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Robert Coral holds up a Tegu Argentine lizard at The Serpentarium in Lodi. Coral is the new owner of the shop, and has brought a few changes to the table with the new, improved store and museum. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)
Creepy crawlers on the move in Lodi
New owner looking to expand appeal of reptile store
Robert Coral reaches into a terrarium and picks up an ink-black emperor scorpion that's a few inches long and has a stinger the size of a pen point.
He pulls the twisting creature from the case and places it in the palm of his hand as it snaps at the air with its pincers.
While intimidating, the sting of this scorpion results in only slight pain, and Coral said they would make a great starter pet for someone interested in owning exotic pets.
For Coral, the "wow" (or "ick") factor of having reptiles and invertebrates as pets is one of the reasons he started collecting them as a teenager.
"Everybody has dogs and cats, but nobody has a three-inch cockroach," he said.
The scorpions and cockroaches are some of the new critters that Coral has brought to The Serpentarium in south Lodi. Coral recently purchased the business from Bill Gillingham, who ran the store as the Great Valley Serpentarium for years.
Coral, a Patterson resident, spent 12 years working for IBM in the Silicon Valley before he decided to get out of corporate life.
"This is my love," Coral said, waving his arms in the direction of the store's countless display cases, filled with snakes, frogs, tortoises and lizards. "The IT industry was mainly for the money."
When Gillingham decided to retire, Coral was ready to buy out the shop and took over on May 1, retaining the store's four employees. Coral has added a few more display cases and the invertebrate room, and is expanding into a nearby location to offer space for parties that would feature his reptiles. He also has plans to host a regular reptile show so other dealers can display their living wares.
The first snake that sparked Coral's interest in reptiles when he was a teen was a red tail boa.
"After I got that, I was hooked," he said. "I had a mini-zoo in my bedroom in a month."
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Coral, 32, owns several large reptiles that he uses as breeding stock to raise animals for sale.
One of his anacondas, for example, had a "clutch" of 43 baby snakes last year and is pregnant again, Coral said.
The eggs are cared for in a nursery, and when the snakes hatch and are ready for sale, they're moved out into display cases on the shop floor. A young "hypo boa" was selling for $275.
More affordable reptiles included a white snake with dark spots, known as a spotted California King, for $50, and bearded dragon lizards for $45.
Coral raises most of his animals, but does order a few. None are from the wild.
The shop is clean and well-lit, and its multiple display cases and variety of animals gives it a feel of a museum.
In addition to the animals, Coral offers all types of feed animals, including insects and mice, and he will board people's pets as well.
He said his specialty is the invertebrates. Coral sells 27 species of roaches that can be used as feed or for display. In addition to the emperor scorpion, the shop also sells the exotic-looking tailless whip scorpion, from the caves of Madagascar. The animal has long feelers that extend from its midsection, which it uses to feel around and find food.
The Serpentarium
Address: 2379 Maggio Circle, Unit CHours: Tuesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Monday.
Phone: 369-7737
Web site: www.snakemuseum.com
The big reptiles, however, steal the show. Two of the shop's employees, Brandon Gideon and Ryan Cecil, strained to hoist up a huge albino reticulated python that weighs about 180 pounds and looked to be a good 13 or 14 feet long.
An Argentine Tegu lizard appeared ferocious, but Coral called it the "puppy dog" of big lizards. The white and black lizard opened its jaws into a fierce-looking grin.
"You can put these guys on a leash and walk them down the street," Coral said.
Contact City Editor Andrew Adams at andrewa@lodinews.com.
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Lodian wrote on Jul 9, 2009 12:26 PM:
TheSerpentarium wrote on Jul 8, 2009 12:57 PM:
I don't feel that I have been "snippy" with any of my replies, just honest. Receiving ignorant comments from biased people who are obviously uneducated about reptiles can be a little testing at times, but this is one of the many reasons why The Serpentarium is so great; anyone can stop by at any time and fully educate themselves on various species of reptiles and broaden their knowledge/understanding of these wonderful creatures.
It was also mentioned whether or not Lodi needs this sort of business. The Serpentarium has had it's doors open in Lodi for almost 20 years now. "
Lodian wrote on Jul 6, 2009 11:05 PM:
dogbark wrote on Jul 6, 2009 2:39 PM:
oh wait, they acually love all those critters. Some later buy one and through care and nurture of the creature actually earn the Reptile Merit Badge. (Statistically, most Boy Scouts are adolescents, so that's the reason, I'll bet.) "
TheSerpentarium wrote on Jul 5, 2009 7:31 AM:
The report does have a couple of minor errors, like I'm 31 not 32, and I can see where you feel that I'm "taking credit" for breeding the Anaconda last year. However, what you're ignoring is that I did not write the article. It was an interview and the reporter wrote the story in his own words. Obviously I wasn't the one who bred it last year when I just purchased the business 2 months ago.
Nobody works harder than I do there. I've been there countless times past midnight fixing it up. Bill is of great help, but what you don't know is that he comes in only a few times a week for just a few hours. I'm there many hours before and after business hours, every single day.
Also, 90% of the large animals in the store now I brought in myself, and I've been breeding many animals for over a decade. I also own/run the most popular online reptile community; reptilegeeks.com
Wannabe? Research. "
Rhodie wrote on Jul 4, 2009 8:53 AM:
From the article:
"Coral, 32, owns several large reptiles that he uses as breeding stock to raise animals for sale.
One of his anacondas, for example, had a "clutch" of 43 baby snakes last year and is pregnant again, Coral said."
'nough saide. Just admit you are bitter that an 'outsider' bought a Lodi owned store. You are attacking a man (calling him a "wanna be" and a "peacock") who spent his hard earned money on a small local business that otherwise would have closed. Are you there after hours? Do you know how many hours he actually puts in? Do you sit in his office and listen to his conversations? Have you toured his breeding facilities? Nope. You base your judgement of this new business owner only on a few minutes observation and the fact that he actually bought the store. "
brnhrbyuti wrote on Jul 4, 2009 7:59 AM:
MR CORAL for shame! The only recognition you give a giant in our reptile world is that you admired his cleanliness and then pat yourself on the back for all the animals that you bred in there! You didn't breed any of those babies. You had nothing to do with the anaconda's clutch of babies. I have been to the store man times now, I have seen the changes that do not even come close to the blood sweet and tears Bill put into it! And actually who's sweat is it? Yours or our employees. I've been in there after you bought the place and saw Bill doing more hard work than you. You danced around like a peacock. "
brnhrbyuti wrote on Jul 4, 2009 7:44 AM:
I guess "brnhrbyuti" would have prefered Gillingham just retire and those four employees lose their jobs and all the animals be destroyed. "
No That is not what I meant and any person minor intelligence would know that. First of all Bill Gillingham may have been ready to retire but he would never have just closed his doors and destroyed all those animals. I wrote in regards that I felt that the new owner, Coral should have given the just recognition of who really created that place, not act like a "wanna be" and say he is the big breeder. The article states "Coral raises most of his animals, but does order a few. None are from the wild." The man just purchased the shop he did not do any of the raising at that time. and to state nothing comes from the wild there are several species of reptiles in that shop that are new to the shop that are not captive bred. Water snakes and nile monitors for example. If the niles were captive bred they would be so much more expensive. "
Rhodie wrote on Jul 3, 2009 10:53 AM:
You just bought a very successful and well established business that was built on someone else's sweat and tears."
From teh article:
"When Gillingham decided to retire, Coral was ready to buy out the shop and took over on May 1, retaining the store's four employees."
I guess "brnhrbyuti" would have prefered Gillingham just retire and those four employees lose their jobs and all the animals be destroyed. "
Rhodie wrote on Jul 3, 2009 10:50 AM:
Last time I was to the Serpentarium they had some water turtles. Kids thought they were just wonderful. Are they difficult pets to keep? "
TheSerpentarium wrote on Jul 3, 2009 8:34 AM:
When snakes get large, they'll gladly take down multiple meals per sitting. In fact, it's easier for a snake to digest multiple smaller meals rather than a large one.
Bill Gillingham was not only mentioned by the reporter, but also in the video by me when I stated that it was the cleanest store I've ever been to and that I loved the way he kept it up. I purchased the business and remodeled. If you stop by you'll see the big difference. I've put in my own blood, sweat and tears and am completely entitled to my own efforts.
Bill stops by quite often and still enjoys the hobby just as he always has, working with his special snake projects.
It's also worth mentioning that there was a list of people who wanted to purchase the business and Bill felt that I was the best fit, for a reason. "
brnhrbyuti wrote on Jul 3, 2009 6:51 AM:
We in California, baring major global warming DO NOT have to worry about pythons being able to live successfully here (and if it became that warm here we in California won't have to worry about snakes, we will all be under water) "
brnhrbyuti wrote on Jul 3, 2009 6:42 AM:
You just bought a very successful and well established business that was built on someone else's sweat and tears. "
dogs4you wrote on Jul 2, 2009 10:26 PM:
As far as PETA is concerning, feed `em to the boa`s.
Really, what do you feed a 180 lb. snake weezer, if their rats, ohhhh baby they must be some big suck`ers.
Hard to take a snake for a walk, and do they come back when called. OK enough good night "
weezer wrote on Jul 2, 2009 9:27 PM:
Robert, thanks for the very informative post. Always, it's owner responsibility that matters most. "
TheSerpentarium wrote on Jul 2, 2009 7:07 PM:
7.) Large snakes will NOT eat anything. In fact, there's only a few things they'll eat. No offense, but making such a statement clearly shows the lack of knowledge on the subject.
8.) California has nothing to worry about when it comes to large snakes being released or escaping into the wild, as they wouldn't have any chance of survival with our cold nights. Absolutely zero chance of thriving here. Another example of poor knowledge (again, no offense).
9.) A snake museum is NOT how snakes get introduced into the wild, it's always due to irresponsible people (don't forget internet sales). We educate people and always take back unwanted animals that get too big.
Lastly, if you've never been to The Serpentarium, I highly recommend stopping by. I'm sure you'll leave with a different opinion, or at least gain a more open mind on the subject.
Thanks,
Robert "
TheSerpentarium wrote on Jul 2, 2009 7:05 PM:
Firstly, I'd like to thank the Lodi News-Sentinel for taking the time to stop by and do a story on our Living Reptile Museum. We enjoyed showing you around and greatly appreciate it!
I'd like to now take the time to hopefully educate anyone who's willing to open their minds and learn more about the reptile world.
1.) We DO NOT and would not feed our snakes puppies or kittens. We breed our own mice and rats for our animals and customers'.
2.) We ALWAYS educate our customers when purchasing any animal.
3.) Why snakes? Many reasons; much less expensive than a dog (weekly, monthly, etc.); very easy maintenance; some people are allergic to dogs/cats; people like different things and have different interests; and so on.
4.) Most anyone who owns snakes are natural animal lovers and own/love their dogs just as much.
5.) Dogs make great pets, but you cannot ignore the fact that FAR more people die from dogs each year than snakes.
Continued on next post... "
Lodian wrote on Jul 2, 2009 6:04 PM:
dogs4you wrote on Jul 2, 2009 4:19 PM:
Dogbark makes the most sence, espcially the last sentence. There trying to hammer out a budget as I type. "
Rhodie wrote on Jul 2, 2009 3:46 PM:
They can do a whole lot more than fish can.
As for snakes eating babies, aside from stories out of Africa and Asia where WILD snakes get a hold of them. More babies are attacked per pet by dogs than snakes.
So, Dogs, if you are looking at a safty stand point, ditch the labs and buy a snake. A milk snake might be a good fit. I know I've got plenty of frogs in the backyard to feed them. And since they don't eat anything bigger than a small rat then the babies are perfectly safe. "
dogbark wrote on Jul 2, 2009 3:39 PM:
Thats because first they eat rodents, then small dogs and cats, then children, and by that time you want to get them out of the house so you elect them to office. "
dogs4you wrote on Jul 2, 2009 2:58 PM:
MHRC wrote on Jul 2, 2009 2:19 PM:
dogs4you wrote on Jul 2, 2009 1:51 PM:
WCPatty wrote on Jul 2, 2009 10:20 AM:
jramagic wrote on Jul 2, 2009 8:24 AM:
Comments on this story are now closed.