I’m pretty sure everyone comes to reptiles with a story. Some stories are simple. Some are funny. But always with a story.
My story is no different. No one ever starts out saying they want to be a snake wrangler. Or be seen as an expert in something that makes most people creep out. Frankly, I’ve had my share of looks. All of a sudden my Tommy Bahama shirt and wayfarers makes me look like a holdover from an 80s video — and not the aging entrepreneur I see in the mirror. No, we are usually our own worst critics. Unless you handle creepy things for a living. But that is the coolest part of this business — the people. We are so unique. We see life differently. In the best of ways. And I would like to think it is because we have learned to see things in people that others miss.
I’ve always loved things that other people didn’t. Chalk it up to being that kid. The one that would rather hang with animals than people because they saw me for me. Like we wish people did. Yeah, I was that kid. The kid that met his first real friend in a pair of snake eyes.
So misunderstood. So complex. So amazing. And so cool.
A pair of snake eyes holds a lot of unknowns. And a lot of fascination. Most people enter into initial pet ownership through owning a reptile– almost 1 in 3 to be exact — and some of us never own anything else. Whether it is a ball python wriggling in and around your fingers, or a bearded dragon or gecko — most kids identify with reptiles far before they connect with dogs, cats, bunnies or other more traditional domestic pets.
I have committed myself to teaching others and saving the most disposed of pet in America. And I am looking for a few others to help me.
Our pet shop is in Akron, in Firestone Park, and you should really come by and visit. Come see our observation rooms where we take rescued snakes and treat them for disease and neglect. Invite our team to visit your school and and let us bring examples of some of the coolest and rarest species of snakes and reptiles you will ever see outside a zoo or on your television. Bring your friends and have a birthday party they will never forget!
I hope you will follow us here or on Facebook. Write down your questions. Send us your pictures. Snakes and reptiles are rare breeds. And so are those that love them.
Come be one of the cool kids with us. It’s not as scary as it looks.
Witch Doctor Reptiles 