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ReptiCenter Pet Store Sheds Its First Skin

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By KLINT LOWRY, The Suncoast News

Published: February 4, 2008

PORT RICHEY - Nick Isabelle picks up a tarantula, a recent addition to his inventory at the ReptiCenter, the exotic pet store he operates.

"This one will get to be about 5 inches," he says. Then he points out the one-piece, furry pile of skin still in the container, looking like a spider someone has let the air out of.

"See? He just molted," says Isabelle, an 18-year-old senior at River Ridge High School. Many of the creatures he sells drop their shells when they outgrow them.

Now he's followed their example - for the business, that is. Less than a year after opening ReptiCenter, Isabelle has shed its original spot along U.S. 19 in favor of a bigger space.

"I was there for 11 months," Isabelle says. "It got really crowded in there."

The relocated ReptiCenter, at 7135 State Road 52, has 60 percent more room for an ever-expanding inventory. As good as sales were at the old location, Isabelle says, they've roughly tripled since the new store opened a month ago.
Isabelle has had a fascination with reptiles since he was a boy, but it was his girlfriend, Joanna Johnson, who suggested opening a store. They had been researching pet turtles while shopping for a birthday present.

Originally, they planned to deal solely in turtles. Soon, however, the product line expanded to include several breeds of snakes and lizards. It wasn't long before they added rodents - hamsters, Guinea pigs and rats.

"You have to have something soft and furry," Johnson explains. Although she admits she didn't grow up with the same affinity as Isabelle for scaly things, she's fallen in love with the creatures.

As she takes a ball python from its cage, customers enter the store. While she waits on them, the python gets cozy, hanging around her neck like a scarf.

"See, it's staying under my hair for warmth," she explains.

Johnson and Isabelle did their homework before opening the business, studying each species and breed they planned to carry.

For the past decade or so, reptile sales have been growing rapidly, Isabelle says, as people discover the advantages of exotic pets.

For example, most require little space, don't need much special maintenance and are relatively inexpensive to care for and feed. Some snakes, for example, can go months without eating.

Those advantages for exotic pet owners are also advantages for the dealer. Isabelle is now at the point where he breeds most of his stock. Eventually, he says, he could see himself being strictly a breeder.

"But I like the shop because I can actually teach people," he says. Only about 5 percent of first-time customers know anything about reptiles, but most seem interested in learning.

Customers come into the store thinking, "I want an iguana," Isabelle says. What they don't always fully appreciate is iguanas can grow to be 6 to 7 feet long. Once they get to be about 15 inches, they can draw blood just whipping their tails.

And iguanas are pretty needy, as pet reptiles go, Isabelle says. They should be played with two or three hours every day.

If customers still want an iguana after getting such information, Isabelle is happy to sell to them. But if not, he can suggest other lizards he carries that might better suit someone's lifestyle.

Bearded dragons "definitely sell the best," he says. "I've had people coming in looking for dogs and walking out with bearded dragons."

He's found most people get over their fears and misconceptions about exotic pets once they become educated. But one of his frustrations is when customers don't want to listen or learn.

One common mistake he sees is well-meaning owners buying artificially heated "rocks" for their pets. The problem is that lizards can't sense heat on their stomachs, so they can't tell when the rocks have gotten too hot.

A lizard can be roasted before it or its owner realizes it.

GET THE FACTS

For more on ReptiCenter and the critters it carries, including tips on feeding and housing, visit www.ReptiCenter.com. Nick Isabelle and Joanna Johnson can be reached at (727) 862-4433 or joanna_johnson714@ yahoo.com.

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