Reptile Man

The kids and I went to see the Reptile Man at the library today. No, Reptile Man is not a man who looks like a reptile, like Isaiah thought when I told him we were going to see the Reptile Man. He is actually just a regular guy who owns a reptile zoo and does some traveling shows with some of his animals. We actually tried to go this morning, but it was full by the time we got there and they were turning people away. Luckily, there was another showing tonight and we decided to go back for it. Reptile man started out by bringing out some of the animals. As he brought each animal out, he told us a little about it. He had a tortoise, an iguana, a blue-tongued skink, and an alligator named Lucy. Reptile man even showed us how he could put Lucy to sleep. Apparently, alligators have some kind of reflex where if you rub their eyelids, they just pass out. Hmmm...if only that would work on my Lucy.

Next, he brought out the snakes. There was a rattle snake, a cobra, and some other deadly snakes. I'm not sure which one it was, but one of these snakes can kill a human within 15 minutes of a bite. Yikes! I hope to never meet one of those. Of course, all of Reptile Man's snakes have been de-venomed, so we didn't have to worry.

Lucy the Alligator.

And then, there was this big guy. He is an albino boa constrictor. I guess boa constrictors are actually pretty gentle and don't really squeeze people to death like you see in the movies. Whew!

Afterwards, the kids all got a chance to pet and hold some of the animals. Micah was a little unsure of the big snake, at first.

But, after a while, he started warming up to it.

The girls got in on some of the action, too.

They thought this blue-tongued skink was pretty cool, too, and each got a chance to hold it. Micah look so serious in this picture. Maybe he will be the next "Reptile Man".

Lily thought it was just like a little pet and would have carried it around like a little puppy dog all night if we let her.

Lucy was most impressed by the tortoise. She spent most of the time following it around and feeding it leaves off a tree. I think she would like to have a pet tortoise if she could.

These animals must be pretty patient because there were a lot of kids there grabbing at them and trying to pet them or sit on them (poor tortoise). Overall, it was a pretty neat experience and definitely worth the trip back. How many kids can say they have held a boa constrictor? Thanks, Reptile Man!