THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995 TAG: 9501170131
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Long : 186 lines
IF THOMI GILL DREAMS of snakes, it's understandable. She sleeps with 40 of them stacked in plastic containers in her room - from a slithering copperhead to sleepy-eyed pythons.
Thomi, 17, has been an amphibian and reptile pet owner since she started to walk. She got her first amphibian when she was just 14 months old.
``It was a box turtle,'' she said. ``Alexandria.''
It was cold-blooded love at first sight.
Alexandria was followed by lizards and horned toads. By the time the little blond girl was in first grade she had an assortment of creatures in her menagerie.
Being a native of Pensacola, Fla., made collecting reptiles easy. ``They were all over the back yard,'' she said.
Thomi's fondness for reptiles continued when her family moved to Virginia Beach where she attended Centerville Elementary School. The West Kempsville resident and Tallwood High School graduate has bred, raised and studied snakes since she was 8.
``I've always been interested in snakes, can't remember when I wasn't,'' said Thomi who works at a pet store.
``I love animals, all animals, really. I've had three dogs, some cats, birds, other pets. Never had a horse. Always wanted one.''
But snakes top the list.
She hopes they will be part of her future, too. She wants to study zoology and concentrate in herpetology in college and her goal is to work with a zoo and study reptile behavior.
For now, she's sharing what she already knows with students in local classrooms - frequently taking her snake collection to schools where she is received with open arms and enthusiasm.
As part of her collection writhed nearby in Rubbermaid containers, Thomi spoke recently to John McNabb's science class at Brandon Middle School, telling about the often-misunderstood animals.
Thomi described the different types of snakes, explained what made them unique and discussed each one's setting and habits.
Then students, some squealing with delight and fear, were allowed to handle the snakes if they wanted.
Among the ``visitors'' that day were a California king snake, ball python, common boa, hog-nose, brown house python, fox snake, Burmese python and a corn snake.
Left at home was Thomi's only venomous snake, a copperhead that has been devenomized.
Fact No. 1: Snakes have no ears. They ``hear'' by feeling vibrations. Nor do they have eyelids. They are unable to wink or blink. Their eyes are covered by a tough transparent scale.
Owning snakes is an expensive and time-consuming hobby, Thomi told them. It also provokes a lot of curiosity.
``You have to keep feeding charts, what each one eats and when, their bathroom habits. You have to monitor their health, keep the room a certain temperature - hotter than for you and me - and watch them closely. The wrong kind of food can kill a snake.'' She keeps her bedroom a toasty 86 to 92 degrees to accommodate her reptile friends.
``It's a lot of work, believe me,'' she added.
Many people don't understand her passion. Her younger brother, David, is one. He doesn't like snakes. He doesn't even go in her room.
Some of her friends are frightened; others are fascinated.
``They used to call me `Thomi, the tomboy' in elementary school. I lost a lot of boyfriends. They'd say, `You like your snakes more than me.' I'd say, `OK, bye.' You have to make sacrifices.
``Most of my friends are interested. Some of them won't come in the house. They wait outside and hang out. They're afraid the snakes will get out of the cages.''
Once upon a time, one did.
``A black and white California king snake got out. He was out for two months and then a couple of days after Christmas, there he was, underneath the Christmas tree.''
However, many others are interested in snakes, inquisitive and knowledgeable.
In McNabb's class, Thom Brady, 13, said he like snakes.
``But my parents won't let me have snakes because I have two baby brothers. I used to have an anole (a lizard) and now I have a gecko,'' he said.
Lidia Thomas waved her hand in the air. The 11-year-old wanted to share a snake story.
``I knew someone who had a snake that wrapped around his leg and they had to cut the snake's head off to get it off,'' Lidia said. ``He had a bruise on his leg.''
Thomi is accustomed to such tales of terror. She acknowledged Lidia and reminded the class that snakes obey the laws of nature and are themselves prey as well as predator.
``Water snakes can be eaten by fish - large-mouth bass feed on them, for example,'' she said.
Charlene Mamula, an eighth-grader at Brandon, has assisted Thomi with her classroom snake presentations for two years.
Thomi removed each snake from the container and told the class about it, then Charlene took it from her and presented it to the class, allowing students the chance to handle it.
``No, I'm not afraid of the snakes,'' she said, smiling and showing a small bite inflicted earlier on a finger.
There are always a lot of questions.
``What's the most poisonous snake in the world?'' Jason Shick wanted to know.
``Probably one of the sea snakes in tropical waters,'' Thomi said.
Fact No. 2: There are many more non-poisonous snakes than there are poisonous ones.
Thomi also brought shed snake skins to the demonstration.
Her mother, Donna Gill, who is a teacher at Brandon and who assisted in the recent demonstration, held one up and passed it around the room.
``Look, you can still see the eye holes in the shed skin,'' she said.
Fact No. 3: How often a snake sheds its skin depends upon rate of growth. A snake that is kept warm and fed frequently may shed its skin several times a year.
Thomi gives her snake shows for free. To make money, she breeds snakes and works at Animal Jungle, which has a large collection of reptiles.
She talked about captive breeding. It is a laborious process, both for the breeder and the snakes. The female has to achieve a certain size and age before she can breed, and she has to be placed in hibernation before she mates. The female doesn't eat during gestation and often for a period after hatching the eggs.
``They fast for a long time, 20 to 40 days sometimes,'' Thomi said. ``But you can make a lot of money for a rare or unusual snake bred in captivity. You can monitor the health of snakes in captive breeding and assure their well-being.''
In three years of captive breeding, Thomi estimates she has bred about 10 species.
``I learned about captive breeding the hard way, through trial and error and lots of reading,'' she said.
She estimates that her collection is worth about $5,000.
Snakes are disappearing fast around Virginia Beach, she told the Brandon students. Because of the rapid development their natural habitat is being destroyed.
``The times I've found snakes in the wild, I just leave them there,'' she said. ``I might pick them up and check to see how they are, but I don't keep them.''
Donna Gill reinforced her daughter's point:
``No matter what people may think of snakes, they are vital to the balance of nature. Without snakes around, rodents would overrun us.''
Fact No. 4: Hawaii has no indigenous snakes. The only snakes on the islands are the ones brought there by people.
While Thomi's brother isn't a snake fan, her father, Jay, likes them, and of course, her mother doesn't have a problem with them.
``Thomi feels very strongly that snakes are misunderstood. She wants to educate people about them,'' said Donna Gill. ``She has learned a great deal about them and wants to pass it on.''
Thomi said that her opportunities to teach people about snakes often arise unexpectedly. ``Sometimes when I've been out to do a show at school, I'll have the snakes in the car and people will see them, glance in the window and start asking me questions about snakes.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by PETER D. SUNDBERG
[Thomi Gill with one of her snakes, color cover photo]
ABOVE: Donna Gill, Thomi's mother, strokes a Mellanistic King snake
named Hershey before a classroom presentation. She encouraged her
daughter's hobby. ``No matter what people may think of snakes, they
are vital to the balance of nature. Without snakes around, rodents
would overrun us,'' she said. LEFT: Thomi spoke recently to John
McNabb's science class at Brandon Middle School, drawing a mixture
of squeals.
``I've always been interested in snakes, can't remember when I
wasn't,'' says Thomi Gill, who works at a pet store.
Thomi Gill, who hopes to study reptile behavior in college, shares
what she already knows in local classrooms. She encourages touching
the snakes.
Thomi Gill pals around with one of her 40 snakes, a ball python
named Big Mama. Gill keeps her bedroom a toasty 86 to 92 degrees to
accommodate her reptile friends.
Among Thomi Gill's ``visitors'' to Brandon were a California king
snake, ball python, common boa, hog-nose, brown house python, fox
snake, Burmese python and a corn snake. Left at home was Thomi's
only venomous snake, a copperhead that has been devenomized.
by CNB