#299: Bette Zirkelbach, General Manager of the non-profit The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys, talks about rescuing and rehabilitating Mojo, the 800 lb. Leatherback Sea Turtle and explains how “compassion is contagious" and ecotourism helps these endangered creatures.

#295: Dr. Doug Mader talks about breathing difficulties and bleeding being the two symptoms of true emergencies in exotics. Reptile emergencies are rare but with birds, breaking a blood feather that causes more than 6 drops of bright red blood is an emergency.

#288: Sandi Pipock has been the manager of Walton's Pet Shop in the Florida Keys for 30 years and talks about the value of education and customer service at a small privately owned store.

#294: Sy Montgomery talks about her flock of “ladies” in her book “What the Chicken Knows: a New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird” and all the ways that chickens are delightful, intelligent, long-lasting pets (with the added bonus of eggs!)

#293: Dr. Doug explains how birds in an outdoor aviary can handle the cold but wind and getting wet feathers are a danger more than the temperature. Ferrets love the snow! Snakes and fish have antifreeze proteins in their blood so the cold doesn't affect them.

#287: Social media star Chris Gillette really did put himself through school wrestling alligators — and now is their rescuer at Bellowing Acres Alligator Sanctuary in Florida, where he has saved many “nuisance” alligators (caused by what he calls “nuisance people”!) along with a vast array of other animals needing sanctuary.

#291: Mark Hedden — self-described bird geek in the Florida Keys — describes the yearly migration of raptors that has “hawk counters” at the 200 hawk counting sites around the U.S. (follow the hawks at HMANA.org)

#286: Warren Booth — snake reproduction geneticist and professor at Virginia Tech — discusses discoveries about some snakes' ability to reproduce without a member of the opposite sex [parthenogenesis]. However, this phenomenon might be misleading because some snakes, like rattlers, can store sperm for up to six years.

#285: Dr. Doug Mader explains that many snakes sold in pet stores have a venomous bite without people knowing it — from garter snakes to hognose snakes — which you should research before buying. The legalities differ by state, but obtaining a legal license to have a venomous snake has requirements nobody could realistically fulfill. Find out the amnesty date in your state for relinquishing your venomous snake and take advantage of it! 

#284: Dr. Eleanor Spicer Rice gives context to why betta fish attack others in her book “Your Pets’ Secret Lives: the Truth Behind Your Pets’ Wildest Behaviors,” explaining that humans breeding for ever more exotic colors in Betta fish have made them increasingly aggressive.