About
My story starts like that of a lot of reptile enthusiasts. I grew up in Wisconsin and spent quite a bit of time in nature, be it fishing, hunting, or catching whatever was slithering or hopping around near the local creek. My dad was a fisheries biologist, so I was exposed to the natural world early and often. By elementary and middle school, I was catching and seasonally keeping common species of snakes, frogs, toads & salamanders. I would catch and care for these herps during spring and summer, then release them in the fall.
I was without exotics during my college years. After college, my wife and I were living in Madison, WI and along with my dad, I attended my first reptile show. It was 2007 and I had arranged to pick up a bearded dragon from Garrick DeMeyer at the local Madison show. We went to pick him up, and at that show I was introduced to my first carpet python. My jaw nearly hit the floor at the sight of this banded, electric yellow and deep black jungle carpet python. The two vendors behind the table were John Battaglia and Chris Behof. That incredible jungle was named Mythos, and I can still picture her clearly. One thing led to another, and not too long after the show, I purchased my first carpet python from John, a 2008 jungle from his Aphrodite x Asklepios pairing. That jungle, Khan, is still alive, well, and now living with a good friend of mine.
After that first jungle, I began reading, researching and absorbing all I could about carpet pythons. Naturally, I stumbled across Inland Reptile and Reptilicus Reptiles. I spoke to Nick Mutton and Will Leary, and starting in 2009, began building my collection. I focused on carpet and ball pythons for the first few years, and then began diversifying my collection. Bearded dragons were actually the first reptiles I bred, followed by my first clutch of pythons in 2012 – a clutch of ball pythons. In 2013 I produced my first clutch of carpets and have produced some every year since. My foot has stayed on the gas and I am now fortunate to be working with over 25 species, with a heavy dose of Australian and Indonesian species of python. To date, I have produced 8 species of python and 17 species of snakes overall. Despite the diversity, Morelia pythons remain the apple of my eye!