Reptile Fight Club - Reptile Love club with Heidi

Episode Date: February 27, 2022

In this episode, Justin, Hedi, and Summer tackle the topic of the good things about the reptile hobby.Who will win? You decide. Reptile Fight Club!Follow Justin Julander @Australian Addiction Reptiles-http://www.australianaddiction.comFollow Chuck Poland  on IG @ChuckNorriswinsFollow MPR Network on:FB: https://www.facebook.com/MoreliaPythonRadioIG: https://www.instagram.com/mpr_network/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtrEaKcyN8KvC3pqaiYc0RQMore ways to support the shows.Swag store: https://teespring.com/stores/mprnetworkPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/moreliapythonradio

Welcome to thetile Fight Club. No, you don't fight! What? You need to love! Oh. Well. I guess we could do that. I don't know.

This is Fight Club, though. No, it's not. Okay, well, welcome to Reptile Love Club. Oh, that's nice. I am your host, Justin Julander, and with me is my very beautiful wife Heidi Julander. Hi. Don't forget about me. Okay we've also got our youngest daughter Summer Julander who is a reptile fan and really wanted to be on the podcast So we thought we'd bring her on and talk to you. So we got a little bit of a change up today. We're going to talk about the great things in the reptile industry and in the reptile community, all the good things that

are going on and the things that we enjoy as part of the reptile community. And I figured who better than my beautiful wife to chat with me about this. Sorry, listener, we're leaving Chuck out of this one, although we do love Chuck very much. We love you, Chuck. We miss you. And he was very busy with work and said, I don't want to get into that lovey-dovey stuff. You guys take care of it. So we'll start off today's discussion with the traditional coin toss. Oh, let's flip. Okay.

Yeah. I don't know what we're flipping for, but we're going to flip. Do I call or you call? You call it in the air. Heads. It's heads. Oh, yeah. You won.

I win. You have the luck of Chuck. I have Chuck luck. Chuck luck. Chuck luck. This is Chuck's year to win all the coin tosses, apparently. He's been beating me pretty bad. I think I won one or

something this year. Do you want to go first or second? I'll go second. Should we let Summer go first? Sure. Let's bring Summer in so she is um our 13 year old and she is um very into reptiles how you tell us what you like what what reptiles do you are you into right now man i'm into a lot of stuff but um if i had to choose i really like rankin's dragons that's my breeding project for

this summer that should be fun they're a smaller species well they're like cousins to the bearded dragon they're a lot smaller than your typical bearded dragon but they're really fun to work with and they're as tame as bearded dragons so they're really fun to handle. I also really like womas or asperidides, like blockheads and things like that. But, yeah, I like a lot of different stuff. You dare to hold a woma? Yes. Is that something you like to hold? I love playing all the time.

Sometimes they can be a little food happy. Yeah. They love food, just like your dad. I love food. They hold on. Yeah, they do. All right. Well, so let's see.

What's your favorite thing about reptiles? Why do you like them so much? I like them because there's a lot of variation like you see so much different cool patterns sizes shapes like camouflage and even like defense like their um defense against predators that's one of the things i really like about them like for all my closets are awesome when they like their defense yeah well what's if you could keep any reptile in the world, do you have a favorite reptile? I like a lot of different reptiles. If I had to keep one. Yeah.

Anything in the whole world. You didn't matter. You keep any reptile. I know it'd be a Python. Okay. I think. You're just saying that because you're my daughter. Well, I want something venomous.

Oh, really? Those would be kind of cool. I don't know if mom would be excited about that. I do not approve. Cobras aren't pythons, are they? No, they're not. But they're cool. There's no venomous pythons.

But there's a lot of cool like cobras there's too many to choose from aren't there but my second choice would be an olive python those things are cool if only you had one i'm sure i'm sure owen is is boxing one up right now to send to you he doesn't listen to this so it might take him a while to get the message but all right well we love you thank you for being so excited about reptiles summer is so yeah i i'm really thrilled that summer is excited about reptiles because she helps me out in the reptile room and and she'll do all the the helpful stuff that i that i need her to do. She cleans out all the blue-tongued skin cages, and man, skinks are kind of messy compared to pythons. So she's out there quite frequently cleaning skin cages,

which is really helpful. What else do you do? You do just about anything, right? She started cleaning the snake cages, and she's really good at handling the pythons and just learned how to handle an angry snake yeah yeah i got one that was striking at me i'm like you're up let's see what you can do and she did pretty well so she didn't drop it or anything yeah look at across the room yeah well thank you for being here you've been a wonderful guest

we'll have to have you back sometime soon i feel like a star i'm like i'm a star i'm a surprise guest yeah yeah that's pretty pretty high honor all right now get out of the way for your mom go to bed it's your bedtime thank Thank you. Love you, sweetie. Love you. Bye-bye. Bye. Bye. All right. We're going to have to adjust the volume on that one. That was a good bye. Definitely.

Love you, sweetie. All right. Oh, Heidi's cracking open some of her love. Diet Coke. She's the Diet Coke girl. I'm the DD, the sweet. She's the smooth DC girl. i'm this sweet lady ddp we've got our little vices going yes we do we are not without our vices

all right well let's get into this i guess i'll go first so one thing that really um stuck out to me this year as far as you know i don't think we're not limiting ourselves to talking about things this year, but something that really I guess it was last year. But Mike Stefani was involved in a make a wish thing for this this cute little gal. She was so excited about reptiles and reptile books and Mike set it up. So, um, a bunch of us had the opportunity to buy some reptile books for her and send those to her. Her mom gave us kind of the shipping information or set it up so she could get those. And then Mike gave her a tour of his place and showed her all around. And, um, and then they got her, got her VIP passes to the NARBC show in Tinley, I believe. So I think they were local there by Mike in Chicago area.

So very cool. And I mean, if you guys don't know Mike, I'm sure you've heard of Mike. And Mike's monitors breed some amazing reptiles. And he's just about the best guy out there just huge heart and always very happy and upbeat and supportive of his fellow reptile keepers so shout out to mike he's a good man good guy and is involved in a lot of good things so i think i'd start out with mike and it gives you a chance to gives other people a chance to help out yeah to be a part of that which exactly yeah it was

that was a lot of fun and just i mean she posted some pictures of her with the books and giant smile and they were all like her wish list book so yeah it's kind of fun but yeah pretty cool so all right i perform my duty for losing the coin toss. Your turn to go. Okay. Anything good to say? So I just bring up a. Yeah. Any topic. Something I love about reptiles. Something you love about reptiles or the reptile hobby.

What I love. You know, it's, it's, it's funny. And I'm, I'll just preface this by saying it would be real easy just to say, well, here bad things you know or that but I would have to say my favorite thing is that it's giving you something that you've loved for your whole life you know something that's I guess not to say give your life meaning because you have meaning in lots of other areas but it's something that you have to look forward to something that you can can you know as as maybe a little bit of like a refuge from everything else you know something you can come home and relax and do it's also something that gives your life meaning in a certain way where

you can kind of fulfill dreams that you wanted to do, write books, travel, have different species. And I think that's an important thing because it's let you be happy. I mean, you could have been happy without him, but I know you wouldn't be as happy. I know there would be something missing in your life. So that's something I always think that's been neat is it's something that gives your life. It's your life's passion. Yeah. And you made the sacrifice to have a different career so you could take care of our family.

And I appreciate that we got to stay in Utah and stay close to our families. And then, you know, so as kind of a tradeoff for you, this has given you something that's been a big part of your life. Well, that leads me into my next thing is you being supportive of that because it's a big ask a lot of times, you know. Well, and it was you that said, hey, you need to go to Australia. We've got five kids and we have a little bit of extra money right now. Take that and go to – and that was in 2010.

Yeah. And I wanted you to be able to go with your dad. Yeah. So that was – and that was the trip of – of i mean that was the trip of a lifetime i i just i still think about that trip and i still have those images burned in my brain like the first cool you know reptile found in australia and just i think it was a boyd's forest well i know it was a boyd's forest dragon but yeah that was one of the first really cool reptiles I saw and just saw what, what I was expecting to see, like hanging off the side of a tree. But yeah, I, I appreciate you

understanding that, that passion and that need in me to go out and be crazy and look for reptiles. And actually that was one of the things that kind of drew me to you is when we, we, we worked together at this little place and, and, uh, she wasn't on the same shift as me, but one night she was. And so she was in there in, in the break room. We had a little break and I heard her, I, I kind of noticed cause she was beautiful. And I said, and I, I'm like, I want to talk to that girl. And then she mentioned something about frogs. I'm like, okay, now I really need to talk to her. So I went over and chatted with her. And so she wasn't necessarily on board with the big snakes at first. You were a little nervous about those.

I was really afraid of snakes. He had a boa. Yeah. And boy, I did not want that to live with us when we got married. I was, I was afraid. Yeah. Let's just be real. I was afraid of snakes. Let's just be real. I was afraid of snakes.

Yeah. So. But she, I kind of had to work her into it a little bit. I got some little milk snakes that were really tiny, little hatchling milk snakes. Well, and we had those little bearded dragons. Yeah. We had little velds. Mm-hmm.

And they're so sweet. Yeah. So. That was. Oh, yeah. You like the little velds. What did you call them? I love little geeks.'re so sweet. Yeah. So that was, Oh yeah. You like the little veiled. What'd you call them? Little geeks.

Little geeks. Yeah. They're just so funny though. And they're babies. And those little, like the little jerky hand motions. And then I just love them. They're so cute.

That was fun to work with those for a bit, but yeah. So you've been very supportive. Let me take up room in the house. I mean, when looking for a new house, we have to worry about the garage. And renting. Oh, renting was a nightmare at first.

We got pretty lucky. Oh, we did. The places we've lived. It always finds a way. Yeah. It always works out. And, you know, I mean, I get it. A lot of people need to take.

And I've taken a breaks in my life where I haven't had any reptiles and, and been able or haven't been able to like, you've had some, no, not in Germany. When I lived in Germany, no reptiles, all your life with me, all my life with you, the last almost 25 years you've had. Yeah, that's true. And you've been very supportive. You would say that. I'm just saying, no, I don't. Okay. You've been very supportive. Don't even say that. I'm just saying. In my life. Okay.

I don't. Okay. Hey, we're staying positive here. We need to have a love meter. Like, oh, no, no, no. It's dipping. It's dipping. It's getting a little rough in here. We're going to have to bring it back out.

We're going to have to make out. We're going to pause for a minute. Excuse me, everyone. All right. But yeah, being, you know, having that support and that, you know, concern about my happiness. I mean, that's what, you know, marriage is and, you know, kind of the give and take. And I think you've probably given more than more than I have, but I really appreciate you and that patience with that. And I mean, you've, you've always

encouraged me to go travel. Like I, I thought, well, I'll maybe only do one reptile trip and Heidi's like, well, you ought to go to, you ought to go to both of them. So I'm like, Hey guys, I guess I'm coming to both. Yeah. You know, you've got to, you've got to take the opportunity and where, you know, our kids, kids are older and. And you never know. Sometimes it's like you've got to take the opportunities. With COVID and where there's been travel restrictions, it's like you should go where you can, you know. Yeah, and it's been fun to explore some places in the United States. I mean, finding those original rattlesnakes and the rock rattlesnakes,

oh, that was fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you got another one um i think one of my favorite things is definitely our friends i just call them reptile friends you know it's like i'm not a keeper um but i consider myself a reptile person and I love that. I love the community. I love being able to meet the people that you spend time with on trips. I got to go on a trip to St. George last year. Yeah. And that was fun.

That was fun. Man, we met some great people. And it was just like, we laughed the whole time. And, you know, like, um, Rob helped me hold a tarantula yeah and you know and and i'm always did you imagine you 20 years ago no like even getting close to the side of the road at nighttime climbing up like rocks i mean it wasn't too steep or anything but we were just by our own headlamps yeah now and justin doesn't stay by me justin is like i'm like justin come here and then he's finding rattlesnakes and rattlesnakes are probably one of my biggest fears i yeah i'm really afraid after seeing them how calm and cool

and cool yeah it's that sound i'm i don't why it's the sound. I'm really afraid of that. I think that's kind of a primeval thing. You know, you hear that sound. I remember one time I was backpacking with my dad, and we were looking for, like, ancient American artifact kind of things, you know, and there was some ruins. This was in Canyonlands. And I was under this ledge, you know, sifting through some dust or dirt or whatever. And all of a sudden, I heard this buzzing.

And I thought it was like hornets or wasps or something. I thought I bumped a hive or something. So I'm thinking I'm going to get attacked. And so I back out really quick. And the people that we were with, me and my dad, were with some friends. And they're like, what's wrong? What's going and my dad were with some friends and, uh, they're like, what's wrong, what's going on? And I'm like, oh, I, oh, it's just a rattlesnake. And I'm like, oh, cool. So then I go right back in there like, wait, what? It's just a rattlesnake. So, you know,

I think a lot of people have those fears, but I just never have had those. But I mean, the sound of a rattle is like sweet music to my ears yeah when we were walking that's one of the the ridge nose rattlesnakes that we found i was walking along the creek bed and i heard it buzz and so i'm like oh there's something over here and it was originally that was really you know herping by sound is kind of fun there's not a lot of reptiles that make a loud sound oh yeah if only all of them did, you know, make it easy. And they're so polite. I mean, rattlesnakes are the nicest snakes.

There are, they let you know they're there and they warn you, you know, what a polite snake. We love them. But yeah, I mean, that was really nice of Rob Christian to stay by you.

Like he was, he was hanging out and like helping you when I'm running away and looking for... Yeah. Someone always stays by me. Yeah. But that's okay. That was a fun group. It was. They were so fun. Yeah, I do that again

in a heartbeat. Rob and Nick. I think it's Nick's birthday today or was yesterday? It was already. Yesterday maybe? Yeah. Happy birthday, Nick Scali. Happy birthday, Nick. We wanted to send you a picture, but we didn't feel like it would be appropriate for your other happy birthday pictures. Nick style happy birthday photo.

I want to call him Scali, but it's Scali, I think, right? Isn't that how he pronounced it? I can't. I'm terrible with names. I called them nick and lawn lawn was like oh if you're ever in new york come visit me you went to new york and you didn't visit long he'll be crushed we were on a schedule oh that's true oh yeah our friend planned it so great yeah it was yeah we had it pretty packed pulled around but and i mean all like matt and uh mannetola he was that was fun the philly yeah yeah the that was fun yeah and then who else you said um there yeah there was a tree oh keith and

that was i was so excited to herp with those guys and then i got to herp with keith a couple or in arizona yeah i scared him a little bit with my driving i guess but he's not used to the big mountains i guess then chris yeah chris and oh chris and aspen are like they're the real deal man those guys are great they're utah peeps yeah yeah i went i went down just kind of oh it was when they were going to come originally, the East Coasters. And then they had to pull out because of COVID. And so I'm like, and I kind of saw that Keith was coming. I'm like, do you guys care if I tag along? You know, because I wanted to meet the East Coast guys.

And then they're like, no, come on down. So then when they had to bail, I'm like, can I still come? And they're like, sure. And so we went down. Oh, yeah. I remember that. That was a fun trip. And they, yeah, they were the real deal. had to bail I'm like can I still come and they're like sure and so we went down and oh yeah yeah they yeah they had they they were the real deal there's some good herpers so that was really fun to herp with them and uh I mean Chris let me stay in their spare bedroom like he gave me a place to

stay I was preparing to tent out in the you know wilderness and he's like oh you can stay in my spare bedroom so that was really cool and um just a lot of fun and aspen drove me around one of the nights when chris couldn't come so yeah it was it was a good good trip i was really glad to meet those guys because i'd seen all their great photography and all the stuff they were finding i'm like these guys are good they're out almost every night during yeah so fun to go with somebody who knows all the places yeah and yeah yeah so that was a lot of fun yeah but yeah that was a fun i don't think there's i mean there's no lack of good people out there like our friends in australia oh man i miss the oh we were just and terry um Yeah. South Dakota. Oh, he's the best. Steve and Ben.

Uh-huh. I mean. The list goes on. Casey, like. Yeah. Can I say who I met at the reptile show? Sure. Okay, so this one time.

I get out. It's serious. When we were in there, was I by myself? Because why was I there separately and you were already there and I met you there? Oh, maybe. I don't know. Where are you getting the... I can't remember.

Was it the one in California? Oh, I had Summer with me. You had Summer. So I had Summer with a baby and I walked in and it's this packed room of the... What is it called? The NIRBC show. And so, of course, I had no idea where you were. And then I saw, did he know who I was?

Or did I go up to him? Maybe you went to him because you kind of recognized. I might have gone up to him and said, oh, are you Carrie? And he's like, yeah. And so I'm talking to him and he's like, oh, I'll show you. So he walked me right over to where Justin was. This huge, big old guy, you, I'll show you. So he walked me right over to where Justin was. This huge, big old guy, you know, like Kerry King.

So I'm like, oh, I met a rock star. So, yeah. So that was cool. And just, you know, like just nice as can be. Just helping me out. Cared that I could find you. I mean, he could have said this over there, you know. So that was kind of fun. It's booth number 201.

Yeah. Yeah. But he walked you there and was really nice yeah yeah yeah well i i um when i was uh in darwin and had some uh some unfortunate events occur uh joy kulegowski heard about that and she's like we can't have your trip in like that. So she flew me out to Brisbane area. And I mean, they, her son, Troy lives in Ipswich and Troy had me stay at his house and they took me around, gave me tours of all these different reptile breeders. And I mean, I'd met him twice, you know, like, and, and very briefly.

And, you know, I'd communicated with Joy online and she'd gotten kind of some unfortunate things from the same person. So she kind of knew what I was going through. And, but I just, I mean, I couldn't have asked for a better send off than that. And I mean, that just sticks with me to this day. I mean, what a great family and I miss those guys. I can't wait to get over there again. It's just the level of hospitality where, I mean, you go over there and they cook for you. It's like, you just feel like, okay, you guys are too nice. You're doing too much. Like this is, you know, and then like Deb throws a big party and has us come over and they have all the stuff. Yeah. Oh yeah. The food we ate at deb's house oh yeah it was fantastic yeah and then as soon as we got in from deb came picked us up from the airport yeah as soon as we get to troy's house he's had food you know not that it's always about food but you know like man that's my language yeah you know so good food yeah yeah and they took us that pie shop oh i love those good stuff I miss those we

gotta get over again oh yeah Chris oh yeah oh well I was I just posted some pictures of some bison that I saw on Antelope Island here in Utah and it's it's a I guess it's not an island anymore because of the drought but yeah it should be in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. And there's a causeway that goes out there. But there's a herd of buffalo, bison out there. And we took Peter and Joanne and Talon when they came and visited. That's right. And that was a lot of fun.

But, yeah, Joanne's like, oh, I remember that place, seeing those things. And they were so huge. We love those guys. She's like, we miss you guys. We're like, oh, we miss you. After our kids met them, we're like oh after our kids met them they're like we want to move to australia and live with joanne yeah they did they call her australia mom yep yeah that was that was a lot of fun yeah i mean i asked them like

after we'd taken them all around australia you know and and i said well what was your favorite part and they said hanging out with peter and joanne and troy and jess and i'm like oh yeah i took you thousands of miles across australia we saw all this cool stuff had all these cool reptiles and that's the answer you give but it's it's the best answer it's unreal to have such great people people you consider family across the world yep you know yeah it's pretty sweet uh what a fun thing yeah yeah i mean oh and uh just this last spring we were headed out to um southern california and and i asked alan if he you know are you gonna be around he's like actually we're gonna be staying out kind of where you're headed why don't you come stay with us like we we got to stay on his land on his property and they had to leave

like earlier than we were leaving and so they he's like here's the lock you know just lock up after yourself and we got to stay out there and that was a beautiful place yeah yeah the wind was a little much i can't wait till he gets lizard land set up with the airbnb that would that'll be a lot of fun but yeah what a great place and i mean just getting to hang out with alan yeah just meeting Just meeting them, you know? Yeah. And yeah, that was, that was a lot of fun. That was really great.

So there's just, there's so many people. We could talk for like, we can have a series and talk about all these different people each day. Like that would be good. Um, yeah, we,

we've got a, I guess we got a, and we're probably forgetting a lot of people, but I, I would, uh, you know, of course mention the, the MP guys, uh, Eric and Owen and Rob. Um, those guys are just, they, they always focus on the positive. I've really appreciated that about Eric and Owen on the show, just really focusing on ignoring the garbage that occurs in the hobby and focusing on all the good stuff that happens. And just the excitement that they have for so many different species. I mean, I just love listening listening their show just for that reason you know just hearing the the joy of reptiles basically that's that's what they should call it you know the joy of reptiles but well and you think about it and if if you can appreciate these animals so much it also that it extends to other species and expand, you know, like with us,

with the birds. Yeah. And then if you can appreciate birds and you can appreciate insects, then it's like you have, you look for ways to love things. And then I think that extends to being nice to people and loving people that are different than you, or I don't't know i just think it gives you an appreciation for the whole world yeah and a desire to learn too yeah i love learning about like if i see an animal i want to know well where where it's locality like what's its range is that

how you'd say it like sure like we learned about birds like well that's great that's a cute bird but i want to see the range map and I want to see where it's at. Because that's, it's just cool to know that and what they eat and everything else. And then you learn about like geology or geography or, you know, get to know different countries. And then you go visit those other countries and get to meet the people and get to know the culture. And it's just, I mean, it just adds on itself and then it just enriches your life because I mean, just nature in general is just so great and getting out there. And even if you don't find any reptiles,

just being out in the outdoors, I mean, granted, if you're targeting a species and flipping rocks for eight hours and you don't find it, then you might grumble a little bit. But I've had days like that where you don't find your target. But, you know, you had a good time anyway and herped with somebody fun. Well, it's kind of exciting. It's like a challenge. Yeah. It's like almost like gambling.

You know, like when you pull the slot machine one more time and I know this next rock and we find it. Right. It's like it's like it's worth it to you because the outcome you know the possible outcome you have that spirit in you where you're like okay yeah you know like you sometimes you can just tell too yeah we're we gotta call it because but because it's dark oh yeah yeah yeah that's that's uh that's the the trick but and and that's what keeps you coming back, right? I mean, I still haven't seen a live Centralian blue-tongued in the wild or a Neferis amiae, you know, the Centralian knob-tailed gecko. I haven't seen one of those in the wild. So that means I have to go back to Australia until I find one of those. I mean, there's so many target species that, you know, I still need to find so when we were driving in australia we're in in

western australia somewhere past perth headed north we're driving on these roads the roads they're amazing it's like speckled red like it doesn't look it's not like the black roads here where we were at and and all of a sudden just in slams on the brakes he had spotted a thorny devil clear out excuse me a little sneeze there I was so excited I sneezed but um but um yeah I mean that you saw that I mean was insane. And that was kind of one of your targets. Like, that's one of the reptiles you wanted to see. And those quokkas, forget about it. I love those.

They were so cute. And, yeah, you'll never forget that, those times. Like, you know, I'm not going to be able to remember the GPS and the date, time, and location like you. But I do remember some of the species. Yeah. Yeah, that was a lot of fun i i mean and just to be so i i did the trip twice once with heidi and then once with my friends and heidi was a much better herper than mike and steve sorry guys but they kept falling asleep and heidi was like she wouldn't fall asleep so the the reason you came was to keep me safe. She's like, you can't go alone.

You'll kill yourself. You'll be dead in a second. Some snake, you'll grab some snake and it'll bite you and you'll be in the middle of the desert. And I will never know. And it seems scary because in my mind, I'm like, I don't know where he's going. In the middle of nowhere. And okay, someone needs to keep him in check, you know? Yeah.

Can I tell them the story? What? When we were looking for the Stimpsons, the wheat belt Stimpsons. Yes. Did you tell your friend? No, you can't tell that story. No. Yeah.

But it was a very fun trip. We can tell the story. We were looking for the Spiny-tailed Skinks or something like that. Is that what they were where what well we don't want to say where but somewhere in western australia when yeah we pull off the side of the road and and i and i have no idea where we're at and and and and so i see. So anyway, sorry, where our kids are texting, just tell her Kate's going to pick her up.

Okay. Sorry. I don't know how to be discreet. I can't talk and think and text at the same time. But, so Justin pulled off the side of the road and, and we're looking in this tree and we, we crossed a fence,

right? So I'm like all nervous, like whose line is we, we crossed a fence. Right. So I'm like all nervous, like whose line is this? We crossed a fence and, and Justin just keep looking and there's all these trucks and we'd maybe been there for a day or something. And I was just nervous. Like, cause you know, it just seems so foreign to me to be, we have no idea where we are. We're out looking for these things inside. Like, I don't know. I was so scared. Like, it took me a few days to kind of acclimate because I was.

Yeah. I was. I didn't understand. We just pulled to the side of the road and slept at certain places. And I just thought we're going to get killed. And then. So, yeah, I had a few little. So we pulled up to go to look for some snakes.

And our friend Trent. Oh, you are going to tell a story. Trent's a great guy. This is so embarrassing. And I met him online. I'd only met him online and communicated with him. But so we pull up and he pulls up. And then he gets in the back of his car and he pulls out this big crowbar.

And Heidi's like, what is he going to do? What's going to go? Well, no. Okay, no. I have to say something here. So where we were at was like, okay, far away from where we met him. Like we had driven a long ways into the even more middle of nowhere. Like where we were, no one would know and no one would find us.

And she's like, do you trust this guy? Do you know him?'m like yeah i know him and i trust him he's a good guy and he was great and he was really friendly and fun and showed us around and we we ended up finding a uh wheatbelt stimpsons like right at the last possible minute and it was it was really fun are you gonna tell the whole story or no? What's the whole story? Do you know what I was scared about? Okay, so this is really embarrassing on my part. So we were out looking and we needed, we were looking for a while.

And again, to get to the place where we were looking, we walked away from the car. And Justin kept looking and trent said well i'm gonna go get a that metal stick yeah a crowbar well he pulled that out of the very first no he didn't he didn't no so this is why it scared me so justin we're looking we're not having any luck and he says oh i'm gonna go grab that and we're not having any luck. And he says, oh, I'm going to go grab that and we're going to use, you know, that might help us get a bigger rug or something. Yeah. And then I needed my chapstick because I thought this was going to be a quick thing. I even needed my Diet Coke or a chapstick or something.

So I said, I'm going to go back to the car and grab that while he got that stick. And so, but I didn't know what he was getting so i look over and he's opens his trunk and gets out a crowbar and i'm like oh my gosh he is gonna kill us and then and then and so then i'm following back to justin and i'm thinking what do i do i have no i have no ways to combat this. Like he's bigger than me. You know, I don't know where I am. I guess it is always the ones you least suspect. Yeah, I mean, like if you call 911, like you have to tell them where you are.

And plus there's no cell service out there probably. And so, yeah. So it turns out he's the nicest guy. But that's the level of freaked out I was in Australia for probably the first five days. Yeah. And it, it took a while. Well, it didn't help that you left your kids across the world.

She was a little nervous about that. Oh, we couldn't even, we'd call home and I would cry and then the kids would get upset and they'd cry. Like I was a mess. She couldn't even call after a while. She's like, you call them, tell them I'm good. Tell them i love them yeah i mean i was happy to be there but i was really happy you came with me and i mean we were over there for a good three three plus weeks 23 or almost four weeks yeah yeah so my wife is the best she's and that's the way to do it you'll be

i mean it takes two days just to get there you might as well spend a couple weeks there make it worthwhile but so i i'm really thankful for you and for all that you put up with me and my my crazy trip and i i was such a penny pincher because i had planned on going alone so i hadn't budgeted for two and then when you decided to come it was a lot more expensive and i was just gonna yeah stay in a tent and we we had we got a we upgraded to a and it wasn't like a really nice it was a hippie van it was it was nice but it wasn't like some yeah top of the line and then i so then i was a little like cheap on the showers i'm like uh we can just jump in the ocean i think we went five days once yeah no showers and that was a little long yeah i

apologize for that next time we go i'll put you up in a very nice hotel at least a couple times on the trip well i'll take a koa but and you know the the remember the beach shower there was a by the beach there was a shower. Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's ways to figure it out, but we did get kicked out of a few spots. We were sleeping. We slept near a military base and we didn't know it.

And in the middle of the night, somebody knocked on the window and was like, you can't be here. Get out of here. Like, Oh, sorry. Yeah. It turns out right across the road was like a military like a really tall bar where fenced off military thing and here we are camping oh yeah those are some good times some good memories i mean seeing those pools and and waterfalls and stuff in caragini ah what a beautiful place yeah that was mean, just to experience that together.

I mean, that forges some good bonds. Yeah. Oh yeah. And there's no way to explain that to somebody. You just have to see it. Oh yeah. Yeah. So beautiful.

And it stretches you like it's stretched me. Yeah. Yeah. Past my comfort zone. But now I guess now my comfort zone is a little bit farther. Yeah. Yeah. And if we went back, you'd have a lot more fun. I I think you know I'd be so much more relaxed like I think yeah but

they was that was a that was a very good and memorable trip and one of my favorite memories you know and here here's what I was thinking too is that I think you have to keep your lines of communication open because like you know where it comes to to having lines of communication open because like, you know, when it comes to, to having animals or going on trips like this, like, I think I was probably maybe day three of no shower. I should have said, Hey,

it's shower day or I'm going home or like, Hey, this is too much. And then that way I wouldn't have had like gotten, it's not like we had a fight or anything but i i then i maybe wouldn't have been bugged or and then you wouldn't have been like well i'm doing the best i can or whatever and you know you just kind of have to yeah communication is key and to have that yeah to to let somebody know when they've when you've reached

the limit or something and i you know you know, I mean, I, I think that was kind of your personality a little bit. Cause I mean, I'd be like, Oh, just jump in the back and go to sleep. You know, I'm just going to road crew the first night we went road cruising. Um, and you know, we found a bunch of stuff and it was just fantastic. And then we started getting ready to go the next night and you were like, wait, we're going again. We're doing this every night. What? I'm like, you can jump in the back and sleep. No, no, I can't,

I can't go to sleep. I didn't want to miss out. Yeah. And you, I mean, we had a great time. Oh yeah. Well, when we were in pain, we were out in the middle of nowhere and we saw, I think it was a knob tail gecko you know uh nephorus uh we or vertebralis and I'd stopped I was really excited to see that was my first or second wild knobtail you know so I'm out there just taking pictures and and so we left the the car lights on oh the headlights yeah and then you were reading you know using the light to read and then we go to start the car and it wouldn't start and we were so far off the beaten track on a mining road you

know nobody would have found us for a day or two oh yeah and then uh so yeah we were very happy when the car started like okay no more leaving the lights on we're turning the lights off yeah and then we locked the key i locked the keys in the car when we got to that one little mining town. What was... Oh, man. I can't think of it. But anyway, we were, again, way out in the middle of nowhere. And I locked the keys in the car, but luckily...

Oh, it started with a P. Panamanica. Panamanica. Good job. And so we were way, way out there. And I'm like oh great but then you remembered that one of the back windows didn't work and so we just slid it open we're able to unlock the door yeah yeah so we were glad that the window didn't work at least for that moment

oh man yeah that was a good trip i i just love australia i can't get enough and i want to see more you know more areas oh yeah it just makes it like thirsty for more like exactly yeah see those is it the jacaranda jacaranda tree yeah the purple trees yeah oh those are cool with the flowers yeah those are some neat neat trees i like where troy lived too i haven't seen down where peter lives oh yeah you've never been to peters huh you saw him at the the place the the scales and tails yeah he came up to ipswich so yeah that was a lot of fun well i and i was i was talking to um steve crawford on the phone. He called and it took me a minute to place his name because I love his podcast, The Aussie Wildlife Show. And I'm thinking, man, this is really bugging me.

I know that name. And he told me, I'm like, oh, duh. I'm so dumb. But I just, you know, talking to him about he lives down in south australia area and i'm i want to get down there you know doing some research for the book and thinking about some of this different things that live down there and the gecko book as well going to see some of the geckos down in that area i mean i'm excited to get down to south australia but oh what a what a nice guy uh steve was just he was really fun to talk to and he's got so much experience i mean

he keeps every species of australian python so that's that's pretty cool that's saying something i'd love to see his collection so we'll have to make it down there and go visit him and by cupper um a little bit further away but on the way to kind of that area i wanted to go visit so yeah we'll have to make it down there and see him but what a what a i mean i don't know i haven't met an ozzy i didn't like well maybe one but he's not a true ozzy he's a transplant oh oh and i guess there's the other he who should not be named but called and told me how crap well we won't talk about that oh so yeah but uh steve crawford

check out aussie wildlife show if you haven't listened to it they've got some great stuff they had uh gavin bedford on there and oh gavin's yeah oh gavin's another one what a cool oh yeah that was so fun hanging out with him at that dinner and again that was joy yep yeah i mean all these things and yeah and we got to meet so many great people uh rob porter oh he's a cool he didn't meet rob but everyone think let's go stay with deb but between her and troy and joy it was like spoiled yeah and then jess i mean just so nice yeah yeah uh yeah i need to need to go visit those guys again. Yeah.

And that's the thing. I mean, we kind of alter our trip plans to visit them, you know, when we can. Oh, that's another thing about reptiles is every trip is planned around either a zoo or herping or, oh, yeah, every trip. I remember when we were first married and and we went to uh my friend's wedding in in dallas shout out to andrew and andrew and ingo we love you and and anson he was there well who was he he wasn't there was he was he around no our brother in line he was in uk and he was on one of our episodes of Reptile Fight Club. Anton, yeah. Yeah, what a great guy. So we were at their wedding in Dallas, and I dragged Heidi and my parents and Logan, my youngest brother, to two zoos in one day.

We went to the Dallas Zoo, and then we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. I mean, they were great but it was like what there's two zoos in one day maybe it was a little stretch everybody was pretty beat and ornery at the end of the day but I was in heaven I got to see parentes and the things we do for Justin yeah that was that was pretty cool they didn't have parentes when we went there the first time I don't think so they had graze monitors that was really cool. They didn't have Prentice when we went there the first time, I don't think. But they had graze monitors. That was really cool.

Well, you didn't ask to meet my favorite animals. Oh, yeah. Well, let's go for it. What reptiles do you love? I really, really super love. I keep wanting to do like a braggadocious thing. Yeah. Braggadocious. braggadocious thing. Yeah. Braggadocious.

Braggadocious. Oh, well, I won't braggadocious. We can't steal there. We can't steal stuff from other podcasts. No, I think my favorite is Komodo's. Yeah. Then you got to see a Komodo. I saw a Komodo, yeah.

Well, up close and personal. Yeah, I love. That's my favorite. I like crocodile monitors too yeah things that i i would really like to keep if we had the space and the and money and money and the time the time you know like so those are my favorite i love eyelash vipers too oh they're beautiful those are pretty but i i i don't ever want a venomous i'm that's not my thing so there's there's too many reptiles like i don't know there's just so many cool it's true cool species out there if you could keep you know if you could feed them i wouldn't like mind a thorny devil yeah yeah i just love a horned lizard too is that

what they're called yeah yeah so there's so many cool species and oh frogs all the cute little those little chubby frogs the rain frogs yeah the ones that like blow up and make those squeaky noises yeah oh i love those they're so fun yeah yeah i've been oh i've been watching uh tyrone ping uh his videos on YouTube he does like he herpes in South Africa and the guy like has pretty much found everything seems like and his videos are great like he shows so many cool things so if you haven't checked out his website give it or his YouTube channel check that out because some fantastic stuff South Africa has got a really great wealth of different species and rep. That's, that's another place I'd like to go to is South

Africa. So yeah, that's what a cool place and so many cool reptiles, but yeah, there's just too many like, and that's the hard thing when you keep them. I think that's kind of a little area that herping is filling for me because I would love to keep a lot of these things. But space and time and effort, you just really kind of have to focus or pick and choose. I mean, you could probably keep a lot more and then just sell them off, you know, things like that. But I get attached. I can't sell them off. So I've got, you know, things like that, but I get attached and I can't sell them off. So I've got, you know, that's a smart thing about this, this hobby too, is that if, if you can have the wisdom to say, I like that species, but I don't have the room, I don't have the time. Yeah. And so that way that

you're treating the animals the right way, you know? Yeah. Yeah. And that's, that's a tricky thing to do just because there's so many cool things and yeah. Watching those videos in South Africa, I'm like, Ooh, I'd love to keep that. But then I just want to go see it in the wild, you know, take some pictures of it. People have like a wallaby. Well, where do you do it's in a room. Yeah. You can't give it what it needs. Oh man. That makes me think of the new zoo, the Reptilandia that Ari in Texas. Ari is putting that one together, he and Ryu. Oh, I'm excited. It looks so cool. They just posted that video. I'll have to show it to you, but I showed you a little bit about that's something I was thinking about about um I think

all of us yeah you know and I'm not even a breeder but all of us have this like pipe dream is that what it's called pipe dream of of having our own reptiles or yeah you know just you just that's what you're you win the lottery that's what you would do everyone has you know may I'm sure we're not the only ones yeah everyone out there is you you know, I mean, heck I've even thought about it. What, what would we have? What would we do? How could we, how could we make it work? How could we get hands-on things for kids to come in and see things? And darn that Terry, he was, he was talking about, you know, all the, all the cool things. And things and i'm like man that really seems feasible we could make a go of that yeah i think that's kind of my like my my b plan if i ever lose my

job or have to do something that might be plan b i don't know that would be really cool yeah um but yeah i just hanging out with terry at reptile gardens is just the best. So I'm excited. And, and when I, I posted, you know, about the reptilandia, how excited I was. And I think Ari posted up a, you know,

put up a post and I said, Oh, that's going to be great. Or Terry, maybe Terry reposted it. And so I'm like, I can't wait to see that place. And Terry's like road trip time.

I was going to say, Terry, Christine, let's go. Yeah. Seriously. That would be so fun. And, you know, we can bring the kids, but maybe we go just us first, and then we bring the kids later.

Yeah. Sorry, kids, but I think that sounds like a blast, man. Oh, that would be a wonderful time to hang out with Terry and Chris. Yeah. Wouldn't that be the best? For sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Just throw Peter and Joe in the mix. Get them over here. I know. We need our Australian friends to come over. Yeah. Yeah. Just throw Peter and Joe in the mix. Get them over here. I know. We need our Australia friends to come over. Yeah. Joanne says they're maybe coming over this year. So we'll have to figure out. Can they leave the country?

I think so. I think they're starting. Yeah. That's another good, exciting thing is Australia looks to be opening soon. Oh, man. Yeah. It'll be nice to get back over there. Lock up your husbands, girls.

Australia's calling. Or boys. Or boys. Or girls. Or you could just. Female herpers. Or if you wanted to go, just be like, hey, I got you an early birthday present. There you go.

It's an opening ticket. Go whenever you need to. Yeah, I got you an early birthday present. There you go. It's an opening ticket. Go whenever you need to. Yeah, I'm excited. Our work's going to have a conference over in Australia. So it will be close to Troy and Jess and Joy. So that'll be fun to visit them again, Deb and Wayne. Yeah. I still remember when we went to Australia,

the first time someone talks to you and I just stare at him. What did they just say? Because I couldn't understand the accents. I'm terrible. It's fun. Yeah. I love the Australian accent. I just, I don't know.

I like everything about Australia. Music. My favorite band is Midnight Oil. They got some really good music and just the landscape and the reptiles. You just can't beat it. It's a beautiful place. I mean, Utah is pretty spectacular. Yeah, Utah is nice. I love living here.

Yeah. So there's just so many good things. Speaking of work trips, I get to go to Seattle, which is close to Casey, Lasik. Oh, nice. So i'm really hoping we can meet up sometime so yeah i'm hoping that'll work out it's been too long since i've seen casey all these friends and yeah and even hearing about their experiences it is it's so fun to just listen to all i could listen to could listen to Casey for days. I mean, his stories are the best.

Yeah. We got him talking at the NARBC show one year. I could have listened to that forever. It was such great stories. He's such a cool guy. Yeah. Just so nice. There's just too many people in this hobby that are great. Some, some stand above the others, you know, like Casey or, you know, so that's, yeah, it's really nice to meet. And

I think I was pretty bold when I was younger. Um, like, I think I just said, Hey, I'm going to be in Seattle. Can I come visit you or something? Casey was nice enough to be like, sure. That's a good point. enough to be like, sure. That's a good point. Cause he's like, who is this guy? You know, why am I going to let him come to my house? And how does he know who I am and what, like it's some weird stalker, Justin. And then since then we've had a great friendship and it's been really cool.

We've gone on a herb trip together, which was just a blast. I, I really would love to herb with Casey again. I need to make that happen. I feel bad. And I don't know, there's just so many, I, I feel really bad too. Cause we missed Nathan Hall. Like Nathan, he's such a great guy too. I like, I think, I mean, we could, we, we, we are, we're like, I could be his his best friend we like all the same stuff you know like he's just such a cool guy and we were in the same town basically and just couldn't meet up you know it just didn't work out and so i feel really bad about that and i should have just gone down to texas and hung out with him you know and just gone herping with him. It's tricky, you know. And I've been, I don't know, I've been invited on trips. And so I've kind of let, like, that's my, you know, cue to get out there and go.

And so I'm really appreciative to Rob. He organizes a really great trip. And I'm just fortunate to be invited. You know, that's been a lot of fun. Hopefully I've kind of pulled my weight and found some cool stuff or kept him them you know drove for them or something made myself useful in some way yeah i just really enjoy those trips and just herping with people hopefully we're all about the same age you know give us another 20 years

yeah you can start retiring and oh and get our rvs going right Writing the books has been just, it's been really fun with Nick. He's a great coauthor and, you know, we've had some fun trips as well. You guys have put so much time in on that and research. Yep. And I remember when we met him in Florida for the first time at the Daytona show, right? Yep. I was pregnant with Summer. It was about 14 years ago.

Yeah. Yeah. That's the first time we met in person. And I'd always, you know, heard him. I watched his debates online. Just always knew him as a very knowledgeable person. So, yeah, we've had a friendship for a long time. Written a few books together.

It's funny to think that we haven't. It was only 14 years ago. Like, I, it's like we've always known Nick, you know. Yeah, it's weird, huh? Yeah. There's just some people. And I mean, getting back to the beginning, you know, Ben and starting the business together. And that was, I mean,

you can't find a much humbler and just nice down to earth person. Ben. Yeah. And he was a lot of fun to herp with too. That was, yeah. I miss our trips to you know the california shows i just remember driving back feeling like we were like high rollers we had these big wads of cash from the reptile show it was like our first big show and we made like you know a lot of money for what we were used to you know and we were just like whoa this is awesome we could do what we love and come home with a wad of cash and so yeah i miss ben being out here yeah that was fun to have him at the university for so long and he got me into that herp trip that went down to saint george and we

saw a gila monster and found you know really a lot of cool species down there and gave me some really good spots to her to this day, you know. If you can find places close to home. Yeah, yeah. I mean, that's really key because that's where you are most of the time. Yeah. And that way you're not always going to be able to take big trips places, whether it's time or money, you know. Yeah.

And maybe, you know, that's another thing too. There's always a season and there's always, because I would always say you go because it's cheaper to send one person. Yeah. Have us both go and someone had to take care of the kids, but yeah, we're almost to that phase where we can take off whenever we want to do things. I'm so looking forward to retirement with you.

That's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to travel the globe. I'm going to think of some other wild hobby and then I'm going to have, we'll go do that. And I'll say, well, we're going to, and I'll be like,

have fun. I'm going to go. I guess there's not many herbs in Iceland. We can have a focus trip there. I'm going to find, I'm sure there'll be birds there. There's going to be nowhere where I won't look for something. It doesn't have to be ice fishing.

Oh my word. No. Yeah. That's something you don't have to worry about. Although unless you want to, you kind of like fishing. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

There's just too many cool things out there. You know, and one thing I've learned from you too is, is you want to do a project, you, you know, research at first, learn about it and then just do it yeah like but learn about it first and plan and yeah and i don't know there's yeah there's a lot of a lot of good information just at the touch of your fingertips you know yeah that's that's another nice thing about this day and age. I mean, the world is getting a little crowded and there's a lot less, you know, wild places than there were 50 years ago, but you know, it's, there's still a lot of good stuff to be seen

and a good stuff to be experienced. So get out there, get outside, get out looking, find these things in the wild. There's just nothing better. Yeah. I mean, it's fun to keep them in captivity, but it's so much funner to find them in the wild and watch them and see them in their environment and see what they do. It's good stuff. Yeah. I don't know. What a, what a fun life.

I've, I've, I've just loved living with you and having this life with you. And I appreciate just letting me live my, live this passionate life and have this fun hobby and be able to experience all the things I have. It's largely because of you. So thank you. I love you. Yeah.

Well, we'll do some more fighting next week. We, we wanted to interrupt this. I know. Darn it. Yeah. We'll have to have you on.

You can fight Chuck. Give him what for? Chuck, I'm coming for you next week. Be afraid. I'll see you in the ring. The old wrestling days. Macho man.

Well, again, thanks to NPR, Eric and Owen and Rob for letting us have this fun podcast. Check out NPR, MoraleaPythonRadio., and all the medias, all the socials. What do you call them? Social medias. You do? That's cool. I don't know. I'm not cool, so I don't know.

I've heard people say the gram. Oh. No. Yeah. Gramworthy. Gramworthy. Yeah, they're definitely gramworthy. Make a TikTok.

I don't know if they're on TikTok. Maybe they are. Maybe Eric's doing some dances on TikTok. I don't know if they're on TikTok. Maybe they are. Maybe Eric's doing some dances on TikTok. Oh, man. We love you guys. We love you. Yeah, thank you. Justin loves doing this.

Yeah, this is a lot of fun. And we love Chuck, too. The kids are like, is that Chuck? Tell Chuck I said hi. Yeah, we miss Chuck this week. I hope your work settles down, buddy. But we'll be back at it very soon. Well, anything else?

We said it all? I'm sure there's plenty of things we're missing. I mean, every time I stop and think, I think of somebody else to mention. I know, right? All of our friends. There's just so many great people. And I'm neglecting to mention a ton of them, I'm sure. But, yeah, that trip to San Diego with Chuck and Steve, that was a blast.

Yeah. That was really fun. That was really nice of Chuck to pick me up. Nick was there, too. I don't know this last one. Oh, you're talking about a different trip. To Southern California when I went with Chuck. Yeah. Oh, not when I was there.

Just last year. Yeah. So lots of fun, too much fun. I'm, I'm just a very blessed man. All right. Well,

hopefully we weren't too sappy, too sappy. We'll be fighting again next week, but thanks for listening to a special edition of reptile love club with my beautiful spouse we love it we love it we love it in that old show thanks for being here today thanks for everybody oh i forgot to mention i had to pay you to be on oh yeah i said you want to be on i said well i i charge i cost and then i should have said a higher price. What was I thinking?

My first paid guest. Well, I gave you a discount on this one. Okay. So, you know, if you guys want me to be back on, that's great. Tell Justin. And then I can, you know, I'll benefit financially from this. I'm not afraid to. Well, it was worth every penny oh you're sweet i sure love you

we'll check you later next week for uh back on schedule with reptile fight club thanks for listening and uh we are out take a sip of your sweet dc and say goodbye to the people bye everybody Thank you. Outro Music Bye.