My trip to the Tucson Reptile Show

I saw a commercial for the Reptile show last week and thought it would be a fun family activity. So off we went………Never in a million years would I believe you if you told me that I would be attending a reptile show. See, I still scream like a girl when I see a spider. I freak out when a snake slithers by me. Living in Arizona we see a lot of tarantulas and rattlesnakes but that doesn’t make them any less scary. I decided to push my fears aside and be brave. After all they’re just “animals” right? I mean, I love animals so this shouldn’t be too bad. After a quick pep talk I headed towards the entrance. Thank God there was a line. This gave me a little more time to prepare myself. Upon walking in the door it appeared that we were at a zoo or museum.  I guess I was expecting creepy crawlies everywhere. At first glance it wasn’t that bad at all. Actually pretty interesting!

We started near a snake vendor. All the snakes were tucked into plastic

containers and organized by type.

 

               

 

 

This is a "Bumblebee" snake.  

 

 

Did you know, there are over 2,600 different types of snakes in the US? You can read more about the North American population of snakes here http://www.pitt.edu/~mcs2/herp/SoNA.html

 Our next stop was the chameleons.  Boy were they cute, just like in the Disney movies.

     

                 

 

 

 

They also had frogs. The frogs are actually pretty cool. They can't bite you but some are poisonous if you touch them. 

 

This frog is safe to touch. He will not bite and he is not poisonous.

 

 

Ewww and they had spiders, scorpions and centipedes too...................... 

 

 

                 

 

Oh and lizards. I’m okay with lizards. Someone handed me a bearded dragon at the exhibit. Trying to act cool, I held him in my hand, pet his tiny head and rubbed under his chin. He didn’t bite me and was surprisingly cute for a lizard. The people who ran the exhibit were very informative and actually got me to consider getting one. After I held it I passed it off to Alyssa. It was love at first sight. The lil guy actually fell asleep in her hand.  Oh so cute!

 

                 

 

  

  

  

  

       

 

  

This was a huge lizard guy just hanging out and letting everyone touch him. The bottom right picture is me petting him :) 

 

             

 

             

 

The several different types of tortoises.

            

 

            

  

  

  

 

  

  

                       

 

Random butterflies frozen in time.

 

 

While walking around a young man about eight years old hands Alyssa a lil mouse. She was scared at first then thought it was super cute. At only one dollar a piece we almost went home with one.

                  

 

The next exhibit was called 'Recycled Roadkill". The guy named Dale has been collecting roadkill for many years. He turns them into amazing products. He had everything from snake wallets to earrings for sale as seen below.

 

                  

 

                  

 

Have you ever pet a real alligator? We did! Cool fact: The alligator with the blue leash had a prosthetic tail. It was the very first of its kind in the US. Their handler explained that these two are very good friends. Just remember, you must sanitize your hands before and after petting the alligators.

                  

 

                   

 

                  

Oh hello there!

    

 

Look at this guys teeth!

 

 

 Oh and here is a picture of me being totally brave and holding a snake.

 

Here are more of the snakes and iguanas we saw on the way to the GIANT tiger python.

                

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was my favorite snake.

 

                

 

 

 

 

                  

 

 

 

 Are you ready for the GIANT python?

 

 

 

 

Okay here is her face peeking out at us.

 

This is me petting her.

Alyssa dared to touch her too.

 



Notice she's not behind any glass. That blew my mind. All I could think off was her trying to eat us. I ask her handlers what she ate and they said large bunnies and frozen goats.

 

So yes, if she wanted to eat us she could. However she wouldn't because she loves people. They think she is so calm around people because she was hatched in a humans hand.