Any other reptile lovers out there?

[Jenn]

All I can say is that he has handled all of these animals since they were born, and he runs a reptile store. He has been going around to all the schools for years teaching children about reptiles and how we can coexist peacefully with them. That they are not scary or evil and that they are great predators against mice and rats. None of these reptiles got close to the kids at all, except for the young alligator and the one snake, as well as the one tortoise.

 

[Megan]

The fact that he has been bitten honestly means nothing to me. You handle animals on a daily basis, you are going to get bitten sooner or later. Doesn't matter how careful you are-- accidents can easily happen, and animals know when you are having an "off" day.

I think having someone going to the schools and educating is important. Is it better to show someone a snake, educate them about the snake, specifically a venomous snake...or let them grow up ignorant about snakes, so next time they see one in their yard they take a shovel to its head because they can't tell a simple brown water snake or gardner snake from a copper head?

Yes, watching the croc hunter as a child made me want to get out there and wrestle a croc(he DID make it look like fun!)... but I had enough common sense to know I couldn't do it. I learned quite a bit from him--and yep, he was bitten plenty of times...I am glad people put their own lives at risk to educate others about the beauty of wild (and sometimes dangerous) animals.