HELENA — Turtles, lizards, and snakes are just some exotic animals you can expect to see at the Big Sky Reptile Expo.
"People that are afraid or think they're gross are just uneducated by them," said James Dvorak, the owner of Big Sky Reptile Expo.
His experience with exotic animals started when his kids wanted a pet dog.
"I said, 'Why don't we get something that doesn't bark,'" Dvorak said.
Now, he has owned the expo for six years.
This year is the first that it has been in Helena, making it the first time in roughly a decade that Helena has had an exotic animal expo.
Big Sky Animal Expo is the longest-running exotic animal trade show in Montana.
"We've worked super hard to make sure we have lots of education, have grown it, and tried to help the reptile community," Dvorak said. "Believe it or not, Montana is a little behind the times when it comes to reptiles and an industry like that."
The expo in Helena has over 20 vendors, such as Shane's Spiders, Montana Axolotls and Exotics, and Reptile Universe.
During the expo, Dvorak performs an educational and comedic kids' show called James of the Jungle.
"Just being around [reptiles] in general, you learn more about them [and] how they are going to react to you," he said.
The expo's next stop in Montana will be in Bozeman from August 3rd through the 4th.
You can find more information about Big Sky Reptile Expo here.
