In the early 1980's I was involved in the selling and keeping of exotic birds, a hobby since early childhood. As time went by my interests transgressed into reptiles and amphibians. At the age of sixteen I began traveling in search of fine reptile species to bring back to the UK for both commercial and propagation motives. These early years took me to Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Singapore and Thailand. This time was valuable as it led me to a greater understanding of how reptiles and amphibians live in the wild and how we can replicate these habitats in our captive environments. Time spent with our overseas colleagues also put me in a great position for hands on venomous species training.
By the late eighties I had set up a business near Swindon Wilts. selling a diverse range of reptiles (including a large collection of venomous species), birds and aquatics, serving customers throughout the UK. In 1991 I abandoned all other varieties of livestock to concentrate solely on reptiles and amphibians. We moved to a much larger site located in Cirencester T/A Tropifauna, and began to stock a wide range of herpetological accessories and books. At this time we were selecting many of our species from the USA with up to 12 shipments a year, consisting increasingly of captive bred individuals.
Realising the importance of captive breeding we set up a reproductive facility in Cheltenham maintaining colubrids, boas and pythons and various lizards. Initially we produced Corns, Kings, Milks, Leopard Geckos, Yemen Chameleons, Royal Pythons, Jungle Carpet Pythons, Frilled Dragons, Bearded Dragons, Day Geckos, Plumed Basilisks, etc., then in more recent years; Bredls Pythons, Diamond Pythons, Coral Cobras, Velvet Geckos, Giant Knob Tailed Geckos, Uromastyx and Dwarf Monitor species.
Around 1997 we were spending so much time at the captive breeding facility we decided to relocate the store to Cheltenham and commenced trading as Aztec Reptiles. By now we were providing many of our own offspring for sale in the store and supplementing with stock from breeders around the Continent. Our sales of venomous species had also grown and we were working with many exciting species including Collett's Black's, Red Bellied's, Tigers, King Cobras, Waglers, Death Adders and Eyelash Vipers. Our traveling throughout Europe also triggered an interest in naturalistic terrarium design and the all glass European style terraria.
By 2002 we were busting at the seams and needed to relocate again to larger premises. On December 16th 2002 we re-opened at our current site, a brand new custom built unit 2 minutes from the M5 junctions 10 and 11. The extra space has allowed us to stock an even wider range of terrariums and accessories, living plants, t-shirts, books, videos and of course; reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Over the years our ideas and opinions toward the captive care of reptiles has modified, as has our facilities to market them. Technologies and information have all come a long way allowing us to give our animals the greatest level of care and our customers the very highest degree of support and back up. Our mission statement is:
In today's climate of environmental awareness, we at Cotswold Reptile Centre Ltd endorse and actively promote the proper care, captive and reproductive maintenance of reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Herpetoculture is responsible for a wealth of knowledge and experience in conservation techniques. It's our business to provide our customers with the very best quality specimens together with the feeds, equipment, housing, literature and information necessary to continue and expand the role that herpetoculture plays in modern day conservation.
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