Reptile Show Etiquette

We attend a lot of reptile shows and often take our children along.  Someone asked my husband for advice on attending reptile shows, and here is his (edited) advice.

• Take your time to make the rounds. It can be a lot to see for a first timer. You don't want to miss anything. Maybe bring a camera.  Asking before you take pictures is the nice thing to do
• Use hand sanitizer. Many tables will have some available for public use, but it's still good to bring your own.
• Some of these animals are rare and high end. Do not be offended if you are denied when you ask to hold one, especially if the one you ask to hold has a price tag consisting of 3 digits or more.
• No ball jokes. That is more played out than a preschool jungle gym.
• Bringing the family is great. Bringing your family pet is not. Unless it's for sale or trade and has already been approved by the vendor, please leave animals at home.
• Refrain from impulse buys. I could write a book on this one, but the best way to put it: a cheap $20 Nile monitor will cost you hundreds of dollars in caging and thousands in food before it's all said and done.  If you're lucky, maybe you'll even get an emergency room bill for some stitches.
• Asking questions and sharing experiences is great, but remember these folks have two days to get business done, so try not to keep them too long if a crowd is forming around the table.
• If you're bringing a child, keeping tabs on them is a good idea.  If you can't keep your child from running about, crawling under tables, and annoying everyone in sight, a leash or electric cattle prod might be a wise investment.  
• Don't argue with or correct a vendor.  They're behind the table, so more than likely, they know more than you.  Even if you know more than them, you're not getting a discount for arguing. 
• Haggling is a good way to make everyone hate you. 
• It's okay to be afraid of things, but it's not okay to act like a jerk.  This is a reptile show.   Snakes are reptiles.  If you're afraid of snakes, keep it to yourself or stay at home. 

That's all I have for now, but if you see something that should be added to the list, post it below.  We'll be at the ICExpo next weekend, so stop by and see us. 

Blaze, my 7 year old's albino red tail.

I had a little dog . . .

But I'm a cheapskate and don't like to take him to get groomed every month.  Sometimes it gets to be a few months between haircuts and Pugsley starts to look less like a poodle and more like a giant dirty walking cotton ball.  Sometimes I'll trim his hair myself, do a horrible job, and swear I'll never do it again.  Until next time.

Over the weekend, I was mildly intoxicated and decided I wanted him to be pretty and white and fluffy again.   I started on his face with a pair of scissors, thinking I was just going to trim a bit so he could see until I got him to a groomer during the week.  It looked nice, at least in my intoxicated mind, so I thought it would be a good idea to keep going.  I have about 4 sets of clippers left from my days in the hair salon and keep one reserved for dog hair, so I grabbed that set and a bag of dog treats.  "I'll just trim a bit down from all over and leave his tail nice and fluffy," I thought.  The clippers disagreed with a, "Nnnnnnnnrrrrrrrrrfffffff," as they became entangled with mounds of fluff.  I stopped for a moment to clear the tangle and got back to work.  I was halfway there, with his back looking nice and short and soft.  All I had to do was get his belly and legs, then I'd be done and could bathe him.  All of the rest would blend together afterwards and he'd look wonderful!

"Nnnnnnnnnrrrffffffftttttt."  The clippers sputtered their dying breath as I begged them to keep going.  I gave up, did a bit of touching up with the scissors, and thought again that he would look fine after everything blended together after a good shampoo.

It didn't.  As you can see, it looked far from great.  What do I do now?  Let it grow back?  Take him to a new groomer and claim he's a stray?  Blame my children?  I can't say he did it himself, can I?  Plenty of parents tried to pull that one on me, but unlike a child, the dog can't snitch.  Dogs aren't capable of cutting their own hair, either.  In the words of my cosmetology teacher all those years ago, "It'll blend.  It'll blend."