User blog:OrigamiDragons/Space Giraffes: a Caretaker's Manual

Space Giraffes: a Caretaker's Manual
By Ori Gamedra Gones Many of you probably don't know exactly how interesting an animal as common as the Space Giraffe is. The large, serene, whitish animal is often found around the landscape of your everyday moon, yet few people understand the complex care and maintenence they require to stay happy and safe in captivity.

The Space Giraffe
The Space Giraffe, or extraterrestris camelopardilis is a large white creature often found traveling in groups. They appear mammalian but in fact have a coat of thin, wispy scales like feathers or stiff scraps of cloth. These scales must be kept in good condition or various skin diseases such as Split-Scale and Flaking Scale can devlop. The Space Giraffe eats Xenograss though in the wild they are often forced to eat plain Leaf. The normal diet of xenograss has a calming affect on them, and wild ones are unruly due to he quantity of chemical Rabidium contained in Leaf. Wild ones should not be approached under any circumstances. In some parts of the moon, wild space giraffes pose no threat, and are tormented and shot often for fun. These majestic creatures need to be treated with more respect! Though some species have grown immune to the chemical Rabidium and are naturally docile, this is no reason to disrespect them.

In Captivity
Space Giraffes can be captured fairly easily and are often captured for amusement. It is a little known fact that space giraffes need a great amount of care to happily fit into any artificial environment. Any captured space giraffe will naturally begin to feel ennui and depression if they are alone in a habitat. To be truly happy, space giraffes need to be in groups of three-six (called a 'plog' of space giraffes). Space giraffes are solitary creatures but enjoy socialization and are often seen nodding back and forth with other giraffes, a primitive form of communication. Scientific studies have led to the following few decodings: Of course, only the very rudimentary skills in their language is needed to care for them; but in addition to being pets they can be great companions.

However in order to keep them happy, your cage or pen will need a few things:

An Ice Pond, a pond of ice that can be melted for the amusement and enjoyment of the giraffes.

A pasture area with amounts of Xenograss growing freely.

A rocky outcrop or mountain for climbing and excersise.

An area of stumps or rocks for giraffes to jump on

An open ceiling, or an opening. Giraffes need to be able to breathe.

A private corner where giraffes can socialize.

An open area or dirt or grass where giraffes can sleep.

A few signs of unhappy giraffes are solitary giraffes, giraffes who will not eat or sleep, and dead giraffes.

Grooming and Caretaking
Giraffes need to be very carefully attended to. Their scales, as mentioned before, need to be properly groomed. The wide, feathery growths are made of keratin, like hair, hooves, and fingernails, but are soft and flexible, caused my millions of microscopis flakes and barbs. If the scales are not properly groomed, They take on a gray and dingy appearance, and are rougher and flakier. Space Giraffe scales should be groomed slowly with a soft hairbrush until silky, every day. This takes 20-30 minutes.

Make sure a small amount of the Ice Pond is thawed every day, even in winter months when you want to keep it frozen. Giraffes are like camels in that they don't need a lot of water, but they can become dehydrated and die within a few hours past their limit. The same with eating: an underfed space giraffe, especially a young one, can die easily. Another thing that can quickly kill space giraffes is being shot. Do not shoot your space giraffes. There is no reason to do this unless quantities of Rabidium have been allowed in your pens and your giraffes are going berserk. This is a tradgedy and cannot be avoided.

The Life Cycle
The life cycle of a space giraffe is a strange one. The species is related to Earth giraffes, yet they are very different. A baby space giraffe is born as a single block, which is very wobbly and soft, like a heavy stuffed animal. It has no definite form and except for the downy scales stuck to its skin, it is all the same. When very young it moves like a worm, and in fact lives underground, where it digs upon being born and lives for 2-3 Moon Years (7-12 Earth Months). They are rarely encountered as they dig quite fast and can escape any mining astronaut. Sometimes when they first start digging they are visible above ground, but they resemble a block of snow or light. At the end of this time underground they have formed legs and even the start of soft bones. The giraffe baby will then make a long journey up to the surface. It grows harder for them to dig as they grow more giraffe-like, and some can't make it to the top at all. When a giraffe reaches the top, it will travel, often superblocks, to its parents. Along the way it will join with other newly risen giraffes born from the same plog. The young giraffes will form a small plog of their own, and by the time they reach their parents they are indistinguishable from the adult giraffes. The age of a giraffe can be told by the feathered ring covering their soft hooves; each layer of scales is about 2 years growth. Giraffes can live to be over 60 moon years old.

when giraffes reach adulthood, at 10 moon-years, they can breed. This is a very complex process and I will not go into it. I will say that it involves intricate courtship, and giraffes are the only known species beside humans to kiss as a sign of affection.

Mythology
Space Giraffes have a very complex mythology among other mobs and the first settlers to land on the moon. Their native name, "Ablixerr" means, "He who walks tall and talks with nods." This may not seem very symbolic but it is, in the ancient tongue of the first settlers. Cave paintings of the giraffes have been found, as well as sculptures, and even a chart naming the stars as giraffe constellations.