Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just wanted to get a few more ideas from you guys. Heres the situation we have been asked to take our snake colection to our daughers school today and we agreed. we came up with some ideas on what to talk to the kids about but would like your input on what we should discuss with the kids. the kids are 3-5 years old this is a preschool we are going to. we had planed on talking about how snakes are cold blooded, what they eat, where the different spiecies come from, how and why they shed, snakes being nocturnal, and why some people are afraid of snakes. Is there anything else we should cover during our hour and a half presentation?
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

Place emphasis on how and why snakes are very harmless animals. Talk about how they are timid, like to be left alone and hidden away. Help the kids understand that there's no reason to be afraid of snakes.

Talk about what to do if they see a snake in the wild (don't touch, stay away, tell an adult, etc.).

Another topic is how snakes are born out of eggs, like birdies, not directly out of mommy like babies and dogs and cats.

Have fun.
Joel
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0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Okeetee Corn Snake
1.0 Leopard Gecko

thanks for responding so quickly joel and i will use your what to do with snakes in the wild (stay away leave alone tell an adult) i hadnt thought of that one
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

N/P

thanks mike we know about the snakes that dont lay eggs we are going to bring one of our large red tails with us and talk about how they give live birth
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

Except for those species of snakes that give birth to live young...lol.

Get them hooked while they're young!
I did this a couple of months ago at my son's pre school.
Keep in mind these guys have REALLY SHORT attention spans.
They were really Interested in looking at the sheds. If you have any to show/ pass around it would be good. They were also surprised that they smell with their tongues..
Oh And most importantly Bring "Quick wash"... for your snakes health as well as the children's. We had them Wash before and after touching the snakes.
We also left them w/ a few snake coloring sheets.
Have fun

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"There is a fine line between a hobby and mental illness"
COLD BLOOD.........WARM HEART

yes we are bringing some shedings with us and a big bottle of sanitizer we thought that we could let the kids that wanted to keep some of the shedings because we have so much of it with 7 snakes we have bags and bags of it and never throw it away.
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

I've done several demo's at schools and in my experience children that young don't always quite get the concept of "cold blooded". The only time they have heard this comment was usually overhearing a tv show referring to someone that is bad. The comments already stated about how they are born like birds is an attention getter and puts them on the same level of something they like already. You must remember to not get too technical with them as their minds haven't been exposed to the terminology yet. Bring in something that isn't too active and allow them to "pet" it and show them that the snakes aren't out to kill them. Best of luck with the presentation.
Josh Hutto
JKReptiles
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2.3 het pied (RDR, alan bosch x 2, BHB x 2)
1.1 het albino (ben siegel, gulf coast)
1.2 het citrus ghost(gulf coast line)
1.0 citrus ghost (gulf coast line)
0.1 graz pastel female
1.6 05 normal bp's
0.6 04 normal bp's
2.5 adult normal bp's (some need breeding to see if norm)
4 various corns
0.1 brazilian rainbow boa (alan bosch)
1.0 american pit bull terrior
1.1 taco dogs (ankle biters)
1.0 grey cat
1.1 bearded dragons

a BAD dog is MADE not bred, support the American Pit Bull Terrior as the greatest breed of dogs on Earth!!!!!

thanks josh we are going to try and keep it simple
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

Snakes are cold blooded so they get their heat from their surroundings, they don’t make their own heat like we do. We give our snakes their heat with heat lamps and heat mats. Snakes that live around here hibernate in the winter that means they hide underground. Our snakes come from warm places like Africa, South America, and the southern United States.
Do you know what snakes eat? ____________ Small snakes eat pinkie mice. Pinkie mice are baby mice that don’t have their fur yet. Medium snakes eat mice or small rats. Large snakes eat anything from large rats to rabbits and in the wild they can get big enough to eat monkeys. Some snakes eat eggs, lizards, other snakes, or birds. But mostly they eat rodents.
Snakes shed their skin when they grow out of it or if it gets damaged. Baby snakes shed about every five weeks adult snakes only shed 5 or 6 times a year. They have no arms or legs so they scrape their noses until their skin starts to come off then they wiggle and squiggle and slither right out of their old skin to show the new shinny skin.
Most snakes are nocturnal and only come out at night, to hunt or get a drink of water. Right now they would normally be asleep.
A lot of people are afraid of snakes because when they hear the word snake they think of venomous snakes like rattle snakes and cobras. But not all snakes are venomous and mean no harm to anyone most snakes would rather run away and hide from a person then do them harm. All of our snakes are non venomous constrictors who would love to give every one a big hug.

Baby

Baby is a corn snake from the colabred family other snakes in the colabred family are rat snakes, king snakes, milk snakes, and garter snakes. Baby was hatched from an egg in September of 2005. Does anyone know what baby might eat? Are there any questions about Baby?

AL

Al is a rat snake he is about three years old. We rescued him from some one who could not take care of him anymore. He is closely related to a corn snake like baby. He eats large mice or small rats. Most rat snakes are known for their bad attitudes and rat has a really bad attitude. Both corn and rat snakes will try to imitate a rattle snake when they are scared or mad. Let’s see if we can get Al to show us this talent.
Any question about Al?

Arwen, Aragorn, and Frodo

Were all hatched in July of 2005 they are called ball pythons. Ball Pythons are one of the most sold snakes as pets. They are called ball pythons because of the way they coil into a ball when they are scared. Ball pythons can live as long as 20-30 years the record is 47 years. Ball pythons come from Africa where it is always warm. Our ball pythons eat large mice once a week. All pythons and boas are part of the Boid family. Are their any questions about Arwen, Aragorn, and Frodo?

Squiggles

Squiggles is a red tailed boa. He is about three years old we also got him and his brother wiggles form someone who couldn’t take care of him anymore. Red tail boas are mostly form South America where it is also always warm. He is about 5 feet long and will grow to about 7 feet female boas can grow to more than 8 feet long when they are full grown. They eat large rodents like rats and rabbits. Are there any questions about squiggles?
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

I've found that the best way to go about it (especially with the little ones) is to include them as much as possible and not get to technical or long winded - most preschoolers will know a little bit about snakes so go by what they know - ask a lot of questions (snakes are nocturnal - does anyone know what that means" and let them ask a lot of questions - the big one is they all want to know what and how they eat - this facinates the hell out of them. Other topics that they like are how big they get, their teeth/fangs, does it hurt when they bite. I use a lot of "Do You Knows" and "What/Why do you thinks". Myth busting is a big part of it to "what do you think are some stereotypes that people give snakes" kind of discussion. And then of course there is the holding/petting portion - give them pointers on how to hold a snake and how to tell if it is not receptive to handling. Other than that a basic background about the origins of the snake, how they live in the wild, and how they are kept as pets, etc. and take a camera - the kids love to have thier pictures taken holding a snake! But most of all have a good time!!!

>>Snakes are cold blooded so they get their heat from their surroundings, they don’t make their own heat like we do. We give our snakes their heat with heat lamps and heat mats. Snakes that live around here hibernate in the winter that means they hide underground. Our snakes come from warm places like Africa, South America, and the southern United States.
>> Do you know what snakes eat? ____________ Small snakes eat pinkie mice. Pinkie mice are baby mice that don’t have their fur yet. Medium snakes eat mice or small rats. Large snakes eat anything from large rats to rabbits and in the wild they can get big enough to eat monkeys. Some snakes eat eggs, lizards, other snakes, or birds. But mostly they eat rodents.
>> Snakes shed their skin when they grow out of it or if it gets damaged. Baby snakes shed about every five weeks adult snakes only shed 5 or 6 times a year. They have no arms or legs so they scrape their noses until their skin starts to come off then they wiggle and squiggle and slither right out of their old skin to show the new shinny skin.
>> Most snakes are nocturnal and only come out at night, to hunt or get a drink of water. Right now they would normally be asleep.
>> A lot of people are afraid of snakes because when they hear the word snake they think of venomous snakes like rattle snakes and cobras. But not all snakes are venomous and mean no harm to anyone most snakes would rather run away and hide from a person then do them harm. All of our snakes are non venomous constrictors who would love to give every one a big hug.
>>
>>
>>
>>Baby
>>
>>Baby is a corn snake from the colabred family other snakes in the colabred family are rat snakes, king snakes, milk snakes, and garter snakes. Baby was hatched from an egg in September of 2005. Does anyone know what baby might eat? Are there any questions about Baby?
>>
>>AL
>>
>>Al is a rat snake he is about three years old. We rescued him from some one who could not take care of him anymore. He is closely related to a corn snake like baby. He eats large mice or small rats. Most rat snakes are known for their bad attitudes and rat has a really bad attitude. Both corn and rat snakes will try to imitate a rattle snake when they are scared or mad. Let’s see if we can get Al to show us this talent.
>>Any question about Al?
>>
>>Arwen, Aragorn, and Frodo
>>
>>Were all hatched in July of 2005 they are called ball pythons. Ball Pythons are one of the most sold snakes as pets. They are called ball pythons because of the way they coil into a ball when they are scared. Ball pythons can live as long as 20-30 years the record is 47 years. Ball pythons come from Africa where it is always warm. Our ball pythons eat large mice once a week. All pythons and boas are part of the Boid family. Are their any questions about Arwen, Aragorn, and Frodo?
>>
>>Squiggles
>>
>>Squiggles is a red tailed boa. He is about three years old we also got him and his brother wiggles form someone who couldn’t take care of him anymore. Red tail boas are mostly form South America where it is also always warm. He is about 5 feet long and will grow to about 7 feet female boas can grow to more than 8 feet long when they are full grown. They eat large rodents like rats and rabbits. Are there any questions about squiggles?
>>-----
>>2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
>>2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
>>1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
>>0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
>>3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
>>1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
>>Brian n Chrissy
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

10.35.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.1 Lizard rescued from feline
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

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Edited on January 17, 2006 at 22:52:16 by phwyvern.

Definately include a brief safety talk - not all snakes are freindly - what to do if you find one outside, etc.
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Tosha

"Nihil facimus sed id bene facimus"

10.35.0 Ball Python (Harry and Fluffy and gang)
1.0.0 Angolan Python (Anakin Skywalker)
0.0.1 Green Tree Python (Verdi - yeah I know but my kids love the book)
0.1.0 Bredls Python (Smurfette)
0.2.0 Feline (Pippen and Pandora)
0.0.1 Desert Tortoise (Pope John Paul aka JP )
2.2.1 Fish (1,2,3,4)
0.0.1 Lizard rescued from feline
0.0.0 frogs rescued from pool skimmer

______

Edited on January 17, 2006 at 22:51:49 by phwyvern.

thanks tosha for the great advice again. we planed on the q&a with the kids as much as i could think of while we are there. and we will take all the ideas we can from this thread. we leave in about and hour to do our presentation. wish us luck
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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy

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2.1.0 ball python (aragorn, frodo, arwen)
2.0.0 columbian boa (wiggles and squiggles)
1.0.0 rat snake (alabastered)
0.1.0 corn snake (baby)
3.3.0 cats (rockie, bs, brownie, lerrado, kole, camie)
1.3.0 kids (dilyen, dakota, chyanne, sierra)
Brian n Chrissy