Meet the Animals
Gwenevere
Ball Python - Normal
Found in West and Central Africa
Fun fact: Ball pythons get their name from their defensive tactic of curling up in a tight ball while tucking their head safely in the middle.
You may learn about camouflage and predator / prey relationships from Gwenevere.
Gwenevere came to us as a donation so that she would get to spend more time being handled and out of her enclosure. She loves exploring outdoors and going on walks!
Apollo
Ball Python - Orange Dream Yellow Belly Enchi Pied 50% Het Clown
Not found in nature
Fun fact: Female ball pythons tend to grow larger than males.
You may learn about camouflage and breeding / genetic traits from Apollo.
Apollo loves sleeping in his hide and spending time on the couch!
Athena
Ball Python - Orange Dream Hypo Enchi Pied
Not found in nature
Fun Fact: Ball pythons can live for over 30-40 years.
You may learn about camouflage and breeding / genetic traits from Athena.
Athena loves climbing and exploring!
Theodore
Western Hognose - Toffee Belly Het Sable
Found in Western North America
Fun Fact: Hognoses are famous for their defensive displays. Theodore loves to flatten his neck out and hiss to look like a cobra when scared.
You may learn about adaptations and habitats from Theodore.
Theodore came to us as a donation to our educational programs and he loves exploring his enclosure and being held!
Cherry Tortellini
Red-Footed Tortoise - Cherry Headed
Found in Northern and Central South America
Fun Fact: Cherry Tortellini gets his name from his uncommon red head!
You may learn about a lot of different things from Cherry! You could learn about growth and longevity, adaptations, diet, habitat, and a few others!
We adopted Cherry Tortellini from a sanctuary just north of Charlotte and he loves spending his days exploring his enclosure! When we are around he gets to use his extra space as well which doubles his area to explore! Lucky for him, we are around a lot.
Toast
Crested Gecko - Tri-color Harlequin
Found in Southern New Caledonia
Fun Fact: Crested geckos have incredible jumping skills.
You may learn about adaptations from Toast.
Toast came to us through a re-homing situation with another crested gecko, Butter. Toast loves to eat and will hurry himself over to his food dish once anything is put in it!
Butter
Crested Gecko - Yellow Phantom Pinstripe
Found in Southern New Caledonia
Fun Fact: Crested geckos will drop their tails if they feel threatened or scared. In the pet trade, crested geckos that have lost their tails are known as frog butts!
You may learn about habitats and the needs of living things from Butter.
Butter came to us with Toast. Butter loves to come out right when the lights go down and spends a lot of time watching the front glass of his enclosure to see what's going on!
Slurpy
White's Tree Frog - Blue Phase Snowflake
Found in Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea
Fun Fact: White's tree frogs can live up to 16 years and grow up to 4" to 5" long.
You may learn about amphibians, metamorphosis, and habitats from Slurpy.
Slurpy loves food! The second her insects are dropped into her enclosure she strikes often catching anything in her path in her mouth including plants!
Tarzan
Leopard Gecko - Het Tangerine
Found in South and Southwest Asia
Fun Fact: Leopard geckos store fat in their chunky tails!
You may learn about predator / prey relationships, camouflage, and habitats from Tarzan.
Tarzan is a little bit more shy than Jane but he comes running when he sees a cricket!
Jane
Leopard Gecko - Sunglow Albino Super Hypo Tangerine Carrot Tail Baldy
Not found in nature
Fun Fact: Their facial anatomy makes them appear to always be smiling!
You may learn about predator / prey relationships, camouflage, habitats, as well as genetics from Jane.
When we got Jane she was a breeder female as she is quite beautiful and if you cannot tell by her morphs, she has a lot going for her! Jane now spends her days relaxing in the heat. She loves to come out in the evenings and watch the world around her!
Hissing Cockroaches
Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches
Found on the island of Madagascar
Fun Fact: Hissing cockroaches push air through special breathing pores called spiracles to create their hissing sound.
You may learn about exoskeletons, decomposition, adaptations, communication, and molting from our hissing cockroaches.
Our hissing cockroaches do in fact have names and they live a very luxurious life! They happen to be one of our daughter's pets of choice, and she lets us take them on encounters!
Harvest
Pueblan Milk Snake - Tangerine
Found in central and southern Mexico
Fun Fact: Milk snakes are famous for their coloration. They use their color banding to mimic the venomous coral snake.
You may learn about adaptations, mimicry, habitat, and more from Harvest.
When Harvest came to us (he or she) had never once been held! After I drove to adopt Harvest I was informed that (we're just going to say he) had never been held. The first thing I did was reach my hand into his little enclosure and picked him up. He was fast, but so sweet! I adopted him, brought him home, got his enclosure set up appropriately, adjusted his temperatures, and the rest has been history! He gets held a lot now, as do all of our animals, so that he stays calm and peaceful.
Queso
Saharan Uromastyx
Found in Algeria, Mail, and Niger
Fun Fact: When uromastyx get startled they wedge themselves into rocks and cracks and inflate with air so they cannot be pulled out.
You may learn about habitat, adaptations, and survival from Queso.
Queso is a bold little dude! He love to thrash his spiny tail around when he doesn't want held, but calms down immediately once you have him in hand.
Nova
Boa - Keltic VPI T Plus
Found in Central and South America
Fun Fact: Because Nova is a female, we anticipate her getting about 10' long! Big enough for the "wow factor", but still small enough to be handled by one person.
You may learn about body structure, movement, and senses among many others. She will also be helping us teach about observation, prediction, and correcting misconceptions.
Nova is such a sweet girl! She loves getting out at night and hanging out on the couch, or just simply being around an arm during chores... though she is very curious and often not a great big help!
Oogway
Sulcata Tortoise
Found in northern and central Africa
Fun Fact: Sulcata tortoises are the third largest tortoise species in the world and can reach weights up to 200 pounds.
You may learn about adaptations and habitats among other topics from Oogway.
Oogway is a bold dude and we fell in love with him when we first met him! He loves walking right up to you and biting your shoes, though he doesn't really do anything when he does! He also has damage on the top of his shell from an escape attempt before he went to live at the sanctuary we adopted him from which will be helping us teach proper housing and conservation.
George
Sulcata Tortoise
Found in northern and central Africa
Fun Fact: Sulcata tortoises lack a diaphragm for breathing so they move their heads and or legs to help push and pull air in and out of their lungs.
You may learn about adaptations, habitats, and the life cycle from George.
For his size George is pretty outgoing and loves eating fresh green grass!
Marvin
African Giant Millipede
Found in eastern parts of Africa
Fun Fact: Marvin is only about 6" long right now but he will get up to 12" long when he is full grown and could potentially get up to 15" long!
You may learn about decomposers and the nutrient cycle from Marvin.
We don't see Marvin too much, but that is the nature of millipedes. He comes out at night and forages around in his enclosure.
Tilly
Speckled Sussex Chicken
Native to Southeastern England, but found in coops all over!
Fun Fact: The speckled sussex chicken breed is over 2000 years old!
You might learn a lot from one of our chickens - things like life cycle, beaks, what makes a bird a bird, reproductive cycles and more.
Tilly is one of our sweetest chickens. She has 14 other sisters! She was born with a bent beak, but that doesn't slow her down!
Runner Ducks
Runner Ducks - Assorted Varieties
Native to the islands of Java, Bali, and Lombok, but found on farms and in backyards all over!
Fun Fact: Runner ducks stand completely upright like bowling pins!
You might learn about life cycles, bird adaptations, waterproofing, and movement from our runner ducks.
Our runner ducks love swimming in their pool and begging for tomatoes whenever we are in the garden! Because runner ducks bond so tightly and flock so closely, you probably won't see these ladies in an in-person encounter, but they may occasionally show up in a virtual encounter!