After their first expo on Oct. 22 saw tremendous success, event co-founders Kate Minnaar and Michael Wilson decided to reinvest their efforts into making the next one even better.

“We took the money that we made from the last Expo and reinvested it into this new one, ” said Wilson. “And so we were able to get a larger, more quality space.”

Wilson credits the success of the last expo to multiple outreach efforts that saw either him or Minnaar, along with their three-year-old alligator named Gatorade, visiting local businesses to let them know about the event. For the event that took place on Saturday, Wilson states that a lot more emphasis was put on obtaining news coverage to get the word out.

“We worked very hard on reaching out,” said Wilson. “We were taking our alligator to a lot of local businesses and other places trying to make sure that the people knew that we were having the event. This time we did a lot of news advertising and also we were going to be reaching out to the radio this time and for the future.”

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Maggie Casteller, left, and Aaron Cocharn of Glennie Geckos show attendees of the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo an assortment of geckos at the APlex on Saturday.

For the event, only 10 of the 16 vendors were able to show up but Wilson and Minnaar are hoping to see that number increase by the time the next scheduled expo arrives in Alpena.

“We were supposed to have 16 vendors, but we only ended up with 10,” said Wilson. “We’re hoping to double that again next time.”

For the 10 vendors that were present, the expo provided a lot of opportunities for them to get their name and business out there to a larger audience, which is something that one of the vendors, Nathan Lutz of NAD Reptiles, took full advantage of.

Lutz is newer to the business of exotic pet selling and on top of that inexperience, his area of focus was venomous reptiles which significantly limited his options when it came to finding alternative venues to advertise his snakes. So, when he heard about the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo, one of the few pro-venomous reptile expos available in Michigan, Lutz jumped at the opportunity.

“I’m trying to make a business out of selling reptiles and I mainly focus on venomous reptiles,” said Lutz. “This is the only venomous-friendly expo in Michigan so I thought I’d give it a try.”

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo attendant Joe O'Harrow shows other attendants his pet reticulated python at the APlex on Saturday.

Lutz’s words weren’t just for show either. At his booth, expo attendants were given an up-close view of a host of highly venomous snakes like the Cape Coral Cobra and even the most venomous snake in the world, the Inland Taipan.

Despite Lutz’s love and passion for venomous reptiles, he is very aware of the dangers that they can pose if mishandled. Therefore, Lutz has an extensive vetting process that potential buyers need to pass before selling the snake to ensure that he is providing the animal to a person with adequate knowledge and experience to avoid accidents.

“I make sure that they’re experienced enough,” said Lutz about the precautions that he takes before selling a snake to a buyer. “A lot of people want to jump in with no experience, and with a very toxic snake, like a Taipan, that is not safe. I asked them, what kind of animals have they had, how long they’ve kept them for, and what states and laws are they currently living with. I will also double-check as well.”

The exotic animals expo wasn’t just a place for those interested in purchasing reptiles, for those present who were interested in more warm-blooded companionship Brianna Gamage of Long Lake Hedgehogs had you covered.

After owning hedgehogs at a young age and playing around with the idea of breeding and selling them, Gamage completely committed herself to the practice in 2022 and used her presence at the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo as an opportunity to show her animals off.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo attendant Joe O'Harrow shows other attendants his pet reticulated python at the APlex on Saturday.

“I came here to sell my Hedgehogs,” said Gamage. “My mom first got me my first hedgehog when I was seven years old, so I was just kind of raised with them. I bred from 2016 to 2017. And dipped my toes in that process. I took a break from it because I had a lot going on but in 2022 I got back into it. I got my state sort of certification for it, and started breeding hedgehogs again.”

While at the expo, Gamage spent a lot of her time answering questions about hedgehogs to interested parties as well as dispelling any common misconceptions born from their appearance.

“I think a lot of people think they’re porcupines,” said Gamage about common misconceptions about hedgehogs that she faces. “Their quills will not stab you, stay in your skin, or anything like that. They can’t shoot their quills either.”

Many of the vendors present at the expo on Saturday aren’t just there to sell exotic pets but to also promote education and in some cases even conservation.

An example of this comes from Austin Whitehead of Stella’s Springtails who sells isopods.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Scutes & Scales owner Chris Woodlley shows his assortment of ball pythons at the APlex on Saturday.

For Whitehead, his interest in isopods can be traced back to his youth of uncovering logs outside and seeing all the unique features that the animal had.

“It started with a memory of being with my grandpa going outside, flipping a log, and seeing a bunch of rolly pollies,” said Whitehead. “Something about just what the isopods can do and how unique its ability to roll up into a ball really stood out to me.”

According to Whitehead, Isopods are an animal whose value largely goes under-appreciated both as a pet and as a creature in nature as a whole. Whether one is looking for animal feeders, an easy-to-care-for pet, or even assistance in the cleanliness of a container for another animal, isopods could be a great choice.

“When it comes to animal keeping, they can help clean enclosures, act as a cooler, they can act as pets, they’re almost an insect keepers dream that he puts on for someone that doesn’t want to keep insects,” said Whitehead.

Whitehead hopes that if nothing else, he can better inform people about the vital role these animals play in nature as well as their variety and versatility.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Scutes & Scales owner Chris Woodlley shows attendees of the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo some tortoises at the APlex on Saturday.

“There’s so much variation between species to species in locality to locality between locations,” said Whitehead. “There’s really no one working with the species and by the time anyone cares about them, we’re gonna have city on city on city not gonna have some of them anymore.”

For the people in attendance, the expo wasn’t just a place for people who were interested in exotic pets but also a place where families could see and interact with animals they never would have had a chance to see otherwise.

“This is a pretty cool event that comes to our community, ” said Alpena resident Jake Straley who was at the expo with his wife and two kids. “It’s really cool because all of this stuff is coming from outside of the community, and it’s something that our kids can learn from and experience. I think that anything that expands resources and education and things like that in our communities is a really, really great thing.”

According to Minnaar, the next Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo will be held on March 16 at the APlex once again.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Emmett Miller, 8, pets a Columbian red-tail boa constrictor draped around the neck of Blake Kaple of Banksy Reptiles out of Pennsylvania, who traveled over 550 miles to participate in Saturday's Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo at the APlex in Alpena.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Emmett Miller, 8, pets a Columbian red-tail boa constrictor draped around the neck of Blake Kaple of Banksy Reptiles out of Pennsylvania, who traveled over 550 miles to participate in Saturday's Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo at the APlex in Alpena.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Long Lake HedgeHogs owner Brianna Gamage shows attendees of the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo one of her Hedgehogs at the APlex on Saturday.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi NAD Reptiles owner Nathon Lutz shows Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo attendees his assortment of venomous snakes at the APlex on Saturday.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Kate Minnaar of Lethal Exotics shows Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo attendees a Morelet’s crocodile named Fleetwood at the APlex on Saturday.

News Photo by Temi Fadayomi Austin Whitehead of Stella's Springtails shows attendees of the Northern Michigan Exotic Animal Expo his assortment of Isopods at the APlex on Saturday.