It was a petting zoo free-for-all at the Midwest Museum of Natural History, 425 W. State St. in Sycamore, but this was no ordinary petting zoo.

On Saturday the museum hosted the Reptile Emporium of Loves Park which provided museum-goers a chance to indulge their eyes on a variety of exotic animals.

Nanette and Chad Gaines turned their passion for reptiles into a career in 1997 after opening their first reptile store and are now focusing on breeding different varieties of reptile and amphibian species and traveling across northern Illinois to educate and entertain people with the world of

herpetology.

The Gaineses collect most of their exotic creatures from people who do not want their reptiles anymore. These reptiles are called “rescues.”

“A large number of our reptiles are rescues from people who can’t deal with their reptile anymore because they are too mean or aggressive; they are exotic animals and a lot of people forget this when purchasing one,” Nanette said. “It’s a little different than having a dog or cat.”

The Gaineses presented more than 20 reptiles at the museum, including an African Spurred Tortoise that roamed freely around the room while the other creatures were kept in their cages, including a 50-pound python that proved to be very popular.

“Snakes are just so interesting and beautiful,” said Amber Hopper, a Sycamore resident who owns two pet snakes. “I think people should give anything a chance until they prove to be unworthy.”

Nanette enjoys showing off her creatures to educate and present people with animals they do not see every day. She has encountered many mixed emotions from people upon presenting them.

She notices a lot of fear while presenting her reptiles and finds it unfortunate because of their uniqueness.

“People are just afraid of what they don’t know,” Nanette said.

Nicole Parlette, who has been employed at the museum for about a year, thinks it’s great when shows such as Saturday’s are brought to the museum because it gives residents the chance to learn about creatures unfamiliar to the average person.

“It attracts a lot of attention for our museum, and it’s just so much fun to have all these reptiles available for us to play with,” Parlette said.

For more information about viewing a presentation by the Gaineses, visit their Web site at www.thereptileemporium.com.