KIMBALL, Neb. — Little creatures will get a chance to be the big stars in Kimball County.

Two sisters will be showing their unique pets at the small animal 4-H event at the Kimball Banner County Fair.

The Kimball Banner County Fair had 119 kids participate in 4-H this year, totaling over 1,300 animal entries. 

Sophie and Anna Coleman help their parents raise snakes and are bringing two ball pythons to the small animal 4-H event.

The Coleman sisters' mom, Jennifer, said the sisters have raised 50 snakes and 19 snake eggs in an incubator in their snake room at home. 

“I just think they’re really cool,” Jennifer said. “They’re really fun and they’re not as scary as people think they are.”

Sophie will be showing a female named Aphrodite, and Anna will be showing a male named Aries. Both snakes are ball pythons.

The girls will be telling the small animal judge facts about their snakes, including the breed, genetics, how they take care of them, and some fun facts.


“They don’t have ears and they smell with their tongue,” Sophie said. “The little holes on the side of their faces are little heat sensors.”

The Colemans have had Aries and Aphrodite for three years, but ball pythons can live up to 50 years old. Both ball pythons are about five feet long.

“They’re pretty,” Anna said. “I like the way they look, they’re just cool.”

The Colemans agreed the most difficult part of taking care of the snakes is taking care of the rats they feed them.

“We raise African soft-fur rats,” Jennifer said. “We raise our own so that we know they are disease and mite free, so they’re not passing on diseases to our snakes.”

Jennifer said Sophie is allergic to every other kind of animal besides snakes.

“They can be fun to play with, we get them out every once in a while,” Sophie said. “It’s nice not breaking out in a rash.”

“We let them slither on the carpets and down the hall,” Jennifer said.