eternally grateful that our experience of lockdown was not touched by the heartbreak of losing someone to coronavirus. Lockdown itself provided a time to really touch base with our dynamic as a family, and also, pursue answers for myself and my suspected neurodiversity.
During that time I was able to find an escape that suited my exact needs for a new challenge in that moment. I've always been an avid gardener but in the beginning of lockdown the garden centres were closed...but the pet shops were not!
I discovered Aqua scaping - the art of creating an underwater paradise inside an aquarium. For a thriving tank you need plants, woodwork, rocks and hides, shrimp, snails, bottom feeders, mid level species of fish and a few flashy surface dwellers.
There was no smell, no dirt, no noise other than the relaxing trickling of water from the filter.
Then came Claudine, our Australian red claw crayfish - a highly invasive species that FYI should not have been sold in a pet shop! Oh, she was fascinating! The shrimp would ride around on her back as if she were their queen! She came when you called her and even played fetch by picking up a piece of driftwood and bringing it over to you as a gift!
Once I had mastered how to successfully create and manage aquatic ecosystems the next step was creating terrestrial ecosystems. I discovered Bioactive reptile keeping...and that was the beginning of The Reptile Room right there. Clean, Quiet, Odourless and so, so beautiful. It combined my love of animals with my love of plants, gardening as well as my need for peace and quiet. It is perfect.
You can check out our gallery of family pets HERE. Including Geckos, Crabs, Frogs, Stick Insects and even our Axolotl, Antonio.
The Reptile Room today
The rest, as they say, is history. The Reptile Room - Ireland, as you can see, had very personal origins, born out of a passion for Animal care, a curiosity and a badly needed sanctuary for a family full of neurodiverse brains!
Today, The Reptile Room - Ireland:
Is certified and licensed as a breeder and in rehabilitation.
Has an online store.
Has a modest rescue and rehabilitation service.
Provides Pet boarding.
Is thriving!
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