LEXINGTON, Ky. – Reptile lovers rejoiced this past weekend when the Kentucky Reptile Expo returned to the Central Bank Center in Lexington. 

The Kentucky Reptile Expo, which has been on hiatus for a year because of COVID-19, takes place every other month in Lexington and features captive-bred reptiles and supplies. The Expo also caters to people seeking amphibians, spiders, insects, and more, in addition to the opportunity to learn about owning and caring for reptiles by talking with experts.

People were there for many different reasons: Some are current reptile owners in need of supplies or food for their pets, such as insects and mice. Other people were former reptile owners looking for their new pet and some were perusing the dozens of tables for their first snake, lizard, salamander, or other addition to their family.

A child looks at some snakes for sale at the Kentucky Reptile Expo. (Brandon Roberts/Spectrum News 1)

Rodney and Mandy Adams, of Oldham County, are current reptile owners. That fact was obvious if the three iguanas, complete with leashes and harnesses, clinging to her jacket were any indication. 

“This is Agave,” Mandy said about the year-old iguana on her left shoulder. “He’s just a baby – all three of ours are babies.” 

Rodney said the family’s iguanas are frequent travel partners.

“They go with us everywhere,” he said. “We’ve taken them to Gatlinburg and everything.” with Mandy adding, “They love to ride.”

David Frost, the owner of Crossbones Critters and Craft in Winchester, was manning his booth of hand-carved tikis and other supplies, with his rare Albino Tangerine Honduran Milksnake. 

“It’s carrying all kinds of recessive genes,” Frost said as the snake meandered through his fingers. “They normally don’t look like this in the wild and a lot of people confuse it with a corn snake. It is not.”

Particular environments and strict diets are significant components of reptile ownership. Just as any pet, reptiles depend on their owners for food. With a pandemic that shut down the Expo for a year, a place where many reptile owners bought the insects their pets eat, there was no shortage of vendors selling their food.

Dean Marlow, of Vandalia, Ohio, sells insect feeders called Dubias, which are roaches eaten by many types of lizards. At the Expo, Marlow was telling one potential buyer how to breed the Dubias.

“I’m going to build a habitat for these so they can breed and I’ll always have them,” the Expo-goer said. “It shouldn’t be that big of a project.”

The Kentucky Reptile Expo returns to Lexington on June 12, Aug. 7, Oct. 2, and Dec. 4.