The Sunnyvale Sun

Cover Story

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Sunnyvale's Valerie Haecky, a member of the Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society, holds her endangered Chinese box turtle. The turtle's name is Shelly.

Reptile Wranglers

Members of the Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society take their knowledge to zoos and schools.

By JOANNE GRIFFITH DOMINGUE

Tom Harrison carefully lifts his ball pythons out of their aquarium-like cage. At first it looks like one large tightly coiled snake. Harrison gently untangles the coils, separating the two snakes. He places the smaller, 3-foot female back into the cage. The colors are striking--taupe and cream and dark brown.

The snake curls around Harrison's neck, slides down his arm, flicks its forked tongue. The snake is "tasting the air," Harrison said. The forked tongue lets a snake smell the air and the ground, helping it recognize the scent of prey or other snakes.

Ball pythons grow to 3 to 5 feet and are quite docile and easy to handle. A captive-bred ball python usually flourishes given the proper care.

After a few minutes, Harrison returns the male ball python to its cage and moves to second cage. He lifts out a richly colored corn snake, with peach, coral and apricot markings.

"This is the best starter snake," Harrison said. They are hardy and docile and one of the most popular snakes, according to the pet trade.

Harrison, who moved to Sunnyvale in 1987, belongs to the Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society. The club meets monthly, brings in speakers and shares information about the care of reptiles.

The Palo Alto-based BAARS draws members from as far away as Salinas and Reno. This educational and conservationist group of amateur and professional herpetologists shares its knowledge, enthusiasms and friendship with those with similar interests. The organization and its members do not deal with venomous snakes. "Too many dangers," said Colin Flagg, president of BAARS, who adds, "The snake people seem to grab the most attention, but most of the members are into turtles and tortoises."

Sunnyvale's Val Haecky bought her first turtle 15 years ago. When it got sick and died, she said, "I went looking for a club" to learn about turtles. Haecky found BAARS. She became an active member and served on the board. And she became an expert on turtle care. She shares her turtle expertise through her website, www.turtlecare.net.

People email her with questions: "My turtle is not eating," or "My turtle is not moving, with its eyes closed. Is it dead?" Haecky says it is "probably as good as dead." She discourages some people from getting turtles. "They need to be outdoors to do well."

In addition to its educational aspects for members, BAARS offers two services for the community: The group handles adoptions, finding homes for unwanted reptiles, and members put on reptile shows at schools, zoos and science fairs to allow the public to see and handle unusual reptiles. Their efforts go a long way toward helping people feel more comfortable with reptiles.

Snake people

BAARS members seem to have a specialty or a favorite reptile. Harrison says there are "the bearded dragon people, the tortoise people, the iguana people."

But it was snake people to the rescue recently in Cupertino. One recent day, a PetsMart employee at the Cupertino store spotted a plumped-out pillowcase in front of the entrance. When the employee peeked inside the pillowcase, he found a snake, a 9-foot yellow anaconda. He called the county Humane Society. The Humane Society called BAARS, which agreed to take the snake and try to find it a home.

Flagg had good luck. The yellow anaconda now lives at the Oakland Zoo in its new tropical rain forest.

That snake will grow to 14 feet long. "She's a climber," Flagg said. She really "filled out that pillowcase. ... Everyone wants a small, baby" when they get a pet. "When it gets large, they don't want it any more." The yellow anaconda is not like the green anaconda that can grow to 28 feet, he said.

Flagg's group gets lots of calls from people in Cupertino, especially from residents up against the hills. "I've got a rattlesnake in a trash can" is the most common call. "They want us to come get it." But residents need to call Fish and Game.

Or the caller says, "I'm moving to Cupertino, and I can't take this turtle with me." Flagg says, "What, no turtles in Cupertino? They just don't want to deal with it."

Harrison said his interest in snakes goes back to his childhood. He grew up in Oregon, where there wasn't "much in the way of pet stores" in his hometown of Hermiston. Then a woman opened a shop in her home. She told Harrison she could get him a python for $10 a foot. He didn't have enough money. His parents gave him an aquarium instead.

In 1981, between college at Oregon State, where he earned a B.S. degree in math, and graduate school in Colorado, Harrison bought his first snake. This Burmese python was, he said, "the best python I ever had." It was "mellow. I handled it a lot. I got it at a down point in my life. Caring for it, building cages, that kept me occupied." The snake, which later died, is the only python he has purchased.

Harrison joined BAARS in 1987. He has adopted all his snakes through the organization. For him, free snakes are one of the nicest benefits of the group. He recently acquired four new snakes from a woman who developed back trouble and could no longer care for her reptiles.

People move away, their lives change, and they no longer want or can keep their animals. Flagg says he gets call from people who ask if they can take it down to the local creek and let it go. The answer is no, that's the worst thing to do.

Harrison enjoys the science fair shows that BAARS sponsors. He brings a python in a blue suitcase. Two 11-foot pythons can fit in the suitcase. Harrison sits in a chair, next to his suitcase. He opens the suitcase and waits for the python to crawl out. "Two years ago he wouldn't come out," Harrison said. "He'd put his head on the ground, then pulled it back in. He recognizes that suitcase. When it's dark around him he feels safe. It's his 'hide box.' "

Harrison, 48, likes snakes because they are easy to care for. They don't bark, "they don't chew on the furniture. You can go on vacation and not worry about them." Snakes eat once a week, maybe once a month. They hibernate all winter when they don't eat at all.

But Harrison urges people who may be interested in getting a reptile to find out what it will be like fully grown. Burmese pythons are 18 inches long as hatchlings. "They're very pretty, brightly colored. But in three years, they can be 12 feet or longer."

Flagg felt lucky to find a home for the 9-foot yellow anaconda. Another time, Flagg was given a Colombian red-tail boa constrictor. "There was a 6-inch diameter on the snake. That's big for a snake. The owner had fed it a rabbit every other day. It was a big, plump snake, about 40 pounds." Flagg had a hard time finding it a home. But he got lucky. He found a zoo in Southern California that would take it. But that's only the second time he has been able to find a zoo to take a large snake from BAARS.

Harrison says to consider temperament as well as size, when thinking about a reptile for a pet. He warns about keeping large snakes. "They can bite and are very strong. Their teeth are meant for grabbing and holding," since they don't have paws. "It's really important to know what it'll be like fully grown."

To learn whether a certain breed of snake is right for you, talk with BAARS members. Names and phone numbers of the officers are on the group's website, www.baars.org.

Turtle people

The snake people draw a lot of attention. But turtles and geckos are also popular with BAARS members. Just ask Haecky. In the 15 years she's lived in Sunnyvale, she's acquired eight turtles, two snakes and some crested geckos, all adopted through BAARS.

Haecky grew up in Switzerland. Her dad kept a boa constrictor in a cage in his office. She had fish tanks and kept insects, "anything I could find," she said.

Haecky treasures all her animals. "If I had to give one away, it would be difficult," she said. "I like all of these guys. They all recognize me. They all have personalities."

Her two children, a boy, 5, and a girl, 9, like the animals, but they are not much involved with them. The children have their own small fish tanks.

"I've always had reptiles," Haecky said. "They are a part of my relationships. I'm sorry,'" she tells friends, "I come with reptiles. We're a package deal."

She said she tells her babysitters upfront about her animals.

A special moment came for Haecky when she found a baby turtle, the size of a silver dollar, walking around the pond in her atrium. "I almost stepped on it," she said. The mother turtle in the atrium had not been with a male turtle for a long time. Turtles can store sperm for many years, Haecky said.

She looked for more eggs and babies. "I dug up everything in the atrium and couldn't find any." Now "that little guy has a separate little pond." Now, he's a year old and about one inch long.

Reptiles can live a long time, Haecky said, and people's lives change. A dog lives 10-15 years. But a turtle can live 40-45 years. Box turtles can live for 80-100 years. So it is little wonder people reach a point where they need to part with their reptiles.

That little starter 4-inch tortoise may wind up being mentioned in your will. "You're looking at your grandchildren taking care of this tortoise" because of its longevity, Flagg said.

Haecky echoes Harrison's advice to people considering a reptile pet. "You can buy a little, cute, baby iguana, but once it grows past 3 feet, it can become a problem. Males are aggressive," she explained.

Research the reptile before getting one for a pet, BAARS members add.

Reptile shows

Haecky enjoys the reptile shows BAARS puts on, especially the one at Happy Hollow Zoo in San Jose.

"People get to touch the animals. They learn they don't have to be afraid. They can handle a large snake or turtle. It is a great opportunity to educate people about reptiles," she said.

The next BAARS reptile show at Happy Hollow Zoo is scheduled for July 23, 11 a.m. ­ 3 p.m..

BAARS is a "great group," said Vanessa Rogier, Happy Hollow events coordinator. "We have worked with them for several years."

Children may have a chance to ride on a giant tortoise. One member plans to bring his white-lipped python and carry it on his shoulders. Some may bring their big lizards--on a leash. Harrison, with his python in a suitcase, is a favorite at the shows. But he is unable to participate in this one.

"It's a great opportunity to see reptiles and amphibians they generally don't see. There are lots of reptile and amphibian enthusiasts out there. Our guests really enjoy it," Rogier said.

For some people, even those who are really afraid, "once exposed to snakes they can come to love them," Harrison said. "One thing about a phobia about snakes. It is easy to overcome."