On St. Patrick’s Day – the day celebrating the folkloric superstition of the feast of the patron saint of Ireland – something else entirely observant happened in Richmond. The Richmond Reptile Expo – an occasion that replaced fear with serpentine knowledge and affection was held at Richmond’s International Speedway. This joyously weird event both offered a market for buying a new creepy crawling slithering companion or – for a lot of people – a chance to overcome their darkest fears of spiders, scorpions, and snakes.
The event was set-up as a market in two parts, which hovered above the convention room’s drab concrete floors. The first part was selling shirts, books, and other reptilian paraphernalia by some of the industry’s most knowledgeable vendors in the exotic reptile business. The second part was where the creepy crawlers were and where old and young alike could indulge in their love of the weirdest and wildest the natural world had to offer (at least at Richmond International Speedway).
Some of the event’s best photos can be found below:
The Stuff of Dreams (or Nightmares!)
Oh, Hello
Nothing to See Here
“Here I Go Again On My Own,” said the Brown Python to the White Snake
Looking for Forever Home
Scorpion. Savage Amusement
Super Hypo Tangerine Leopard Sunset Gecko
“It changed colors like the chameleon,” Anna from Predator
Hey, You Wanna a Piece of Me?
Photos By: Branden Wilson
