If you have taken your child to a Reptile Show or maybe you even experienced one yourself when you were in Scouts or at a local event, then you probably know a lot about reptiles. But, if not, you may be surprised at what you can learn from a one-hour show at your local library.
Last week, the Gage Park Branch Library hosted a visit from JG’s Reptile Road Show. It was very well attended and the kids as well as the adults were totally engaged throughout the presentation.
Bill Cellak was the handler at this interactive event. With all of the kids paying close attention, Cellak started by explaining some of the ground rules:
“The animals are the stars of the show. I am just their voice,” he told the audience. “Their hearing is up to 10 times more sensitive than ours, so we want to keep our voices down so we don‘t startle them.”
“And always pet in one direction and only pet toward the tail,” he added, cautioning them not to put their hands by the animal’s face.
The first animal to visit was Mango, a bearded dragon, who some kids bravely allowed to sit on their heads. Kids learned that Mango’s dinner consists of about 20 live crickets each day.
Next to visit was Scarlet the Milk Snake. She has something called the Jacobson’s Organ on the roof of her mouth that allows her to ‘taste’ and ‘smell’ the area around her for food, prey and other snakes. This sort of snake generally hangs out in barns and keeps the mice away.
The reptile visitors became bigger when Cellak brought out his wife’s favorite pet. Aptly named Caspar, this fellow is a blue-eyed Lucy Python, a Burmese White Snake. These generally grow to be 4-5 feet long and it was surprising to see kids wave their hand asking to come up, and. not just pet Caspar, but allow him to rest on their necks. The adults all stayed in their seats.
Cellak explained that he has over 100 animals at home. In addition to the reptiles, he has chickens, ducks and quail, which provide eggs for some of the reptiles to eat. And surprisingly, even though some reptiles are carnivores, they live in his home and walk around without hurting his cats. “They can tell by smell that the cats living there are friends and won’t harm them.”
Another star of the show was the Madagascar Cockroach. The largest of its species, Cellak kept everyone on their toes by announcing that they are prone to escape their enclosures. At his house, one got loose and ended up taking up residence in his wife’s shoe.
No reptile show would be complete without a crocodile. Cellak and his wife raised Lisle the Crocodile from a baby. A special license is required to own a crocodile and when Lisle goes out visiting like he did at Gage Park, the law requires that he has a band around his snout to keep his jaw shut.
Rounding up the group of reptile visitors were Taz, a 6-year-old White Throated Monitor Lizard who enjoys fresh eggs and chicken wings for a snack. This fellow is 30 pounds with a tongue about 12 inches long; Stripey, a python nine feet long and weighing 50 pounds. She required several kids to help hold her up; and the slowest of the visitors, Bruno, a Sulcata Tortoise, who can live to be 100 years old. Much to the surprise of the audience they learned Bruno’s shell is made of the same matter as their fingernails, carotin.
In the end, anyone that wished was given the opportunity to pet or hold a reptile and that seemed to delight every kid. Some of the adults did venture forward once in a while, but for the most part were content to take photos.
