Reptiles at kid parties

[LolaMyLove]

Yesterday I attended a 6yr olds birthday party. They had a reptile guy come in with a variety of different animals and do a show for the kids. The guy and his assistant did a good job explaining all the different critters like the gecko, and blue tonged skinks and the large snakes and it was entertaining for the most part. I knew he had 1 or more tortoises with him and that was what I was waiting for. He went into a lot of detail about all the animals he was showing and then all of the sudden with no work up, they opened two plastic shoe boxes that had been sitting under a car for shade (it was well over 90 here yesterday), and put two foot long elongated tortoises on the lawn with no introduction or facts about the animals. Then they walked away and let the 25 kids (all aged 3-6) rush the torts. No supervision at all. The kids all started poking their heads and pulling on their legs. I walked over to take a look and had to step in and stop the kids. The torts were so scared they were both completely tucked in the shells hiding. The one in the photo had so sort of wound on his beak. I asked the assistant (playing stupid) what type of torts are these, she replied "small ones". Then they put them back in their tiny boxes and slid them back under the car. I was sick by the treatment.

http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b564/Cheryl_Glasser-Helms/photo10_zps108bcc46.jpg

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Wow.

This hits home because this was my line of work before having kids of my own.
Rest assured I never allowed un assisted interaction. I also never had assistants who didn't know a large amount of info about each animal...
What a bummer that was your experience.

I'd call the company and share the experience. The business owners/managers may be just as upset as you were to know how it went. its worth a call. Don't fly of the handle upset right away. Tell them what you enjoyed first and comment on the animals you liked before addressing your concerns. You get more bees with sugar than vinegar.

I do gotta be honest though and say I'm not too surprised. Working in this field I saw a lot of practices I personally didn't agree with.

Heather
Sent from my Android TFO app

 

[wellington]

It's too bad they didn't educate the kids on the tortoises. You should get the name of the person that owns this business. Call them and let them know what you witnessed and that you were very disappointed on the treatment. Also let them know, that you know lots of parents with the same age of kids and you will make sure they know about the treatment the tortoises got, unless you are assured this will never happen again. Then, try to find a way to visit one of their parties again and see if it changes. If not, spread the word. Even post it on CL