Reptiles, exotic pets highlight weekend show
Midwest Expos is billed as delivering excellence through immersive education and entertaining experiences. One way the Wheatfield company does that is through reptile shows.
The final Valparaiso Reptile & Animal Extravaganza at the Army National Guard Armory for 2022 takes place on Saturday and Sunday, completing a slate of eight shows for the year.
“We’ve been there 16 months,” said Steve Garvin, who co-owns Midwest Expos with Cheryl Steele.
“It’s clean. It’s nice. It’s easy to find. Twenty-five years ago there was a reptile show that was held there that was actually wellknown. It went out of business. There hasn’t been one there in 15 years or so.
“The positioning works. You can
draw from Chicago. You can draw from a lot of areas into Valpo. I like the town. I used to vend at the other show years ago.”
Garvin said there will be approximately 15 vendors from states within 50 miles of Valparaiso, including Indiana and Michigan.
Northwest Indiana vendors at Valparaiso Reptile & Animal Extravaganza include Midwest Bird Toys; Rhyno’s Royals; and Spikes, Scales, & Tails.
“There will be snakes and spiders, lizards and frogs, turtles and tortoises, birds and you name it as far as exotics. There may be hamsters and guinea pigs. A lot of it depends on what vendors show up. There’s all kinds of different animals,” said Garvin of Traverse City, Michigan.
“Our vendors are knowledgeable. We’re not just there to sell animals. We’re there to educate people. There are also supplies to go along with all the animals.
“We have vendors that care. We have vendors that interact with kids. They can come and hold the snake and learn about snakes. My business partner runs a 155-acre animal sanctuary so we’re about a lot more things.”
Catching a Dekay’s Brownsnake started Garvin’s fascination with reptiles.
“I started keeping reptiles when I was 6 with stuff I caught in the backyard. When I was 10 I bought my first pair of snakes,” he said, noting that they were red-tailed boas aka boa constrictors.
“It’s an addiction, for lack of a better word. If you’re really interested in them, they’re like M&M’s and you can’t have just one.”
Garvin currently has several pets.
“I keep a python. I have a 6½-foot alligator in my basement that I’ve had since he was 10 inches long. His name is Wally. I have a sulcata tortoise. They’re the largest tortoise in the world,” he said.
According to Garvin, one of the reasons that people have reptiles as pets is because reptiles are often hypoallergenic.
“There’s a lot of people nowadays that have allergies. They’re not usually allergic to anything with scales and things along those lines. We actually have a lot of people who end up with reptiles because they can’t have a dog or a cat or a bird,” he said.
“Get educated before you purchase an animal. Make sure that you can take care of it. Some of them are really easy. Some of them have very specific requirements. If people don’t know, come ask. That’s why we’re there.”
Midwest Expos supports the United States Association of Reptile Keepers, which is better known as USARK and described as striving “to uphold the highest ethical standards in the keeping, care, breeding and sale of reptiles and amphibians.”
“It’s a great organization. We donate tables at every one of our expos to them. We donate money and time to them. I can’t say enough good things about them,” said Garvin about USARK, which is led by president Phil Goss, who lives south of Indianapolis.
Garvin said he is looking forward to connecting with Valparaiso Reptile & Animal Extravaganza attendees.
“I want the public to come out and have a good time. If they just want to come out and talk reptiles, we’re good with that too,” he said.
“We’ve tried to make this about education. It needs to be about the next generation. Half of this stuff would be extinct without people working within their houses. I can’t tell you how many endangered species somebody has helped save from raising them in their basements.
“We have everything from the kid that wants to have a boa constrictor and thinks it’s cool to gentlemen who are professors at major universities and are well-educated and everything in between.”