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In today’s day and age we are very familiar with community. In fact, there has been no time in history when there has been more community! We are able to tie together chameleon hobbyists, scientists, and veterinarians from around the world and share ideas and enthusiasm. This week I talk about the chameleon community and how we fit into the larger reptile community.

For all the community building the internet allows us it has a huge drawback. People end up being a screen name. If I was walking down the street and bumped into 80% of the people I interact with on social media I would not recognize them. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a digital relationship which has its place and through which much can be done. But it is a shadow of what a face to face relationship can be. This is why reptiles shows and regional society get-togethers are so meaningful.

Today I want to introduce you to a special type of event, and that is the herpetological conference. These used to be common place before the internet age. They never went away, but they are once again now starting to gain some momentum and pop up back up in different corners of the globe. I’d like to suggest you consider one of these events. There are a number happening in different countries. At the release of this episode, we in the US are preparing for the Herpeton Herpetocultural Conference coming up at the end of April 2020 in San Diego, CA.  It will be four days of talks about a wide range of reptile topics with some of the most active names in the reptile community. I will be one of the speakers and will be talking on the importance of multigenerational breeders and of them leaving a digital footprint.

If you are within flying distance of San Diego then I invite you to join me and a host of speakers that I have looked up to throughout my reptile keeping life at Herpeton. Click the above image to go to the Herpeton website. You can register for the conference there.

And, definitely let me know if you are going to attend. I will be arranging a chameleon community get together so we can make our connections. Yes, it is important that we get to know other communities, but we ought to do that within our community too! And, heck, maybe we can do a goodwill outreach and do something nice for the leopard gecko people. You know, maybe a cricket gift pack or something. Check out Herpeton.org for registration information. They sold out last year and so I am encouraging my listeners to sign up early for the completely selfish reason that I want a lot of chameleon people there. That way Allen has no choice but to schedule more chameleon speakers for the 2021 conference!

USARK, the United States Association of Reptile Keepers, is fighting for our rights to keep reptiles and amphibians in the United States. I will be looking into organizations in Europe to highlight so that we can get a sense for our community as a global community. But for those in the US, you do not realize how under attack we are until you go to the USARK home page and read the long list of legislations that are being fought every day across the country. Please visit https://usark.org/ for a sobering look at what is going on. This is the reason why we need to be aware and be willing to financially support this organization. Without it, we will be defenseless. Once you look at this page you will realize how much is going on without us even knowing about it.