I'm doing a Reptile Presentation at an Elementary School

The title says it all. I am going to be visiting around 4 or 5 classes and doing a 30-40 minute presentation in each class. I will be bringing an adult ball python, a yearling ball python, an adult bearded dragon, and a russian tortoise. This way the student will have a good amount of diversity to see and touch.

My plan will be to keep the talking short, only explaining where they live in the wild, what they eat, and that they are cold-blooded.

I will then let the brave ones come up and touch the ones they feel comfortable with. I will provide hand sanitizer for before and after handling.

After everyone gets to touch the reptiles I will have them sit down. The remaining time will be used for Q and A. I hope to get some funny and interesting questions from the little ones.

Is there anything else you would add or advise me of before hand?

I can't wait to do this, should be fun.

advice: insurance and a lawyer. I'm not joking

my house mate who is a paralegal also says release forms

Good for you. I've done this many times for schools, community groups and birthday parties. The time the kids get to handle is the most important to them and once one student shows bravery they all jump in. One thing I do before bringing out the live snake is to pass around a skin shed so they get a feel before the real one comes out.
Like you I usually take three or four snakes, my argentine teguand my sulcatat tortoise. Good luck.

-Toby

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Originally Posted by tjteach14

One thing I do before bringing out the live snake is to pass around a skin shed so they get a feel before the real one comes out.

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Thanks, I forgot to mention that. Just before I made this post my 1500 gram het pied female had a perfect shed. I rolled it out and I'm letting it dry as we speak. I figured it would be great to show them how much detail the shed has.

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Originally Posted by oliverstwist

advice: insurance and a lawyer. I'm not joking

my house mate who is a paralegal also says release forms

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How would I go about doing this?

I have done presentations in a couple classrooms and a couple birthdays for friends and family. While they are fun and educational. Protect your behind. Seriously. I was advised to expect the worst and protect against it. With live animals what the worst that can happen? Theyll bite. Yes it's not likely to happen and has it ever happened for me? No. But what I was advised was if and god forbid if it did I could be sued. I came up with a disclaimer that I had sent out with invitations/ and a letter to parents explaining who I am, what animals will be brought, and what the worst situation could be. Any that did not have it signed could not come within 3 ft of the animal. If it was signed they were allowed to pet the animal with 2 fingers down the animals back. My hands were securing the animal at all times.
I suggest you do this. Even though a bite from a small reptile such as a ball, or beardy would be superficial YOU are still the responsible party. The disclaimer also voided me from being held responsible, for injuries, medical costs, etc. Yet it also protected the children from any injuries to the animal as well. If one of them actually accidentally hurt the animal. I couldn't hold them responsible and they couldn't hold me responsible.
I highly suggest doing a disclaimer and a letter to the parents. It will be more work. But you'll protect your arse.

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I'll get working on that, thanks guys!

That sounds fun, Gladd people are out there doing that. my family on my moms side hates snakes... :( one thing i might say is this. 30 minutes per class 5 classes. thats 2 and a half hours. this is just a suggestion, that u might only let them feel one of the 4 per class. It is completely up to you, you might have animals that dont get weird with stress. idk if i expressed myself right but if your snakes can handle it then Great! (cus if i was a kid i would love to feel all :)) Goodluck!

Release forms, yes yes yes.

This is unrelated to reptiles, but it's a story I heard on the Fennec Fox listhost. This owner had a friend who ran a petting zoo take care of his fennec foxes (he had two) while he was on vacation. The friend was instructed to keep the foxes in a cage, away from the rest of the zoo, because they bite. He even put a sign on the cage that said "Do not touch, we bite."

Well, some idiot got close to the cage and stuck her fingers in the cage and got bitten. She didn't care but her parents did. Her parents turned around and called animal control as well as sued them. If I remember correctly the sue didn't work, but animal control took the fennecs and put them down for biting a human.

Ridiculous crap I tell you, because that girl was STUPID and didn't heed the sign. But that's the government for you. This is also why I don't let anyone near my fennec. He bites ME a lot, so it's no guess he'd bite someone else.

Make sure it doesn't happen to you :( I'm sure if a kid got bitten, there'd be a huge storm about it.

These are all very good suggestions. I won't be handling all of the reptiles that whole 2-3 hours. I might take one out at a time while explaining where they come from and while the students touch them. I will make sure to minimize the stress as much as possible.

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Originally Posted by eel588

These are all very good suggestions. I won't be handling all of the reptiles that whole 2-3 hours. I might take one out at a time while explaining where they come from and while the students touch them. I will make sure to minimize the stress as much as possible.

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My fiance works with a woman who has a son that desperately wants a snake. 10 years old and very knowledgeable. Took me 3 hours to show him 3 snakes and my rodents and answer all his questions. I can't imagine cramming everything I would want to say into such a small period of time. Personally I would want all the kids parents to sign a disclaimer. People are quick to sue when a child gets bit.

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Originally Posted by Egapal

Took me 3 hours to show him 3 snakes and my rodents and answer all his questions. I can't imagine cramming everything I would want to say into such a small period of time.

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That will be the worse part, only letting some of the questions get answered.

Nice I remeber wen I did a presentation for a school, but use big words like ectothermic and explain to them that that's cold blooded, and you might get some that are scared of course but your going to do great Enjoy and. Best of luck

I don't know about release forms. We had an awesome handler that worked for the school district and created a outdoor learning center. Jim would tell the kids to use two fingers, and a very light stroke. He would only allow five to line up at time, and it was a quick trip up and then right back to their seats. Discuss how you want to handle that portion with the teachers, they can be your best safety net. He never allowed the kids near the head of the snakes, or other critters. He used to bring in Katy, an 18 foot burmese python, she was much the celebrity around here. Be prepared for off the wall questions.

Yeah, I think a few quick light touches per kid will be enough for them without stressing out my reptiles too much. I can't wait to hear the questions. Hopefully I will have some good ones to share with you all.

Here is a link to Jim Dunlap regarding his retiring from our school district, him and Katy were by far the most popular teachers around here. There are a couple pictures of him with the late Katy.

http://planoblog.dallasnews.com/arch...e-retires.html

I got to do the presentation this morning. I spent a half hour each in 4 different rooms. The kids went crazy over all the reptiles. The question time was mostly filled with kids telling me stories of their experiences with poisonous snakes.

I actually had one kid tell me a snake jumped off of his car, wrapped around his neck, bit him in the ear AND chest, plus it poisoned him! It was hilarious, I just said "that's insane!"

I really can't wait to do it again. My favorite part was getting a really scared kid to touch it. Once they felt how cool they are their faces just lit up with interest.

I recommend this opportunity to everyone.

Last year we brought our (very mellow) corn snake to our daughters first grade class. It was a great experience for the kids. Hopefully we will help some of them to love snakes and reptiles more and not be afraid. I was surprised how many children actually came up to pet her. Only one did not. The rest could not get enough. Thinking about taking our bp this year if they will let us. Good job, glad other people are out there trying to expose and educate kids about these wonderful animals!

you are going to make a difference in someones life. Good Job!