INSIGHT IN TO INSALL
DAVID ALLEN TALKS TO STAN INSALL.
Champion Lizard Breeder And Lizard panel judge.
When I first started up with Lizards I wanted to learn more about them so I travelled one Tuesday evening to Straford-Upon-Avon cage bird society where Stan was giving a talk. During that talk I was total transfixed on everything Stan said, so a few days later I contacted Stan and arranged to make my first visit to his home and purchased my first quality Lizards.
I visited Stan shortly before Christmas, to ask him a few question to give me an insight in to his life with Lizards. Stan started off with Lizard in 1981 the first show he entered Lizards in he put 3 silvers in gold class at a local CBS show, later that year Stan entered them in the National in the correct classes and got a first and two seconds.
He obtained his first Lizards from Brian Gisby the then Lizard Associations secretary & treasurer who lived in Stourbridge not far from Stan, he became a close friend of Stans. In 1983 Stan won Best Novice Lizard at the National & 2nd Best Lizard in Show.
Stan has won best Lizard at All three Nationals and is the only person to win all three major nationals in the same year in 1996.
Stan achievements on the show bench are no more than remarkable, he has won the English National [NEC] twice, the Scottish National once, Welsh National four times. His Lizard specialist show wins are also outstanding.
He has won the All Lizard twice, the East Anglian LCA four times and the South West LCA once as well. But the only specialist show Stan has not YET won is the Southern Lizard, but he has been second best twice.
Stan also keeps some very good quality Borders, he mainly to show at local CBS shows. I asked if he used them as feeders for his Lizards.Certainly not was the reply.
Breeding and management was our next topic of conversation, Stan usually puts 12 pairs of Lizard down. He will normally pair one cock to two hens.
Pairing a flighted cock to an unflighted hen, in this way it keeps the stud moving on. When pairing up Stan will look at the breeding of the birds then look at them visually, but Knowing what birds will go with which is an art which only time and experience will bring. Which Stan certianly has. The eggs are removed but not until the second egg is laid. When the clutch is completed the cock is also removed and the hen is left to incubate and bring up the youngsters on her own. While the cock is put with a second hen. This can be a time consuming process but as Stan is now retired it's not a problem. He normally takes two rounds from each pair.
Stan has no fixed age to take youngsters away from the parents, when he has seen them feeding for themselfselves he will then take them away. this done in the evening because the youngster will have a full crop.
Breeding records are kept in a breeding register and all his birds are closed rung, Stan insists this is the best way to keep records of your stud. Stan feels all show birds should be closed rung, but with one ring only he doesn't like seeing Lizards double rung and cannot see the benefit in this either, one ring number should be enough to tell you where the bird was bred from.
Stan has 96 cages which are spread around this very unusual shaped birdroom or Pen has Stan refers to it as. This is a Blackcountry saying apparently. I will try an explain his Pen [birdroom] it is the most oddest shape birdroom I have ever seen! At one time Marjorie [stans wife] kept budgies and the first half of the birdroom was where these were housed.
this is where Stan now keeps his Borders.
It has no direct widows, the light mainly come in from sky lights. It is not very wide no more than 5feet from one set of cages to the other. This is,I think why Stan's birds are always steady. As they are use to people close to the cages and keeps them calm.
The cages are on every single wall of the birdroom, with cages facing each other. Stan likes to paint his cages a simlar colour to the Lizard show cage, so the young birds are used to the colour when the show cage is introduced.
But it doesn't matter how strange this Pen is, it has bred many winning Lizards, and thats what really counts.
Each cage has suggfit seed hopper for the seed, the water is given in D-cup drinkers. The floor of the breeding cages are cover in a mixture of saw dust and fine shavings.
Nest Pans, here is an interesting point, Stan uses plastic nest pans with nestfelts in for his Borders but wooden nest pans with the wire bottoms for his Lizard which he puts no nestfelts in. For nest material Stan uses moss, which he dry's in a pillow case in the tumble dryer! Stan told me the tale of one time while doing this the moss came out of the pillow case into the tumble dryer. It was everywhere, Stan cleaned it all out but for days later Marjorie [Stan's wife] kept finding moss with the clothes out of the tumble dryer I don't know where this is moss is coming from? she said.
The nest felts for the plastic pans are stuck in with Carbolic soap, which is melted down to form a sticky paste.
Feeding was the next subject we talked over. Stan feeds Haith deluxe Mixed Canary he also uses their Conditioning Seed. You pay the price you get the quality was Stan's reply when I asked him why. He said he loves the sweet smell of the conditioning seed he has never found any other conditioning seed to match it. He has used other different brands of Canary seed in the past but the quality was never consistent. But has always gone back to Haiths the Quality is always the same,excellent. Soaked seed he buys from a local supplier no real brand, which he soaks in water with a drop of weak bleach, to stop the water from smelling.
Egg food Stan now uses is Sluis which he gets at a good price and in a large amount at a time. He mixes this as follows:-- 1 1/2 Cups of Sulis mixed with soaked seed to moisten. He may add a little boiled egg when the youngsters are just hatching, later this is replaced with dry bread & maw seed.
On the boiled eggs, Stan told another story, one day he had put a pan full of eggs on to boil, went away to do something else and forgot about them came back they had boiled dry & exploded every where even on to the ceiling.
Stan had to quickly clean up and dash out and get a new pan before Marjorie returned home. During the breeding season Stan feeds eggfood twice a day.
Before using Sluis Stan used Cede but found this was becoming dusty or powder like, so this was the reason Stan changed over to Sluis. He is not a lover of giving green food, but does give sprouting soaked seed.
He feels that when they are just sprouting they have the greatest amount of Nutritents. Grit is given in an egg food draw every other day grit & charcoal 50/50, right throughout the year. But no other supplements or additives are given.
Colour feeding was my next on my topic for Stan to give his method.
This he starts at 5 to 6 weeks, Carphyill Red is mixed 20 to 1 in Glucose powder in Hot water. 12 spoonfuls of eggfood with a little maw seed, this is moisten with the Glucose/Carphyill solution, this is enough to fed about 30 birds a spoonful of Rubena is also add to this mix for the vitamin-C. This is fed all though the moult and until the end of the show season.
Once a week Stan gives the young lizards water with a pinch of Iron of Sulphate in this Stan say's Stabilises the colour in the birds.
During the moult Stan gives the bird a bath every other day with Plume Spray or maybe a little TCP in the water these baths are give in the morning.
Stan likes to keep his young Lizard's in single stock cages, as this will prevent the possibility of feather plucking from a cage mate. a a lost feather with come back paler, which is a fault in a show bird.
Moving on to show training, a Border show cage is hung on the outside of the stock cage from about 6 weeks old. Then about 6 weeks before the first show they are introduced to the Lizard show cages. A wooden platform is hung on the stock cage and the show cage sits on this.
The show cage is furnished with every thing it will have for a show, paper in the bottom, seed and show drinker. A few ways Stan suggests of steadying your Lizard down are, putting them on a shelf above the kitchen sink, {if you have one] every time someone goes the sink it will help steady the birds.
Stan's story book continues with another tale, in 1983 while still working in the Bluiding industry he would box his lizards up and take them to work. Put them in the canteen and let all the builders poke and prod them. That year they were as steady as a rock. On preparation for shows.He likes to put the birds in a show cage for a hour and spray with plume spray once a week. But he never gives baths two weeks before a show. Because Stan say's the bird has a preening gland at the base of the tail and over bathing will not allow the bird to use this gland to preen itself.
On the Showing front Stan doesn't show as much as he did in his younger days, due to his age and health he likes to limit his showing now to the major Lizard shows and the local Open shows around Birmingham where he lives.
. He also doesn't take on as many judging engagements now as he once did.
. But he has judged the English National twice the Scottish National twice & the Welsh once. He has also Judged in Italy and Germany, he was in Germany judging in 2000 when he won best Lizard for the second time at All Lizard show in Nottingham.
I asked Stan who he most admired in the Lizard fancy,I admire everyone who works on the front-line of the LCA.
John Martin & John Record are two fanciers that Stan mestioned also two giants of the Lizard fancy Stan Bolton & Keith Knighton.
I asked what advise he would give anyone starting out with Lizards, his reply was, Buy your stock from a established consistent Lizard breeder.
This person should always do well always in the cards as well as have a few winners. Visit their birdroom, ask lots of questions as Stan feels this is the best way to learn.
{ Funny this comment because that is exactly what I did, & I went to Stan Insall. }
Two other pieces of advice Stan suggests is.
[1] At the specialist Lizard show listen to the conversion between other Lizards fanciers and you will learn so much also ask them questions.
[2] Try to Steward at a show with a Lizard panel judge, you will gain so much from this experience.
I couldn't end this article with out asking Stan about his views on the bird flu & the restrictions now inforce. Stan feels that the licence is a good idea and if it is issued from a government body then it is a set of standard regulations. Which will be a counter answer to the protesters. He also feels the vet cover is a good point also. but he said we have to work with these regulations and support the clubs and shows that are held with these licences.
I would like to thank Stan for giving me this insight into his life with Lizards, it was a wonderful few hours talking to this great Lizard man.
The man who I have call Mr Lizard.
by David Allen [DTA lizard stud]
Since doing this artilce Stan has unfortunatley had to stop keeping Lizards due to health reasons in 2006, his knowledge and conversation I will miss, as will so many other Lizard fanciers.
