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Date: 1/7/2021
ENFIELD, CT – The Riverside Reptiles Education Center is a reptile zoo that revolves around education and conservation. They currently exhibit about 50 species of reptiles and amphibians in exhibits with naturalistic settings, right at 132 S. Rd. in Enfield.
“We want people to come to the center, enjoy themselves and have fun, but also learn about wildlife conservation, especially focusing on our indigenous species. Our goal is to teach people about why reptiles and amphibians are important parts of our ecosystem,” said owner and operator Brian Kleinman.
Kleinman explained that the Center displays a good selection of turtles, crocodilians, lizards and snakes such as Green Anacondas, cobras, rattlesnakes, mambas and vipers, so patrons can get an idea of how diverse reptiles are. Their largest alligator is 8 feet and 130 pounds and their largest snake is a 15-foot reticulated python.
Soon they will be exhibiting more amphibians and a “Bug Cave” which will include invertebrates like insects, tarantulas, scorpions and other arachnids as well.
In addition, they will have a 4,000-square-foot outdoor addition called “Turtle Paradise” that will be open in the spring. Turtle Paradise will include a 3,000-gallon turtle pond for their sliders and large water turtles, a smaller pond for their 20-pound common snapping turtle and tortoise paddocks for their aldabra and African spurred tortoise.
Kleinman grew up in Barkhamsted, CT. He attended the Roaring Brook Nature Center summer camp in Canton until he was in the eighth grade, then started volunteering at the center when he was 12 and began working there when he was 15.
Kleinman worked at Roaring Brook Nature Center every summer until he graduated from college. After he received his degree in biology from Franklin Pierce University, Kleinman worked at the Science Center of Connecticut – which is now called the Children’s Museum – in West Hartford from 1999 to 2002.
In 2003, Kleinman launched Riverside Reptiles Education Center out of his house, building up to 250 programs a year around Connecticut and parts of Massachusetts, New York and Rhode Island. Kleinman went out to schools, libraries, day cares, scout groups and Audubon societies. He explained that he always had the vision of having a facility where people could come to him.
“Of course, I didn’t plan on doing it during a global pandemic, but that’s just the way it worked out,” Kleinman told Reminder Publishing. “We started the build in September 2019 and our original plan was to open in April of 2020, but when the state shut down in March, it prevented my suppliers from providing me the rest of the building materials I needed to complete my exhibits.”
He continued, “When the state reopened, my building supplier was very backed up with business, so unfortunately the center wasn’t able to open during the summer as I planned, so we ended up opening in October. Fall and Winter are little tough because we were planning on school groups to help carry us through the winter, but public schools are not doing field trips due to COVID, so we just have to adapt for now.”
The center is now offering virtual and outreach programs for grades Pre-K through senior citizens. At this time, they are not allowed to have in-house birthday parties or large gatherings of groups. The entire center is 13,000 square feet and the floor area where the exhibits are is approximately 10,000 square feet. Their COVID–19 regulation limit size is about 128 people and so far, the most they’ve ever had in one given time, Kleinman recalled, was 60 to 70 people.
“I’m trying to remain optimistic,” Kleinman said. “We’ve had so much positivity and support from the community. I think late spring early summer things are going to start to turn for the better. We haven’t really planned any huge events because the future is still uncertain, but we have smaller special events available for members and nonmembers.”
The Riverside Reptiles Education Center is open on Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information on special events and the center in general you can visit riversidereptileseducationcenter.com. For all up-to-date information, follow them at www.facebook.com/riversidereptileseducationcenter.