The de Groot family, Lachlan, Andrew, Hannah and Elisa have a range of pets. 67302 Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Emma Sun
SNAKES, frogs, bearded dragons, hopping mice and a stick insect are among some of the animals that greet family and friends who visit the de Groot family’s Pakenham home.
Elisa de Groot said their 25 pets and two tanks of fish began with some birds and two dogs, a cocker spaniel named Mozart and a kelpie cross golden retriever named Magnum.
“My husband Andrew got his snakes first, which he’s been wanting since he was a kid,” Elisa said.
“As the kids have got older they’ve had a huge love of animals and my 12-year-old son Lachlan got into bearded dragons so we got two of those.
“Then my 13-year-old daughter Hannah decided she wanted a frog, so we got some non-licensed frogs, then ended up with green tree frogs as well and it’s pretty much grown into a zoo from there.”
They now have a cockatiel named Pearl, a lovebird called Lightning, two Mitchell’s hopping mice called Mitch and Twitch, two central netted dragons called Lagato and Sahara, two bearded dragons named Yoshi and Bluey and philosopher snakes Pythagoras, the children’s python, and Socrates, the Darwin carpet python.
A spotted marsh frog named Freddo, three rainbow lorikeets called Skittles, Ember and Beau, Woody the stick insect, the two family dogs, eight juvenile green tree frogs, a tank of about 12 tropical fish and six goldfish complete the mix.
Each family member is responsible for looking after their own designated pet, which Elisa said makes life easier for everyone.
“Andrew looks after snakes and fish, Hannah the frogs and Pearl, Lachlan looks after the dragons, the stick insect and Lightning,” Elisa said.
“The children take turns looking after the dogs and the lorikeets and I’m responsible for the hopping mice and generally making sure the animals are being looked after and making sure there’s enough bok choi in the house.”
While most of the animals eat different foods, many of them have fruit and vegetables included in their diet and keeping up with hungry mouths proves to be a challenge for Elisa.
“We have three lots of birds that eat them plus the mice and the dragons all eat fruit and vegetables, so chopping up fruits and vegetables takes up most of the time,” she said.
“Some will only eat a specific type of food, for example one snake will eat only rats and one will eat only mice.
“The dragons will all eat different fruits and vegetables but we’ve found that certain ones prefer certain colours.
“They all eat bok choi but then Yoshi prefers corn over any other fruit or vegetable and will eat them and pick out everything else but Bluey prefers carrots.”
With so many creatures around the house, they try their best to attract the attention of the family and do wacky things to get their way.
While Pearl the cockatiel likes to hang upside down and flap his wings in his cage to get attention and get let out, one of the bearded dragons likes to dangle from his toes.
“One of our lovebirds got out of his cage one day and flew up to one of our model cars and looked like he way driving the car,” Elisa laughed.
For friends and family who come over, it can be overwhelming, though most people enjoy having a look around and checking out all the animals.
“We have friends who specifically make excuses to come around just to look at the reptiles because they’re a little bit unusual,” Elisa said.
“Some have actually come around and refused to go into the room where the snakes are kept even though they’re behind the glass and locked.”
While the number of pets may already seem like a handful to most, Elisa said getting more is not far off the agenda.
“The collection’s growing and kids are already thinking of getting more,” she said.
