McAdam said the snake and her babies were worth thousands of dollars, and he’s had her for years. “He called me at 4 o’clock crying and screaming, saying that they killed my snake,” said Bill McAdam. “You killed something that wasn’t illegal.” “How? I reminded you ten times!” says Coffee. “What is wrong with you guys?” Coffee says. “Oh, my God that guy is gonna flip out!” Coffee is heard saying on the video. They tell Coffee, who was in a back office. Seconds later, Coffee’s cellphone video shows shock on the officers’ faces as they realize they shot the boa - a pregnant boa that Coffee said was still moving. They would not harm the boa constrictor.”īut watch the video, and see the officers pull the boa out of the holding tank, and… Both officers were here at the time,” said Coffee, “and they agreed, yes, that it was a boa constrictor. “I showed them the label, what it says here. Knowing that his pythons, now considered illegal, would likely be euthanized, he said he made very clear there was one snake they need not touch: a boa constrictor named Big Shirl, legal in Florida, and owned by his business partner. “So I basically had to do whatever they said,” he said. “I really didn’t know what to expect,” said snake breeder Chris Coffee.Ĭoffee is a partner in a reptile breeding company, and after a long legal battle with the FWC, he agreed to allow officers to visit his Broward County facility. Now, my business is almost exclusively focused on producing the highest quality, most beautiful Ball Pythons in the world! I look forward to working with you on your ball python project.On the video, you can hear a penetrating bolt gun used to kill pythons with a shot to the head. I had Ball Pythons, Boa Constrictors, Carpet Pythons, various colubrids, and more.Įventually, my interest swayed towards Ball Python Morphs so much that I decided to move out of most of the other projects. I started producing large numbers of Leopard Geckos, Crested Geckos, Bearded Dragons, and Veiled Chameleons and I had other species as well. In April 2000, I had built up my collection and learned enough to turn my part-time business into a full-time career. I learned invaluable information about how to run a successful business in reptiles. I continued to work for the local Pet Store for most of the next four years, with a small break to work for Ty Park with his breeding/wholesale reptile business in Illinois. In 1996, I graduated from UWSP with a bachelor’s degree in Biology and I had taken some business courses as well. Those experiences were truly inspiring and gave me the courage to attempt to do something as strange as breeding reptiles for a living. I was also able to visit Dave and Tracy Barker’s facility as well as Ron Tremper’s. While in college, I was able to do internships at the Sedgewick County Zoo in Wichita, KS, and the Houston Zoo. ![]() I was successful at it and that success opened the flood gates to my future of becoming a full-time reptile breeder. I started to understand that there was a huge demand for quality, captive-bred reptiles, so I decided to start breeding some Giant Day Geckos in my dorm room. Around that same time, I started attending Lee Watson’s Reptile Swap in Illinois, and I also started working at a local pet Store in Schofield WI. ![]() While I was on a school trip to Costa Rica in 1993, I realized I had to have a career working with reptiles. When I started college at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point, I had no idea that I could breed reptiles, let alone turn it into a successful business. ![]() Growing up in the 70s and 80s, there weren’t any captive-bred reptiles available, but I always kept a small collection, mostly lizards, as pets in display cages in my bedroom. I have been fascinated with reptiles and amphibians my entire life.
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