Reptile and Amphibian Day!!!

[CleanLineChameleons]

FREE!!!!!!

MARCH 14th 9am - 5pm
Reptile and Amphibian Day at The NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Come see us, Eric Adrignola, and other herpers at the 16th Annual Show. Not only will there be great info, exhibits, activities and more, but you'll also get a chance to see our Parson's Chameleons!!

Visit their site for more info: NC Museum of Natural Sciences

SEE YOU THERE,

Chris


P.S. Check out my new website!!!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

It was a heck of a lot of fun. A big turnout, too. Many roaches were sacrificed for the amusement of the crowds.

I will try to get some pics up soon, but I'm not going to be home until tonight. Got some interesting pictures.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

They were up in a ficus tree which was itself on a table. Lighting wasn't great, and it was hard to reach up and take pics from below - good thing my camera has a swivel LCD screen. Chris' girlfriend messed with the settings on my camera and now I know which setting to use (thanks!). If only I had a 6' tall tripod on Saturday...

Ardi relaxed quite a bit when he got some company in the tree with him. He was stressing a bit before hand. Afterward, he started to eat and put on his normal green colors.

Everyone all had a good time, me especially. I think we'll have to do this again next year, Chris. Maybe I'll ask for more space - we can set up a bunch of tress like you were saying!

Ardi and Snuffleupagus sharing a ficus.

washed out with flash...

closeup of Snuffy in the tree. I had forgotten how much I liked parsonii. Hard to appreciate how unique they are in pictures alone. You know how the skin on the bottom of some species is so soft and smooth? Parsonii are like that all over. Been like 14 years since I've seen one in person.

 

[blackbetty]

I swear that cham in the second pic on the left is smiling. LOL.

I was actually looking at coming to this..until i realized the day I was researching it was the day it was being held and it was 9am here by that time. I thought it was next weekend..Where has March gone!?

Maybe next year.. We lived in fayetteville for 2 years and never got to do anything cool like that..

 

[Rocky]

are the parsons a social cham? you said he was stressed until he had company, I would think its the complete opposite.

 

[Sancho]

That parsons is nice!

 

[Eric Adrignola]

No, the melleri was showing stress coloration the first hour or so. When the parsonii was introduced, his coloration turned to the normal, relaxed colors. Melleri seem to seek out others, be it other melleri, humans, whatever. They need their space, of course (and for a 20" or more lizard, that is a lot of space) but they will tend to group together. Safety in numbers, I guess.

When a smaller melleri was brought near, Ardi gave a generic threat display. The parson's, however, lacked any typical melleri markings, and got no such threat. The fact that parson's tend to be quite a bit slower than a shadow moving across a floor didnt' hurt, either.

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Quote from Eric, "Been like 14 years since I've seen one in person."

I've only see them at one other keepers house, besides mine, and only a single animal at Anaheim reptile show a few years back.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Used to see them all the time, they were cheap as any other species. Not really sought after by "the massess". Veileds were a heck of a lot pricer, in fact!

Nice animals, really nice. I still prefer melleri - always have - but some day I would like to get parsonii. I think, when I can afford a walk-in, greenhouse size habitat for every species I keep, then I'll do it. Maybe by then they'll be cheaper!

 

[SSimsswiSS]

Used to see them all the time, they were cheap as any other species. Not really sought after by "the massess". Veileds were a heck of a lot pricer, in fact!

Yes, Veils were really pricey. I have old CIN journals where ads have captive hatched baby Veils for sale/selling for 500 dollars. About a year later 250, and than the realization of how prolific they are, and the price dropped way down. I heard a story about how the San Diego Zoo paid 2500.00 for their first pair of Veils back in the day.

 

[Eric Adrignola]

Just some more info on the Herp day event this year.

14,964 attendees on Saturday.

It's nice to see such a showing for a herp-themed event. I was interviewed by some nice folks form the UNC school of broadcasting. The topic was about exotic animal laws and such. One of the points Imade was that the keeping of reptiles and amphibians is such a great way to kindle a love of biology, and nature in general. I would not have taken the career path I had (now I'm unemployed... Don't worry, I left that out) had it not been for my "hobby".

This is especially important for city-kids. Yeah, I could find a toad or brown snake if I looked hard enough, but there's just not enough nature to hold a kid's interest in NJ. Got to bring nature inside.

Keeping herps can be a really stimulating educational experience for the whole family.