Shadowland Serpentry

05/27/2026

See you at the Geneseo Public Library District on June 27th!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

🐍👀 Something slithery is coming to Geneseo…

Shadowland Serpentry is bringing live reptiles, hands-on learning, and an interactive educational experience to the Geneseo Public Library on June 27! From fascinating facts to up-close encounters, this is one event reptile lovers won’t want to miss.

📅 Saturday, June 27, 2026
🕑 2:00–3:00 PM
📍 Geneseo Public Library District

Perfect for curious kids, families, and anyone fascinated by the reptile world! 🐍

05/20/2026

Meet Freyja - our new baby False Water Cobra!

This species has been one of our dream snakes for a long time, so we’re beyond excited to finally welcome her to Shadowland Serpentry.

False water cobras are rear-fanged venomous snakes, which means we needed an educational animal permit here in Illinois in order to own her. One of the coolest things about them is their defensive display - unlike true cobras that mainly flatten their neck, false water cobras can flatten almost their entire body to appear larger.

Freyja will be joining us at shows alongside Lilith, our Western Hognose Snake, to help teach people about rear-fanged venomous snakes.

We can’t wait to watch her grow!

05/18/2026

Dart frog tadpoles update! 🐸

After about 4 months of development, our very first dart frogs have officially emerged from the water. They’re not little fish anymore… they’re frogs! And they are tiny.

These little froglets are now beginning the next stage of their lives on land, but they still have a lot of growing to do before they’ll be ready for new homes. We plan to keep them for at least another 3+ months to make sure they’re healthy, thriving, and large enough to safely handle the stress of transitioning to a new environment.

04/17/2026

Looks like our first dart frog clutch is getting ready to get out of the water very soon! Their tiny back legs are visible now, which means that it shouldn't take long at all before the front legs pop out, the tail gets reabsorbed and the little tadpoles are ready to begin their life on land. So exciting!

03/13/2026

We’re heading to Tinley this weekend! 🐍

Paulina and I will be at the NARBC Tinley Park show checking out animals, catching up with other breeders, and enjoying the reptile community.

If you’re going to be there too and happen to see us, don’t hesitate to say hi — we always enjoy meeting fellow reptile people.

If you send us a message this weekend, replies might be a little slower while we’re at the show, but we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Hope to see some of you there!

— Jon & Paulina
Shadowland Serpentry

02/17/2026

Big upgrade for Roshi!

We officially moved our Hermann’s tortoise into his much bigger enclosure, and we’re so happy with how it turned out.
Huge shout out to Chris with Night Rider Reptiles for putting this tortoise table together so quickly and beautifully. The quality and thought behind it really shows, and we’re so grateful.

Now, the setup may look a little bare to some people, but there’s a reason for that. Tortoises are tiny (and sometimes not so tiny) bulldozers. They will rearrange anything in their path. Live plants? Destroyed. Fake plants? Also destroyed. So instead of constantly replacing things, we focus on function first.
As Roshi settles in, we’ll likely move things around depending on how he uses the space - especially if he finds spots to climb, wedge into, or get stuck in.

Hermann’s tortoises also love to climb, whether they should or not, so this setup may evolve over time to keep him safe while still letting him be his adventurous little self.

We included different surface textures and some rough areas to help keep his nails worn down naturally. He also loves to dig, so we gave him about 5-6 inches of dirt in most areas. This lets him regulate his temperature, feel secure, and just do tortoise things.

Bonus: he shares his enclosure with isopods that have been breeding like crazy since his old setup. They help break down waste and keep things cleaner naturally - tiny cleanup crew doing big work. 🙌

This enclosure isn’t finished, and that’s okay. Good tortoise care grows and changes with them - and we’ll keep adjusting things to fit Roshi’s needs.

Happy, healthy animal > pretty enclosure. Always!

02/09/2026

Not all snakes need supplemental heat.

Some species actually don’t do well with typical ball python/boa basking temps - especially if your room already sits somewhere in the mid 70s.
For example, black milksnakes (like this cool dude we got from ECW Reptiles) come from cooler, mountainous parts of Central America, which is why they tend to prefer cooler temps with higher humidity.

That’s why researching where your snake comes from matters - because “one-size-fits-all” heating can actually do more harm than good.

01/29/2026

Hey yall! Check out our 2026 lineup. We're still working on adding more shows, so be sure to check back regularly. Feel free to stop by, say hi, and handle some reptiles!

April 10th, 4:30p: The Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
June 12th, 2:00p: Warren County Public Library District
June 27th, 2:00p: Geneseo Public Library District
July 10th, 10:30a: Rock Island Public Library
July 10th, 1:00p: Rock Island Public Library
July 17th, 10:30a: Edwards River Public Library
Aug 22nd, 10:00a: Atkinson 170th Birthday Celebration
Sept 19th, 11:00a: Good's Furniture

01/25/2026

Our dart frog tadpoles are growing fast and starting to act like fish. So cool to watch!

01/01/2026

One of our poison dart frogs has officially reached breeding age and laid her first fertile clutch! Dart frog eggs begin as small, jelly-like spheres and, when fertile, slowly develop into visible tadpoles inside the egg - and we just spotted the first little movements today 👀

We’re hoping for a 100% survival rate, though that's not always the case, even under ideal conditions. Still, it’s incredibly exciting to witness this stage for the first time and watch these tiny lives begin their journey!

12/28/2025

Ed, our baby fire salamander, enjoying his soak