I dont know if I Will have kids pose with him or anything like that. At my Herp shows, The most they ever really get to touch is the tail of one of my boas. I am more concerned about the animal being too stressed. I have done them in the past with a Water Monitor who never showed any signs of being dismayed, and is still alive and healthy. From my experience, I think a lot of animals can take a lot more than we give them credit for sometimes.

But all that aside, I always let the personality of the individual animal determine whether or not they get shown. I think its important though to show people these animals first hand. Its been my experience that people do not care about something, or only superficially care about things that they have no contact with. In the half decade or so I have been doing educational presentations, I have had quite a few people come up to me and tell me that they never once gave lizards and snakes a second thought until they saw how amazing they can be in person. I have even had a few parents come up and ask me about the types of reptile pets that would be best for their kid when they are old enough. In fact, some of the best Herpers I know, got interested by educational shows when they were in school. I always stress research, and doing your homework on any species. I even carry caresheets and a list of websites with me when I go for just such occasions.

The main focus on my shows is conservation, though, not keeping reptiles as pets, So I mainly talk about what we can do to help preserve the wild populations, and how reptiles benefit people (Making it about them, instead of the animal is a great way to reach people). I also do this completely for free, but ask the host to make a donation to a conservation charity.

I dont know if Dewey will ever be able to be one of my "Wildlife ambassadors", but I love having him, none-the-less. I have been keeping reptiles for a long time, and i love that I am still learning every day. I figure the day I stop learning is the day I will give up the hobby.

Thank you all for your input. it is greatly appreciated. More updates to come, as they happen!