Some of the rarest as well as the most common “beginner pet” reptiles will be at North American Reptile Breeders Conference in Tinley Park.
What is billed as the world’s largest reptile show returns to Tinley Park Convention Center Oct. 7-8.
“There’s a lot of different colors and patterns. There’s always new species that were never bred before. That’s pretty neat,” said Brian Potter, who co-organizes North American Reptile Breeders Conference with Bob Ashley, of New Mexico-based ECO Publishing.
“It’s like the success stories of the breeders each year.”
The event features approximately 200 vendors of items from art and dry goods to clothing and local services such as those provided by Glenwood Village Pet Hospital.
“You’re going to get the largest gathering of breeders from across the world in one place for one weekend,” said Potter, of Tinley Park.
“You can buy stuff for incredibly low prices from some of the top breeders in the world. It’s just packed.”
Guest speakers on Oct. 7 include Richard Crowley on “Passionate Journey with Short-tailed Pythons,” Dan Krull on “Double Clutching in Western Hognose and Other Colubrids” and Ben Quintana on “Scorpions: How to Keep and Breed.”
Speakers booked for Oct. 8 include Taron Langhover on “The Polymorphism of Collared Lizards.”
“Honestly, this is like the Super Bowl” of pet shows, Potter said. “There’s literally the world’s top people here.”
The mission of the conference, which has been presented since 2001, is to assist people in viewing reptiles in a different environment than they may be used to and to provide vendors with a classier venue to exhibit their goods.
People from throughout the United States and as far as Europe, Japan and Korea travel to the conference, where captive-born reptiles are showcased to the public.
“You’re getting a healthier animal. You’re getting an animal that will be less stressed and an animal that will survive in captivity. It’s very important that we still have access to the wild but if you leave them in the wild, they’re just going to die eventually,” Potter said.
“There’s a lot of things that are causing the decline of the wild population. Once they’re in captivity and we’ve worked with them, there’s almost always a high chance of success for breeding them.”
Potter, who breeds ball pythons and co-owns Chicago Reptile House in Orland Park with Jeff Lodico, said his interest in reptiles began while growing up in Tinley Park.
“Anybody that has kids in Tinley knows about Tinley Creek. We grew up living in that mud and bringing home turtles, tadpoles and frogs,” said Potter, adding that he met his business partner while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. “That’s how the whole thing bloomed.”
After leaving the Marines, Potter and Lodico opened Chicago Reptile House in 1993. Their most recent venture is Orland Park-based Chicago Fish and Coral Co., which includes a maintenance division that services area aquariums.
North American Reptile Breeders Conference returns to Tinley Park from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. March 17 and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. March 18. As for the October show, VIP passes include admission at 2 p.m. Oct. 6 during vendor setup, 2.5 hours early on Oct. 7 and one hour early on Oct. 8.
Jessi Virtusio is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
North American Reptile Breeders Conference
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When: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 7; 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Oct. 8
Where: Tinley Park Convention Center, 18451 Convention Center Drive, Tinley Park
Tickets: $15 adults; $8 ages 6-12; free ages 5 and younger; $50 VIP (features early admission including on Oct. 6)
Information: 708-932-8044 or www.narbc.com