Reptile enthusiasts show love to lizards

When no one thinks it’s odd to see people walking around with snakes draped around their necks the way other people wear scarves, you know you’re at the Steel City Reptile Expo.

One of the snakes adorning a neck was Sir Sly, an 18month-old ball python, who came to the event in Cecil’s Paintscape Arena at Southpointe with Maddy Adey of Cokeburg, Washington County.

“Joel, my Kenyan sand boa, is at home because right now he’s the size of a worm,” Ms. Adey said. “Sir Sly is acting shy today,” burying his head at the bottom of his coiled 18-inch body. She went to the expo to see 50 vendors with hundreds of snakes and other animals including lizards, tortoises, frogs, spiders and scorpions. Not to mention the bearded dragon races, which were billed as “a crowd favorite.”

A 4-year-old snake named Vince, on the other hand, was the opposite of shy. The purple sunfire reticulated python gently wrapped his 9-foot-long body around the bodies of at least 50 people who took selfies, said his proud owner Scott Hollabaugh, who lives in the Crafton Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

Zavier Heirendt, 4, of Cecil, was all smiles as he held the 30-pound snake with some help from Mr. Hollabaugh. Holly Heirendt admitted that she and her husband, Matt, “are deathly afraid” of snakes, but were happy to see their son enjoying the encounter.

In addition to selling reptiles, Mr. Hollabaugh does educational events and parties.

The education continued at the expo.

Vince is a constrictor, but he’s not going to squeeze anyone at any of his outings because he’s not hungry “and because I work with him all the time,” Mr. Hollabaugh said. Vince and other cold-blooded animals like to have close contact with warm-blooded people, Mr. Hollabaugh said. But he and others at the expo said snakes and lizards know their owners and enjoy interacting with them.

By 2 p.m. Saturday, 800 people had paid to attend the expo said Tom Kelly of Cecil, who puts on reptile expos every other month. (The next one is July 20.) He was also the announcer at the bearded dragon races.

Making it an interactive and educational experience, Mr. Kelly quizzed children about bearded dragon facts, asked them to name the two racers and to volunteer as roach wranglers.

Pre-race activities included young volunteers giggling as the bearded dragons perched on their shoulders and on top of their heads. The lizards, which grow to 20 to 22 inches as adults, are popular pets because they have sweet, non-aggressive personalities and are easy to handle.

Cole Pavuk, 6, of Bethel Park, had all the answers, including the fact that the lizards are native to Australia. He was one of four children picked to put live dubia roaches in the middle of a long table. Bearded dragons that the children named Banana and Sleepy were placed at opposite ends of the table.

The dragons were supposed to race to the center of the table, and the winner would be the one that ate the cockroach. Neither dragon moved.

“Well they don’t seem to be hungry,” Mr.Kelly said, apologetically. The roach walked up to Banana, who flicked out his long tongue and ate the insect.

“They’re being lazy today. Sorry the race wasn’t more exciting,” Mr. Kelly said.