Lizards, snakes and tarantulas oh my! Rescued reptiles and other creatures delight children at Palmer Library

PALMER— Jonathan Huntington said her work with the Valley’s reptiles is a “labor of love” and she feels like if she doesn’t do this, no one else will.

“Having reptiles and transporting them in Alaska is not as easy as it sounds. I’ve got the let me car warm up for an hour,” Huntington said.

On Wednesday, Huntington held a reptile exhibition at the Palmer Library. All the revenue generated from events like these funds reptile rehabilitation efforts, helping to feed and care for the cold-blooded refugees, according to Huntington. She demonstrates animals at a variety of places and events, including schools, libraries and birthday parties.

Inside one of the Palmer Library’s meeting rooms, she showed a handful of critters to a crowd of excited children. She does not discriminate and ends up with creatures outside the realm of reptiles. Children got to learn fun facts, observe and pet numerous snakes, lizards, and even a hairy tarantula.

Huntington said that she officially formed her business, Jonathan’s Reptiles in 2016 but she’s had reptiles since 1994.

“There hasn’t been a time where there wasn’t reptiles. It just kind of made sense to open as a rescue and for public educational classes,” Huntington said.

She said that one of her earliest memories was when she was 3 years old. Her parents brought home an albino Burmese python hatchling. She grew up with that snake, all the way through high school. She said that her love for reptiles hasn’t faltered since.

“So we ended up with iguanas, and geckos and lizards and snakes, you name it,” Huntington said.

The reptiles featured in Huntington’s travelling exhibit came from owners who, for one reason or another, decided they didn’t want them anymore. Huntington said it’s common for people to purchase reptiles then change their minds once they find out how much is actually goes into raising them.

Jonathan’s Reptiles operates under three core principles: rescue, rehabilitation and education. She said it’s vital to educate the public about reptiles in general as well as what it takes to properly maintain them.

“So the more education pet owners that are out there locally, the more that reptiles can be cared for in general,” Huntington said.

Huntington said that she rescues animals on a regular basis, averaging about one rescue per month. She said they currently have about 65 creatures in their care.

“We get some in pretty deplorable shape. It’s always sad and heartbreaking but it’s very rewarding to rehabilitate them, get them all the necessary veterinary care, and get them healthy and get them in their forever home,” Huntington said.

Huntington said that she also regularly has people approach her with perfectly healthy pets that they changed their minds about, saying things like they’re not getting enough attention. She said that placing the animals in the exhibit gains them plenty of attention and handling until they find a permanent home.

She said that she does a fair amount of “match-making” with people who are looking for a particular animal that she happens to have but she goes into great detail educating the potential buyer about proper care to break the cycle.

“They’re pretty underrepresented and misunderstood animals. So there’s a lot of people that have fear and we really enjoy helping people get over their fears of misrepresented animals,” Huntington said.

Huntington said that her ultimate goal is to eventually raise enough money to open a brick and mortar reptile shop and education center.

“It’s been snowballing. I don’t have a timeline but it’s definitely an inevitability,” Huntington said.

Huntington said that her operation will be a vendor at the first Alaskan reptile expo in Anchorage on Aug. 31, among other upcoming events. They will be at the Wasilla Library on April 13 from 2 to 4 p.m. and are planning to do another event in the summer.

For more information about Jonathan’s Reptiles, call 907-841-7498.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com.