Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In a couple weeks, I am going to be helping with a spring camp at the humane society I now work at. Part of my 'help' is going to be doing an "interaction", as we call them, with the kids and a few of my scaley beasts. Due to it being springtime, the theme is 'animal families', so if my babies are still eating like pigs I'll be bringing them along with the adults.

My question for you all is: suggestions? Any ideas for keeping things kid friendly? The kids will all be 12 and under.
I'm trying to create an outline of things that I want to say/how I'd like the interaction to go, I'm just hitting a block as to content. I want to get this part figured out now so I can spend the rest of the time worrying about the possibility of one of my snakes pooping on my boss.

Thanks in advance!!

~jenny
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1.4 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

I bet she can help.
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*newbie*

Hi Jenni ! I give demos all the time and when I am talking to a new group I have show and tell then I talk to them about the reptiles that they may come across in there neighborhood and local woodlands . I do this so I can tell them that they are not to pick up any reptile without a adult there to tell them if it is dangeress or not . But I’m shore of one thing if you like kids there isn’t any thing more fun that watching there eyes as they learn about reptiles !! So have fun and they will have fun to .GOOD LUCK . David of DS Reptile Rescue

It is also worth noting here that the U.S. Humane Society is very much against personal reptile ownership. They are an extremely political organization that doesn't like our snakes.

Your local branch may not care but if word gets out and they get national exposure be prepared for questions.

I have been doing presentations for years now and i find that if you ask them alot of questions and get them involved they will be more interested. Ask them do you know what this is ? Do you know where it comes from ? Tell them interesting facts like how they swallow by dislocating thier jaws, that they dont chew. Tell them how they shed there skin, and if you have a shed from one of your own snakes bring it they get a kick out of it.... Good luck let us know how it goes.
Kim
N.A.R.C

Are you only bringing in ball pythons, or your lizards too?

Unless your ball pythons are very different I would probably opt to just bring a baby and one of the parents, as it will be more organized, and you can spend more time talking than shuffling through snake bags!

How long is your presentation? I always start with all the animals put away, and I tell the kids "I have a snake here today, would you like to see it?" I instruct frightened kids to move to the back of the room at this time. I find this practice prevents kids from acting out because they are uncomfortable with the animal. Depending on the time of your presentation I would talk about each of the following:

1. Introduce the snake by name, and explain the type of snake it is and where it is from. Continue with basic natural history!
2. Talk about the snaks basic anatomy (spurs, heat pits, yes it has a backbone, no it has no ears or eyelids).
3. Talk about husbandry. Explain why you keep snakes as pets, and talk about how snakes are not horribly aggressive creatures that will try to swallow your arm or strangle you for pure enjoyment...a lot of kids think this way!
4. Mention that snakes have babies, and show them where the babies would exit...some kids think eggs come out of the snake's mouth (yes I work with high schoolers and many think this way). Talk about how mom doesn't feed the babies, but the babies are like mini versions of the parents. You may want to take out a baby for them to see at this time.
5. Q and A session!
6. Allow the kids at this time to touch the snake, I wouldn't let a kid I didn't know hold one of my snakes, because you don't know how they (mainly the kid) will react....but that is just me.

I hope I gave you some ideas...good luck!
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Thanks,
Amy
www.myboids.4t.com
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1.14 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
0.0.1 Sinaloan Milk Snake
0.0.1 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
2.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 BCI
That's Just The Snakes!

Thank you soooo much, that's exactly what I was looking for. I'll be bringing the lizards (well, might just be one of them, depends on how Yoni is doing because she's the shyer of the two) but I'll follow the same basic format. Since the lizards are obviously rescues there'll be that part of it too.

Thanks again!

~jenny
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1.4 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

Glad to hear it! Lizards are fun! I bring my beardie into to school a few times a year, and the kids love her personality!
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Thanks,
Amy
www.myboids.4t.com
----
1.14 Normal ball pythons
1.0 Pastel ball pythons
0.0.1 Sinaloan Milk Snake
0.0.1 Plains Garter
0.1 Normal Kenyan Sand Boa
2.0 Anery Kenyan Sand Boa
1.0 Mid-Baja Rosy Boa
0.1 Leucistic Texas Rat
1.2 Dumeril's Boa
1.2 BCI
That's Just The Snakes!

Yeah, I think Linga's gonna be a hit. She's a bit of a diva so it'll be entertaining for sure
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1.4 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org

I usually keep it fairly simple - the kids will have tons of questions and short attention spans - keep them involved and ask them a lot of questions too!

Assuming you are working mainly with balls:

I usually start out by asking if anyone knows where ball pythons are from with a brief description of their natural habitat and different snakes come from different parts of the world - where they live in the wild (ie burrows, termite mounds some snakes live in trees others in water, etc) - touch on anatomy, that they are nocturnal - the different ways they hunt and kill their prey - this is a good question to pose to them as most have seen crocodile hunter and already know and will enjoy sharing their knowledge - briefly touch on constriction versus venom - point out heat pits - tongue flicking blah blah blah. I then go into how these that I am showing them were born in captivity - touch on how they are kept in captivity as well as how old they get and how big they get and how they shed when they grow (bring old shed if you have one) - I usually ask them if they know if snakes are born or hatched - briefly touch on eggs versus live birth - go onto how they are kept and fed in captivity (some eat live some eat frozen thawed food) blah blah blah - kids love this part.

I really get the kids involved and pretty much follow what interests them so I tangent a lot but that's pretty basic. Also you kind of have to gear it differently if you are talking to a group of preschoolers or teenagers or mixture. If you have some great pictures bring them too - maybe of your eggs hatching or feeding pictures.

If you know something about your local species you can bring them up. But be careful the last thing you want is some irate mom calling up because their child misunderstood something you said or got scared or upset because they hear there are water moccasins in their pool - or some BS like that.

I think it's important to get across that snakes whether they are someones pet or found in the wild they don't need to be feared but they do need to be respected. And that although it's ok to pet and play with these snakes (that you brought) if you find a snake outside you should leave it be blah blah blah.

Oh and if you are going to let them touch or hold your snakes - be sure to bring hand sanitizer and have them do it while seated - I've had kids get spooked and drop snakes and I've had kids try to scare others with the snakes - if they are seated it tends to cut down on these urges.

Good luck.
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Tosha

Thank you, big time! This makes it much, much easier. I'm usually doing this stuff with older kids or adults, and it's a completely different ball game than with younger kids. I just didn't know where to start!

Thanks again!

~jenny
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1.4 normal ball pythons (Cindy, Darwin, Periscope, and dah bebbies)
0.2 rescue chinese water dragons (Yoni and Linga)
1.0 rex rat (Scurvy)
1.0 gerbil (Yerbul)
0.1 mice (Cute Girl Mousy)
0.1 bunny (Spazz)
1.1 betta fishes (Vicious and Killer)
2.2 great danes (Shasta, Odysseus, Merlot, and Watson)
1.0 fat fuzzy mutt (Smokey)
1.1 cats (Thidwick and Turtle)
3.0 horses (Buddy, Sam, and Scout)
1.0 goat (Billy Jack)
0.0.1 chupacabra (it ate our chickens)

jenny.thegreenes.org