DJ Harris is an average 7th grade student at Sevier Middle. One thing, however, makes him just a bit different: he lives with a lot of reptiles.
“The reason we have reptiles is because my grandfather had a lot of lizards when I was born,” he said. “I just grew up with them and just like reptiles, amphibians, and snakes. I kind of just took that on.”
Harris has 46 snakes, 43 fence lizards, and 9 bearded dragons.
“Bearded dragons are my favorites because they are easy to take care of,” he said. “They’re built to deal with rougher situations than other reptiles. They’re scalier, stronger bones, and more protection.”
Feeding so many reptiles can be a big challenge.
“They eat pevets, cockroaches, crickets, and plants in the wild,” Harris said. “It can be quite cheap to feed them. We feed them mostly fruits and vegetables, and some pellets.”
Harris believes that reptiles make really good pets.
“They are easy to take care of,” he said. “You do have to spend a lot of time with them, though. Without interaction, they might think you’re a threat. The first thing you do when you get a reptile is hold it as much as you can.”
Naturally, Harris has a lot of interesting stories about his pets.
“When we got my bearded dragon Tyelia, she got out of her cage and scared our cat,” he said. “My cat Avery tried only one time to eat a bearded dragon, and the bearded dragon won.”
Even though they have so many reptiles, Harris is still adding more to his household.
“The latest we got was named Mushu and it is my brothers,” Harris said.
Harris enjoys raising his reptiles and believes everybody should have one as a pet.
“They would make a good beginners pet,” he said.