The Little Rock Reptile Expo brought about a dozen vendors and 100 tables to the Arkansas State Fairgrounds on Sunday, with a baby Sulcata tortoise offered for $120. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the show, the largest area stop on the Show Me Reptiles touring circuit, had added at least 50 tables this year. Vendors brought animals as well as feeding supplies and other care products. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s report described the event.
A purchase with a long horizon
The $120 price is only one part of the commitment involved in bringing home a Sulcata, also known as an African spurred tortoise. The expo report said the species can grow to about three feet; San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants gives its lifespan as 80 to 100 years. Those general facts do not establish the age, health or future size of any tortoise offered at the show, but they illustrate why prospective owners need to consider care well beyond the initial purchase.
Arkansas rules also depend on the species. The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission says breeding or importing wildlife on its permit-required species list requires the corresponding breeder/dealer or importation permit. The available guidance does not establish whether Sulcata tortoises or leopard geckos are on that list, or what requirements applied to particular animals or vendors at the expo.
National ownership figures are not local trend data
The American Pet Products Association’s 2025 report estimated that six million U.S. households owned reptiles. That national estimate provides scale, but does not show whether reptile ownership is increasing in Little Rock or explain the expo’s added tables. One expanding event is not, by itself, evidence of a wider ownership trend.
Handling reptiles also calls for basic hygiene. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advises washing hands thoroughly after touching reptiles or amphibians, or anything in the areas where they live and roam. Separately, a 2025 study in the CDC journal Emerging Infectious Diseases described past reptile-associated Salmonella outbreaks in Canada and the United States, including outbreaks linked to geckos during 2020–2024. Those incidents were separate from the Little Rock expo; the supplied reporting does not link the event or its animals to illness.
