Southern Inked Nov. 2013 | Page 52

interview Lady Viper by Carolyn Amanda can you tell me a little bit about yourself and your reptile hobby? My name is Kristin Bishop. I am 22. I have a 3-year-old son who also loves reptiles and we, along with his father, are exhibitors at reptile expos. I am originally from Ohio, and now live in SC. I have an Associate of Arts in Psychology. I am a dancer (the socially unacceptable variety!) We mainly do the CinCity Reptile Expo in Cincinnati/ Mason, OH and the Columbia, SC Repticon expo. We occasionally attend Repticon in Savannah, Tampa, and Charleston. In the past we dealt with venomous reptiles (vipers, cobras, rear- fanged venomous). These days, it’s mostly tarantulas, constrictors and lizards. I can elaborate more if you’d like on the species. We have participated in expos from St. Louis to Tampa. I do not usually model and I am not a tattoo expert, but I love tattoos and the modeling for Travarez’s magazine sounded interesting, so I decided to do it! When did you first gain an interest in reptiles, and why? I have been interested in spiders for as long as I can remember, but I got into reptiles first. My parents (finally) allowed me to have a ball python when I was thirteen and I quickly built up a collection from there. My boyfriend is also a reptile enthusiast, so we began to exhibit and vend at the expos 48 Southern Inked November 2013 together. (We were actually neighbors in high school and both had an inte ?????)???????]???????????????????????)$?????????????????????????????)]??????????????????????? ???????)???????????A????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)$?????????????????????????????)????????????????$??????????????)???????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????????)????????????????????)?????????????????????)??????????????????%????)??????????????????)$??????????????????????????????)???????????????????????%?e?????????)????????????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????????)????????????5???????????????????)?????????????? ??????I??????) ????????? ????A??????????????????)????????????????????????U?????)=?????M?????????????????????????????????????????5?????I??????????????)?????????????A??????????????5?)?????????e??????????????????I???????)??????? ??????????????????????????)??????????????????$???????????????)???????????????????????????????????????)????)=??????????????????????????????)??M??1??????????????]????????)??????????????5?????????????)]???????????????????????%????????)????????????????????????????????????)5??????????????Q????????????)???????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????)?????????????????????????????)????????????????()]?????????????????)??????????????????)??????????????????%???)??????????????????)??????????????????)??????????????????)???????????)=???????????????????????)???????????????????????q???????)?????t???Q- ?I??????????????)??????????????????????????????)??????????????????????????????)???????????????????????????????]?)??????????????????Q