A snake walks into a bar. The barkeep says, “How did you do that?”
Sophomore Maya Ross walks into a pet store. What does she walk out with? A snake.
When Ross was 12 years old, she stumbled upon videos of reptiles on the internet. She was infatuated by them from the start. After a month of convincing, she managed to talk her parents into getting a snake. “We went to a tiny, hole-in-the-wall reptile shop in Camby, and I actually got Noodle for free. The store owner had just purchased him from a breeder, along with several more expensive snakes, and apparently it wasn’t worth the effort to try to sell him,” recalled Ross.
After Noodle, Ross got a crested gecko named Echo, fostered a crested gecko named Pear and a Sulcata tortoise named Big Chungus and got a dog named Copper. It’s been nearly four years on this journey, and her love for reptiles has only grown.
The Exotic Animal Rescue and Pet Sanctuary (or EARPS for short) has also been somewhat of a sanctuary for Ross. Located on the north side of Indianapolis, EARPS has become a place that Ross can go to explore her reptile hobby more intently. “
I started volunteering for EARPS because I wanted to help care for reptiles whose owners couldn’t care for them,” explained Ross. “I love using my animals to educate people, especially children, about reptiles and the importance of their conservation.”
Not only did Ross learn to love exotic animals and the aspects of conservation, but she also learned some life lessons at EARPS. Taking care of caged animals is a huge responsibility and Ross learned how to take on this task gracefully. “We’d go in and do basic things like feed, water and clean everyone’s enclosures. It was mostly rabbits and guinea pigs, but there were also birds, reptiles, chinchillas and sugar gliders occasionally. We also would replace all the old hay and shredded paper with new,” she said.
Throughout her time at EARPS, Ross developed a niche hobby within her reptile interest. She now enjoys creating new enclosures for her pets. “I just finished building a nice big enclosure for Echo, my crested gecko. It’s a bioactive enclosure, so it has some lovely pothos vines and some bugs in the dirt that help clean things up,” said Ross. “I think Noodle deserves something a bit nicer than his current tank, so he’s going to get an upgrade next.”
The wisdom that Ross has gained from this experience has continued to grow. She now sees the importance in finding and pursuing new things. “I absolutely think it’s important for high school students to explore unique and weird hobbies, especially if some kind of good comes out of it. Everyone and their dog plays football,” she said. “Do something weird, stand out. Don’t be afraid to be THAT kid. Not only will it give you something interesting to talk about, but it might end up being a cool career you’d never have thought of.”