We went to the Orlando Reptile Show last weekend down at the Convention Center. It wasn’t as big as I’d hoped, but I did manage to get everything on my shopping list. My primary objective was to obtain cost-saving feeders and save on shipping costs.

I prefer to feed my snakes frozen rodents. Not only are they easier to store, they allow me to buy in bulk and have food on-hand whenever I need it. There are several quality vendors on the Internet offering bulk options, but when you factor in shipping, there isn’t much savings. Being in Florida, shipping rates are always a bit higher due to the extra dry ice required to keep the shipments cold. So, I went to the show looking for a good deal on frozen rats and mice.

I found it at the FeedersPlus booth. They had a huge deep-freezer full of vacuum sealed rodents. By the time we arrived at 11:30 (the show started at 10:00), they had already sold out of most of the large rats. Lucky for me, my snakes are feeding on medium mice, rat pups and small rats. I purchased a bag of medium mice and they were kind enough to hold it for me so I could peruse the rest of the show.

My next stop was for worms. As I mentioned before, I’m done with crickets. The worms are another easy-to-maintain feeder that my dragons enjoy. One of the show sponsors, Lucky Lure Cricket Farm, had a large booth with boxes of crickets and buckets of worms. I bought 2,000 mealworms for a fraction of what I pay at the retail stores (like PetCo and PetsMart). The only drawback was not having the worms pre-packaged with food. Since they were in a cricket box, I had to make a stop by Publix on the way home to pick up wheat flour and a potato. When I got the worms home, I placed them in some old worm containers I had from previous purchases (from WormMan’s Worm Farm) along with some flour and potato slices.

That completed my shopping list and we were now free to browse the booths and admire the myriad reptiles on display. Some of the most common displays were dart frogs, corn snakes, bearded dragons, tarantulas, and scorpions. There were also many ball python morphs available anywhere in price from $250.00 up to $25,000.

I’ve always like the ball pythons. After walking through the entire show twice, taking a break for lunch and talking it over with the family, we decided to add a ball python to our family. We went to several tables and spoke with a few vendors. Some breeders gave you the impression it was just about money, others seemed disinterested altogether. There were a few who took the time to talk to you and give you their history. The breeder I liked the best was PC Reptiles. They had a large collection and while they were primarily focusing sales on their morphs, the owner still took 20 minutes with us when I asked about a 2005 “closeout” on a “regular” ball.

After talking with him and determining he cared about his stock above and beyond the money, I was comfortable buying my new pet. I selected a small male, about 4 months old. We brought him home, got his cage set up and he now lives next to my desk. We named him Marco. The name came from the commercial with Kevin Harvick playing “marco polo” in the pool. Have you seen that one? It’s funny!

Anyhow, Marco is doing very well. He came home Saturday, ate a small mouse on Sunday and has been out every night exploring his new surroundings. I’m sure he’ll fit right in.

Tags: Hobbies