Reptile fans scurry to expo
Damien Conn, 5, chooses a gecko with his father, Brandon of Point Marion, and Kajsa Champ of Morgantown, W.Va. The trio bought the gecko at the Steel City Reptile Expo Sunday at the Washington County Fairgrounds.
Karen Mansfield / Observer-Reporter John Kick of Reptile Addicts of Buffalo, N.Y., holds a chameleon he was selling at the Steel City Reptile Expo. Reptile Addicts also had tarantulas, scorpions, frogs, crabs and other lizards available for purchase.
Brad McCarth holds a rare leucistic Columbian rainbow boa constrictor at the Steel City Reptile Expo Sunday.
Geckos were for sale at the Steel City Reptile Expo Sunday. Dylan Unkefer, who is holding this gecko, his father, Thad, and brother, Derek, were among more than 40 vendors at the expo, which drew about 1,000 visitors.
Karen Mansfield / Observer-Reporter Geckos were among the popular reptiles available at the Steel City Expo.
Vendors at the Steel City Expo displayed and sold several varieties of snakes.
The black-and-brown reticulated boa constrictor slithered from one of Eric Sheets’ arms to the other while his children, Mackenzie, 15, and Evan, 19, oohed and aahed over the black Eastern Kingsnake their dad just bought for $100.
“I love reptiles,” said Sheets of Cadiz, Ohio. “I liked dinosaurs when I was little, and the closest thing to getting a real dinosaur is this.”
Sheets was among about 1,000 reptile lovers from the tri-state area who filled the Washington County Fairgrounds exhibit hall Sunday to browse thousands of snakes, lizards, frogs, spiders, aquariums, pet food (mice and meal worms aplenty) and accessories.
While there was not a Tyrannosaurus Rex anywhere to be found – Sheets is a few million years too late for that – a four-foot Colombian tegu that looked very much like a miniature dinosaur delighted a group of children who watched the tongue-flicking lizard, noses pressed against the glass.
Ben Corsetti, who coordinated the reptile expo, said the popularity of the event has remained steady.
“It’s a community of hobbyists who are interested in reptiles,” said Corsetti. “It’s a lot like a dog show or a cat show, except with snakes and spiders. We have school teachers, insurance agents, that kind of thing, in addition to our usual clientele. Most people just enjoy the atmosphere.
For some, however, reptiles are an investment.
Brad McCarthy of Butler, who owns World Wide Reptilia, had a rare female four-foot-long leucistic Colombian rainbow boa constrictor for sale for $10,000. Young leucistic boas, only inches long, had an asking price of $8,500.
The white snakes are a genetic anomaly and McCarthy said only a couple breeders in the country handle them. McCarthy owns six leucistic boas, which he purchased from a breeder who ran into financial trouble and was forced to sell them.
A draftsman by profession, McCarthy is passionate about his hobby. He has been a snake-lover since he was a young kid and he regularly attended herpetology club meetings at the Pittsburgh Zoo as a teenager.
“People talk terribly about snakes, but they’re incredible,” he said.
Not all reptiles and invertebrates available for purchase had high price tags like the leucistic boas. Many were available for as little as $5 and $10.
Brandon Conn of Point Marion bought a $10 gecko for his five-year-old son, Damien, who tried to hold the reptile as it darted back and forth between his hands.
“He’s a pretty fearless kid. He likes this stuff,” said Conn. While some children and parents bought a pet for the first time, many of the buyers were experienced reptile owners.
Will Pardue of Waynesburg bought two snakes, including a purple tiger reticulated python (the sticker price was $650 but Pardue paid less).
Pardue has about 20 snakes at home, many of them that were abandoned. He gets plenty of help from his children, Emma, Logan and Jayden, who were busy thinking up names for the newest additions.
Pardue said people sometimes underestimate the commitment required to own a reptile or fail to realize how big some of them can become. “People don’t realize what they’re getting into and then get rid of them,” said Pardue, “They have personalities; they can be playful.”
The Steel City Expo will be held at the fairgrounds June 2, July 28, Oct. 13 and Dec. 8. Admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children under 10 and free for children under 2.