Everything from a man eating a handful of crickets to a 20-foot python and hundreds of pet spiders, lizards, snakes and other reptilian wonders were on display at the eighth annual Wasatch Reptile Expo held over the weekend at the Utah State Fairpark.
The 23-year-old Colorado man who swallowed the crickets was rewarded with a pair of tickets to an upcoming rock concert.
"I just put them all in my hand and threw them down my throat," Jason Yenter said. "Your throat squeezes them down so much you can't feel them."
The largest python, housed in a wire and wood cage bigger than a bathtub, was on display by the Reptile Rescue Service Inc., a nonprofit group that houses unwanted or dangerous reptiles, engages in education activities and aids law enforcement in dealing with dangerous animals.
A 14-foot Burmese python also owned by the rescue group was being passed around a group of expo attendees sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Handler Shane Richins watched over the gentle, curious beast while the crowd ooh'd and aah'd. It's the kind of animal that can only be placed in the hands of experts because it could kill a human, Richins said.
Across the room, a group of brothers crowded around the cage of a monitor lizard. Bryan Dewell also held a plastic container that held his new pet: a fluorescent green anole.
The boys were allowed to hold several small snakes during the day and got to touch some of the larger snakes, but Dewell remained fascinated by his tiny, $5 acquisition.
He explained that he planned to take it home to live with another anole. The family also owns seven ball pythons, a corn snake and two geckos.
Salt Lake City-based snake breeder and seller Mark Hazel said reptiles can be wonderful pets because a person can care for a room full of them in the same time it would take to care for one dog.
In addition, reptiles are patient and can be cuddly, said attendee Tenley Schofield.
"I love how sweet-tempered most of them are," she said, while helping another participant support a 6-foot-long, 25-pound dumberil boa. "I have corn snakes I can wear as jewelry."
Animals arranged in the large building represented every color of the rainbow, and the colors were splashed on the reptiles in every pattern imaginable.
The Sutherland family, recently in the news for a zoning fight in Mapleton where they wanted to build a snake farm, displayed a group of otherwise normal colored snakes sporting bright white splotches.
Another vendor sold lizards the size of large grasshoppers covered in stripes of neon blue, yellow and orange.
Jet-black lizards reminiscent of fairy-tale dragons were also on hand, attracting crowds and posing for amateur photographers.
The expo is organized each year by Guy Versilus of Tooele. This year, the two-day fair boasted about 30 vendors and attracted 6,000 visitors. It attracted sellers from as far away as Nebraska and buyers from all over the country.
To learn more about Reptile Rescue Service Inc., call 801-860-2497. To join the Utah Herpetological Association, visit www.utahherp.com.