Thursday, October 15, 2009

Professor Heather Wong, at your service

I had a LOT of fun last night teaching about Ball Pythons at my local community college.

A few weeks ago, I was called by a Professor from the local college to ask me to present my self and my business to an Animal Management class.

Apparently, she found me by way of the Anahiem show. (WOOHOO!)

So she asked me to come into class and teach them about what I do and the what, how and why.

So I agreed!

And yesterday night was the night.

I was a little nervous, but I think it went very well.

I spent the day getting ready, readjusting a powerpoint I had made a few years ago for work...



There I am, working working working.

And then, with Lewie and Jasmin at my side, we went to the college.

It was a big class of about 40 students.



I used my powerpoint, overviewing the general care and husbandry requirements of Ball Pythons.



I went over the general genetics of Ball Pythons, and I actually was able to draw out Punnet Squares! I was so excited (a gentleman in the class asked about it, so that was even a plus, as I didn't intend to get that involved into that portion of Balls)!



We went over the basic morphs, co-dominanant and recessive, and I brought a few animals to share with the class. The Blue Eyed Leucistic was a HUGE hit.



A lot of the class really enjoyed seeing the new and cool morphs out there.



Apparently the blonde haired girl holding the Genetic Stripe was deathly afraid of snakes, but was willing to touch some of the Balls that I brought into class.

This is what its all about!!



I went around showing them the physical differences of snakes. I did make a crude joke, but hey, that's how I roll. Apparently, a few men in the class were jealous of only having one. LOL!



Gee is a stud no matter what, and people really liked him in terms of just holding him. I'm such a proud momma!



And here I am with a random Ball Python, teaching stuff. Like I said, I had a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed getting in front of a class and teaching about what I love! It was really great to teach these things to the class that they actually seemed interested in, and I was honored to do it.

So to my "students" if you are reading, thank you for giving me the opportunity to be in front of the class, and being such attentive listeners. I hope you learned something!



I didn't touch much on the economics of the Ball Python world, other than answering questions about the worth of each animal at the time. I didn't particularly feel it was necessary, as I was only asked to teach about the general aspects of the business.

I did mention, however, the basic overview of the market in relation to co-dom versus recessive. Recessive takes longer, therefore it retains its value better. Co-doms, not so much.

So there you have it. Maybe I'll get to do it again soon! We shall see.

Have a great week, my friends.

2 comments:

Colin Weaver said...

Very cool, Heather. Two things that I'm curious about: 1) How did this gig come about? and 2) Did you discuss the economics of the ball python business or just husbandry and genetics? If you did discuss economics, I'd like to hear more about what was discussed.

Thanks.

Colin

Jackie M. said...

How fun!

I like the guy holding the pied. He looks happy, but not quite sure what he'll do if it decides to move...