Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello everyone!

My name is Jess, and ever since i was a little girl, i loved the Croc Hunter...

I am 15 now, and i have decided that with the reptiles i already have ( 1 corn snake, 1 hogg island boa, 1 leopard gecko...and soon a tegu!) i would like to start doing an educational program at my school...

i have already talked to a few teachers & parents & they all seem to think its a great idea...

i am hoping to start in the elementary school and perhaps work my way up... and even do other "shows"...

my goal is to help the kids to love and/or respect reptiles instead of fearing them...

i was just curious...does anyone have any advice for me?

...i'm also hoping to expand my collection...

also, i am the neighborhood "snake-wrangler"..haha...i love it... i am hoping to potentially turn that into another hobby this summer...perhaps advertise a little...just to keep the 'creepy-crawlies' safe from shovels!

anyways...any advice? comments? anything at all would be appreciated!

thanks everyone!

jess

It sounds like a great idea you may need a special permit from your states Fish and wildlife department and possibly some insurance as well, Good luck with your venture.
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Frank Roberts

Hi Jess. I have done a few of these myself. I started out when I was probably about your age at the nursery school my mother ran. I am now 38 and have a daughter of my own and did a couple of shows this year for her second grade class and her Brownie group.

Anyway, here is what I can offer - I always start by holding one of my calmest, prettiest and least threatening snakes (like a corn snake or baby yellow rat snake) and asking who is afraid of them. Inevitably, one or two kids raise their hands. I then like to go into a little background info about snakes in general (cold-blooded vs. warm-blooded, how they move, how they smell, the fact that they don't have eyelids, shedding, eating, etc.) as well as specific information about the different species I brought with me (habitat, food, camouflage, etc.). I gradually work my way up to the bigger animals (adult boas and my argentine tegu) and wrap it all up with a little petting session. I also make it a point to tell the kids to not touch any snake they see in the wild and try to get them to tell their parents not to kill any snake they see because of the benefits they offer (part of the local ecology and free pest control!). The main message I try to get across is that snakes are beautiful, important parts of nature that we should at the very least, respect and admire. Oh yeah, without fail, every kid that raised their hands at the beginning of a presentation to say they were scared, touched or held one of my snakes. What a great feeling!

Good luck and just do your best to be as professional and safe as possible for the sake of your animals and your audience.

Billy

Gray Rushin's site at Allboas.com . He has some valuable information that helped me with my first classroom presentation this year. Good luck!