You might think taking reptiles into a rest home is asking for trouble, but in Christchurch, it’s creating joy. Animal educator Jack Mould loves the critters so much he’s on a quest to change their reputation from scary to cuddly, as Seven Sharp’s Rachel Parkin discovers.
As the sun streamed in, grins were wide, and shoes shuffled beneath chairs. It was Friday morning at Elms Court Care in Christchurch, and the residents were excited.
“Do you know who’s visiting today?” I asked one resident.
“No,” she replied, eyes twinkling.
Outside, Jack Mould was getting ready.
In four carefully-covered carriers, a bearded dragon, a water dragon, a leopard gecko and a blue-tongued skink were ready for show and tell.
“Kia ora everybody, I’m Jack from Jax Critters, and this is Gizmo,” Mould said as he entered the communal living area, proudly displaying his bearded dragon friend.
“Now, Gizmo is an Australian species of reptile, so they live up in the lovely, beautiful, hot Australian sun, which is why the enclosures for these guys need to be nice and warm.”
And then Mould was off and strolling to the nearest resident for an up-close-and-personal.
“If you can stroke from the neck downwards for me, that would be perfect,” he said.
“And if anyone’s brave enough, you might get the chance to hold him if you put your hands together; he’s a very, very placid boy.”
Tentatively, hands reached forward, and Gizmo proved Mould right.
Creature comforts
Then the dragon was on to the ladies.
“Oooh, he likes you,” Mould said to Joyce Cross, who was pretty in pink. “I like him a lot!” she replied, laughing.
Across the room, Mary Marsh’s smile stretched from ear to ear.
“You like him, don’t you?” I said.
“Yeah, take him home with me — he’s a gorgeous little boy,” she replied as she stroked Gizmo.
Then came the questions.
“How do you look after him?” asked Marsh.
“He’s quite a lot of admin, actually,” Mould replied. “You’ve got to make sure you’ve got a UV light, and you’ve got to make sure when they eat the food, they have a calcium supplement because one of the biggest problems reptiles get is something called metabolic bone disease.”
“Have they had any babies yet?” asked Margaret Johnson of the leopard gecko.
“No, they haven’t had any babies just yet,” Mould replied. “They’ve had two breeding seasons, but sadly, that’s been unsuccessful.
“Icarus the leopard gecko was the looker.
“I think she’s beautiful,” Mould told Joyce Huntley.
“Ooh yes, they’re lovely… yes, I’ve had a lot to do with these in Greymouth,” she said, smiling.
‘Bring the world into the rest home’
It seemed Mould had something for everybody. Jax Critters was a hit.
“Oh, absolutely,” said Elms Court Care staffer Maddie Arthur.
“When you are living in a place like this, you don’t get to go into the world that much, so bringing the world into the rest home is just wonderful.
“Everyone’s seen a bunny rabbit, and everyone’s seen a pony. But when you whip out an Australian water dragon, they’re like, ‘What?’” Mould said, grinning.
For the long-time animal lover – who idolised late Aussie icon Steve Irwin – his sessions are designed to educate and placate.
Reptiles, Mould told residents, were just misunderstood.
“You’re going to see a lot in movies and TV shows that reptiles, especially invertebrates, always get treated as big, scary, dangerous animals we need to be scared of.
“They are so sweet and gorgeous and want to live in peace.”
That was clear as we later tiki-toured his flat, jampacked with animal life.
“What’s your dream?” I asked.
“My dream…” he mused. “If I won the lottery tomorrow, it would be to set up a reptile facility tomorrow in Christchurch.”
At 24, I reckon Jack’s right on track.