Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,
A friend and I have been doing some classroom presentations. I just have a few Boas, and he has a few Burms, an Alligator, a Crocodile, and a Sulcatta. The kids love it, and it's great to educate. The purpose is, in the words of Steve Irwin, "People want to save what they love".

I'm just curious of others that do this, if you've had any success at getting a fee or donations for similar presentations. If so, how have you accomplished this?

It's been great doing it, and I'm sure we'll continue either way, but it would be nice to add a little income to be able to expand the presentation, and do it more often.

Thanks for all input and ideas!

Chris

>>Hey all,
>>A friend and I have been doing some classroom presentations. I just have a few Boas, and he has a few Burms, an Alligator, a Crocodile, and a Sulcatta. The kids love it, and it's great to educate. The purpose is, in the words of Steve Irwin, "People want to save what they love".
>>
>>I'm just curious of others that do this, if you've had any success at getting a fee or donations for similar presentations. If so, how have you accomplished this?
>>
>>It's been great doing it, and I'm sure we'll continue either way, but it would be nice to add a little income to be able to expand the presentation, and do it more often.
>>
>>Thanks for all input and ideas!
>>
>>Chris

Schools I really dont ask for much more than gas money. Minimum $25.00. In WI I also refuse to do this in the coldest of months.

Birthday parties I require a minimum $100.00. I bring more animals, I bring a laptop and camera, I give the parents who had me out a CD of photos. I bring the husband for assistance. The good news for the parents is this can be considered a tax deductible donation as well. Depending on how big the party is I may throw in a toy goodie bag (a few plastic lizard and snake toys and a few reptile tattoos) as well. If it is a larger party, I do offer that for additional. I have also made "Grow your own Alligator" Kits with a green cloths pin, felt tail and legs, and googly eyes.

I also usually always have a sulcatta running free in the group. I have found them to be the most benign animal of my collection. Children and parents who may have fears of reptiles warm up a smidge quicker with something benign. 15 lb tortoise running around tends to help that situation before I whip out the 12 foot burm or 8 foot boa.
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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Hi guys, I just was wondering, isn't it scary thinking you could be sued if anything goes wrong? I know it makes me seem jaded, but you know people will do anything these days. Is there any precautions that can be taken to protect yourselves from an irate person in case of a bite?
I just worry... someone asked me to add a few of my collection to their group that they were setting up for presentations and I have some great animals, but who is to say that one of them won't have a 'bad scale-day'? Once, I took a couple balls, some small boas, an iguana and a tarantula to Kid Zone (Kind of like a day care) one day during a 'camp' and it went well, but I put a boa away that seemed to be getting irritated after awhile.
Just wondering if anyone else has such worries...

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Steph S.
Boas...
1.1 Albino boas (Loki & Hope)
1.4 07 Het. albino boas (Petty & Lady,Sierra,Madeline,Lola)
0.1 Reverse stripe poss. het albino (Cookie)
0.1 Salmon/hypo (Scarlet)
0.1 Anery poss. het snow (Missy)
1.0 Anery (Reno)
0.1 DH Sunglow (Bonnie)
1.0 Het. Anery (Guy)
0.3 Normals (Ophelia, Sasha, & Lulu)
1.1 Surinames (Solomon & Surreal)
1.2 Hogg Isles (Mr.Orange & Peaches, Apricot)
0.0.1 Central American (Sassy)
0.1 Emerald Tree boa (Jade)
1.0 ATB (Satan... seriously!)
Pythons...
2.1 GTPs (B., Monty & Jewel)
0.0.3 BPs (MJ, Precious, Houdini)
1.1 Carpet Pythons (Jackson & Charlotte)
0.1 Blood python (Akaia)
Misc.
1.1 Mandarin Ratsnakes (Jack & Jill)
1.0 Boxer/Pitt Mutt (Tyson)

I've thought about that during the visits we've done. We don't do anything risky, because of such worries. We always have the gator and croc taped up, and we just carry the snakes around and present the tail or mid section for touching. We also haven't been doing it enough to know for sure how our animals will react to so many small hands on them. It would be very counter productive to have the kids freak out because "Little Timmy" got bitten by the exotic snake. Could you imagine the terrible newspaper headlines? The kids are really excited just to get to touch them and find out that they are not "slimey"!
Again, thanks for the input!

I would be VERY careful about Salmonella.
Those animals are normally positive for Salmonella, crawl around in their own excrement.
Little kids aren't real good at hygene. Kids constantly put their hands and fingers in their mouths.
Keep the hand gel handy.
jsc

>>I would be VERY careful about Salmonella.
>>Those animals are normally positive for Salmonella, crawl around in their own excrement.
>>Little kids aren't real good at hygene. Kids constantly put their hands and fingers in their mouths.
>>Keep the hand gel handy.
>>jsc

I bathe each animal before an event. Day of. Also avoid freshly shed snakes. Be sure to keep the hand sanitizer goop next to animals and be vigilant about kids washing after each touching.

Balls are great additions to this type of program and are usually the animal that kids are allowed to hold. Have the kids SIT and hold both hands open. put the snake in their hands. Freshly fed animals and well fed animals are the best for this type of thing.

Right now in my rescue I have a large boa that is used in these programs. ONLY her tail is ever presented to touch. Only a few children allowed around at a time. Read how your animals are acting. She doesnt handle lots of children at once. With lots of scaring on her head I hesitate to allow too many around at once.

It is perfectly fine to have touch animals and look animals. Also old snake sheds are a highly popular item.
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Cindy
PHFaust

Email Cindy

Land of the Outcasts!

Insurance IS an issue. Anyone can sue you unless everyone present signs some sort of legal waiver, and even then you might still be liable.

You could get sued for anything from a bite or wound to mental distress, to salmonella (even if your reptiles were not the cause).

I have done educational demos before, but was insured during it. How? My local herpetological society pays for an insurance policy for club activities. That way, any event that is a club-approved event is covered by the club's insurance.

For educational demos, I just have to let the club know where/when and other details about the demo, and agree to follow some common sense rules. Some rules we use are that a demonstrator should not hold a snake around their neck (so that attendees don't think it's "ok" to do that with a large snake), and that attendees should not be allowed to hold ANY animal. Petting or touching according to the demonstrator's guidance is ok... but allowing a person to completely hold an animal on their own can be risky. In our club at one demonstration, apparently one adolescent killed a snake by pulling its head and tail, breaking its neck. Insurance doesn't help in that situation (insurance only covers liability, not animals lives), but that event helped build our demo guidelines.

Unfortunately, this is a real concern, but most herp clubs have or can get insurance for a fairly low yearly premium. Better safe than sorry! There are still a lot of bad attitudes and paranoia out there regarding reptiles, and that makes it harder for people to educate others about them without taking on a lot of risks themselves.
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Lauren Madar - OphidiaGems.com | CageMakers
1.1 Ball Python, 1.0 Hog Island Boa, 1.1 Hypo BCI, 1.1 Surinam BCC, 1.1 Saharan Sand Boa

"There are still a lot of bad attitudes and paranoia out there regarding reptiles, and that makes it harder for people to educate others about them without taking on a lot of risks themselves."

This is a really great point, and at the same time, the exact reason to do a presentation. It is so awesome to see a kids fear turn to enthusiasm during a 60 min presentation!

I have a business using reptiles for parties and presentations. We are legal and the business costs will put a hurtin on you at times. We have to carry $2 million of liability to go into the public school system in the metro area and that will run close to $2000 year. Not to mention the FWC licenses, city/county occupational licenses, and state corporation licensing. We have anywhere from 30-60 animals depending on the season, but we LOVE what we do. SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!! Every time I go somewhere, I always think of the risks involved. As for pricing, I price myself to be competitive with the petting zoos and pony parties in my area.

Great post. Thanks for the info. How do you market your services?
I don't think there are any "Pony Party" people in my area!