The East Texas Herpetological Society in Houston, Texas, will hold its 22nd Annual Conference, Breeder Expo, and Educational Exhibit on the weekend of September 29-30 at the Crowne Plaza Houston Northwest, drawing speakers and vendors from around the country.

Texas' oldest and longest-running reptile event as well as one of the oldest events in herpetoculture, the ETHS expo is famous for its Friday night icebreaker, where in the old days breeders would sneak away and trade off their "primo" stock before it even hit the expo floor. Both kingsnake.com and NRAAC were "born" at the ETHS expo, and over its 22 years it has been responsible for introducing thousands of hobbyists to the world of reptiles and amphibians.

Different from most of today's expos, the ETHS Symposium and Expo focuses as much, or more, on education as it does on swapping animals, with a full symposium scheduled for Saturday and the expo and sale scheduled for Sunday. Speakers and topics for Saturday's symposium include:

• The Snakes of Paraguay - Joe Furman
• Research on the American Alligator - The Larger Side of Herpetology - Cord Eversole
• Herping in Vietnam - Paul Freed
• Leopard Geckos - History of Morphs (A pictorial discussion of the evolution of Leopard gecko variation) - Ron Tremper
• The Life and Times of a Disney Zoo Vet - Komodo Dragons to Hippos and lots of Herps in between - Dr. Greg Fleming
• The Herpetofauna of Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica - Louie Porras
• Conservation of Chile’s Imperiled Amphibians - Dr. Dante Fenolio

Saturday night there will be a banquet and keynote presentation by noted herpetologist Bill Lamar, whose presentation, "A Naturalist Looks at 37 Years in the Tropics," will provide a colorful overview of his career chasing reptiles and amphibians in the jungles and rainforests of Latin America. The address will be followed by ETHS' traditional benefit auction.

Sunday's expo and sale will include breeders, hobbyists, and businesses from around the country trading and selling reptiles and amphibians, as well as food, caging, supplies, books, t-shirts, field gear, and more. kingsnake.com's big black "Zombie Hunter" snake hunting truck will be on display in the parking lot all weekend, and we will be handing out free kingsnake.com window stickers Sunday.

For more information, directions, admission costs, and to register as an attendee or vendor for the ETHS Expo and Symposium, please visit their website at http://eths.org.

The ETHS Symposium and Expo is running in parallel with the First National Reptile and Amphibian Law Symposium and Workshop, a free educational event held in the same hotel the same weekend. Hosted by the ETHS as well as the ARAV, PIJAC, and NRAAC, this event will bring together stakeholders with the federal and state agencies that govern the laws regarding amphibians and reptiles. For more information and to register for this event please see http://nraac.org.