The Reptile House & Rescue

02/03/2023

TOMORROW!!! A FEW TICKETS ARE STILL LEFT!! $10 A SEAT!!

Your ticket covers your admission to The Reptile House & Rescue AND gets you in our audience!!! We will be filming for our YouTube channel as we learn all about the crazy non-Newtonian fluid known as OOBLECK!!! We will also learn who this dude Newton was and why this oobleck stuff breaks all of the rules he came up with!

Get your tickets here: https://square.link/u/HPo8QA3z

🧬🧪🔬⚗️Get ready for THIS SATURDAY!!!🧬🧪🔬⚗️

Tickets are selling FAST so get yours today to be a part of our audience!

Tickets: https://square.link/u/HPo8QA3z

👩‍🔬LIVE experiments touching on various scientific topics!!
🧑‍🔬LIVE audience participation!!
👨‍🔬Broadcast on Facebook LIVE and our new YouTube Channel!!
👨‍🔬Lessons align with NGSS and WVDE standards to serve as educational supplements!

02/02/2023

Giant CONGRATULATIONS to our good friend Corduroy Brown on his new album! Give it a listen at https://songwhip.com/corduroybrown/rest

In August of 2021, we at The Amp were handed the debut record of Corduroy Brown Let Me Know and were surprised at the record as a whole. It was an indie rock powerhouse of a record that was part jubilation, part confusion, but all heart. Coming off of a fairly traumatic year, it was a record of pi

02/02/2023

🗣👀📣ATTENTION LOCAL BUSINESSES📣👀🗣

Become a presenting sponsor of at at the Huntington Mall for a tax-deductible donation starting at only $250!!!! Pick one week, multiple weeks, a whole month, or even the entire year to sponsor! We also have sponsorship packages where your business can make ABSOLUTELY FREE for our audience!

Every Saturday starting THIS SATURDAY (2/4/23) we will be bringing families in our community !!! For those who grew up around here, you will remember Mr. Cartoon! Our goal is to bring back the magic that kids felt being in Mr. Cartoon's audience and mix that with a Bill Nye The Science Guy meets the Wild Kratts styles of education! We are starting the filming of these shows for our YouTube Channel and will eventually be pitching this format to local, regional, and national markets to spread our mission of inspiring wildlife and environmental conservation through education!

Each week we will have:
👩‍🔬LIVE experiments touching on various scientific topics!!
🧑‍🔬LIVE audience participation!!
👨‍🔬Broadcast on Facebook LIVE and our new YouTube Channel!!
👨‍🔬Lessons align with NGSS and WVDE standards to serve as educational supplements!

Sponsor Marketing Info:
🗣Average social media post reach of 28,000 on Facebook with over 6,000 followers
🗣Over 10,000 mall guests views walk by our storefront each month
🗣2,000-2,500+ monthly guests visit our "Rescue Zoo"
🗣Your business will be listed/mentioned on all printed/digital/radio/TV marketing at the presenting sponsor
🗣Presenting sponsors are also permitted to set up a table after our show with any marketing materials to promote your business

Please email Andy McKee at [email protected] for more information. You can also send a DM to any of our social media accounts with any questions.

We want to do our best to be a good partner in our community with our local businesses, so we are very much looking forward to hearing from you soon!

02/02/2023

🧬🧪🔬⚗️Get ready for THIS SATURDAY!!!🧬🧪🔬⚗️

Tickets are selling FAST so get yours today to be a part of our audience!

Tickets: https://square.link/u/HPo8QA3z

👩‍🔬LIVE experiments touching on various scientific topics!!
🧑‍🔬LIVE audience participation!!
👨‍🔬Broadcast on Facebook LIVE and our new YouTube Channel!!
👨‍🔬Lessons align with NGSS and WVDE standards to serve as educational supplements!

02/02/2023

🐢🐢THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!! LET'S KEEP THE MOMENTUM UP!!!🐢🐢

Giant thanks to everyone who has donated so far and to an AMAZING anonymous donor last week that has put us SO CLOSE to hitting our goal that will completely fund our three African Spurred Tortoise's new home!! Look how happy Otis is in his picture! Otis wants to see if we can raise the final $2500 by Valentines Day!! Initial materials have already been delivered, our contractor secured, and now we are just trying to raise the rest of the exhibit cost to finish Barney, Otis, and Opie's new home and kick off our Africa continent exhibit wall!!!

You can make a tax-deductible donation the following ways:
🐢Web: https://square.link/u/1OhcpZvx
🐢Make a donation here at our location at the Huntington Mall
🐢Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
🐢Venmo:
🐢Mail a check to The Reptile House & Rescue PO Box 4207 Barboursville, WV 25504

01/30/2023

**Update on Francis**

We are sorry we haven't updated everyone on Francis in a while! She is doing a TON better, but she's still not out of the woods!

If you have no idea what we are talking about, meet Francis our rescued Bearded Dragon from a few weeks ago! Francis came to us in pretty bad shape. She had a pr*****ed cloaca, was eggbound, dehydrated, early signs of MBD, and blood work showed evidence of kidney and liver damage.

Thankfully, our amazing Vet and her team were able to remedy the prolapse without surgical intervention, so she was released back to us for continued care and monitoring. Last week, we came in to find that she had passed 24 eggs on her own overnight and 7 more the next day! I bet she feels MUCH better! She isn't out of the woods yet though. Since there was evidence of kidney damage, we are monitoring her extra to catch any further deterioration if any. Kidneys can't repair themselves, but the liver can so we hope that correcting her lighting, calcium intake, and the passing of these infertile eggs will promote internal healing to include her liver.

Thank you all for your prayers, donations, and sharing her story! We hope that by sharing details of our rescues we can promote proper education in the care of these animals.

In the "reptile world", owning reptiles is usually referred to as a hobby. It is our position that owning any animal, especially reptiles/amphibians, is NOT a hobby. One we are put in charge of the care of animal that doesn't have a voice of their own, it becomes a responsibility for us to be their voice. Coin collecting is a hobby, not being responsible for another living animal.

01/30/2023

**WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS**

This poor bearded dragon was recently purchased and has had progressive signs of what looks to be severe moth rot since. We are accepting this poor baby as a surrender this afternoon and have already secured a vet visit.

In the meantime, we are thinking "Mumbles" may be a good name for him! We will begin a course of diluted chlorhexidine mouth rinse until his vet appointment. Say a little prayer for Mumbles if y'all don't mind!

Mumbles has a long road ahead of him, but we are hoping for the best! If you'd like to make a donation towards his medical care directly to our Veterinarian's office, you can contact Guyan Animal Hospital, (304) 736-3456 and reference Mumbles the sick Beardie from The Reptile House & Rescue.

Donations can also be made in the following ways:
Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Cashapp: $mountainstaterescue
Web: wvreptilehouse.org

01/30/2023

Sad news to report. Our beloved "Not Snek" unexpectedly passed away this past Saturday. Not Snek was an amazing species of legless lizards known as European legless lizards or Pallas's glass lizards (Psudopus apodus) that we brought in a couple of years ago. He was such an interesting and important educational ambassador to our program, and we will miss him terribly. Not Snek was a part of hundreds, if not thousands, of shows and demonstrations over the past couple of years and was an amazing tangible representation of evolutionary adaptation. These animals become part of our family, so we are heartbroken in his passing. We love you, Not Snek. Thank you for being a part of so many of our lives.

If you were fortunate enough to have met Not Snek, please share a memory if you'd like. If you'd like to make a donation in Not Snek's name, please do so by clicking the following link: https://tinyurl.com/NotSnekMemorial

01/28/2023

Continued progress of the new and improved at !! If you haven't been here in a while (or haven't visited yet), our is going to be a fabulous addition to the we currently have!

We are trying to give families in our community a safe, convenient, healthy, and educational entertainment space where folks of all ages can get excited about science and learning!

Can you spare even $1 extra a month? Please consider making a one-time or recurring tax-deductible donation to keep the momentum going within our organization!

CLICK HERE: https://tinyurl.com/kidzoneatthemall TO MAKE A DONATION TODAY!

01/23/2023

Caffeine for Conservation maybe? Anywhooo... come grab a cup of coffee! It's no mocha-chocho-half-calf-soy-latté stuff, but it's good strong coffee! For $2 you get 16oz of awake-in-a-cup AND the rest of the money goes right back into caring for our rescued animals... THE PERFECT SITUATION!

01/20/2023

🙌🫶👏LOOK WHO WAS RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL TODAY!!!🙌🫶👏

Francis was released from in-patient Veterinary care today!! We want to give the BIGGEST shoutout to our wonderful friends Dr. Scarberry and her team at Guyan Animal Hospital for taking care of our sweet girl!

THE GOOD:
🦎Her prolapse was able to be corrected without surgical intervention and the hopes are the supposed eggs will pass on their own now that she has the proper care
🦎There were no definitive signs of necrotic tissue that needed to be removed
🦎She is very active and alert
THE NOT SO GOOD:
🦎Her kidney and liver levels are anything but normal
🦎She will remain on calcium supplements for the foreseeable future
🦎Anemia and kidney disease could not be 100% ruled out and the metabolic bone disease is irreversible

Our girl Francis is one heck of a fighter! She has a very long road ahead of her still, but we are very happy she is back home with us. She will remain in a sterile segregated quarantine tank until she is all the way healed up.

Thank you so much for your thoughts, comments, prayers, and donations!! We have already paid the Vet bill, but haven't raised enough to cover it on the back end yet so your donations are still much appreciated!!

Donations can also be made in the following ways:
Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Cashapp: $mountainstaterescue
Web: wvreptilehouse.org

01/19/2023

**UPDATE TO THE UPDATE**
Not the best news to report, but we are still exploring options. Bloodwork came back within acceptable range in all other areas except with the liver and kidney function. The creatinine levels aren't even registering on the scale due to them being so high, so this is unfortunately pointing to irreversible kidney damage and probable renal failure. Her liver enzymes were also extremally high which is concerning as well. We are running different blood-tests to confirm the extent of kidney damage which will determine her care plan moving forward. Surgery is needed, but she will need to be anesthetized which will drop her blood pressure. If her kidneys are already damaged, she may not come out of going under anesthesia and/or we can cause more kidney damage. Keep praying!!!

**Update on Francis**

Thank you all for your donations, thoughts, comments, and prayers for our sweet girl. We received a call from our Vet this morning regarding her prognosis so we wanted to update everyone.

It does appear that she is eggbound and will most likely need surgical intervention to remove the unfertilized eggs and correct the prolapse which shows signs of necrotic tissue. If that's the case, the dead tissue will need to be removed to prevent further necrosis. A full blood panel is currently being ran to measure kidney, liver, and other measurable organ function. With the lack of UVB spectrum in her life so far along with evidence of MBD, we are hoping there is no severe kidney damage, although it is suspected. Once the bloodwork comes back, we will have a better idea of the scope of surgical intervention.

She has a long road ahead of her, but she's a fighter!!! Again, thank you all for your help in her road to recovery!

Donations can also be made in the following ways:
Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Cashapp: $mountainstaterescue
Web: wvreptilehouse.org
Donations can be made directly to our Veterinarian's office by contacting:
Guyan Animal Hospital, (304) 736-3456 and referencing Francis the sick Beardie from The Reptile House & Rescue.

01/18/2023

***Caution: Images may be disturbing to some***

CAN YOU HELP THIS POOR BABY?

Meet Francis. Francis was surrendered today with a severe prolapse, signs of anemia, poor kidney function, signs of metabolic bone disease, and is suspected to be eggbound. Currently, Francis is undergoing treatment and possible surgery at our amazing Vet's office where she will be given the absolute best care and hopefully make a full recovery. She has a long road ahead of her, so if you can help, we would sincerely appreciate it.

Donations can also be made in the following ways:
Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Cashapp: $mountainstaterescue
Web: wvreptilehouse.org

Donations can be made directly to our Veterinarian's office by contacting:
Guyan Animal Hospital, (304) 736-3456 and referencing Francis the sick Beardie from The Reptile House & Rescue.

01/17/2023

Good morning, everyone!

Yesterday, 1/16/2023, one of our guests left their Apple Watch near our register!! If that was you, we have it safe and secure here waiting on you. Please call us at 304-316-2500, email our Executive Director Andy at [email protected], send us a private message, or come get it Mon-Sat from 10a-8p and Sunday from 1-6.

Must be able to identify and show some sort of proof of ownership to claim.

01/16/2023

🐢🐢🐢HELP US GET TO THE NEXT LEVEL FOR OUR TORTOISE EXHIBIT!🐢🐢🐢

It's happening! Materials were delivered (giant thanks for our local Barboursville, WV Lowe’s - Store #454 for being amazing as always) for our rescued African Spurred tortoises Opie, Otis, and Barney's new exhibit! Their new home will mimic their natural habitat of the African Sahara Desert and will be the first installment of our African continent exhibits featuring our rescued animals from that region!

We have raised $1000 so far to get started, but we have a long way to go! Can you spare an extra $5 or whatever you are comfortable donating to help build Opie, Otis, and Barney their new home?

To make a tax-deductible donation here: https://square.link/u/1OhcpZvx

You can also donate via...
Paypal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Cashapp: $mountainstaterescue
Web: www.wvreptilehouse.org

01/15/2023

We can't wait!

NEXT SHOW!!!!!

01/15/2023

We are loving the way our show space and our new is shaping up! Thank you all who came to our shows today and were an amazing audience!! You all may get tired of us saying thank you so often, but words can't express how grateful we are for our guests and our community who take time out of their day to come and support us! So....THANK YOU!!!

01/14/2023

AHHH WE HAVE TOO MANY TANKS!!!

We have a TON of excess tanks that we need to get rid of so we can have more room for our rescue animals! $0.50/gal and it's yours! 10gal tanks for only $5, 20L tanks for only $10, 55gal tanks for only $27.50, and more! Tanks are available at our Huntington Mall location during normal business hours. 100% of the sales of these tanks along with every dollar we bring in goes right back into our rescue and educational programs.

01/14/2023

🌶🌶ATTENTION CHILI COOKS!!!🌶🌶

WE NEED YOUR HELP!! We are searching for restaurants, businesses, first-responders, groups and/or individuals who have some amazing chili recipes and want to help save some animals while advertising for FREE!!

Our friends at Pet Supplies Plus - Barboursville, WV are hosting an amazing chili cook-off on Saturday January 28th from 1p-4p in an effort to raise money for local animal rescues! ASAP- Advocates Saving Adoptable Pets at will be there getting our chili on with some of our favorite adoptable animals too!

There will be music, food, news coverage and ample opportunity to advertise for your business for FREE while also showing your support for the animal rescue community! Please let us know ASAP if you are able to help! Please contact the Pet Supplies Plus store Team Leader Allison York at (304) 733-0033 for more information about the event as well.

Let's win this chili cook-off and save some animals together!!!

01/09/2023

🐢🐍🦎🐊🐸ATTENTION EARLY BIRDS!!!🐸🐢🐍🦎🐊

We are trying our best to be open more so we can accommodate everyone's schedule....so we are doing another test!

For the next couple of weeks, we will be open starting at 10:00AM!!! Our hours for Monday-Saturday will be 10a-8p and Sundays from 1p-6p to see how that schedule works, but it only works if we have enough folks come in to visit us!

🐸 Parents of younger kids who drop off your older kids off at school, bring the little ones to our location at the Huntington Mall!!

🐸 Homeschool parents, bring your students up to us and let us take care of their science curriculum for the day!

🐸 Adults! Don't go into work until later in the day? Come up here and let us throw one of our rescued alligators at your head! Okay not really...but maybe something less aggressive! Again, we are kidding...probably.

JUST COME SEE US!

01/07/2023

Opie can't wait for his new home!

To help Opie and get us closer to our goal, you can donate to our African Spurred Tortoise exhibit here: https://square.link/u/1OhcpZvx

You can also donate using:
PayPal - paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Venmo -
Cashapp - $mountainstaterescue
Web: www.wvreptilehouse.org

01/07/2023

Heh...

Become a member for more terrible jokes like this
wvreptilehouse.org/memberships

01/07/2023

Well we aren't sure who we made mad in Facebook-algorithm-land, but it looks like hardly anyone saw our original post from this morning for some reason. Unfortunately that resulted in raising a whopping $0 today for our very first and so far. We know that snakes, tortoises, lizards, and other cold-blooded creatures we rescue may not be your cup of tea (and that's okay!), but we are trying to bring much more than just that to our community!

When you donate to our organization, you:
--...Contribute to educational programs geared towards furthering the love for science, wildlife and environmental conservation, and more!
--...Help care for over 80 animals who were either surrendered, seized, abused, neglected, or a combination of these instances
--...Allow us to continue to serve our community and surrounding areas to respond to 911 dispatch centers and animal control agencies who need our help.

We don't have access to/aren't eligible for many of the same funding opportunities that "traditional" animal shelters get so we rely on fundraising like these campaigns to operate. If you can't donate monetarily, we humbly ask that you please just share this post in hopes we can reach more of an audience.

We are going to start a new thing called and where each Friday we humbly ask our supporters and our community to make a tax-deductible $5 pledge towards something new and/or pressing within organization.

Today's kickoff of this is for our new exhibit we are building that will be home to our rescues Barney, Otis, Opie, and future rescues! We have currently secured $1000 in seed money to kick off this campaign so we will start construction very soon with the money we have! Can you spare $5 to help us reach our goal? If you can't spare $5, can you spare $1? Words can't describe how grateful we are for any support!! The Reptile House & Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal shelter that relies on community donations in order to continue serving our community and bringing a unique educational family facility to our area! Every dollar we bring in is put back into our organization!

To make a tax-deductible donation towards the new African Spurred Tortoise exhibit, click here: https://square.link/u/1OhcpZvx

We also accept the following (make sure and put "FOR TORTOISES" in the memo/subject line so we know where to direct your donation!)
PayPal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
CashApp: $mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Web: www.wvreptilehouse.org

01/06/2023

We are going to start a new thing called and where each Friday we humbly ask our supporters and our community to make a tax-deductible $5 pledge towards something new and/or pressing within organization.

Today's kickoff of this is for our new exhibit we are building that will be home to our rescues Barney, Otis, Opie, and future rescues! We have currently secured $1000 in seed money to kick off this campaign so we will start construction very soon with the money we have! Can you spare $5 to help us reach our goal? If you can't spare $5, can you spare $1? Words can't describe how grateful we are for any support!! The Reptile House & Rescue is a 501(c)(3) non-profit no-kill animal shelter that relies on community donations in order to continue serving our community and bringing a unique educational family facility to our area! Every dollar we bring in is put back into our organization!

To make a tax-deductible donation towards the new African Spurred Tortoise exhibit, click here: https://square.link/u/1OhcpZvx

We also accept the following (make sure and put "FOR TORTOISES" in the memo/subject line so we know where to direct your donation!)
PayPal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
CashApp: $mountainstaterescue
Venmo:
Web: www.wvreptilehouse.org

01/06/2023

Good morning! 💩💨

01/04/2023

🐸🐢🐍🦎🐊You asked, we listened!! Memberships are HERE!!!🐊🦎🐍🐢🐸

Click the following link to save $$$, help save more animals in need, get $$$ off of merch, classes, events, and more! These membership plans absolutely pay for themselves even if you visit us once a month!

Your membership allows us to continue to grow and bring our community a fun, exciting, and entertaining educational experience for families of all ages!

We have affordable monthly options and discounted annual options as well! Click on the link and become a member today!

wvreptilehouse.org/memberships

01/02/2023

🧬🧪🔬⚗️Get ready for every Saturday starting in February 2023!!🧬🧪🔬⚗️

👩‍🔬LIVE experiments touching on various scientific topics!!
🧑‍🔬LIVE audience participation!!
👨‍🔬Broadcast on Facebook LIVE and our new YouTube Channel!!
👨‍🔬Lessons align with NGSS and WVDE standards to serve as educational supplements!

STAY TUNED!!!!

01/02/2023

Hey everyone!!

Does anyone have a lead on a couple of portable bleachers and/or risers for some additional seating? We have some amazing plans in the works for some awesome shows and we need more seating space. If any churches, schools, organizations would be willing to donate or sell, we are looking!!! Thank you!!

01/01/2023

As we continue to grow, we are also subject to the rising inflation of the world. Although we are having to raise our admission prices, we are also working to overhaul our entire facility to give our guests a true wow-factor experience, increase our educational and conservation program, and expand our rescue operations. Please feel free to reach out to us if there are any questions! These prices will take effect 2/1/23.

12/31/2022

Could you spare $5 a month to help save an animal? Could you spare an extra $20 to inspire wildlife and environmental conservation in a child through education? Could you spare even $1 a month to support a fun, educational, safe, family-friendly entertainment location for our community to have to visit?

If so, please consider rounding out 2022 with a tax-deductible donation to at the Huntington Mall! We are West Virginia's only dedicated reptile and amphibian no-kill shelter and rescue. Our "Rescue Zoo" is also a proud Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business ( ) and community service nonprofit organization. We strive to serve our community who supports us! Thank you so much for an amazing 2022, lets start off 2023 with enough funding to save more animals and bring our community even more amazing opportunities!!!

Secure Square Checkout: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML2Q2YJMV61SD/checkout/JKYGWVIFZCELFSA66GSGVIZT
PayPal: paypal.me/mountainstaterescue
Web: www.wvreptilehouse.org

12/31/2022

💚🤩🥳💚PLEASE WELCOME OUR 20,000TH GUEST(s)!💚🥳🤩💚

When writing our last post, I was checking our reports to see how many amazing guests we have welcomed to over this past year. The report said 20,007 so I immediately ran out front to count back to see if our 20,000th guest was still here...AND SHE WAS! Janie and family, thank you so much for being the best part of everything we do! Without our community and support like you've shown with your family, Janie - our rescue, education, and conservation efforts wouldn't exist! From the bottom of my heart, thank you for supporting us!

Andy McKee,
Owner and Executive Director
The Reptile House & Rescue
Huntington Zoo & Aquarium

12/31/2022

🥳🦎🐸🐍🐊WHAT. A. YEAR!!!🐸🐍🐊🦎🥳

From the absolute bottom of our hearts, we want to say THANK YOU for supporting us and our mission to inspire wildlife and environmental conservation through education! Since March of 2022, we have welcomed over 20,000 guests to our facility who have allowed us to share our love for Herpetology, science, and conservation with them! We hope we can at least double that amount in 2023! If you have visited at the Huntington Mall this year, let us know if you had a good time!

12/31/2022

There is still time to catch the LAST Herpetology show of 2022! We will start in about 15min to let everyone get here! We close at 6pm due to NYE, but we will reopen tomorrow from 1pm to 6pm with an extra special New Years Day show at 4pm!

12/30/2022

You guys are UH👏MAZE👏ING!! Thank you so much for your donations! We were able to hand out 4 coats, 3 blankets, and 2 sets of gloves last night in downtown Huntington thanks to your generosity!! Andy, our Executive Director, is loading up his truck to head back out with what was donated today to try and help some more folks in our community!

Remember, until (1) it warms up for good, (2) people aren't in need, or (3) we run out of room - we are holding our first annual coat drive! Each new or gently used cold-weather item (blanket, coat, toboggan, set of gloves, etc) will be exchanged for one (1) Free admission pass to at the Huntington Mall!

12/29/2022

Tub #1 of coats, scarfs, blankets, and other cold-weather gear getting loaded in the truck! I'll be heading down towards downtown Huntington and surrounding areas tonight and tomorrow to find some folks who can use these items!

For the sake of privacy and decency, we will not be posting any pictures of recipients of these items unless they absolutely want to be photographed. Please pray for those who are in need and allow God to direct me to them to help if I can.

Thank you for your donations! Keep 'em coming! 1 cold-weather item gets you 1 free admission to !