Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys, I know alot of you out there are like myself and are interested and have many kinds of reptiles. I would like to share my knowledge with kids and adults about all the myths and phony stuff that people believe about reptiles especially snakes. My questions are what are some good animals to bring along that won't suffer much stress. I personally have now 2 small very tame alligators, 2 balls, 2 beaded dragons, leopard gecko, sulcata tortoise. And access to a 12 foot Burm, very tame. I live in PA and worry about the temps around this time of year to bring anything out. I always get asked to do kid parties and just don't feel right taken my animals out and put threw the stress. What do you guys do? Also any advise would be appreciated. Thanks
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been there- done that- several times over!

we did quite a few events last year and have nearly every other weekend booked up from april to september this year.

A few of the animals we use are well used to being around tons of people- about 6 of the animals we use, have been to shows 4 years in a row, the shows last from 6-9 hours, and some are 4 hours drive one way.

We have several vehicles we take to these shows, to accomidate the animals, paperwork, tables, signs, blah blah blah.

we generally try to get to the event about an hour before people start arriving, lets us get everyone set up and settled in after a long drive. We bring tanks, or for the burms we use XL or XXL dog crates with plexy over the front door on the inside- so they don't rub thier nose raw- learned the hard way last year.

everyone has water available in thier cages. We take 2 of most animals, 2 red tails, 2 beardies, 2 turtle/tort.s and 2 balls or 2 corns/rosys/etc...

we rotate through the day- we only have 1 animal per person out of a cage at a time. you dont want some kid running off with your beardie because its 'cool'...
We have 2 people for 1 big snake.

We take photos of people 1 for 3$ 2 for 5$-- gets us about 1.50$ a pic-- we make about 40$ at an average 1,000 person event- covers gas for 1 car...

As for the stress- thats why we rotate them through the day- sometimes one animal will be out for 2 hours straight, but may not be back out the whole day--

Our big burms are out pretty much the entire day. If we get a down time (around lunch)-- everyone gets fresh water and some rest time. we throw a sheet over the cages so there isn't anything going on around them.

a lot of it is watching your animals. I can tell when they've had enough. if they start moving faster, or jerking, or trying to get away from the people- they need a break-- who knows your animals better than you?

we put our kids through a lot- and they are spoiled at home and at the events.

i like school events- especially class room events- theres not a ton of kids/people (30 or so?) and its much shorter-- great way to get them aclimated to the activities.
our events are mostly adoption events where there are 30 other rescue groups- we tend to be the attention hogs -- if i had to pick between a weenie dog and a 14 foot python- i'm python all the way!

anyway- start small- it'll be stressful for you too. I sleep like a ROCK from april to sept. its a LOT more work than you can imagine!

good luck- and i'm always a fan of others that are for proper education.

let me know if you have any other questions- i've got a lot of tips and tricks- just don't know what info you need.

Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue

Hi Beth thanks alot I really appreciate it, I would love any and all tips and tricks you can provide! Im sure I'm gonna have some more questions, like do you feed the beardies there or after showings, do you feed your snakes there to show or after how do people usually react to it?, Have you ever had any mishaps? if so please explain. Thanks again

I agree with most of what Beth said in her reply.

Especially the part about most of your time being spent watching people with the animals.

I do a few shows per year and most of my animals are well-acclimated to being held. In fact, most are my classroom pets. I'm a h.s. bio teacher and I make sure that my animals used have been docile since they were babies. My students in my class hold them EVERY DAY! If an animal ever shows an aggressive tendency, even once, I won't ever use that particular reptile again.

One thing I will say, the setup and takedown of an event is a tremendous amount of work. It’s simply exhausting. It sounds like Beth does a lot of events from her comment about getting a lot of good sleep. lol

I try to get student volunteers to help. It looks great on their college applications or simply makes for a great story they can tell their friends. Either way, usually you can get a ton of them to help. Best way to do this is simply to contact a local high school near where you live (or near where the event is) and ask for the teacher in charge of the Science Club or Environmental Club or Health Careers Club and go from there. Always be sure to get parent permission. It may require planning up to 2 weeks in advance. In fact, the parents usually stay even though they planned on simply dropping off/picking up their kids. I find more help equals less work during the event. Plus, you can assign a helper to a particular animal or pair of animals.

I also rotate through animals if it’s a longer event. If it’s a small group, I spend the first 20 minutes or so just going over MY rules for handling the reptiles. Plus, the longer you wait till you bring out the animals…the more suspense there is.lol.

I don’t charge for pics but what I do tell guests….if they take pics…NO FLASH! I did a show for middle school kids once and they ALL had cell phones with cameras….no flashes..which was perfect.

Another concern…some people simply have a downright fear of herps. I always make the disclaimer to anyone like that in the crowd to simply watch from a distance or to move to the back. You don’t want someone having a heart attack b/c a lizard or snake shoots away from someone holding it and makes a mad dash towards the one and only person who has ophidiophobia

I try to give each show a theme….usually conservation or diversity of life, etc. I did a presentation once to a church group and they asked me to not talk about evolution…so I did a ‘snakes of North America theme’. Obviously all themes will kind of mix together but for the average person, my goal is to have them remember 1 thing about reptiles…usually conservation related.

I also bring hand sanitizer and wipes. If at a school, I tell the teacher beforehand that before & after the show, all kids need to wash their hands. I also print out & make copies of a 'junior herpetologist' certificate for younger kids....it's something their parents can put in a scrap book to remember the occassion.

No matter what…everything should be on YOUR terms. Never compromise. Safety should be your priority. Hope I helped.

You might be able to get some more ideas from my website...as I'm sure there are things I forgot to mention.
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Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@verizon.net

Thanks Jason, do you have any good tips on what to use while transporting the animals? Do you ever show any of the animals feeding, such as a snake? I was thinking of obtaining some captive breed native PA herps to show what can be found so to speak in there back yards. Any thoughts on this? Also I was checking out your site and found another great idea I may possibly use, its the field herping. I think theres nothing better then getting out there and getting dirty! Since there is no Herp society around here any more I'm thinking of just finding a couple guys or gals with similar interest and possibly doing some field trips for kids or something. Any thoughts have you done this? Thanks again and I know I'll have more questions.

I never do shows this time of year, when it’s cold. In the summer, I simply use snake bags and Sterilite containers. If it’s cool, I’ll use styro-lined boxes like the ones used for shipping. I never feed any animals live prey. That’s a big no-no…there are way too many issues to address. I usually let kids feed bearded dragons and aquatic turtles, such as Eastern Painted turtles.

Check out the laws regarding native PA herps….I think many are protected now. I’m not sure though. If you can get permits and acquire some, I see no better form of educating the public than saying, “this is the exact snake you’ll find in your back yard”. In fact, I have a black pine snake that is meaner than heck. I use him occasionally to show folks that not all snakes are friendly like the ones they’re holding or touching at such events. Of course, I make everyone stand back and I use hooks to handle the snake. He hisses, puffs, draws back into the striking ‘s’ formation…it’s a lesson on what a wild snake will REALLY look like if/when they come across it. Again, I’m experienced with herps and I try to use good judgment and act responsibly when showing reptiles.

As for field herping, there are too many negatives to bringing groups out. A few I can think of…
-it can be terribly disappointing if NO herps are found
-if someone from the group goes back to ‘your’ spot and collects the wildlife
-if someone gets hurt, gets ticks or poison ivy
-if someone gets bitten by something venomous

The biggest thing is trust. I personally am VERY protective of my hot spots in the field. And while I rarely find anything, I know there are herps in the areas I frequent due to studies and surveys I’ve come across. I only bring a camera when I go and EVERY TIME I go I get covered with ticks. It’s never fun unless you find something herp related.

I went to an education workshop on reptiles and amphibians of NJ and someone suggested to setup a field herping expedition using fake plastic snakes and amphibians. They described how you can setup the rules, create a map with a field guide and let the kids do all the work. You can make it like a game. Plus, they mentioned how even though the plastic toys are fake bright colors, they still do an incredible job of staying well-hidden where you plant them. You can set it up around the school grounds so that you don’t have to worry about costs of transporting kids. I’ve wanted to try something like this eventually but haven’t gotten around to it yet.

~Jason
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Sincerely, Jason
www.NortheastSnakes.com
NortheastSnakes@verizon.net

I forgot a lot!

I have a giant bottle of germ-x on the table and its usually gone by the days-end.

I have done the feeding thing before-- only problem is- its never worked after long distances. i only feed if its a local show- and theres only one animal that will take anything that hits the cage- a 7 foot red tail. we use frozen thawed. its a GREAT chance to show people how f/t food is more humaine and blah blah- then i'll hold it in the tank and she'll take it from the tongs and she wraps it up- puts on a great show for people.Never had one regurge on me- but thats why i only feed the one snake- shes a garbage disposal!

I feed beardies and things- b/c they'll eat crickets anytime. I offer them thier usual salads in the mornings- most dont eat.

As far as mishaps- i've been very lucky and not had any problems. nobody's been bitten or scratched up real bad or anything like that.

every event we go to, i wish i had more help. we usually have 3-5 people and we knock 2 of them out with one animal... so its a matter of regulating the # of animals out at a time.

You might check with a rescue in your area- i'm assuming youre in PA from the other comments- i know theres some rescues there. I don't know how they operate but if an individual collector contaced us and wanted to do some shows WITH us- i'd be thrilled to have the extra help! (and see some new critters!)

Another big thing i'm noticing more and more- is that the 'normal' stuff doesn't get the same attention it used to. The big burms are knockouts every time but the normal balls and things aren't as impressive i guess... i'm wanting to get my hands on some fancy morph BP's to use...

anyway- we're remodeling our kitchen and hubby wants help so i'm off here for now.

Thanks
Beth
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The rescue site: www.freewebs.com/okreptilerescue