Mark, The Reptile Guy

01/09/2026

We are doing big things here at Mark, The Reptile Guy! One of my favorite parts about what we do is connecting with the community and giving back! The annual Color Run at Canoe Creek K-8, put on by the amazing Canoe Creek K8 PTSA is one of my favorite events to attend. We were honored to participate last year, and are pleased to announce that we’ll be returning as a sponsor this year! I cannot wait to see what this year brings!

To all of my business owner friends: if you’re looking for a way to give back to your local community while also getting your name/business out there, please consider becoming a sponsor for this amazing event! There are multiple ways to contribute and be a part of this event. To find out more, visit the link below, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions. As for the students and staff at CCK8, we’ll see you on race day!

https://cck8-ptsa-business-sponsor.cheddarup.com

💚 Big THANK YOU to our Color Run Sponsor! 💚 Mark, The Reptile Guy

A huge shoutout to Mark the Reptile Guy for sponsoring the Green Color Tent at our Eagle Color Run! 🎨🦅

Mark is a familiar and valued part of our school community, by visiting our campus to educate students and partnering with the PTSA to serve as a guest speaker for Florida Wildlife Safety.

Thanks to sponsors like Mark the Reptile Guy, our students get to enjoy fun, meaningful experiences that truly bring learning to life. 🐍🦎

👏 Thank you for supporting our students and helping make our Eagle Run so special! 💚
Please remember to support the organizations that support our kids!

01/01/2026

Ringing in the new year with all 4 of my ladies!

12/17/2025

🎉 Calling All PTSA Members — Volunteers Needed! 🎉

PTSA members are invited to volunteer for not only our biggest PTSA fundraiser of the year, but also our biggest PTSA appreciation day! 🌈

Not a PTSA member yet?
No problem — sign up today and join us! 👏

👉 Join the PTSA here:
https://cck8-ptsa-25-26.cheddarup.com

🌟 Why volunteer as a PTSA member?

✅ PTSA members can volunteer whether you joined over the summer or today
👕 FREE Color Run shirt for volunteers (and yes — it’s a brand-new design!)
🎨 Extra fun encouraged for your run-day outfits
🏃 Want to run with your child when their class comes out? Awesome! Then help volunteer for the rest of the event
🍽️ Enjoy the biggest and most colorful volunteer luncheon in CCK8 history

ℹ️ Important updates & why this matters

Last year, the Color Run was open to all volunteers, and Color Run shirts were $15. This year, instead of paying for a shirt, we’re simply asking volunteers to be PTSA members — just $10.

We also allowed parent runners last year. Unfortunately, do to safety concerns this has also been changed. Please reach out to CCK8 directly for more info on this.

In addition, we’ve had to cancel events and have struggled to secure enough volunteers beyond our PTSA members for many of our school activities. To better plan, staff events safely, and avoid future cancellations, we need a more consistent and accountable volunteer base.

Due to new CCK8 check-in procedures, tighter crowd control is required on run day. To ensure safety, smooth check-in, and reliable volunteer coverage, this year’s event will be limited to PTSA member volunteers only.

By combining the fun with PTSA membership, we can support our school more effectively, keep our students safe, and continue offering the events our community loves 💙

Thank you for supporting our school, our students, and our PTSA — we can’t wait to make this year’s Color Run the best one yet! 🌈🙌

🎉 ¡Llamando a todos los miembros de PTSA — Se necesitan voluntarios! 🎉

Los miembros de PTSA están invitados a ser voluntarios no solo para la recaudación de fondos más grande del año, sino también para nuestro día más grande de agradecimiento a PTSA 🌈

¿Aún no eres miembro de PTSA?
¡No hay problema! Inscríbete hoy y únete 👏

👉 Únete a PTSA aquí:
https://cck8-ptsa-25-26.cheddarup.com

🌟 ¿Por qué ser voluntario como miembro de PTSA?

✅ Los miembros de PTSA pueden ser voluntarios sin importar si se inscribieron en el verano o hoy mismo
👕 Camiseta GRATIS del Color Run para los voluntarios (¡sí, es un diseño completamente nuevo!)
🎨 Se anima a divertirse más con los atuendos del día del evento
🏃 ¿Quieres correr con tu hijo(a) cuando salga su clase? ¡Perfecto! Luego ayuda como voluntario el resto del evento
🍽️ Disfruta del almuerzo para voluntarios más grande y colorido en la historia de CCK8

ℹ️ Información importante y por qué es necesario

El año pasado, el Color Run estuvo abierto a todos los voluntarios y la camiseta costaba $15. Este año, en lugar de pagar por la camiseta, solo pedimos que los voluntarios sean miembros de PTSA — solo $10.

También permitimos que los padres corrieran el año pasado. Desafortunadamente, un estudiante fue retirado sin intención por un adulto sin regresar primero con su maestro(a) ni completar el proceso correcto de salida, lo que creó una preocupación de seguridad cuando el maestro(a) no pudo localizar al estudiante.

Además, hemos tenido que cancelar eventos y hemos tenido dificultades para conseguir suficientes voluntarios fuera de los miembros de PTSA para muchas de nuestras actividades escolares. Para poder planificar mejor, mantener eventos seguros y evitar más cancelaciones, necesitamos una base de voluntarios más constante y confiable.

Debido a los nuevos procedimientos de registro y salida de CCK8, se requiere un mayor control de personas el día del evento. Para garantizar la seguridad, un proceso de registro más fluido y una cobertura adecuada de voluntarios, este año el evento estará limitado únicamente a voluntarios miembros de PTSA.

Al combinar la diversión con la membresía de PTSA, podemos apoyar mejor a nuestra escuela, mantener seguros a nuestros estudiantes y continuar ofreciendo los eventos que nuestra comunidad disfruta 💙

¡Gracias por apoyar a nuestra escuela, a nuestros estudiantes y a nuestra PTSA! ¡Estamos muy emocionados de hacer de este Color Run el mejor hasta ahora! 🌈🙌

11/12/2025

We had a great time with a few of the 4th grade classes at Canoe Creek K-8 today! We brought in a few of our ambassador animals and talked reptiles! One of the students even drew a nice lil picture for us to take home! If you are a teacher within Kissimmee / St Cloud and would like to schedule a reptile presentation for your class, please visit www.markthereptileguy.com to fill out a request!

11/12/2025

Christmas has come early for Stella, in the form of a generous donation from the Canoe Creek K8 PTSA! With the money raised from the dunk tank at the fall festival, we were able to purchase an upgraded heating system, an automated misting system, and some new decor for Stella’s enclosure! I would like to thank the PTSA for thinking of us and helping in our mission to spread the joys of reptiles with the students and staff of Canoe Creek K-8!

11/10/2025

Cold weather moving into Florida = our cold blooded friends moving inside for a bit! When the weather outside drops below 55 degrees, we move our tortoises indoors, where it’s nice and warm. Luckily, in Florida, these cold days come around for a bit and then temps begin to climb again, which means our torts won’t be cooped up for long!

11/05/2025

2 years later, and she is now an ambassador animal, on display in the , teaching students and staff the importance of snakes and other reptiles in our local ecosystems! The students also voted to change her name to Stella.

10/25/2025

I want to give a HUGE shout out and thank you to the Canoe Creek K8 PTSA for inviting us to participate in this awesome event last night. They asked me to man the dunk tank booth and generously donated the proceeds from the booth towards the care for Stella, the CCK8 library pet! With this generous donation, we can provide Stella with new features in her enclosure, lots of yummy rodents to eat, and new educational materials! Stay tuned to see the upgrades!

10/21/2025

Come on out this Friday, October 24th, and take your best shot at dunking me! All proceeds from festival entry goes to the PTSA food and essentials drive! Proceeds from the dunk tank go to supporting Stella, the CCK8 library pet!

10/12/2025

Wishing the love of my life a very happy anniversary! This is a song that I wrote for Nicole a few years back. I teamed up with an artist to compose and sing it, because let’s face it, my singing voice is no gift! But the words still ring true today! “This Florida boy’s heart belongs to his Minnesota girl”. I love you babe! Happy anniversary!

10/02/2025

I’ve been invited to take part in the CCK8 PTSA Fall Festival, presented by Canoe Creek K8 PTSA ! This event will be taking place Friday, October 24th at 5:30pm, located at Canoe Creek K-8 track and field. Student entry is free, entry for all others is $5. There will be a free hay ride, free games, food for purchase and more! I will be in the hot seat…or should i say, the wet seat of the dunk tank! You can take a shot at dunking me for $2 a ball, or $5 for three balls. The PTSA has graciously offered to donate all proceeds from the dunk tank to Mark The Reptile Guy to help cover the cost of maintaining the enclosure and the feeding of Stella, the CCK8 library pet. Stella is a 2 year old corn snake that we have on display in the school’s media center ( ), for students and staff to learn about reptiles! We appreciate the PTSA’s generosity for inviting us to partake in this event and we hope to see y’all there! Come on out and take your best shot at dunking me!

cck8ptsafallfestival.cheddarup.com