Hi princess,

My 7-year-old son just had a "show and tell" in his class last week. It was awesome. He has a reptile obsession since he was 2. He even reads the reptile encyclopedias, so he is very knowledgeable when it comes to snakes. I'll tell you what he did, so maybe you can use some of the concepts in your own presentation.

We were given 45 minutes for the presentation. My son designed the presentation and my husband and I helped him get it organized. My husband and I plus our 5-year-old "assisted" in the presentation as well.

The set-up:
We had our 20-gallon long tank with our baby spider ball python in the middle of the table. We had the complete set-up with the UTH's, lamps, etc. We had a 3-fold poster board in the back. Each column showcased a snake that is good as pets - one column for cornsnake, one for king and milk snakes, the 3rd for ball python. It had pictures showing different vibrant colors with bullet information - how long it lives, how big they get, what region they came from, etc.

The presentation was divided into 3 parts:

1.) Why snakes make good pets
My son compared our ball pythons to our other pets (dog, parrot, hamsters, and fish) and explained how the bp is easier to care for - doesn't pee on the planter, doesn't chew furniture, doesn't bark when left alone, doesn't stink, easy to clean, can be left for a week while visiting grandma, and the big whopper that made all the 7-year-olds go whoaa... - doesn't bite - at which point my husband who was hiding behind the posters stood up with our 3-foot-long bp crawling in his arm licking the air!

2.) How to care for a pet snake
This is when my son explained the snakes in the posters and their characteristics. Explained the difference between constrictors and venomous snakes. Explained wc versus cb. Even went into why it is much more difficult to care for the giants (burmese and retics) and that you need a permit to own one (in Florida) and how you can't own a venomous snake without going through a certification process. He then explained the size of enclosure, temperatures, humidity, hides, etc. Also explained that the corns and kings are easier to care for than bp because of the humidity requirement (I didn't know this...). Even went into how you should keep one snake to a viv especially kings who will eat other snakes. Also very briefly explained how there are different coloration of each type which is referred to as a morph (we had a spider and pastel for them to see the difference).

3.) Q&A
This is where all 22 students lined up to get a close look at the vivarium, petted the bp my husband was holding, and my sons (yep, even the 5-year-old) answered questions. Most of the questions were, "does he bite?" or "does he eat people?", and my 5-year-old answers, "you won't fit in his belly, silly!". Several of the kids told stories about a water mocassin killing somebody and my son explained how you shouldn't pick up a snake you don't know because there are venomous snakes out there... (and this is a smart answer he gave)... he said, just like you just can't walk up to a bulldog and pet him, without asking permission first...

I thought it went really well. I was a snakophobic 2 months ago so hearing my son talk about pet snakes was a huge deal for me. It was a great positive presentation that I'm sure counteracted any fear the kids may have without going into what causes irrational fear in the first place. ALL of the kids wanted to touch the snake and only two commented that it wasn't slimy... I am sure all the kids came out of the presentation fearless of ball pythons. The teacher asked them to write a report on what they learned the next day and a good number of them said they loved the snake and want to have one as a pet!

P.S. Last year, some kid in one of the high schools here had a snake presentation complete with a rat getting fed off. It caused a big ruckus with the parents ending up with the teacher getting suspended. Yes, we know feeding is an integral part of snake ownership, but it is best left out of the presentation, because there are always those people who would rather see a dead snake than a dead rodent.