It's hands-on, with alligators, snakes and lizards, at Lebanon reptile rescue's kids camp

Since they’ve moved to the Lebanon Valley Mall, Innocent Feeders has changed its model from offering all things reptile to a nonprofit rescue featuring a zoo filled with snakes, lizards and even four alligators — with one that’s over 5 feet long.

The rescue is operated by Sean and Morgan Innocent, along with a group of young volunteers that help run the day-to-day duties, like cleaning and caring for the animals.

Most recently, the rescue introduced a summer camp program to its list of services. The camp meets once a week on Thursday’s from 9 a.m. until noon and allows kids to experience being around different kinds of animals.

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Morgan Innocent said that the goal is to teach the kids how to care for animals and treat them with respect. The hope is that some of them will want to adopt by the end of the camp. Innocent wants them to learn the habits to give the animals the same level of care that she would provide.

“Our animals are not just animals to us,” she said, “but a living being that has feelings and thoughts.”

About 30 children attend the camp, with some of them coming in at other times during the week to volunteer and spend time with the animals.

Parents can pick and choose which weeks their kids attend. If someone is afraid of spiders or snakes and just wants to see the lizards, for example, they can do that.

The camp itself is entirely funded by donations, meaning parents pay what they can.

Each week has a certain theme that dictates the curriculum of the day. The children are split into groups depending on age and then further based on their experience. Kids who have been to a few weeks are able to do a bit more with the animals and act more independently, while newer campers are given a more thorough lesson on how to handle and interact with the animals.

Two weeks ago, the theme was venomous snakes, of which Innocent Feeders has more than 200 kinds. The main point of this topic was to teach kids to respect venomous snakes rather than fear them. That fear, she said, is what causes some people to kill them at first sight.

Last week the theme was bearded dragons.

“Did you know that when bearded dragons’ beard turn black it means they’re angry?” one student said during the class.

The summer camp is almost entirely hands-on, with a small lecture in the beginning where kids write down notes about the animals like what they eat and what kinds of things they need in their habitat.

During the camp, some animals are able to roam freely around the floor. Last week, a silky chicken named Angel was let loose along with a 33-year-old parrot named Guacamole.

Shortly after, several baby bearded dragons were brought out in a clear plastic tub where the kids were able to pick them up, hand feed them and clean their backs with toothbrushes.

The more experienced children could hold their favorite lizards.

Abby Foltz picked up her favorite leopard gecko named Maggie Jane. Since learning about them, Abby has been obsessed with leopard geckos and wants to adopt one soon.

“I’m saving up money to adopt her,” she said.

Abby said that her parents are a bit skeptical, but she recounted that when she wanted a pet fish, she did a research project on them to prove that she knew how to take care of them, which convinced her parents.

Morgan Innocent said that bearded dragons are one of the animals that families look for as a pet for younger children.

Andrew Nissley joined the summer camp the week that it began. He planned to buy one or two bearded dragons by the end of the day.

“I’ve learned that most animals are really gentle,” he said.

Andrew said that his favorite part of the camp is hanging out with all the animals.

For more information on how to enroll in the summer camp, you can visit the Innocent Feeders Facebook Page.

What's next?

Morgan Innocent is hoping that within the next five years Innocent Feeders is able to move out of its location in the mall and onto a larger piece of property.

They are looking to purchase an 8-acre piece of land either near the "In the Net" sports complex or the new Target.

The new facility would cost roughly $1.2 million. Right now, Innocent Feeders is working on getting enough equity to be able to make that purchase, something that takes time considering they run entirely off donations.

The biggest benefit would be that they would have much more space for their larger animals, like their boa constrictor and four alligators, and a more organized zoo, she said.

Part of the reason that they need this new property is the same reason they became a nonprofit rescue in the first place. They had amassed too many animals either by forfeiture, people no longer being able to take care of them, or people just blindly leaving them at their front door.

Innocent Feeders has even begun to take in small mammals and birds because people were leaving them in front of their building, sometimes with notesattached telling them to feed them to the snakes.

This article originally appeared on Lebanon Daily News: Lebanon's Innocent Feeders opens reptile-centric summer camp