Reptile Rescue  
Central Alberta Life - Monday, January 24, 2000 - by Carl Hahn

        OLDS - Anyone who has seen movies like Anaconda might think humans need protection from snakes, but Dean Harper sees it the other way around.  The Olds man who operates Wrappin About Reptiles has seen his share of abuse by unknowledgeable reptiles owners. That's why he operates a reptile rescue program.

        While reptiles are trendy pets that some people think make great Christmas gifts, new owners often end up with more than they bargained for. Not knowing how to care for them or what these cuddly little critters grow into, in a few months or years both the pet and owner are suffering.

        Harper, along with business partner James Barbas and fiance/partner Maureen Burke, own about 250 reptiles, and "a good majority" of them are the results of rescues. And those don't include the ones Harper has adopted out to other people.  He estimates he rescued 100 red-eared sliding turtles last year, along with 73 iguanas that were in such bad shape he had to put them down.

        The popular lizards are notorious as awful pets. "People buy those cute little iguanas in the pet store, and all of a sudden it gets to be two-and-a-half, three feet. It's knocking the curtains down, or it gets mad one day and snaps that tail. If they hit you hard enough they can open you up like a knife."

        One of Harper's favorite examples of a mistreated reptile is Buddy the boa constrictor. The victim of a poor pet store and clueless owners, he has been damaged for life. Nine-year-old Buddy is only a little over a meter long, and should be closer to three. His internal organs are underdeveloped, which could shorten his lifespan.

        A family bought Buddy on impulse from a pet store, as Harper was told, and weren't even told how to feed him. They gave him vegetables, since that's what their neighbour's iguana ate. "Now we all know when food starts to dry up it gets smaller, looks like there's less there, so they assumed the snake was eating it."  They gave Buddy fresh water, but without the rodents he needed, he was slowly starving to death. This went on for about a year. "Reptiles are very resillient animals. They can go extremely long periods of time without food, as long as they are getting water. It's not healthy for them, but they can do it."

        When the family finally learned they should feed him mice, they bought frozen ones which Buddy didn't recognize as food. They tried to warm a mouse in the microwave, but when it exploded they decided to switch to live mice.  Buddy ate the first live mouse his owners gave him, but they were so repulsed they would only feed the malnourished snake every six to eight weeks. Six years later Buddy ended up in Harper's hands, where he is doing much better.

        The four tortoises he has on hand also show the signs of misinformed owners. Fed a high-protein diet their shells have started to "pyramid," with each section of shell growing into a mound making the shell lumpy.

        Harper says pet stores are getting better about teaching their customers, but when he goes into schools or malls he likes to tell people why reptiles don't make good pets. 

        Some critters like corn snakes or leopard geckos are OK for beginners, but he would recommend most of his pets only to an experienced handler.

        In fact, many members of his managerie are restricted in Alberta, meaning they can't be sold, and he needs a special government permit just to own them. Some are simply too dangerous. His four-meter Burmese python - which will probably grow another meter or two - is to much for most people to handle.  "It takes two of us to handle him safely." He has a young reticulated python, an animal many reptile owners won't touch because of it's bad reputation. "These snakes are the longest in the world. Anacondas are the heaviest, but not the longest," he explains. "She has the ability of hitting 30 feet or more."

        His alligator snapping turtle would also be an inappropriate pet. As small as it is, it has the power to bite a persons finger off."

        Some of Harper's critters shouldn't be owned by anybody, as they are extremely rare. He rescued a Mojave dessert tortoise and keeps it only by permission of the Arizona government. "They're extremely endangered. Don't know how she got into Canada.....But because I have her, my name is on a list now. If they (the Arizona government) come across a male that happens to be in Canada we'll breed them." Any fertile eggs they would be shipped back to Arizona to help boost the Mojave dessert tortoise population.

        When it comes to buying a first reptile, Harper would rather see a youngster catch a frog first and keep it a couple months as a test. 

        To a knowledgeable owner a reptile can be a wonderful pet, thought, and seeing the sunlight glint off a boa constrictor in iridescent hues, it's easy to understand Harper's fascination.  "They're extremely beautiful animals," he says. "To me, this snake is just as beautiful as someone who looks at their cat, their fish in the aquarium, and thinks it's beautiful.

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