Show and tell

[Toad37]

I asked this question in a previous post that was closed but I would like some opinions on it. For those of us with small children who go to school and have show and tell what are your opinions on taking something docile like a BP or a corn snake. You as the adult would be present of course. You could or could not allow children to touch your animal it's entirely up to you. But what are your guys' opinion on this.

As I said this is a question I asked in a previous closed thread. If you replied to it then thank you and if u seen it in that thread then please leave all the opinions from that thread where they belong. Somewhere else.

[pretends2bnormal]

I think it is a nice idea. You could bring a small tank with some foliage in it (not enclosure sized) for some security for the snake and still be visible and on display while you talk. You could explain some common myths about snakes (slimy, poison vs venom, some of the easy ones). Or just general info about whatever snake you brought in.

Have a small part where you hold and show the snake, or let a few kids gently pet the snake (probably better for a BP than a corn on this bit).

A 10 gal with clips would be a fairly good "display case" for a corn. Maybe a 20 for a BP, or a 10 for a smaller male. Considering this would be all of an hour or two at most of out-of-cage time, I think a fairly calm snake could probably handle it just fine.

It would be your discretion if you allow touching or just walk it around for them to get a close look at and not touch.

Put the focus on sharing fun facts about snakes or reptiles and "showing" rather than on letting kids touch and hold, even if you do allow petting. Personally, I'd probably not allow touching just in case, but letting them walk up and look from pretty close while you hold is still a nice treat, especially with a snake with a morph since most will not have seen one before.

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[sur3fir3]

As I said this is a question I asked in a previous closed thread. If you replied to it then thank you and if u seen it in that thread then please leave all the opinions from that thread where they belong. Somewhere else.

When I was younger... like 20+ years ago I would demo snakes for the lower grades. I found that allowing them to touch the snake will help them overcome any fears, and dispel many myths. But all in all it depends on the snake you have. At the school our main attraction was a 16 foot Retic. That girl was an absolute baby. I only got bit by her once, and it was because I stepped on her tail. Show and tell always depends on the snake. If you have a puppy dog for a snake at home, sure bring it in. Just make sure they don't already have reptiles or small mammals in the class room already. If they do have reptiles I would do the show and tell outside of the classroom. I would also require that anyone that wants to touch the snake has to wash their hands before and after. If you are going to let the kids pet the snake I absolutely recommend that you keep the head of the snake away from the kids. keep a good hold of your snake, and make sure that it is absolutely not possible for that snake to bite one of the kids.


Another piece of advice. When you allow the kids to touch the snake only allow one kid to come up to pet it at a time. If you are surrounded by kids sometimes a sneaky one will try to pet the head of the snake. So all in all your two biggest issues are contracting something from the pets that are in the classroom, and a kid getting bit.

[Toad37]

I like the idea of show and not touch lol. None of my children have brought it up yet but im sure the day is coming. I'll let them be the one to start that conversation, I won't influence it. I highly doubt I would let much touching go on simply because of the threat of contracting something nasty. I remember as a young child in school people came in with a big albino Burmese and it's one of my favorite memories of school. Thank you everyone for all your replies and opinions.

[Bogertophis]

I think it's a good idea, & while I don't usually do "show & tells" with exclusively children, I have done some by request for libraries, schools, summer camps etc.
I do allow touching the snakes, but I keep the snake's face toward me & let them touch only the snake's lower body. Some children are still too afraid to touch,
even when they see it's friendly with everyone else, & that's ok...for most, it's more meaningful to actually touch the snake & then you get to hear "it's NOT even
slimy!" for a while, lol.

It's also great if you have some intact sheds to share, and I've taken some infertile (but not spoiled) snake eggs to show too. Every year my never-bred yellow rat
snakes produce a few dozen eggs, many of which look like good eggs, but never hatch. (hint: they keep longer in refrigerator) Any "props" like this help "kids" of
all ages to "connect" with snakes. When I used to breed some snakes, I also took some cleaned & dried snake egg shells that snakes hatched out of, so they could
see all the slits ("windows") that the snakes cut before venturing out into the world.

In recent years I've gotten away from doing programs other than the yearly show & tell (for all ages) at the local fairgrounds (it's a huge wildlife expo put on by a
local feed-store business), & in all the years I've allowed the public (all ages) to meet my snakes, I've never had any misbehave (try to bite, much less to succeed).
And I think you'll find that even the adults nearby get into this too, it's not just the kids. I never tire of hearing "He's really pretty! And I NEVER thought I'd EVER
touch a snake!" I should note that our fairgrounds has huge indoor air-conditioned buildings where most of this expo is held...outside is killer heat in summer, &
since the temperatures are comfortable, my snakes have done well for hours at this (with breaks), much longer than you'd think. They get tired, but not cranky, &
I take one of my huge yellow rat snakes (7' males), usually my rosy boa, an adult corn, an adult Trans Pecos, & my spotted python. A friend of mine brings her
BP & a boa, & between us, we're mobbed.

I always bring plastic "critter cottages" for the snakes to be displayed (& get some rest in), & let ppl know these are just their "Winnebagos", not their real homes.
I do not transport the snakes in these, however: I bring them empty & stacked, with the snakes bagged & in an ice chest for safety from my hot vehicle. I've never
had a problem doing this- it really feels good to change some minds about snakes. I predict you'll leave feeling great & glad that you went.

Note: some children will beg to hold a snake by themselves, but be very careful if you allow it. A very tiny percent may panic & drop the snake, saw it happen with
my friend's BP...snake was OK fortunately. Kids will be kids... some are flaky.

[Toad37]

I do have quite a few intact sheds that's a really great idea! Im not a breeder so the eggs are out of the question but im sure I could print some pictures of some (this is all hypothetical of course). If it happened I would only take one snake and it would be my adult male bp because he is the calmest one I have. The other ones can be "touchy" at times. And IF I allowed anyone to touch him I would have to seen them wash their hands first and I would supply hand sanitizer and it would only be the tail while I held the rest of the body. Like I said this is all hypothetical but thank you for all the ideas and tips!

[Bogertophis]

Shed skins are pretty fragile, so you'll have to caution those handling them that they tear easily. I usually end up giving them out as souvenirs & kids love it.

Yes, obviously you only take snakes that you know are calm with handling, & there's nothing wrong with taking a bottle of hand sanitizer.

You mentioned this is for young children, right? What our local children's librarian set up one year worked very well; little kids have a short attention span, so several
activities were planned: first she read them a story (about a snake), then they heard about snakes from me & met some of mine, then they did some coloring & paper
crafts afterwards that were snake-themed. You might coordinate something like this with the teacher, with adjustments for the ages you're dealing with.

[Toad37]

Yes my children are young so im sure the class would enjoy coloring picture and maybe reading a nice children's book on snakes. These are all wonderful ideas! I like the idea of debunking some of the myths as pretentstobenormal said. And giving out sheds is a cool idea. I bet I could find some cool stickers to give out. Kids love stickers!

[Bogertophis]

Depending upon when you actually get around to doing this, remind me in a month or two...maybe I can mail you some infertile eggs?

[Toad37]

Well school is about over they only have 3 weeks left so maybe next year. But that would be very cool! I think I would be more infatuated with them than the kids would