Adventures in volunteering(grab popcorn or a sandwich casue this is long)

[Pyrate81]

This is just me thinking out loud and assessing what I've seen today(yesterday)[9/28/2013].

I went to my local nature center today for orientation with the reptiles as I want to put time into the reptile room/community. If I were to do this "full time"(I consider one day a week minimum) I'd be the most experienced and knowledgeable reptile person they have that I know of; the "educators" may be experienced but I doubt it. The longest tenured guy there has been taking care of the herps for 13 years and there is a 17 yr old who's been doing it since he was 8 and will be going to college next year for herpetology. The other volunteers I have no knowledge of their experience. I give the tenured guy a lot of credit for sticking with it for as long as he has and figuring things out on his own without looking things up on the internet. It seems volunteering/helping animals in some way is in his DNA but research for care and soliciting for funds is not. I do find a flaw in his religious attachment but his lack of caring, but I can't fault the guy for trying and not being "the guy" to be the "head" of the reptile "department". Note that the place is strictly staved by volunteers and funded by donations. There is a building being constructed next to the main building which I believe will become the new main building.

So here is my assessment after 2+ hours of orientation:

1. Most of the volunteers care enough to volunteer but not really learn or know about the animals. If I include myself and the "other new guy" it'll make 5 total volunteers for the reptile room. The other new guy works in the butterfly room but has a knack for seeing animals which normally would get passed up by passerby like myself. He has a bit of fearlessness to a degree but mention anything sizable like python or boa and he gets skiddish. I'm good with animals, he's good with finding them. He's willing to learn and interact, I like the guy but there is something I'm not sure about yet. The "senior member" of the group likes having the cages cleaned and does a good job with making sure everyone has fresh water and food(some details later). The head of the volunteer department is cool with holding and feeding tarantulas, the skink, and geckos. doesn't seem to have an interest in snakes or proper care. She is cool with what she likes and takes care of them to some extent, but beyond that she seems to be lax in the "giving a crap about most details" department. Another member doesn't like to track records in the log book so it's kinda hard to know when she cleaned/fed some of the animals. The "educators" I have no clue what they know and kinda fear what they know when the website and bulletin board states "The snakes have no teeth thus they swallow their food in one piece with no chewing." Supposedly this is outdated info which hasn't been updated yet...

2. Their reptile housing is outdated and average at best. The enclosures are made of older/wooden with flo lighting and no real source of heat. There is a couple 40br which house an injured beardie and a blue tongued skink. Heating for the beardies, leopard geckos, and snakes is subpar. Who knows what "room temperature" is for the reptile room(closet) but it's good enough for colubrids and not good enough for anything else. Humidity is fine for the colubrids but the BP has X(read as at least one) amount of sheds still stuck on him. The snakes, geckos, and skink have adequate room for living but the beardies don't. The beardies are a male and female which are currently separated cause the male is missing an eye and the female is missing part of her tail.

3. Feeding seems fine for the torts and lizards with crickets, mealworms, night crawlers, veggies, and fruit going to the appropriate herp. The snakes get fed medium-sized frozen mice every 1-2 weeks. They do have 2-3 snakes which brumate/hibernate in the fall/winter months and eat on occasion. They only feed medium mice which isn't adequate for most of the snakes.

4. The average age of each reptile seems to be <10 years. The 2 oldest are estimated at 12+ and 20ish years old. The beardies are estimated at 7ish years old(I'm told this is average age for a bearide??). Skink and leopards are questionable in age.

5. The variety of what they have in the reptile room is awesome: 2 beardies, 1 blue-tongues skink, 3 leopards, 1 tarantula, some hissing cochroaches, 2 beardies, 4 torts, and 8+ snakes. I've handled every snake and lizard, aside from the assumed hybrid everglades black rat which is still <2-3 years old, they are all docile and I had them around my neck.

6. They don't seem to have a "vet budget"' so they call a local breeder where they have gotten a couple corn snakes from and try to get an assessment of any sick or injured herps before sending it to a vet. Unfortunately it seems the breeder can take some time in assessing injuries and sickness or advising actual medical treatment so previously sick herps have perished. The veteran guy has explained to me they have had a bad run with kingsnakes and the 2 they currently have are doing well.



Overall: :takes deep breath and sighs: This particular program needs a butt ton of help IMO. They do have healthy animals which are well fed but others need help thriving in their environment. I feel I can take over their reptile program with little or no resistance. As much as I want to plunge head first into this, it is better to assess and research possibilities while making some small suggestions(which have been welcomed so far) along the way. I guess part of this is a soul searching en devour for myself: I don't have wife/girlfriend and/or kids, but am in transition with my life and am searching for new avenues to expunge energy(I wish I could say cash then this would be easy). I am pondering a part time job to relinquish myself of debt faster and help my life move a long. Perhaps this is also an avenue in which to focus a purpose of sorts and learn things which will help me move forward with life in general. I know this sounds kind of full of myself but maybe I'm what this program needs? Maybe I can up my game and be "the hero" for once in a sense?


Edit: I misspelled "cause".

[MootWorm]

It sounds like a pretty cool project to jump into. And it seems like the other volunteers are receptive to change, so I think you could definitely work some magic there Keep us posted on any progress you make!!

[Bluebonnet Herp]

If I were you, I'd jump in, make some changes, and leave things better than before I came, to summarize.

[Pyrate81]

Thanks for the support. I will be volunteering either way, the big/hard part is getting the animals to a better level. It'll take time, sweat, and some frustration but I think it can be done. Another thing is making sure the educators who take the animals to presentations are presenting them properly as well.

[Archimedes]

I think the first big hurdle you'll be crossing with these folks is budgeting. Perhaps looking into to possibilities of local grants, sponsors, etc to help improve the program, and budgeting specific funds: Vet Fund, Feeding Fund, etc. But it sounds like before that there will be some definite husbandry upgrades to make.

Do you have a specific title in the center? Volunteer? As you take over, maybe see about acquiring a title that voices you as the authority in the room. That way folks will automatically take concerns to you first. Your experience with a wide variety of herps is definitely beneficial to them.

[4theSNAKElady]

Time, sweat, and frustration???? Its not like you havent given that to other projects before lol! I say jump in! Be the hero!

sent from my incubator

[Xaila]

Ooh, good luck with this. Be warned though that some people might not be receptive to change very quickly since you're a "new guy". It's unfortunate but a lot of otherwise well meaning people can be stubborn and stuck in their ways. It'll all depend how you come across.

[Pyrate81]

As a small update to this, I sent out an email this morning to a couple other volunteers. turns out the current "guy in charge" of the reptile room is wanting to fully get out of volunteering and is looking for a full time replacement. I thought he wanted to take a step back and get more people involved so he is only there every 3-4 weeks instead of every other week. So to those who said jump in head first, I may be doing just that.

This is gonna be a large undertaking. In the next 3-4 weeks it looks like I'll be the "head honcho".

[Holtgards]

Go for it!!!

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[Pyrate81]

Wow, I haven't updated this since October. So this is where we are with this:

1. I'm the head of reptiles.

2. The director lady is still pretty clueless with snakes.

3. We've started getting some donations. Some are material, which is good. One snake was donated which I'm not pleased with but it may get fostered out for a year so that may not be so bad.

4. One of the donations was a new volunteer. We now have a team of 5 on the weekends with a small group during the weekdays.

5. It's moving slowly but surely. Had little hope, but things are getting better.

6. Hopefully we can move into the new addition before summer so we can get better heat on the reptiles and have more efficiency in cleaning and feeding.


I think that's all for now.

PS- With experience I'm finding that reptile/snake people are nerds, dorks, and geeks much like myself. It's nice to find people of similar ilk.