Nothing poisonous but many things beautiful will be on display Sunday at the first-ever Western Pennsylvania Reptile Expo at Hindman Hall on Route 68, Connoquenessing Township.

"We're going to have corn snakes and milk snakes and more exotic ones like boa constrictors," said Patricia Miller, whose husband Nathan organized the event and runs Nate's Snakes, a reptile-breeding business in Butler.

Look for the brilliantly colored jungle carpet python, a striped albino Nelson's milk snake, or a fierce-faced bearded dragon - even an Asian water monitor.

None are venomous, however, and though the boas are predators, "all our reptiles are well-fed," Patricia said.

That means the critters wouldn't be interested in people as food. "That's the good thing about captive reptiles," she noted.

"Nothing is taken from the wild so they're not depleting the native species," Nathan added, explaining the reptiles for sale were all bred in captivity.

The Colombian boa hanging from his arm was tightly curled there only because it "thinks I'm going to drop it," Nathan said.In the quiet of the unoccupied hall that was waiting for the Sunday crowds, the 10-pound boa sounded like it was squealing, but the noise wasn't made in panic. "She's just blowing air through her nose," Nathan said.Nathan handled the reptiles with confidence, but reptiles are really more of a hands-off pet.Snakes might feel like play dough, but they're not for squishing."When you see people on TV walking around with snakes on their shoulders, that's really not usual," Patricia said."They're not like a cat or a dog where you want to pick them up and play with them all the time. This isn't the kind of pet you want if you want affection from your pet."Vendors will have many reptiles and the supplies for them available for sale at the expo. More than 30 vendors will be present.One of the animals with legs at the show will be a bearded dragon native to Australia. They're the creatures featured in the movie "Holes," noted Patricia.In the film, they had polka dots on their skin and fangs in their mouths.In real life, the pale yellow-skinned lizard with protruding teeth merely clung to Nathan's shirt and cocked its head thoughtfully.Two showings of the Wild World of Animals are planned for Sunday, featuring Fat Louie, the 8-foot Asian water monitor, along with other reptiles and mammals.Visitors on Sunday can also see an African spurred tortoise. The 6-inch version at the show can cost more than $200 and can grow to 3 feet long, so again, prospective pet owners should know what they're getting into."They should be kept in aquariums or something made for them," Patricia pointed out."So many people are allergic to cats and dogs, furry animals. Reptiles are really low-maintenance."

Just feed them frozen mice every three to five days, Nathan said. OK, the mice have to be put in hot water first to get the ice crystals off."(Many reptiles) need water but they can go months without food if it's a well-fed animal," Nathan said.He's been interested in reptiles "ever since I was a child and saw one running through the grass."He said his mother was afraid of snakes so he had to wait until he was grown up to have his own. Luckily his wife is amenable to the business of snake breeding."In Pennsylvania you can't sell ones that are indigenous to Pennsylvania, but these are OK," Nathan said. "None are venomous or protected. There are snakes like the Eastern indigo snake you can't have without a federal permit.""They're a better investment than stocks because it doubles or triples in value in a few years," Patricia said. "That's the only way my husband sold it to me!"