A 13-year-old girl set up a £2 a night animal hotel for hamsters and bunnies while their owners are on holiday – and has already taken 400 bookings
Tamzin Shipway, 13, came up with the idea earlier this year when her family tried and failed to find a professional pet boarder to look after her pets while they were away.
She asked mum Lisa, 46, if she could set up her own business – with the school holidays approaching and Covid restructions easing.
The schoolgirl made flyers to put through local letterboxes and set up a Facebook page with Lisa’s help – and she has been inundated with bookings.
The makeshift hotel at the family home in Marlborough, Wiltshire, welcomes hamsters, gerbils, mice, rabbits, guinea pigs, bearded dragons, tortoises, geckos and snakes.
Tamzin wakes up every morning to cut fresh fruit and vegetables for her furry guests and couples it with the dry food left by the owners.
She also does her own paperwork – logging the animal’s name and length of stay onto a spreadsheet on her laptop in order to manage the growing bookings.
The savvy teen has hosted a dozen animals since setting up Tammy’s Small Pet Hotel last month and has bookings until the end of September.
Tamzin said: “It’s been great.
“My favourite thing so far is having the guinea pigs to look after as I’ve never owned one before.
“I’m just so shocked at the response it’s had.
“I want to continuing doing this for as long as I can.”
Mum Lisa added: “It’s really taken off and we’ve had a great response.
“She pointed out we had spare hutches and runs here so we thought we’d give it a go.
“Tamzin’s very disciplined with it all.
“She’s even made a spreadsheet so she can keep track of the bookings.
“She charges £2-a-day per pet. Most of it will be spent on the fresh fruit and veg but anything left over is Tamzin’s pocket money which is nice.
“She wakes up in the morning and will feed the animals before herself.
“She knows it needs to be done and has taken on the responsibility in full swing.
“We’re looking to opening it up to budgies in the future as there’s not a lot round for them either.”
To book a stay at Tammy’s Small Pet Hotel visit: https://www.facebook.com/small.pet.boarding.Marlborough
