Reptile Discovery Center open and growing

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
The box turtle — Mike Turner talks to a group of students from Blake Day School out of Lake Helen, about box turtles. The turtle enclosure was just one informative stop along Discovery Trail, an outdoor reptile trail, at the Reptile Discovery Center, northeast of DeLand. Students on the field trip included Abigail Grangruth, Addison Cooke, Chloe Taormina, Dakota King, Dylan Webb, Greg Kamine, Isis Gilbert, Jackson Hickox, Jason Zern, Jordan Wroblewski, Kamren Manley, Kimber Manley, Makinzie Cheek, Noah Jennings, Peyton Hickox, Rachel Roemmelt, Rachel Webb, Ryan Kamine, Ryan Totten, Stephen Taormina, Taylor Taormina and Zachary Decker, and teachers were Donna Neal and Heidi Roemer.

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
Carl Barden — Carl Barden talks about a nonvenomous snake at a recent tour of the Reptile Discovery Center. Behind Barden is Medtoxin Venom Laboratories, home to 700 snakes. This is also the staging area, where visitors can come and watch Barden and lead animal technician Denisse Abreu milk snakes for their venom, which is then processed and shipped worldwide to be used in research or used to make antivenin.

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
Something different — At right, Denisse Abreu shows a nonvenomous snake to Alec Zamora, 7, and his little sister Mia, 3. Not pictured are dad and mom Rolando and Kristy. Dad Rolando said the family went to a pet store and found a flier for the center. "It's something different," he said.

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
Look! — Big brother Zachary Richardson, 4, points to an eyelash viper as his sister Katie, 2, looks on at the Reptile Discovery Center, near DeLand. Not pictured are mom Darlene and dad Mike.

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
Ready to help — Anne Barden staffs the counter at the registration area/gift shop of the Reptile Discovery Center, near DeLand. Her brother Carl Barden is the founder of the center.

BEACON PHOTO/JEN HORTON
Here's their sign — Right off Big John Drive, the sign for the Reptile Discovery Center a few feet away from hundreds of reptiles.

By Jen Horton
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Jul 9, 2009 - 8:47:43am

A chorus of "Eeew" with a few "Oh, cools" rang out along Discovery Trail at the Reptile Discovery Center as Mike Turner fed a dead rat to Goliath the alligator.

As he fed the alligators, the second being a female alligator named Jake, Turner talked to the group of students, including kindergartners up to fifth-graders, gathered just feet from the enclosure.

"If they can fit it into their mouth, they'll eat it," Turner told the group.

The children were on a field trip from Blake Day School out of Lake Helen.

Their teacher, Donna Neal, said she was impressed with the tour.

"I love it; it's very informational," Neal said. "The kids are asking questions, so he's talking to them at their grade level."

By the end of the walk, children were already asking to come back.

The Reptile Discovery Center is the realization of a lifelong dream of owner and operator Carl Barden.

A graduate of the University of Central Florida, Barden has been producing venom for research and antivenin purposes since the early 1990s.

Each year, his venom business, Medtoxin Venom Laboratories, grew a little. Now, Medtoxin ships venom all over the world.

Barden wanted more. He envisioned a place where people could come and learn a little about some of the species they share a planet with.

"The goal is to get people and reptiles together," Barden said. "In the hopes we can promote tolerance and understanding, both of which will foster conservation."

Back on the tour, Turner does that, sharing information about other species with visitors.

"They can actually learn their names," Turner told the children of the alligators.

Which is why Jake kept her name after her previous owners found out she was a girl.

Turner poked another rat through the cage and called for Jake.

(An interesting side note: Many of the food sources for the reptiles, such as feeder fish and bugs, are provided through local vendors, such as Animalia Pets in DeLand.)

When he isn't feeding alligators and iguanas, Turner is a critical-care nurse at Florida Hospital-Ormond Memorial. He met Barden when Turner was still a teenager, almost 15 years ago.

Turner was a reptile enthusiast, and, well, Barden at the time had a house full of snakes.

"I've been with Carl for a long time," Turner said. "I do this for the love of the animals. I'd miss the animals if I wasn't here."

The outdoor portion of the tour ends with a pit stop at the air-conditioned gift shop at the Reptile Discovery Center. The group is admitted into an area with dozens of snakes on display, complete with educational information such as: where the animal is from and how lethal (or nonlethal) its venom is.

Denisse Abreu, lead animal technician for the center, said there was a lot of hard work put in to making the center a reality, but it was worth it.

"This was the whole purpose," she said. "To educate the future generations about reptiles."

And the future generations are pretty excited about the center.

Barden said the numbers keep growing: Tours and individuals are really starting to take notice.

"Last month was our biggest month," Barden said. "Last week was our biggest week."

More than 150 children came through the center in one week in early June. And, many of them were local.

"But I don't think we realized how much the community would embrace us," Barden said. "I don't think we realized how much of our customer base would be local."

The group tours begin with Turner and the outdoor discovery of reptiles. After some inside time, the groups are led to a room where the animal handlers, Barden, Turner and Abreu, bring out nonvenomous reptiles for the children to interact with.

"We introduce them to normally a snake or two, or perhaps a lizard and baby alligator in the program viewing area," Barden said. "Then it is on to the venom program."

For safety purposes, Barden is the only person on-site who extracts from the snakes.

With a full view of Barden, audiences are able to watch in breathless anticipation as venom is extracted from 25 to 30 snakes each session. The venom programs are accompanied by an informational audio recording.

Previously, more than 200 deadly snakes were milked in a single day.

Now, 25-30 snakes are milked at a time. With two programs each day, Barden and Abreu are able to spread out their time, and in the process, further increase safety and actually fit in more snakes.

Barden said, to his knowledge, there are only two other open facilities of this kind in the entire United States, one in Florida, and one in Kentucky.

"That's another reason I did this," he said. "It's something unique."

The Reptile Discovery Center is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursday-Sunday (closed Aug. 24-Oct. 14), and is at 2710 Big John Drive in DeLand. Admission costs $8.50 for adults, and $5.50 for children ages 4-17 and for senior citizens, and is free for children age 3 and under. Group rates are available.

For more information, call (386) 740-9143, or visit www.reptilediscoverycenter.com.

— jen@beacononlinenews.com

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