Oklahoma Reptile Expo - New Pets!

Today was finally the day for the Oklahoma Reptile Expo! Elmo and I both had trouble sleeping last night due to excitement! We got up too early this morning and eventually gathered up the girls to go to breakfast. Then it was a stop by Target before we headed to the hotel hosting the expo. We went in the front door... won't do that again! We were sent upstairs and then "just keep going" down a hall. We even walked through a part of the hallway with NO lights! Eventually we discovered that there was, indeed, a back door close to the expo itself. We chose that for our exit later.

I had been concerned that the Reptile expo might not offer any spiders. I emailed the guy that puts on the event, but never heard back from him. When I talked with him today, he felt certain he had replied. I check my spam folder, but I'll check again.

We walked into the expo and immediately spotted 3 tarantulas. I was SO excited already! We walked around the outer circle, then the inner circle. I found someone selling log hides and asked her about mold on them. I was appreciative of her expertise and advise. There were only 2 vendors with tarantulas, but the other one had a lot to choose from. Both vendors offered good deals.

Sasha got restless, so we all went into the hallway for a break. Sasha had a little milk and then ran around free for a bit with Tyler. It was a nice open space. Meanwhile, Elmo & I discussed what we wanted to actually purchase and how much we would have to spend to get habitats all set for them. We had some stuff at home, but not everything we needed.

Elmo got 1 Theraphosa blondi (Goliath Birdeater) and 1 Heterometrus longimanus (Asian Forest Scorpion). The Goliath is a juvenile, so we do not know the sex. It is maybe 2-3 inches now, but will eventually get to 12-15 inches! We didn't think to ask the sex of the scorpion, but we're pretty sure it is full grown. It looked so much bigger when we got it out of the little deli cup! I got 1 juvenile Avicularia versicolor (Antilles Pinktoe) which is the first really exotic (read: colorful) species with which I fell in love. I also got 1 juvenile Brachypelma albopilosum (Curly Hair) which intrigued me, especially when the vendor said that they are the most docile and friendly tarantulas he's ever seen. They will crawl right out onto your hand!

For those trying to keep count, you can see our collection listed on our About Us page. I will mention, though, that this Curly Hair is the 2nd Brachypelma species I've got now.

The vendor had some other species that we had wanted to find, but they sold yesterday. :-( We'd still like to attend the KC Reptile Show sometime, which is ONLY on Sundays so we should have better luck. The vendor that had so much for us today is from there, so he would have much more to offer at that show... or we could just go to his store!