DEMOCRAT & CHRONICLE (Rochester, New York) 27 July 08 Spencerport shop educates people about reptiles (Mark Hare)
Spencerport: A high-definition video camera catches the blessed moments — the hatching of three Australian bearded dragon lizards.
The footage, says Scott Oechsle, owner of the Captive Life Forms reptile shop in Spencerport Village Plaza, could become part of a program on the popular lizards that could find its way to one of the many cable programs or networks that can't get enough of real-life animals.
It's the latest venture for The Reptile Guys, as they call themselves, says Scott's father, Gary, who once owned his own pet store and petting zoo. The hook, says Gary Oechsle, is to produce shows that are truly informative but also entertaining, and to back them up with a Web site that is full of information about the animals in question, along with detailed information about caring for them as pets.
That's what is often missing when people buy reptiles as pets, both Oechsles say. Captive Life Forms is a retail pet store, but it's home to snakes and other reptiles that cannot be sold in New York. Many are larger snakes used in shows (The Reptile Guys do as many as 400 shows a year at schools, day cares, libraries, birthday parties, and scout gatherings.)
The store is also a good place to learn the dos and don'ts of reptile care. The Bearded Dragons, six to eight inches long when fully grown, and the smaller Lawson's Dragons make good pets, Scott Oechsle says. Both are gentle and neither gets huge.
Both eat greens and can be fed inexpensively, he says. "But you can't give them spinach because it stops them from retaining calcium, and one of the most common problems for lizards is metabolic bone disease."
Moreover, if you're going to have lizards, he says, you need to spring for the $50 mercury vapor bulbs for the heat lamps. "They need that light to absorb the calcium," he says.
Iquanas, he says, "make the worst pets." Because they are popular, the store has some in stock, but they grow fast, "can get mean and bite." Often owners then become neglectful, which makes them unsocial and even meaner.
"Even when you tell people what to expect, they still want them," Oechsle says.
Tortoises make better pets than turtles, he says matter-of-factly. Tortoises live on land and are generally vegetarian. Tortoises are easier to care for and friendlier than many turtles that often snap at people. But tortoises, like the Bearded dragons and Lawson's lizards, are more expensive. Prices vary, but they are not as cheap as the $19.99 turtles some customers want.
Of course there are individual exceptions. Crush, an 8-year-old New Guinea Plateless turtle loves to be pet and have his back rubbed, says Gary. "He seems to have a personality."
The Reptile Guys also have alligators for their shows. Unlike the salt water crocodiles, with longer pointed snouts, the American alligator is "generally super nice," Scott says. But when they reach a certain size, they are typically passed on to the state Department of Conservation, which finds new homes for them.
A 10-year-old Dwarf Caiman alligator is also a big hit in the shows. As Scott rubs him, he arches his back much as a cat will. "Usually, they are super mean," he says, "but not this one. He's always been nice."
For the Oechsles, reptiles are a real passion. But not everyone should own one, and some states, with less restrictive laws than New York, let ordinary people own venomous snakes and even alligators. They're dangerous and when they are grown, those same people, when they can't find a suitable home for them, abandon them.
The snakes can be good pets, Scott says. "They eat once a week, they hang out with you and they don't make much mess," he says.
But educating the consumer is more important than selling pet reptiles, Scott says. "A guy came in at 4:45 the other day and said he wanted a snake. And I said, 'You're not getting one now.'" The buyers, he says, need to know how to properly care for the animal and they need to have the proper tanks and equipment to raise them humanely and well. That drives up the cost, but it's the only way to go, he says.
Spencerport shop educates people about reptiles