Wrappin about reptiles with Dean Harper 
Olds Albertan - July 16, 1997 - by Richard Amery

Snakes may give some people the shakes, but not Dean Harper.

        Harper, 26, has been raving about reptiles since he was small, worked with them in pet stores, and now owns a plethora of boa constrictors, a kingsnake, a rock snake, California King Snake, a corn snake, an Ameiva (a lizard which looks like a small Komodo Dragon) and two iguanas which make up the six-month-old Wrappin About Reptiles show.  "I've got 11 critters now," Harper said. He hopes to add seven more to his travelling reptile show by the end of the summer.

        While the Olds show made an appearance at the July 4th Children's Festival, Harper has taken his snakes to schools all over Alberta and has received plenty of positive feedback. He speaks fondly about his "children" as he describes his animals.  "They are all my kids. Everyone has his own unique personality," he said adding children enjoy meeting his own children.  "He (the baby boa which was a popular attraction at the Children's Festival) loves children. I don't have any problems getting him into his cage to go to a show, because he knows where he is going," Harper said.  "There are always four or five kids who are afraid to go near snakes, but by the end there might be one who won't come up and touch them," Harper said.

        He emphasizes reptiles require a great deal of care, which many children who buy reptiles don't realize.  "You can't just go out and catch a mouse to feed them. You never know what diseases they have," he said, noting he feeds his snakes frozen mice and crickets purchased from pet stores. Depending on the size of the snake, he may only need to feed them once a week.

        "Catch a frog in your back yard and keep it for a few days and see how you like it. You can always let it go," he advises anybody interested in buying a reptile as a pet.

        While business slows down during the summer, Harper is busy working on building new cages and expanding his collection and learning more about reptiles.  "Because I've been studying it (herpetology, the study of reptiles) all my life, I know quite a bit. As much as I know about reptiles and I think I know it all, but I'm constantly learning more. I'm studying for life. There are courses at university to be a zoo caretaker which I'd like to do, but there are so few zoos," he said.

        He is pursuing permits to obtain more exotic animals such as a chameleon.  "Everybody likes chameleons," he said, noting the tropical lizards have extreme colour changes which vary according to their emotions.

        He is looking forward to expanding the show. "It will be very elaborate. It will surpass Monty's Traveling Reptile Show and take it to new realms."  Monty Krism, who had a popular television show with his reptiles and who showed at the Stampede quit the business in 1988 according to Harper.  "I'm going to have a much larger collection. My snakes will grow and I have a friend with an alligator. When I get my permit, I'll get an alligator and a chameleon and lots of things."

        "I don't know it all and that's the attitude you've go to have. The first time I met him (Monty) I was very humble. He said even he didn't know everything about reptiles."

BACK