Bringing reptiles into the public?

[KoreanDeathKid]

As a student i am asked to do many things around the school, since we share our high school building with a elementary school, i am usually asked to bring some of my pets to school and do a little show and tell, but i'm not a big fan of letting people see and touch reptilians, i heard some sayings such as "you can love a reptilian, but you can never trust them", so do you think it's a good idea for me to bring a lizard to school and just show the kids?
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[ApriliaRufo]

That depends on the reptile. I don't agree with letting your lizard out with a group of people, but you may let some pet them, and discuss them. I think this would be best answerred by jif, queen of show.

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

that's true, i have a monkey tail skink that is very rare here in Vancouver and nobody knows what those are, so i thought that may be i'll just talk to and show people about them

 

[ApriliaRufo]

That would be cool to see as a kid, too bad your tegu isn't well adjusted. They are a HUGE crowd pleaser.

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

no, the tegu isn't here yet, i ordered one from J&J reptiles, and i told them to make sure it arrives sometime next saturday, which I cannot wait for, but i'm pretty sure it would be awesome

 

[ApriliaRufo]

no, the tegu isn't here yet, i ordered one from J&J reptiles, and i told them to make sure it arrives sometime next saturday, which I cannot wait for, but i'm pretty sure it would be awesome

Be patient with the tegu, but the rewards are so worth it. Every penny, every minute. I just got a ball python as a gift thank god, because I missed my little Apollo so much, I was straight up depressed. The ball is keeping me company.

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

well, sorry about Apollo, but i'm sure you'll be able to get close to your ball python as much as Apollo was
i guess the main reason why i want a tegu is because they are so easy to care for once you are really close to them

 

[ApriliaRufo]

They are nothing short of amazing animals. Too cool for school. My favorite is when Apollo goes exploring with the cat. They're brothers. They walk with eachother all over the house looking for mice. Hahaha.

 

[nat]

a word of advice, don't try to rush the tegu being shipped. Let J&J decide when it is good for them. I just spoke to my nanny who lives outside of Calgary (which is close to J&J reptiles for all you who aren't familiar with Canada) and it is -20 degrees there! Not to mention the 2 feet of snow outside our own window. I don't think Jim would ship if he didn't feel it safe anyways but still!

I have brought a lot of animals to schools and programs for children so here is my advice about that: Make sure you are selecting reptiles that the children will have a positive experience with. They are very impressionable and a negative experience with a "vicious" or aggressive animal (at least by their perception) can cause someone to avoid reptiles in the future. You have to really trust the reptile and also know the reptile enough to know that the reptile itself is going to be ok with the encounter (is it going to panic and try to escape ? or possibly bite you?) It is stressful enough for a reptile to have to be taken out of its home and transported to an unusual area, let alone to have a dozen or so kids trying to poke at it.

 

[KoreanDeathKid]

I agree nat, it only started snowing just yesterday and it seems pretty hard to get things shipped at this time, but Jim says that the weather is cold, but it's till fine to ship things, he says that he drives to air port everyday whenever it's time to send the order, i also have a friend in Calagary and he says that it's probably much colder than -20
my monkey tail skink is pretty familiar with the public, he has been a display animal once before he came to the petstore I purchased him at, he is very nice but bites a couple times when I try to put him back in the enclosure, i don't really trust him, but all i know is that he is very calm and happy when he's out side and has been a display animal once, I have no idea where tho