David Spicer and David Mead said they noticed a lack of facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth area that provided food and care for their reptilian pets. This led Spicer to open DFW Reptarium in April 2014, hiring Mead as his general manager. The store sells reptile species of all types as well as chameleons, lizards, frogs, snakes and spiders, terrariums and other supplies.

“It got frustrating to just wait for trade shows to come to town to go and get the quality stuff that we needed,” Spicer said. “We are bringing amphibian feeders of Plano out of the shadows.”

When Mead and Spicer decided to open the pet store to primarily sell reptiles and amphibians, some people suggested they offer other animals as well, Spicer said. Being reptile enthusiasts and having researched different ways of caring for various species, however, the men decided to focus their inventory solely on the animals they love the most, Spicer said.

The animals at DFW Reptarium are locally born and bred in captivity. Spicer said they decided to stay away from importing since wild animals tend to not thrive as well in captivity.

“The animals that are born in captivity are used to the food we feed them. They are used to the conditions that we provide for them, and they thrive and do a lot better,” he said. “Our real passion for opening this shop was to get young people [interested], and the last way to get a young person into this hobby is to sell them a sick, unhealthy animal.”

Most of DFW Reptarium’s business comes from its sale of feeders, or the food that reptiles and amphibians eat. Its inventory includes live and frozen rodents, worms and insects.

“We are the only grocery store for reptile-keepers,” Mead said. “It’s a pretty diverse group of people, too. Reptile people come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.”

Mead said he was about 4 years old when he found a rough earth snake while playing outside one day. His parents helped him bring the snake home, created a shelter for it in a large plastic bin and let Mead care for it.

“And that’s it. I had to have every book on snakes, lizards or frogs. It’s just been the driving force of my life every since, really,” Mead said.

Like Mead, Spicer has been a fan of reptiles since childhood and has about 80 pet snakes at home. Spicer’s six children also grew up passionate about taking care of their pets, he said. For Mead and Spicer, the store is a way to not only care for these animals but also to interact with others who share a passion for these types of species. In the near future—perhaps this summer—Mead said they plan to organize a field trip to western Texas where they and fellow enthusiasts can observe various species in their natural habitats.

“My goal eventually would be to expand the business and actually have more of an exhibition-type area with ... zoo-class animals and exhibits—housing the animals that we don’t sell,” Spicer said.