“The next time you walk into a competitor’s store, particularly if it’s one of the big-box stores, check out their selection of snakes. Almost inevitably, the selection of snakes you see boil down to this: corn snakes, with maybe a few color-morph variations; Colombian boa constrictors; ball pythons; and just maybe, a king snake or two. These are the standards of our business, as they are reliably tempered, hardy and attractive. Their popularity is timeless,…”
Herptiles
“We’re in the wrong business.I can’t think of another business like ours. Imagine if, instead of selling reptiles, we sold dresses. Dresses don’t die. They don’t require daily feeding and upkeep. They don’t poop on the rack. Most important, you don’t have to spend an hour teaching your customer how…”
“I got a call the other day from a woman who had purchased a baby bearded dragon from me a few months ago. Her dragon had recently started regurgitating its crickets. She asked if this was a problem and why it might be happening. I replied that, indeed, it was…”
“Reptiles and amphibians are ectotherms, meaning they rely on their environment for bodily warmth. While mammals produce their own body heat, herps must move into warmer or cooler areas within their habitat to maintain a healthy internal body temperature. This target temperature is typically based on species, habitat and the…”
“Many years ago, I attended a local herp society’s monthly meeting at which the guest speaker was talking about chelonians (a fancy word used by folks deep into the hobby that means turtle). Midway through his talk, the gentleman next to me leaned over and whispered, “You know the best…”

