This is my story in a nutshell.
I was born in 1967 into an animal loving family. By the time I was ten years old, I was completely hooked on reptiles. I would go out and collect any kind of herp I could find, turtles, lizards and most definitely snakes! My bedroom was full of tanks and makeshift containers for all my "wild" pets. I worked off and on at the local pet shop for supplies, not money. I would also work for animals, at the time, Savannah monitors, skinks, and ball pythons were my favorites.
This passion for reptiles lasted into my teens and right into adulthood. I can not remember as a kid or a teen ever not having a room full of reptiles…and it is still that way now! I graduated from high school in 1985. I took a vocational class for carpentry in my eleventh and twelfth grade year, I did very well in carpentry class and found out that I really did like working with my hands. I was able to land a job doing interior "finish carpentry" work in Washington D.C. This is where I honed my carpentry skills and figured this is what I was going to do for money for the rest of my life. I loved it, and got very good at it. Soon my boss let me (A Kid) run the whole job, he laid major responsibility on me and I liked it.
I decided to have my own business cards made up and passed them out to different builders that were local to where I lived. I was still working for someone else at the time, well I started getting work from the builders. I was doing subcontractor work on the weekends and working my real job on the weekdays. Work came to me by the boatloads, and I could hardly keep up, so I quit my job in 1987 and went out on my own. It was I and my main man Rob who has been with me since I started. We have been doing it ever since.
The Construction Company had been so profitable through the years that I was able to invest money into other things. First thing I did was open up a hair salon for my wife, she was a beautician at the time and she had been managing a salon. So I asked her what she thought of having her own hair salon. She said "sure", so we built her a great salon to own/operate. This is how I was able to keep my wife happy, while I was wanting to diversify and do other things.
Now lets get down to Ralphie boy. The same shopping center that my wife's salon was in had a vacancy. All I could think of is how great a reptile store would be there. I knew I could do it, I had the knowledge, and I always wanted to do a pet shop the "right way". I signed a lease with in a few days and opened a store called "The Green Iguana". I sold captive-bred reptiles there only. This was not easy to do, I was only breeding lizards, colubrids and common boids at the time. I needed help stocking the store with great animals. That is when I started getting involved with the various breeders. I needed their animals to stock my store. Where did I find them?
Reptiles magazine, when I started getting into all the ads in that magazine and seeing what was available and what truly spectacular animals were being bred in captivity I was floored! That magazine just opened my eyes as to what I wanted to do next! I knew I could breed reptiles, all I had to do was invest wisely and I could probably make a good living at it. That is what I did. First thing I had to do was to sell my retail store, this was 3 years after I first opened it. I was able to sell the store and get what I put into it back out, so I felt very good about that, plus I was able to get some great connections in the reptile business.
I began to build a collection of "High End" boas and pythons that I'm very proud of, and I did it all with my own money. Money that I have worked hard for my whole life and it paid off. I was made to make things happen for myself and the snakes are just another level I have achieved. I love more than anything to work with my boids, and it gives me much pleasure to be able to work with all the "Mutations". It has taken me years of trials and errors to get where I'm right now, and I'm still learning ever day. But I have been able to build a collection of boas and pythons here that I believe are second to none.
Please browse my site and you will see all the "mutations" and "projects" I am working on. It is so exiting to have so many unproven projects to work with, and the thrill of the hunt when trying to locate the next "New Morph" in Africa! There is nothing better than hatching out surprises! I hope you enjoy my site and I thank you for showing interest in my animals.