We
are private reptile breeders who have worked
with and bred dozens of different reptile species
(
see my reptile story below) over the
past 30 plus years. We support captive
propagation*. We currently maintain and breed
ball python and dwarf boa
constrictor mutations, morphs
and hybrids.
* We are
totally against wildlife exploitation and
thus do not deal or work with wild caught
reptiles at all. We strongly encourage
people to only ever purchase reptiles from a
reputable private breeder or specialist reptile pet
store.
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My reptile story (John) I’ve had an active interest in
wildlife and reptiles since
childhood. Growing up in South Africa gave me
the opportunity to catch, keep and breed
numerous Southern African reptile species, both
venomous and non-venomous (I had very
understanding parents!).
As a teenager I spent most of my free time
working and improving my herpetoculture skills at
the Transvaal Snake Park (TSP). At the time TSP housed one of
the largest and finest collections of captive
reptiles in the world. I eventually joined TSP as a professional herpetologist. I spent several years "milking" venomous snakes (Puff Adders, cobras,
mambas and boomslang), educating the public at
large and caring for and helping breed numerous
reptiles from all over the globe. This was a fun
job !
During my
time at TSP we had several notable captive breeding
successes, including the first ever captive
breeding of Angolan pythons (Python
anchietae), Lesser African Rock pythons (Python
sebae natalensis) & Madagascan Ground boas
(Acrantophis madagascariensis) among
others.
My
travels then took me to the Nordhardzer Schlange
Farm in Schladen, Germany, a private reptile
park that provided snake venom to medical
research facilities (more cobra & viper
venom extraction !!)
After 18mths in Germany and wanting to travel to
the Amazon, I needed to raise additional funds. So I
attempted to beat the then 64 day world record
“snake sit-in”. T
his
consisted of living in a room with 24 venomous
snakes. My good friend, Austin Stevens (of Animal Planet
and Discovery TV fame) held the world record at that time. I
spent 69 days at Dudley Zoo, UK in my “snake
room” to claim the crazy title, sharing my space
with 12 Asian Cobras (Naja naja),
4 Egyptian Cobras (Naja annulifera) and
8 large Puff Adders (Bitis arietans).
At the time it seemed like a good idea, looking
back I wouldn’t recommend trying it! (If
you work with venomous snake, I strongly urge
you to consider where you will spend eternity
.. accidents can and do happen !! )
After several more years of travelling to wild
places, I switched gears and started working in
the computer software
industry. I've spent nearly 20 yrs as an IT
exec working for several different global software
companies in addition to involvement in a number
of technology start ups. Lots of fun but too
much business travel! (airports and hotels all
look the same no matter where they are in the
world)
Over
the years I've maintain my interest and
involvement in reptiles
and wildlife in general. I’ve been fortunate
enough to travel the globe extensively
and to study, take photos of and capture reptiles on
several continents during my all business
travels.
Now our focus is more on writing, some
reptile breeding and other business interests.
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