Anyone done an "outreach"?

[Chameleons Northwest]

The Pacific Northwest Herp Society members do these local "outreaches", where a member will, for instance, take a couple animals and talk to 10-30 2nd graders for about 30 minutes. The members normally take snakes and larger lizards. The society is asking for someone to do one in my area. All I have are chameleons. (Well, actually, not true. I could always do a 30 minute class on cockroaches .)

Have any of you chameleon owners done anything like this?

 

[sharkey]

i think a lecture on cockroaches to kids would be terrific! and i am not joking! i take bugs to various groups of kids and they love it!

i've done educational presentations w/ my chams but w/some very different handling techniques than i would use w/other animals. for instance; i keep them covered until i am showing them off and then i re-cover them. i don't take them out of their 'show off' cage (i put them in large acrylic cages that the kids can easily see thru). i definately don't pass them around, and i ask the kids to remain quiet (this is a good idea for all animals anyway). i put my animals away if the kids can't be quiet and respect the animals.

while i imagine that this causes some stress to any animal i use, the idea here is to educate future pet owners about the world around them, the proper care techniques of all animals (ie access to food/ water, proper medical care, appropriate housing etc), respect for all living creatures and the joy that pets bring.

 

[Ren]

i think a lecture on cockroaches to kids would be terrific! and i am not joking! i take bugs to various groups of kids and they love it!

i've done educational presentations w/ my chams but w/some very different handling techniques than i would use w/other animals. for instance; i keep them covered until i am showing them off and then i re-cover them. i don't take them out of their 'show off' cage (i put them in large acrylic cages that the kids can easily see thru). i definately don't pass them around, and i ask the kids to remain quiet (this is a good idea for all animals anyway). i put my animals away if the kids can't be quiet and respect the animals.

while i imagine that this causes some stress to any animal i use, the idea here is to educate future pet owners about the world around them, the proper care techniques of all animals (ie access to food/ water, proper medical care, appropriate housing etc), respect for all living creatures and the joy that pets bring.

Nicely done, I often talk to people who want to have chams for pets and always run through a big checklist to see if they would be able to do so .

 

[mczoo]

great answer Sharkey.

I did an outreach with my sons 4th grade class and my female Jackson. Her appearance was shorter than her vet appointment (she stayed in a critter keeper covered most of the time and the children were directed to be quiet beforehand by their teacher) Also i spent lots of time describing how much must be done to care for her. I then contrasted it with my bearded dragon and mentioned lepard geckos (both considered better starter reptiles)

i took silkworms and mantids to show feeders as well

Sean

PS i hope i convinced the kids not to get just any pet from the pet store. The school has at least 5 different big box petstores within 5 miles of it

 

[stephen]

classrooms

I have done this before with a very friendly male.It helps if the teacher conducts her class with a great deal of obediance. In a warm and controlled environment,i kept him in his sack until it was time and the kids were ready.Of course as soon as they see him,you realize the benefits from these possible future herpers. No touching, or crowding allowed or the cham goes home. The kids all want to see him eat but chams dont eat on demand!!ha ha.
Stephen

 

[Shelton]

I'm an Outreacher at London Zoo! We have different presentations for the kids of all ages...and we have hissing cockroaches!! the kids always go mad and get really scared when they know its a cockroach...but then you'll be surprised how fascinated they get!! We even allow them to stroke the cockroach (and supply hand rub for after) and it turns out to be a valuable experience for them - simply because they learn that not all cockroaches are pests, and 96% of the worlds cockroaches are exotics

 

[chamlover]

I have been asked by a large pet co.to do one. I know how everyone feels about pet stores, but i am really considering it. As you know we have a tortoise rescue as well and i am tired of so many people buying just because it is cute not caring (for the moment) that it will become 150 pds of "I'm gonna go where i want, do what i want, and sh..... where i want and you can't stop me" and then they dump them off at rescues. Sorry to sputter but it makes me mad. I was there just yesterday and a "suppose to be" night manager in charge of reptiles had a beardie that someone dropped off and the guy told me he didn't think he was going to make it. I asked to see him ( i have taken several rescues from this store before) and recommended a few things, like water. Upon putting him in a bucket of warm water he promptly started to drink up a storm. I was still in the store about an hour later ( had to buy a new raincoat for my puppies) and he came over and told me that the beardie was doing so much better all ready. So long story short, ha ha, yes. If you have the time, and the right animals to do it with, do it. As soon as i can fit in the time i will be doing them with several of the large stores around me. The more info people have ( including the ones that work in pet stores) the less animals will be in the hands of someone who doesn't know how to care for them. Again sorry for the rambling, but you hit a sore spot for me.

Debby

 

[sharkey]

it's a sore spot for me too - hence my willingness to visit classrooms and use them in my own classes. any animal (including cockroaches) are living beings and should be treated w/respect (unless the roaches are inside my house in which case i kill them. fl will never run out of roaches)

 

[chamlover]

Sharkey,

If you feed your chams roaches, why don't you round up some of the ones in your house and feed them? Not kidding. Wouldn't they be just as good if you gut-loading them and stuff? Just wondering why you wouldn't use free food.

Debby

 

[mczoo]

i say do the petco thing and make a difference maybe petco won't change but maybe the new owners will run to you, this forum or at least a quality breeder

good luck

Sean

 

[sharkey]

here's the thing about roaches in fl. the ones in the house are either a) german (filthy, disease carriers) or b) palmetto bugs (too bing for my chams, jax and veild, to consume).

secondly i live w/my spouse and kids; the kids scream and run outside (strange b/c there are more roaches outside than in...) and my spouse pays $$ to terminex to keep bugs from entering our house. ergo the bugs that do make it in have been poisoned and are not acceptable for consumption.

much as i like the idea of raising roaches (not) i will stick to crix which i love and silks which all children love.

 

[chamlover]

Sorry. When you said you could do one on roaches i was assuming you kept roaches. I thought everyone loved roaches, kidding. Thanks for answering that question for me, i always wondered about that and your right i would think alot of people use pesticides down there and unless the roach could tell you where it came from, you would never know. Also isn't it against FL laws to import any kind of roach from any other state?

Thanks Sean. How did you know it was Petco? Just a lucky guess huh? Yes i think i will be doing it this summer. They have been after me since last year but i have just been too busy. But when 1 of their senior members doesn't even think to give an animal water, boy, go figure. I don't know if i will bring any of my chams in but i will bring in my rescue mascot "Torch". He is up to about 35/40 lbs now and quite a bruiser as well as my beardies and you know, maybe a couple of my hissers as well. Like you said "even insects should be taken care of correctly". I'll let you know how it goes.

Debby