Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was talking to a friend of mine that so happens to be a rodent
breeder. More of an aquaintance, but he is a cool guy. Anyways
he called me tonight talking about wanting to open a Reptile
Shop (my dream!) where I dabble is most reptiles in general, also
more exotic, with cheap rats! He wants to make a rodent room so
we can help all the other people one day for better than reason-
able prices. I just had to tell you guys because Portland Oregon
is NOT KNOWN for reptiles.... at all. I would be so excited if I
were the one to getting Protland hip to reptiles! We are going
to do children education as well, because they are the upcoming
generation, and kids LOVE this kind of stuff! I am just so so
so excited about all of this. I am hoping by next year to have
this set up. The most exotic things I have seen was a Brazilian
Boa, and a Albino Ball Python... IM GOING TO CHANGE THAT!!
Thanks to all who read and hope my happiness wears off on YOU!!
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

There is one "all" Reptile shop in Oregon that I know of. I used to be the manager. I can tell you it is tough to start and get business. Reptiles are a growing hobby in Oregon. The hard part is knowing what to have in the shop. You arent going to sell very expensive crazy morphs in a shop for a few reasons. I wish you all the luck and hope you can get it going. It would be nice to have more Reptile shops here. Just means more people learning about and getting into keeping them.

Its all about the 10-20-250 dollar animals that sell the most.
The exotic looking stuff would be more for show unless the
right person came through. Its all about the cheaper animals, and
WAY CHEAPER rats! Have a good one, and thanks for replying!
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Sounds sweet! Is Symetry [sic] Exotics going to be the name?

I have researched and no one has that name. I thought for years
what my 'name' would be and one day this came to mind!
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Any significance to the altered spelling?

and I hope that you will realize yours Sounds like a fun thing Kenny.....good luck
-----
Joel Thomas

Don't tread on me!

This has been a Long Term Goal that I have had for myself for
EVER. These are my life period, and if I can make a diffrence in
1 persons life, WORTH IT! Thanks Joel, and have a good one
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Sounds like a wonderful idea and dream that could hopefully come true !

. . . Lar M
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Boas By Klevitz
Boas By Klevitz

Thanks for the support brother!
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Go for it! Pet shops get a bad rap because there are more bad ones than good ones but it's the good ones that keep this industry growing. This is a wonderful hobby- Just think of all of the people missing out on this fun because they don't even know it exists! Just run a clean shop, keep the mites out, and teach people how to care for their animals properly. There are so many quality CBB reptiles available that you don't even need to deal with wild caught these days. It's not easy to get rich selling low end animals out of a retail location but when you think about how much nicer your shop can be than that other dirty one that's been in business for 20 years, it's possible with a bit of effort.

Good luck man!

I totally hope I will be that 'good' shop. You are 100% correct
about that! There is only 1 shop (40 or so minutes away) in our
area that is worth while. It maks me mad about how these shmo's
dont give ANY customer service, and keeps a nasty environment
and expects people like me to go there and purchase something.
Rats HELL NO! Probably has a disease.
My main focus is the up and coming generation of little people
who has an idea of what they are on TV, but has never seen them
in person. I always chat and chat and chat (you know it Dave,
Eric, Ty, and Andy- the best guys, the best) and always take
the time to tell my friends kids/parents about these wonderful
creations. As long as they have questions, my mouth will keep
running, unless I do not have an answer, but could make a promise
to try to contact someone else who might have the answer and
get in touch promptly. I just feel if you love these things and
have the enthousiasm behind it, we should go far. A lot of people
OVERCHARGE for their stuff, example- Baby RTB: $129.99 - $250.00
WOW! I can see if it is unusual, but that is greedy and NO FLOW
will come through that way. At least on a constant basis. I just
hope I put no one out of business, I would feel horrible. There
is one shop here inparticular that I would be devastated, just
I have MAD RESPECT for them, and if it did happen, I would
probably either buy their place and keep them employed, or Link
together somehow(now this is not arrogant, people tell me this
is the way life is with business's so I would be preparing for
the worst). I guess I just think about other people first before
me, maybe that will bless me later on.
Thans Kyle for giving me a voice for a minute. I just hope my
dream will come into a reality, and get to share my love with
other people - **true happiness**

*****The American Dream*****
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Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

The trick is charging enough to make money and not to much. I havent seen a wholesale list for almost 2 years but last time I did baby BRBs were still $100-$120. You cant charge $25 more than that and stay in business. Thats just one of the balancing acts you have to do as a retail store.

Totally in agreeance with you there friend. But when you get
baby redtails from a wholesale I have seen as low as 32 a piece
and if I charged 79.99 or some number like that to throw, it
would be benificial to me and the customer. If I make enough to
earn an average living, Im blessed. My buddy Aaron that will be
doing the rodents and such will be on a MASS SCALE so prices will
drop down there too. A lot. Instead of charging 6-10 bucks for
a large rat, I would go like 3.50-4.50 single, and a break as
the number of rodents rises because for that rats life would be
worth about $1 maybe 2 and if they are really cheap and sell in
more numbers, it kinda evens out. Little plots and Ploys lol! I
just want to give people a break when I can and make friends
doing it. I just cant wait to do Birthday Parties and such, but
I need to get sweet hearted animals and such, but I m thinking
WAY TOO FAR AHEAD for that right now lol!
Thanks for your response bro and hope to talk in the future!
-----
Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Just know that it doesnt always work like that. You arent always going to find baby boas for $32 for example. You have to have a fully stocked shop so it doesnt look empty and there are VERY few good wholesalers. I do wish you luck just dont get ahead of yourself and be ready to put in many many hours for the first few years. It is a hard road at times. Having a store front is MUCH more difficult than selling online. Doing some breeding yourself to help stock the shop with animals will help as well. Are you thinking of doing it in Portland or the surrounding areas?

Thanks for all the kind words buddy. I was thinking somewhere
around Portland, like Milwaukie or something close to the big
city. Big cities are always so packed, so I would like to have a
place that has good enough parking for 10-20 cars so they dont
have to think about where they are going to park or if it even
worth the trip a spending a few bucks elsewhere for conveinience.

I would be doing a bunch of breedings of all sorts in time, and
hopefully making it a little easier. I know I am not thinking
of all the main stuff, but I hope it will all work out in the
end
-----
Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Just make sure its close to freeway access and easy to find. Good luck.

I was thinking the same thing. THANKS BRO! Have a good one.
-----
Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Congrats and Good luck!

As far as other Oregon reptile retailers near Portland, I know there is a reptile shop called House of Reptiles, in Tigard I believe. I actually live near Bend,OR, where there is a small reptile specialty shop called Reptile Zone that sells bread and butter type reptiles with an exotic or two mixed in from time to time.

The only other one I know of personally, is owned by a breeder friend of mine in Grants Pass,OR; called MB Reptiles. They just moved their location a bit and expanded their store. I think they are doing fairly well. I think their success in the more expensive exotics is also due to online sales as well as selling out of a store. That way you have more buyers for higher end stuff, especially if you breed it yourself, but you can keep them in the store to draw attention while selling them online. Works well that way I think!

I hope it works out and I look forward to stopping in, in the future, when it is up and running!

-----
Steph S.
Boas...
1.1 Albino boas (Loki & Hope)
1.1 Sunglow (Rojo and Temperance (25% Suriname))
1.4 07 Het. albino boas (Petty & Lady,Sierra,Madeline,Lola)
0.1 Reverse stripe poss. het albino (Cookie)
0.1 Salmon/hypo (Scarlet)
1.0 Anery (Reno)
1.0 Probable Super Salmontine(Kahn)
0.1 Salmontine (Sonya)
2.0 DH Sunglow (Gabrielle and Dumah)
1.0 Hypo het anery (Don Juan)
1.1 07 Hypo pos. triple hets (Rico Suave & Pumpkin)
1.0.1 Het. Anery (Guy & ?)
0.1 2007 Mostly striped boa (Andromeda)
0.3 Normals (Ophelia, Sasha, & Lulu)
1.0 Surinames (Solomon & Surreal(deceased)
1.3 Hog Isles (Mr.Orange & Peaches, Tang, Isis)
0.0.1 Central American (Sassy)
1.0 ATB (Satan... seriously!)
Pythons...
2.1 GTPs (B., Monty & Jewel)
0.0.2 BPs ( Precious, Houdini)
1.2 Carpet Pythons (Jackson, Charlotte, & Cassandra)
1.2 Blood python (Akaia, Thorn, Elliot)
1.1 Borneo Blood Pythons (Donovan and Deanna)
1.2 Children's Pythons (Spot, Freckle and Speckle)
Misc.
1.1 Mandarin Ratsnakes (Jack & Jill)
1.0 Boxer/Pitt Mutt (Tyson)
1.0 Saharan Uromastyx

Thanks for the comments, House of Reptiles is a nice shop, never
been to MB except seeing him at a show once or twice. I would be
honored to have you stop by once I can get this happening! A lot
of work, but will be MY AMERICAN DREAM! LOL!! Being in a room of
Boas and other reptiles is 'heaven' and you cant get any better
than that!! Especially when you can talk to all the people that
come in about the things you love! I have so many Ideas, now I
just have to DO IT!! I am trying to get a grant, so we will see
-----
Kenny Bowman

"Symetry Exotics"
Honesty is the only route to TRUE respect, anything else is unacceptable....

Yea, Matts business is mostly online and at shows.