Website last updated July 2022

If you would like to get in touch to arrange a booking please contact me.

LATEST NEWS

Adults, you can keep in touch with JJR news either by ‘liking’ my Facebook page or following me on Instagram or Twitter (or both!) via the links below:

Recent Social Media Posts

Today has been the first birthday of Margot, my wonderful Woma python! She was the last to hatch of the six baby snakes I bought in 2021, but she is now by far the largest - when I collected her at just a month old she weighed 65g but now she weighs close to 850g!! These pictures were taken just a couple of days ago other than the last one which was taken on collection day (Sept 3rd) last year, when she could fit comfortably in the palm of my hand! Absolutely beautiful.

I've had two female Malaysian jungle nymphs (Heteropteryx dilatata) moult to maturity in the last few days. The first two pictures are of one I caught in the process of doing so - in the first picture she is hanging upside down pulling her new body out of her old exoskeleton and in the second she is eating part of her old exoskeleton! The remaining pictures are of an empty and complete exoskeleton which I found on the floor of the enclosure this morning, which its owner had clearly chosen not to eat! I've not had such a complete one in my collection for quite a while - brilliant to see the details of their bodies including the defensive rear leg spines. An amazing species and a long-term favourite of mine.

We have another teenager in the house! Today is the 13th birthday of Mei-Ling, my beautiful Mandarin rat snake. I've said it before but I'll say it again, I think she might have some of the most beautiful head markings of any snake in the world. Love her to bits. 💛🖤

Evening all. Today I've had yet another giant Asian praying mantis ootheca (egg sac) hatch! These two nymphs are only three weeks apart in age - it's quite astonishing how quickly they grow and change. That's just under 200 mantises hatched in the last 25 days and a LOT of baby crickets consumed! 😁

I completely forgot to share that yesterday was the first birthday of Carolina, my beautiful Palmetto corn snake. The first three pictures were taken today, the fourth was taken on the day I collected her in October last year (when she was three months old) and the fifth was taken when she first hatched at @wyre_forest_reptiles This colour morph of corn snake was first discovered in the wild in South Carolina (hence her name) and is very unusual as hatchlings are typically white to pale pink snakes with just a little speckling on a few of their scales, but as they grow the speckling becomes more widespread and much more vivid in colouration. She has changed so very much (both in pattern and size) in the last nine months and is absolutely beautiful!

Today has been the tenth birthday of Tango, my fabulous and ever-popular Tangerine Honduran milk snake. He has grown so much since I first bought him back in late July 2012! 😁

Welcome to Jonathan’s Jungle Roadshow!

I specialise in providing professional animal encounter sessions which are designed to be educational, interactive and fun for all involved.

I am a former Primary school teacher based in Swindon, Wiltshire but now travel across central & southern England and south Wales to provide as many people as possible with the service I am able to offer! I maintain a large and varied private collection of truly amazing invertebrates and reptiles, all of which can be viewed by clicking here.

I am able to provide presentations, workshops and hands-on sessions to suit any situation and age group (children or adults) and these are just a few examples of the visits I commonly undertake:

Schools / Pre-schools /Colleges (Foundation Stage through to Key Stage 4 and beyond
Private birthday parties / Media and Special events
Public events (large and small) / Fetes and Fayres
Corporate Events (for both larger & smaller organisations)

Whatever your needs I can provide groups of children or adults the opportunity to gain first hand experience of some absolutely amazing animals up close and personally, and an experience definitely not to be forgotten!

In December 2013 I was very fortunate to experience the trip of a lifetime to Costa Rica with TV presenter Nick Baker.

If you would like to see lots more pictures of amazing rainforest animals please click HERE!

I have been fortunate to work with the BBC on many occasions in recent years! Most recently two of my lovely crested geckos & I appeared on live TV on Saturday 27th July 2013 when we joined Naomi Wilkinson, Tim Warwood and Radzi Chinyanganya for the final live show of CBBC’s fantastic series WILD in Leeds! It was a fantastic experience and here is the video sequence as it appeared on the TV as well as some photographs taken during the live filming!

As well as appearing on the CBBC show I also had the opportunity to present live on stage with the WILD presenting team, to talk to the crowds about some of my animals as part of the wider CBBC Live in Leeds event. Here are some photos of the two live stage shows, great fun!

It was an absolute privilege to be involved in the CBBC Live in Leeds event and of course to appear on the final television show WILD series 1.

I have enjoyed many other experiences working with the BBC in recent years and the first time was during Autumn 2011 when I was invited to join the BBC Live ‘n’ Deadly team, when I entertained thousands of members of the public (young & old) with some of my animals at their ‘Deadly Days Out‘. These were a series of public events featuring Steve Backshall from CBBC’s ‘Deadly 60‘ and ‘Live ‘n’ Deadly‘ as well as his lovely Live ‘n’ Deadly co-host (and now presenter of Naomi’s Nightmares of Nature and WILD) Naomi Wilkinson, both pictured with myself below:

It was an absolute privilege to be asked to be involved in these superb events and to meet and work alongside so many great people, from Steve & Naomi to the fantastic BBC senior production team to the stewards & the rest of the roaming animal team, an amazing experience!

In the spring of 2012 I was invited back to work with the BBC when I attended the CBBC & CBeebies 10th birthday celebrations at the BBC’s new headquarters – MediaCityUK in Salford. I had the privilege of presenting some of my animals alongside the lovely and very talented Michelle Ackerley (below left) from CBBC’s brilliant Deadly Art – a fantastic day!

Photos above courtesy of Nicola Stead Photography

In the summer of 2012 myself and some of my animals appeared live on BBC Radio 1 with Scott Mills (and in-vision via the Radio 1 website) in a ‘show & tell’-style feature! It was great fun and was heard by millions of people! Below is a picture of myself with Scott Mills & Chris Stark from Scott’s show (and the gorgeous Goldie) as well as a picture of King Julien & I with the lovely Rhianna Dhillon, who at the time of my visit was Radio 1’s resident film critic. Another truly fabulous BBC experience!!

Please navigate the website using the menu buttons at the top of the screen. Thanks for visiting, please don’t hesitate to call or email if you have any questions and I will look forward to hearing from you! I have full Public Liability Insurance and CRB clearance for your peace of mind.

For just a few examples of feedback comments that people have made following their experience of Jonathan’s Jungle Roadshow please click here!