Episode 3 Pet School

Hello, I'm Luke Franks and this is day three at Pet School.

Our nine Pet Heads have been working really hard to impress -

some better than others - and still lots to be done.

Our animals won't make any allowances for slackers.

At least that's what Smokey and Flynn told me.

I am talking to ferrets!

Nine pet-crazy kids...

I would like to have a dog.

I would really like a rabbit.

I really want a pet rat.

..101 animals needing care and attention...

ALL SHOUT

..two incredible weeks.

SCREAMING

But have our Pet Heads got the animals know-how...

..to persuade their parents they've got what it takes

to have a pet of their very own?

Has she proved to be a responsible pet owner? Is she getting a pet?

Previously on Pet School,

the gerbils gave the Pet Heads the run-around.

Lauren tried to face her "fowl" fears.

I want to come out. I'm really scared.

And star of The Dumping Ground, Noah Marullo,

dropped in to say hello with his cat, Leo.

It's about them loving you and you loving them

and you sometimes have to do a little bit more for that.

Coming up today, things get tense in the reptile room.

I didn't say that I knew everything!

And a mystery guest spins a web of surprise.

-That's huge!

-Oh, my God!

It's nine o'clock and time for morning assembly.

-Hello, Pet Heads!

-ALL: Hi!

Grab yourselves a seat on a tree or a log.

-So, shall we find out our groups for Pet Practice today?

-ALL: Yes!

Group one, Sam, Faramarz and Lauren.

You are going to be with the chickens.

Now, Lauren, how do you feel about going back there?

I'm all right with it.

You're the most experienced now,

-so maybe you can help the other guys out?

-OK.

Group two - William, Thomas and Ananya -

you are going to be with the tortoise today.

What are you thinking?

I'm all right with them.

Not too "shell-shocked"?

Yeah, thought so... Move on...

Group three - Courtney, Chloe, Tommy.

You are with the blue-tongued skink.

-What's...what's that?

-Oh, I know what they are.

It's a lizard, which, shockingly, has got a blue tongue.

Now, as always, Marie, our Petspert, is going to be checking up on you,

making sure you're looking after the animals properly. Marie?

-Good morning, everyone. How are we today?

-ALL: Good.

-Super.

So, we need to have a good read through your pet manuals.

We were really missing out on quite a few key points yesterday.

Make sure you're taking it slow and really thinking about those pets,

because they really want to bond with you.

So, if you do not complete your Pet Practice on time,

you're not going to lose time with your pet buddies,

but you will miss out on meeting a special visitor later.

ALL GROAN

-You're going to need to finish those Pet Practices?

-ALL: Yes!

Let's not waste any time! The animals are waiting, crack on!

Go, go, go, go!

Ahhh, 99, 100. Done.

Our Pet Heads are learning that completing Pet Practice is key

if they're ever going to persuade their parents

to get them a pet of their own.

But can they work together in teams,

or is it just a case of, "How long can we spend in the storeroom?"

Which is where team leader Sam, Faramarz and Lauren

have flocked straightaway to find chicken treats.

"Chicken pellets."

Could you just get a bag to put them in?

In the manual, it says fruit and stuff.

They have 45 minutes to exercise the chickens on the agility course

and to feed them treats.

It says strawberries allowed.

No apples, because apples need to be finely sliced.

-Yes, what are we going to do then?

-Eggs?

Eggs as a chicken treat?

I'm not sure that's going to work!

Sam, I think your team needs to LOOK harder.

Sam is 12 years old and lives with his mum.

He loves card tricks,

running and riding his bike.

Sam likes to play around, but he's serious when it comes to pets.

I love pets, we use to have two dogs but when we moved here,

it was two small for them, so we had to give them away.

We've got goldfish, but I can't handle them,

so I want something that I can.

-Walkies!

-BUBBLING

HE SIGHS

So, what's the problem, Mum?

Samuel's great with dogs. Even picking up the poo.

That's a good thing though?

My worry is, having a small pet, he may get bored with that easily

and I may be the one who ends up looking after it.

That's why I want to go to Pet School, to see the different

ranges of pets, so that afterwards I could see which pet I would like.

Samuel won't get a pet unless he's demonstrated to me

that he is ready to take on the responsibility.

Meanwhile, over at the tortoises,

team leader Ananya and Thomas are looking for bedding,

leaving William with the dirty work.

Ugh, they've done a poo in there.

In just 45 minutes, they must clean out the enclosure,

give the tortoises a bath

and plant them some herbs to eat.

Hurry up, we haven't got all day!

They have to be bathed in warm water. Is that cold water?

-Let me feel it.

-I'm not taking it back now.

On these plants? That's the only thing I can do.

I'll do the gardening, you need to go and get some warm water.

Now, if you could just remember where that tap was, Thomas?

-I think it's the door down there.

-Let's go.

-No, that's not it either.

-This is bad...

As things dry up for this team,

Tommy, Chloe and Courtney are meeting the skink.

They have 45 minutes to spot clean the tank,

feed Blue a mouse and clean the water bowl.

Let me just get the defrosted mouse.

It's in the storeroom, it's going to be in the freezer.

Isn't a defrosted mouse going to be OUT of the freezer?

Just getting out a...

Defro... Ugh...

Oh, how many of these do we actually have to feed?

Well, if it's frozen, none.

This is making me feel absolutely sick.

Blue would probably like ONE defrosted mouse,

but we seem to be ignoring those.

< TOMMY SIGHS

Outside, with the chickens,

feeding has become a surprise treat for Lauren.

I'm so proud of myself,

cos I'm actually in the area where the chickens are.

I'm not really that scared any more.

Team Chickens, what's going on? Lauren, you're just here,

-just next to the chickens, just hanging out.

-Yeah.

You're no longer "chicken" about chickens. That's the idea, right.

Good. So, what are their names?

There's Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, Scooby,

and I've let them two name the other one.

The Ghost Of Christmas Past.

Well, their names are actually

Mo, Maisie, Laura, Victoria, Beth and Jessica.

They were named after Olympians. And on the subject of Olympics...

Scooby, come with me, we are going to the Chicken Olympics.

Just me and you, Sam, I'm racing, I'm winning.

-Hurdles, hurdles!

-There you go.

What's your best time? What am I beating?

-Over the hurdles!

-Usain Bolt.

Hello!

Don't give up now!

Oh, hello!

Sam, I'm lapping you, mate. Where you at?

I will leave you to it, see you at the Chicken Olympics next year.

Bye, guys!

Being in the group has really helped me up my game with the chickens.

So, thanks to my group. I'll be confident.

I've been in with them this morning

-and I've got nothing to worry about now. Yay!

-Good work, Lauren!

Over at the tortoises,

William is showing off his green-fingered skills.

Did you actually dig up the ground when you put the plant in?

Or lack of.

It's a plant and I planted it.

Tortoises love eating herbs, so I think you're going to

have to plant more than one to pass the task.

Team leader Ananya is doing an excellent job...

of watching everyone else doing all the hard work.

-It's ginormous!

-Oh, my days, that's heavy. I'll hold this.

What has this been eating?

There you go.

There you go, fella.

Perfect temperature, by the way.

Oh, wee! That is disgusting.

Just let it wee, it probably hasn't had a wee for a while.

That white stuff's the wee.

Don't forget to wash behind his ears.

It says the smaller tortoise will also accept a bit of hay.

Should I go and get some hay?

Don't do what's not on the task, because it might mean...

Actually, do, because it said "Read the file," so go get some hay.

-Do it. Go.

-Yeah, but doing it might mean we don't pass.

No, it won't. It means we will pass. Just in case, go.

-You're ridiculous, Thomas.

-You're ridiculous!

So, I've got the hay.

I still don't think we should have had the hay.

Right, give it. I need a little bit in there.

A little bit in there.

Remember, only the small tortoise eats hay!

You might be making a big mistake.

Over at the reptiles, the pet lovers aren't too sure of the skink.

I don't want anything to do with that skink. What..so...ever.

HE GROANS

He is quite scary.

Poor Blue, maybe if you knew a bit more about him,

you wouldn't all be so scared.

When Blue isn't at Pet School, he lives at the reptile centre

where he's cared for by reptile expert Gary.

He came here when his owners moved to a smaller flat,

and sadly, no longer had room for him.

Blue skinks actually originate from Australia

and most parts of Indonesia.

So they are used to a much warmer climate.

If they released Blue into the wild in the UK,

he probably would have attempted to brumate -

which is a type of reptile hibernation,

when the colder weather came - and probably would have perished.

Blue-tongued skinks are pretty chilled out,

they like to take lots of naps during the day.

He likes to be fed on locusts

and he goes crazy for pinkies, which are a day-old mouse.

Blue is definitely going to bring a sense of exotic to Pet School,

because of his strange shape, his lovely patterning

and his bright, orange eyes.

And don't forget the blue tongue. Thank you, Blue!

Courtney and Chloe are trying to feed Blue,

the only problem is his dinner is still frozen.

It's "mice cream"!

That's just bad.

Oh, it hasn't defrosted. You need to wait for it to defrost.

-You haven't defrosted it.

-It needs to defrost.

You should have told us that.

You should have known!

-Blue-skink team, hi.

-Oh, gosh.

Now, there's a skink and a mouse.

-So, you've got a frozen mouse?

-Yeah, but it hasn't defrosted.

If you were going to have dinner, do you want a frozen ready-meal?

That's it, put it back in there?

-So, who's having this one?

-It'll be ready within a half hour.

In the next half an hour, I'm pretty sure it's not going to be done.

He's not going to be tasty enough.

Have another search in the storeroom.

-OK, right, let's go and have a look.

-Oh, no, I've done wrong.

-Strawberries, cucumbers.

-Here we go, I've got it.

Good man, right, we're on! We're on!

Found them, some defrosted mice.

You don't need to put that.

Yeah, we do. It says with calcium, a pinch of calcium.

No, it doesn't, look.

It says here, just be offered a defrosted, fluffy mouse.

It doesn't say anything about calcium powder.

-You're going to make us fail.

-No, trust me, he does.

You're not listening, it says you just need a fluffy defrosted mouse.

No, trust me, he does!

He does!

Trust me, he does.

It says he just needs a fluffy mouse.

If it does need calcium powder, it would say.

We don't want to miss time with the guest that's coming in later.

-I don't care, actually.

-We do! But we do!

You think you know it all, so you go and do it,

but you don't follow the rules. You need to follow them,

otherwise we're going to fail and it's your fault, and we lose out.

You can't have too much calcium!

Tommy, go ahead. Courtney, leave it.

Marie, I think this team needs your help.

-What's the issue?

-Do the mice have to have calcium powder on them?

- No, the mouse won't need it. - See, Tommy?

-Tommy, you should have listened.

-I didn't say that I knew everything!

That's it, time is up! Let's hope our Pet Heads

have completed their Pet Practices properly.

Otherwise, they're going to miss out

on meeting a few special visitors coming later.

Still to come. Faramarz get's a warm welcome...

He just peed on me!

..the Pet Heads hop into Pet Life...

..and an eight-legged guest pays a surprise visit.

-Oh, my God!

-That's huge!

So, how did our Pet Heads get on with Pet Practice?

Lauren, Faramarz and Sam completed their tasks successfully,

and are about to meet the surprise visitor.

But it's not all coming up roses in the tortoise garden.

You guys have failed this task.

ALL GROAN

In here, Marie, what's gone on?

There's hay in with these guys.

There should only be a bit of hay for the feed for this Horsfield,

-cos they like to have a little munch on it.

-Told you!

They should just have flat newspaper on the bottom

and lots of shredded newspaper on top of them.

What has today's Pet Practice "tortoise", Marie?

GIGGLING

So, as this team plod on, will it be better news for the skink team?

You failed the task.

The water bowl needs to come out and be scrubbed.

If you're not cleaning that bowl, the bacteria is going to build up

around there and give the skink a belly upset.

The other point, the feeding. This mouse is laying here.

The skink's over there, he's not really interested in it at all.

In the wild, they'd have to be hunting out wild ones.

You use the tweezers and wiggle it around in front of them.

You got the answer, but you have got to finish your Pet Practice task.

So, we'll leave you to it.

Now, we just need to get it done. If I get it out, will you scrub it?

With two teams still to finish Pet Practice,

it's time for Sam, Lauren and Faramarz to meet the visitor.

Pet Heads, you are here because you are the only three

who completed Pet Practice today.

We've got a special treat for you.

-Please welcome Gary. Hiya.

-Hello, guys, how you doing?

-Good.

-Good. This is the part where I get a really scared feeling.

ALL SHUDDER

-Gary?

-What is it?

-Shall we have a look?

-I'm really scared now.

-Are you going to scream?

Oh, my God, ahhhh...

Gary, who's this?

This is Betty.

Uhhhhhh...

She is a Brazilian black tarantula.

-Lauren, what are you thinking?

-Scared.

-What do you want to know about Betty?

-How old is she?

Betty is actually four years old.

Female tarantulas can get to about 25 years old.

What type of food does this spider eat?

What Betty really likes is large locusts and crickets.

She might even take the occasionally pinkie mouse.

In the wild, she'll go up to it,

she'll sink her fangs in, inject it with venom.

The venom will paralyse the prey and break down the insides,

and then she'd suck it back up through her fangs.

So, it would be sort of like drinking a milkshake.

-Do they bite?

-There are about 800 species of tarantula.

There's only about a dozen that have venomous bites

that can cause any serious harm to you or me.

The rest of them, the potency is only comparable to a bee sting.

She looks quite delicate.

Yes, even dropping tarantulas from a short distance,

they can pop and explode.

Well, guys, you're here at Pet School

to learn how to look after an animal properly. Anyone want to hold it?

-No, no way.

-You hold it first. You hold it then.

-Just to see!

-ALL MURMUR

If I hold it, you have to hold it.

Sam, up for it? All right, game on.

Let's persuade her to walk across your hands.

Oh, it feels... She's really light-footed.

She's furry. Oh, hello, do I need to move?

All right, well done, mate. Here she comes.

-Does it feel weird?

-Yeah a bit...weird.

-Where do you want to go? Where are you going?

-Up your shirt.

-Faramarz.

-You're next.

-It's time.

That's lovely. Well done.

Ooh!

Ahhh, I don't want to... Oh, my God!

-At least I held him.

-Good work.

-What about you?

I'm fine, thanks.

As Betty creeps Lauren out,

back at the tortoises,

finishing Pet Practice is happening slower than... Well, a tortoise.

Didn't she say that you have to have flat pieces

and then shredded pieces?

That's what I've been trying to tell you him.

But that's only flat! We need just some scattered around.

Scatter some around, then!

I don't think Marie's going to be impressed by this arguing.

I've had a little peek,

I'm a little bit concerned about this one, if I'm honest.

Does that look dry? No.

Come on, guys, you can do this!

Work as a team, get it done.

With tortoise Pet Practice still not complete,

over in the reptile room, Chloe is trying to feed Blue properly.

-It won't, no, it won't...

-That was right on top of him.

I did say "trying".

Marie said, if he doesn't look interested, you have to take it out.

I can't get it out, it's right at the back.

Well, at least Tommy's scrubbing the bowl properly.

-What's the issue?

-It reminds me of a snake, which I'm scared of.

Skinks, right, they're really laid-back, chilled things.

The worst he's going to do, he's going to go...at you.

So, just reach in there, we need to get the mouse out.

Want to get this out?

-I'll try, and if I can't do it...

-I'll try, if she can't.

-Yes.

-Brilliant.

-Oh, I dropped it again!

Just pop it back in the tub with the other mice.

-Pick it up.

-That's it. There.

Let me take that. Well done.

-So, it's all scrubbed out?

-Yeah. All scrubbed. Fabulous.

Make sure them doors are nice and shut?

We've got the mouse out, water bowl sorted, he's nice and relaxed.

Good job. Let's head off.

Skink Pet Practice is finally complete!

But I'm not through with the surprise guests.

Oh, my God!

I am not holding that!

Luke just moved back!

ALL GROAN

That's huge!

This is Suzy, she is a salmon-pink tarantula.

-She comes from the same area of Brazil as Betty does.

-Massive!

And she's considered to be the gentle giant of the tarantula world.

We've got this special camera here

so that we can zoom in on some of the special parts of Suzy.

See these two bits sticking out? These are called the spinnerets.

These are the parts of the spider that spin the web.

-What other bits can we see?

-We'll see if we can get...

Eyes...

Can you see the eyes there?

Whoa...

Different species of spider have different numbers of eyes.

Half of them will be better used during the day

and half are better used at night-time.

So, right on the tips of their feet, they actually have claws.

Who wants to go first?

I'll do it.

-Tiny bit nervous, Sam?

-No.

-How about now?

-No.

How is it different to the other tarantula?

It feels more furry. Are you going now?

OK, if Sam can do it, then I can obviously do it.

There we go.

-Good job, man.

-Oh, yeah!

Oh, hello.

Me and Suzy...

KIDS LAUGH

When her mouth goes near your hands, that's what stresses me out.

Ah! It's a little bit spiky.

Yeah, the claws. The claws on her are bigger.

-Do you want to do it?

-I've got arachnophobia.

-I can look at spiders, but I can't touch them.

-Are you joking?

No, I'm not joking, I do have arachnophobia.

Gary, thanks for showing us the spiders. It's been a treat.

-You're very welcome.

-Guys, it's time for you to go hang out

with your animals that aren't maybe as creepy and crawly. Off you go.

As Suzy waves goodbye, Thomas, William and Ananya

are finally finishing their Pet Practice.

We just didn't get it, we kept on making mistakes.

You have to take your time and don't kind of rush.

If you take your time, you'll pass.

Let's hope you do better tomorrow, Pet Heads.

It's Pet Buddy time,

and having conquered her chicken fears this morning,

Lauren is looking forward to spending time

with her new feathered friends.

I'm quite confident right now.

I'm just going to let them out in the obstacle course,

while I see if there's any eggs, or if they need any food.

Be free!

There's nothing in here.

We need to get Big Daddy away first.

Those chickens think you've got food, Lauren.

Oh, sorry!

I can't pick it up!

-Ahhh, ahhh!

-SHE SCREAMS

SHE SOBS

What's happened, Lauren?

-TEARFULLY:

-It just came up to me, it just pecked.

I got attacked by the cockerel.

I am really scared stiff now because I was set back.

I need to overcome my fear.

Stay brave, Lauren, you can do it!

Meanwhile, Thomas is looking forward to bonding with the guinea pigs.

If he can catch one.

They're fast!

Hey...

There you go!

You're lively... Oh!

Hi, Thomas, just be careful with your handling.

Let me give you a little masterclass.

When we're picking them up off the floor,

you pick them up like this.

Instantly, move this hand round onto her bottom and bring her in.

So, sit her on her lap, so all four of her feet are flat on the ground.

Perfect!

Maybe give her a little check?

Check that her skin looks nice, OK.

Use this hand, check through her fur, any dandruff in there?

-Does she look OK?

-Yeah, she looks OK.

This is all really important, as a pet owner,

you need to be health-checking your pet every day.

These are all good tips, Thomas,

if you're going to prove yourself to Mum and Dad.

Thomas is 12 years old and lives with his parents and sister.

He loves trampolining and playing basketball.

So, what Pet would you like, Thomas?

I would really like a rabbit.

All you have to do is clean them

and feed them and brush them and you're done.

OK, Mum and Dad, so why is it a "no"?

I don't think he has the time to look after a rabbit.

I don't think he has the patience to look after a rabbit.

What will Thomas have to do at Pet School?

Thomas is going to have to work very hard.

I don't think Thomas can cope. He'd have to prove it to me.

I think it's just going to be a doddle.

Over at the ferrets, Faramarz is getting down to the business of...

ignoring the ferrets' business.

There's some really good surprises there, isn't there? Wow.

-Any thoughts on them?

-Realistic.

It's realistic. Will you clean them up at all?

No-one's actually told me how to clear it.

They can play together, and they'll eat that food you left,

-but they're not going to clean up the poo themselves, are they?

-Hmm.

OK, I'm just going to put him down

and I'm going to try to figure a way to tidy the poo.

I'm going to leave you to it, you crack on.

That's part of being a proper pet owner.

I don't think poo is really for me,

so I just thought, "Maybe I'll do it tomorrow."

He just peed on me!

Ugh!

I feel really good that the ferret peed on me,

because I think that's a sign that they like me.

I think it's a sign you're going to have to clean them out tomorrow!

Most of the animals at Pet School are rescue animals.

Pet Life is how we help our Pet Heads learn

not to make the same mistakes the previous owners did.

We've created a little course, so that you can experience

what it might be like to be an overweight pet.

You going to be doing it dressed like this.

CHEERING

One carrot, two carrot, three carrot, Go!

Go, go, go!

When an animal becomes overweight, it can't do normal things

that are going to keep it healthy.

It's not going to be able to exercise,

and it's going to end up with breathing problems, back pain,

and even possibly overgrown nails as well.

CHEERING

Overweight animals are lazy,

they don't want to forage for food, and they rely on being bowl-fed,

which can lead to them getting fatter.

An animal often becomes overweight

when it's living in too small accommodation.

Providing it with a big, spacious run, for rabbits and guinea pigs,

it's going to be a lot healthier and a lot happier.

Watch out, you're about to be infested with bugs!

Overweight animals can't groom themselves

which leads to matted fur and parasites.

Rabbits also need to eat their own poo,

which they can't do if they're overweight.

Instead, it gets stuck in their fur,

which can cause life-threatening infections.

Get them off! Through here!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Good job, man. I hope you've learned something, and I hope you've got

a bit of energy left, cos you need to go tidy up. Off you go!

Have fun!

If you want to find out more about looking after your animals

keeping them happy and healthy,

check out the CBBC website, where there's loads of fact sheets

and care sheets to help you out.

As Pet School comes to a close for day three, some of our Pet Heads

need to think how they are going to improve their performance

if they're going to impress their parents enough

to get their own pets. Don't be late for registration tomorrow

when we'll have plenty more of this...

Faramarz cracks bonding with the ferrets.

Pet Practice becomes a game of cat and mouse.

That's why I hate cats.

And our Pet Heads score some top pet tips

from England women's football captain Casey Stoney.

I train in the morning,

so I get the whole day to spend with him and look after him.

Yes, yes! No, no, no, no!

Oh, oh, oh!

Oooh...

Oh!

ALL CLUCK

He was just evil, evil...

And a bit more evil.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd