Reptile Discovery Show Visits Weber-Hardin Elementary Students

2/9/2009

Bruce Shwedick of Reptile Discovery in Florida paid a visit to students at Weber-Hardin Elementary School on February 4. The students were allowed to touch the 16-foot long albino python named Banana Boy: Left to right: Bruce Shwedick, Mrs. Vonnie Koepsel, intervention/guidance counselor, and students in Mrs. Castro’s kindergarten class, Mathew Cuellar, Michael DeLeon, Rica Zamora, Katerlena Torres, Julian Gonzalez, and Ariana Hernandez.

Weber-Hardin Elementary students had a very graphic biology lesson on Wednesday morning, February 4. A turtle named Baby, an iguana named Carlos, and an albino python named Banana Boy paid a visit along with their handler, Bruce Shwedick, of the Reptile Discovery Center in Florida.

Baby is a 25-year old tortoise that walked the gym floor inspecting students. The students followed the rules and sat with their hands in their laps, so that Baby would not mistake their small fingers for grapes or chunks of banana--Baby’s preferred snacks.

Carlos, the rhinoceros iguana, ate his snack of banana skin while parading back and forth on tables. One swipe of his tail could hurt, said Mr. Shwedick, therefore he was not allowed off the tables. The hit of the show was Banana Boy, the 16-foot, yellow albino python. He slowly stretched out on tables to his full length, and then doubled back to stretch out again. Mr. Shwedick held Banana Boy’s head while students filed past to touch the middle section of the python. The students lined up to receive a squirt of hand sanitizer, whether they had touched Banana Boy, or not.

Mr. Shwedick said and he and his brother became interested in reptiles in their high school biology class. He has made a number of research trips to Africa, South America, and most recently, to Thailand. Bruce’s research interest is primarily crocodiles—however, crocodiles do not travel well, and dislike the cold. Mr. Shwedick will travel to schools throughout the west and into Idaho until June, and he said it was not possible to bring the crocodiles along on the trip.

Mr. Shwedick holds a young python and explains to third grader Serena Lynn Lopez to unwind the tail first to rescue someone from the tight grip of a python.