1. Who are you?

a. I am Lauri Foster, I am zoologist with Rainforest Reptile Shows, and RRS oasis. I’ll go into a little more about the designation between the two organizations, they are related but also separate. I am actually a herpetologist, which is someone who studies Reptiles and Amphibians but it’s a branch of zoology.

2. What type of animal do you work with?

a. I work mostly with reptiles. At the sanctuary where I work there are over fifteen hundred (1,500) animals, the majority of them are reptiles so we have numerus, probably dozens of species of Snakes, we have lots of Lizards, we have Turtles both aquatic and terrestrial, we have Crocodilian’s so I get to work with Alligators and Crocodiles and Caiman occasionally but we have other animals there as well. There are a few birds there, we have Hyacinth Macaws, some Kookaburras, a Plush crested Jay, those are all tropical birds. We have some amphibians, different Frogs and Toads, Salamanders and there are some Arthropods like Tarantulas and Scorpions and Cockroaches that I also get to work with but the majority of the animals I work with are Reptiles.

3. How did you get involved in this type of Work?

a. So, I have always loved animals, when people used to ask me what my favorite animals was, I said I don’t discriminate there’s really no animal that I dislike. I’ve always had a curiosity about reptiles, about Snakes, you know we don’t have a lot of species around here (Massachusetts) but we have some Garter snakes and some Ribbon snakes, some Brown snakes, occasionally I’d see them around and was always just kind of curious about them but I really do love all animals so I majored in Zoology in collage. So about four (4) years ago I actually found out about Rain Forest reptile shows through Wendy Pablacheck who is one of the directors of the Burlington (Massachusetts) science center at the High School here in Burlington (Massachusetts) and she actually had posted a job opportunity for Rain Forest Reptile shows and I read the description and thought wow that’s actually kind of perfect, I love working with animals, I love working with kids, and I love teaching. It really sort of combined all my passions into one so I applied for the job and got it. So, I basically would do animal outreach. So, I would bring animals into schools, I’d go to libraries, parks and recreational departments, even some birthday parties but basically the motto of Rain Forest Reptile shows is conservation through education. So, our goal at Rain Forest Reptile shows and RRS Oasis is to teach people that reptiles aren’t scary. Everyone loves the fuzzy cute little bunnies and kittens and dogs. Everyone wants to donate money and time to rescue those but a lot of people think of reptiles like they’re scaly and slimy and gross and I want nothing to do with them and you know I get it they can be kind of scary for those who are not in love with them like I am but they do really serve an important part of our Eco system, without snakes we would be overrun with rodents and nobody wants that, that brings disease and a whole lot of other terrible things.

4. Why did you choose this/these animals?

a. I’ve worked with other animals before, in different situations. I’ve done pet sitting and dog walking and stuff like that I’ve always loved animals, this presented a unique opportunity for me, I’d never worked with Alligators before and I thought wow, this is kind of cool I can say I’ve been able to hold Alligator’s, Boa constrictors, pythons all sorts of neat things, so part of it was a curiosity for me, I’ve just always wanted to learn as much as I can about any type of animal, the opportunity presented itself and I took it.

5. How big are the Alligators you work with?

a. Our largest Alligator is Fred, he is probably in his thirties (30’s) and at this point he is probably about eight or nine feet long.

6. The Sanctuary RRS Oasis, they get their animals from a variety of places, so they don’t purchase anything, all their animals are all rescues, so they come from cases of abuse or neglect they come from unwanted surrendered pets. They also come from Illegal animal seizures so RRS Oasis works with state agencies like Environmental Police and different Municipalities like the Animal Control Officers they also deal with the U.S. department of Fish and Wildlife so we get a lot of animals from Illegal animal seizures so for instance Alligators and other Crocodilians are illegal to own in Massachusetts and all of New England but people can get them elsewhere whether they capture them in the wild or get them in a State where they are legal like I believe Pennsylvania (Massachusetts) you can own an Alligator, I don’t know why anyone would want an alligator but they get them as pets and if the Environmental Police finds out about them they conduct a seizure so we will accompany on these trips to seize the animal its sort of a unique experience we’ve been able to do, a couple years ago I went and collected a Reticulated Python that somebody had owned. Reticulated Pythons are the longest species of Snake in the world they can get to be over thirty feet long so those are illegal to own in most places so when it’s found out there’s one in a home usually, they have to be confiscated so we get animals from a variety of places.

7. When do you get the most calls?

a. It’s really a year-round thing. After Christmas there tends to be a lot of calls for want to surrender their pets and its very unfortunate. I may go off on my soap box for a minute but we have this Pandemic that’s happening and I know so many people who have gotten new pets they figure hey I’m working from home I can take care of these pets I can house break them and what not. The unfortunate thing about a lot of pets, most people are responsible owners but there’s a lot of people who get pets impulsively without really truly thinking about what their needs will be. A cat or a dog that’s a big commitment but typically a cat or a dog you’re going to have for ten to twenty years, I guess. A reptile on the other hand while if you’re talking about a turtle, Turtles can live up to two hundred years that’s a pretty big commitment, but other reptiles like a large iguana they can live up to sixty years you can get a snake that will last thirty, forty years easily so these are big commitments. A lot of people will get animals thinking “oh this will be cool I’ve always wanted a snake” and then a year down the road when they realize wow this snake requires a lot of care, you know these animals need very specific environments they need an adequate size enclosure, they need the correct heat they need the correct humidity, a lot of them require eating rodents and it takes a lot of work and a lot of care. Not to mention the veterinary care, the enrichment, and everything that goes along with pet ownership. This is not just reptiles this is all animals that you get. So, I always feel like if you can’t properly take care of an animal, if you’re not going to be able to afford the proper veterinary care and the life style that, that animal deserves then maybe you should consider having a house plant and not an animal. So long story short, a lot of animals are surrendered after Christmas time or after Holidays when people decide the novelty has worn off and they decide they don’t want that animal anymore.

8. What should someone do if they see an animal?

a. So typically, if you find an animal in the wild that is injured, in most cases the best thing is to leave it be and not touch it with exception. If you see say a turtle in the road, during spring time when the turtles mate the usually will go back to the same place every year, some Turtles will travel up to a mile their pond where they live. I’m talking aquatic turtles here. So, if you see a Turtle in the road, if its safe to do so you can move it to the direction it is headed but for the most part if you see an animal the best part is to leave it be. You can contact your local Animal Control; you can go on Mass.gov has a lot of resources of who to call. It really depends on what animal you have. So, if you found an injured Raptor, a bird of prey someone who specializes in reptiles isn’t going to be able to help there and also you have to take into account your own safety. So, a bird of prey that’s injured, even an injured Raptor, red tail, they have tremendously strong talons that you wouldn’t want to just go oh it’s a bird that needs my help and I’m going to go grab it. There are also animals that are illegal to touch or to move. Your best bet, if it is already in a safe place is to keep an eye on it, to make a phone call to your local animal control and they will most likely be able to point you in the best direction. If somebody just had a question about a reptile, by all means you can go to RainforsetReptileshows.com and send them an email, there’s a phone number there that you could reach out to if you had a question about a particular reptile, but usually animal control in your local municipality would be the best bet for that.

9. What is the most common type of injury/illness that you see?

a. So unfortunately, the most common thing we see is human inflected injury. So, Rain Forest reptile shows and RRS oasis, I keep using those two (2) terms. So RRS Oasis is the nonprofit 501 C3 that deals with the rescues. So, they have over fifteen hundred (1,500) animals that they provide care for and the Rain Forest Reptile aspect is how they pay to take care of these animals. So, fifteen hundred animals (1,500) as you can imagine they require a lot of care. A lot of these animals come to RRS Oasis in really terrible conditions, most commonly its abuse and neglect. Like I said before people get reptiles and they think it’s a great idea but they don’t really realize how much work is involved. You get a large snake, say a Boa Constrictor, that can get to be ten or twelve (10 or 12) feet long, well those animals need a really large enclosure and if you don’t have an enclosure of adequate size the animal is going to become really deformed, its bones are not going to be able to grow the way they should. Reptiles grow their entire lives, they do not stop growing, their growing does slow down but they will continue to grow and if they’re not in the right sized enclosure with the right diet they’re going to be severely impacted. So, we do see, unfortunately a lot of reptiles that have been malnourished they’re just really in rough shape, if they’re not kept in the proper humidity, they have trouble shedding, so mostly we’ll see injuries like that. Occasionally we’ll see instances of abuse, we had a snake a couple years ago that somebody had tortured with a blow torch. You know it’s really, it’s awful and in that case, we had to euthanize (put down) the snake because there was no recovery from that. Occasionally we will get some animals say, a turtle that has been hit by a car, if it’s not so far gone, sometimes we can rehabilitate. The most common thing we have to treat for is bacterial infections so, usually you can administer Antibiotics and if it doesn’t have internal injuries, we can work with that.

10. What should someone do if they come across a baby animal that is alone?

a. So, baby animals that are alone, again so with reptiles we don’t have to worry about that so much because most reptiles do not any form of maternal care with the exception of crocodilians, an Alligator will take care of its young for a year after they’re born which is very rare in the reptile group but other then, snakes, lizards they have their babies and boom their gone, they’re on their own. But I can speak for some other animals because I have some knowledge for that, typically if you see a baby in the wild, typically the mother is nearby, so the most important thing to do is not to disturb the baby. For instance, when you see a baby rabbit, which are very common in the spring usually the mother rabbit has left the babies for the day. A mother rabbit will only come and nourish their babies twice a day. Other than that, it’s safer for everyone to just stay away because they don’t want their scent to ¬¬¬¬be around for predators. So, a lot of times people will see a baby rabbit in the grass and like “oh my gosh, I haven’t seen the mom all day”, well the mom’s not going to come around if you’re around. The best thing is to leave it be, if you’re really truly concerned, I would call in the professionals, a lot of people make the mistake of bringing in a wild animal, whether it’s a baby or whether it’s an adult and they feel like well I need to give it food, I need to give it water, and that’s really the worst thing you can do. If an animal is injured, if an animal is in shock, you can do a lot more damage by feeding them. It depends on the animal but usually the best bet is to leave the animal be, keep it in a safe place, if you have a dog or cat that is outdoors, keep your animal away from it but call the professionals and they can usually come and rectify the situation

11. If you could tell the public only one thing about how to help these animals and what they should do what would it be?

a. I would just say, research any animal before you get a pet, that would be my tip top, unfortunately with reptiles we see so many people who just think well I’ll get a pet and if I get bored with it, I will give it to a friend, or I will donate it to the science center or maybe Rainforest reptile shows will want to take it and unfortunately that’s just a really poor attitude to have, pets are a life time commitment. If you can not care for that pet the way the deserve for their entire life span then you have no right to be getting that pet.

12. RRS Oasis/Donation

a. If anyone would care to learn more about Rain Forest reptile shows or the good work that RRS Oasis does RRS Oasis stands for Reptile Refuges and Sanctuary.

b. They’ve really struggled during this pandemic unfortunately like I said they don’t get grants; they don’t get federal grants or state grants for any of this. These animals the care that they require is very expensive. They’re housed up in Beverly (Massachusetts) most of them are tropical animals so they require to be kept around 80 degrees (Fahrenheit), the heating gets really expensive in the winter time. Their specialized care, their veterinary care, the food that they require it really adds up. In order to feed and care for these animals that’s why the zoologist go and travels around to schools and parks and birthday parties, because that money that they bring in is to directly care for these animals. So because of covid, because of all the shutdowns they haven’t been able to do these shows, they haven’t been able to go to the schools and the parks and the birthday parties so, it’s really been a struggle so if anybody had any interest in it go to RainForestReptileShows.com and you can check out, there’s a little blurb about RRS Oasis and ways that you can help, they’re always looking for donations, not just monetary but donations of paper towels, they look for produce in the summer time, if people have a garden and have extra produce a lot of these animals are herbivores, the tortoises especially they go through a lot of veggies so you know stuff like that the little ways that you can help that is not just money, they always appreciate anyone lending a hand.

13. Other resources

a. United States Association of Reptile Keepers (USARK) they have a lot of really great information about Reptiles. The Mass.Gov sites are really good or the Audubon sites have a lot of great information. It’s one of those things where if you’re curious about it google is a good tool and you can find so much. I’ve learned a lot just by working with these animals. Also, when I travel around, I don’t know everything about reptiles, so I love going to say a birthday party and a kid might ask me a question and I’m like “you know? I don’t know that but I’m going to find out.” And I’ll come home and I’ll look it up and you know I just find the fascinating. I get that, snakes aren’t for everyone but they’re really amazing creatures. I have two (2) of them as pets, my kids love them, they take them out, they’re very friendly and yeah, they’re a lot of fun, bit commitment, but they’re great.

14. Snakes

a. They are good, they’re defiantly some species that are better than others, for someone who’s a beginner I’d highly recommend either a ball python, or a rat snake more commonly known as the corn snake. They’re very friendly, pretty easy to keep, pretty low maintenance. A lot of people like king snakes, those ones can be a little bit more temperamental, but they do make really good pets. Especially a lot of people who have allergies that can’t have a dog or a cat will opt for a reptile instead due to allergies.