Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok, off the topic of road kill and on to a new one. Has anyone had their snake outside and had their snake go into feed mode when see birds outside. I seen pics of fluffy outside, so I guess it is safe. Another question I want to eventually start bringing my snakes around to schools. Is their insurance you get for that, incase your snake goes loco and nails someone. Or do you just not let anyone touch it. I remember when i was in grade school this dude had this burmese python and a bunch of us got to hold it he had the head of course.
please let me know what your experices have been.

Hello, I do snake presentations for the Salem Public School system here in Massachusetts. My daughter is going into 3rd grade this year and I've done it for the past 4 years. I've had great responses. I originally just did my daughters kindergarten class and the kids and the science teacher enjoyed it so much she asked if I could do all the classes individually. I've also done their annual science night for the past 4 years and I'm told by her science teacher that the other schools in Salem want me to come to their schools. I'm now in the process of setting up schedules for the other schools. Her school alone is 25 or so classes so it is turning into a pretty large collection of presentations. After finding out how much the other reptiles people charge them I'm able to do it for great money and still charge FAR less then the other presenters. I'm now known by all the kids in her school as "The snake man!" LOL. With much research I was finally able to find an insurance company that does live animal presentations. The other thing you may need is a "COREY" test, which is basically a background check on you to make sure your not a pedophile In the four years I've been doing this I've seen a huge difference in peoples attitude towards my snakes (including the teachers!) I've never had an incident involving any snake bites. The whole key there is knowing your snakes and keeping an eye at all times on their attitude at the time. Some of my snakes are off limits to being handled by the children while others are more than tolerant of the 'excited' children. I'm told that 'snake day' in each class is the highlight of their school year, constantly asking the science teacher when I'll be at their class. One of my main purposes for doing these shows is to try to catch the future generation before they've learned to 'fear' snakes. It seems to be working. The talking to the science teacher right now about having a 'permanent' snake in their science class, which I'm donating as well as building a custon enclosure for it. I've also offered to come once a week for feeding and cage cleaning. I'm going to be donating a baby ball python (which is one of the kids favorites.) This way they will be able to actually see their own snake grow from a baby to an adult. I will be taking care of the snake during summer vacation, which of course was a concern for the teacher. I'm fotunate enough to have a very understanding science teacher to deal with. There's nothing better than getting paid for something you absolutely "love" doing. If you have any furthur questions, just ask. I'm always more than happy talk about my favorite thing to do with my snakes. Take care and good luck, Scott.
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Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

"In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws.
But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
—Martin Luther King Jr

I use my two burms in presentations almost weekly, and have been doing so for many years. At present, I do not have insurance on my snakes, but I am in the process of getting insurance as I type this. My big albino female has grown up doing school presentations, and she knows what's going on. She is too big for me to handle standing, so I usually get the kids in front of me, sometimes in classrooms or in the gym or even the cafeteria. I get a safe distance away, and take Alberta out of her container and either sit on the floor with her or sit in a chair and place the upper third of her body in my lap. When I get through talking about her, and if the group is a good one (and small enough), I let the kids come up a couple at the time and pet her. I've been doing this for many years, and I've never had a bad experience with my burms. I did have a big African rock that went nuts one day in front of about 100 boy scouts at a scouting day camp. He peed all over me and took a plug out of my left forearm. Freaked the kids out, but we were in a big gym and the snake wasn't close to the kids. I got control of the snake quickly, and finished the show without further incident. In the end, the scouts thought it was pretty funny that I got nailed. That was the last time I showed that African rock (shouldn't have in the first place). Most of my shows have been done with burmese and retics, and they've worked well.

I am in the process of getting licensed here in Georgia for venomous snakes, and I have to carry insurance on any venomous snake I would get. While I'm at it, I'm looking into insurance for the pythons as well. Though not required (at least not here in Georgia), it wouldn't be a bad thing to have. Doing shows is really fun. I enjoy it immensely. Both my burms, Alberta and Murray, have been great ambassadors of snakedom. I am a health educator and I do some of my health presentations with the snakes as examples.
RP