Residents at Ferrars Hall Care Home in Huntingdon were treated to a fun and unique visit, welcoming exotic animals to their home for an animal therapy session.

Zoolab visited the care home on August 12 for the session, which acted as part of a useful tool to promote mental wellbeing and celebrate resident Phyllis's 100th birthday.

The wellbeing team at Ferrars Hall wanted to organise a special event for animal lover Phyllis to remember, and everyone got to hold and interact with different animals such as snakes, millipedes, frogs and lizards.

Customer relations manager Chloe Kenna said: “It was great to give the residents something different to do for an afternoon.”

“Everyone enjoyed learning about the animals that we never usually encounter, and were all very brave when holding the scarier-looking creatures. The millipede’s legs felt like Velcro going across your hands which was a very strange sensation for the residents!”

The world's largest gecko (the New Caledonia giant gecko) was the favourite among the residents, mainly due to its silky skin and springy jumps into the trainer’s hands.