He Turned His Hobby Into Thriving Business
Garrick DeMeyer has turned a childhood passion into a full-time business. He’s a captive breeder of harmless species of snakes and lizards. That means he doesn’t buy and resell any animals imported or domestically bred, only those he has bred and hatched out himself.
“I’ll hatch out 1,500 to 2,000 ball pythons and 1,000 geckos this year and sell most of them before next season’s eggs hatch,” says DeMeyer.
Most sales are direct to customers who visit DeMeyer’s website, where they’re often able to pick out the snake, lizard or group of reptiles they want.
Buying direct from a captive breeder has distinct advantages over other sources, suggests DeMeyer. He notes that some pet shops are very knowledgeable and provide good quality, but may not stay in business. Others don’t know more than the manual tells them, and you don’t know where they get their animals.
“Most come from wholesalers who have thousands of animals coming through each year with a high chance of disease and mites,” he says. “Captive breeders like me know when the animal was hatched, how often it was fed and what. We can tell what sex it is, and we know it’s clean and disease-free. We can also provide care information long after the sale.”
DeMeyer stresses the importance of information, and his website is loaded with it. He says the most important thing in buying a reptile is educating yourself about the food and environment it needs before you buy.
“The geckos I offer for sale can live for 30 years or more,” he says. “It’s very important they get the right environment and care. I’ve worked hard to take proper care of them. I don’t want to send them out to someone who is unprepared.”
DeMeyer only sells the reptiles, not the cages, food or other inputs needed. He says he has enough problems getting all the rodents he needs for his breeding population. “We have four rodent breeders making weekly deliveries of live rats and mice, plus we buy a large quantity of frozen rodents for the snakes,” says DeMeyer.
Although DeMeyer doesn’t normally do retail sales at his location, he does offer open houses once or twice a year. At those, people can buy animals, and occasionally he has equipment for sale as well.
Like any good livestock breeder, DeMeyer is aggressively breeding for quality and value, and that includes color. In fact, he has reported crossing select snakes to produce never before seen colors in the species.
Prices on his website vary according to the number of animals, if offered as a group, as well as the rarity of the species and its coloration. He has sold snakes for as little as $32 on up with one selling for more than $15,000. Geckos vary from $85 to $225 generally. However, one that was listed as a “very rare” white gecko was priced at $400.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Royal Constrictor Designs, 3917 E. Wausau Ave., Wausau, Wis. 54403
(ph 715 845-5545; garrick@crestedgecko.com; www.royalconstrictordesigns.com; www.crestedgecko.com).
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He Turned His Hobby Into Thriving Business SPECIALTY/SERVICES Garrick DeMeyer has turned a childhood passion into a full-time business He’s a captive breeder of harmless species of snakes and lizards That means he doesn’t buy and resell any animals imported or domestically bred only those he has bred and hatched out himself “I’ll hatch out 1 500 to 2 000 ball pythons and 1 000 geckos this year and sell most of them before next season’s eggs hatch ” says DeMeyer Most sales are direct to customers who visit DeMeyer’s website where they’re often able to pick out the snake lizard or group of reptiles they want Buying direct from a captive breeder has distinct advantages over other sources suggests DeMeyer He notes that some pet shops are very knowledgeable and provide good quality but may not stay in business Others don’t know more than the manual tells them and you don’t know where they get their animals “Most come from wholesalers who have thousands of animals coming through each year with a high chance of disease and mites ” he says “Captive breeders like me know when the animal was hatched how often it was fed and what We can tell what sex it is and we know it’s clean and disease-free We can also provide care information long after the sale ” DeMeyer stresses the importance of information and his website is loaded with it He says the most important thing in buying a reptile is educating yourself about the food and environment it needs before you buy “The geckos I offer for sale can live for 30 years or more ” he says “It’s very important they get the right environment and care I’ve worked hard to take proper care of them I don’t want to send them out to someone who is unprepared ” DeMeyer only sells the reptiles not the cages food or other inputs needed He says he has enough problems getting all the rodents he needs for his breeding population “We have four rodent breeders making weekly deliveries of live rats and mice plus we buy a large quantity of frozen rodents for the snakes ” says DeMeyer Although DeMeyer doesn’t normally do retail sales at his location he does offer open houses once or twice a year At those people can buy animals and occasionally he has equipment for sale as well Like any good livestock breeder DeMeyer is aggressively breeding for quality and value and that includes color In fact he has reported crossing select snakes to produce never before seen colors in the species Prices on his website vary according to the number of animals if offered as a group as well as the rarity of the species and its coloration He has sold snakes for as little as $32 on up with one selling for more than $15 000 Geckos vary from $85 to $225 generally However one that was listed as a “very rare” white gecko was priced at $400 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Royal Constrictor Designs 3917 E Wausau Ave Wausau Wis 54403
ph 715 845-5545; garrick@crestedgecko com; www royalconstrictordesigns com; www crestedgecko com
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