Bert Langerwerf at the Daytona show!!

I had a long time dream to meet Bert Langerwerf, well I got my chance at the Daytona show. This man is awesome, what a honor to meet him. He is the one that brought the Argentine tegus to the US, and the first to breed them here. Here are some pictures of him and me.

Bert is a great asset to the herpetological community. I met him in Daytona in 2004 I think it was, he was given a lifetime achievement award that year.
I remember we talked with him about some obscure little lizard he was excited about working with. I love folks like that, people that don't have to be looking at the latest ball python morph to be really enthusiastic about their reptiles.
His attitude toward herps has always made him one of my heros in the hobby even if our interests don't exactly cross with my being mainly into snakes.

Bert was a great guy to meet, while I was with Bobby(and his great wife), Dennis, and Laura it was pretty cool that Bobby pulled Bert into our little circle to make sure we all had a chance to meet him also. Our hobby of reptiles would not be what it is without Bert. What Bobby did not mention is that Bert also brought the Superworms into the herp world.

I personally enjoyed meeting him this year, it is good to meet the people that you read about in magazine or other sources. To me its like meeting a celebrity, or hero. I stilll remeber when I first met Kathy and Bill Love.