ABOUT

The Story Behind Us

When we started this adventure into the reptile world we never thought we would be where we are today. As we reflect back to how everything played out it still amazes us.We started as most in the reptile hobby do, a love for dinosaurs as a  kid growing up, to exploring the out doors in search of the next “cool” animal, to having them as pets as we became older and lived on our own (bless our parents for living through that time haha!) Its always been a curiosity, a love, an adventure for the scaley, creepy crawlies. Now, being older and able to share it with our spouse it has definitely expanded, to say the least.

We, Jim and Anna Ward, were married in the fall of 2013 where together we grew that love and passion for reptiles, specifically, boa constrictors and ball pythons with some other species throughout. We got our first few pets in the beginning and as we researched and found out just how large the reptile community was, we were thrilled! So, a few pets became a few more pets, became a few breeding projects, then our first time vending a show. Believe it or not, our first time vending a show was not to sell snakes. This is pretty funny when you think about it now… Our first time vending a show was selling reptile enclosures! 

That’s right! From day one you could say, we set our course toward cage/rack building without even knowing it. Crazy, huh?! We just so happened to come across a person on craigslist that had a bunch of enclosures for sale so of course we contacted him. Come to find out, he had just won a storage locker from an auction that was filled with reptile enclosures! It was every reptile keepers dream, haha!! We don’t remember the exact number but there were over 20 vision, boa master, and other enclosures as well as supplies in this locker. Both used and brand new, still in the box!! We couldn’t pass it up. We gave the guy a low offer because you know…. We reptile keepers are always out of money, just picking… haha! He took it! And we made the trek across the state to pick them all up. THAT is what started our adventure! We sold just about every single one of those enclosures. Of course, we kept a few for our own collection but who knew we would start with selling cages to now making and building our own?!

 Its crazy to think about it but so awesome and humbling to recount the journey to where we were to where we are now. Now after we sold that “treasure” we did concentrate on breeding boas and ball pythons and soon created Color Crazed Constrictors. We enjoyed vending shows with our snakes! We really fell in love with the interaction with the people who would visit us at the shows, and the vendors we became friends with. It was always a great experience when we went to the shows… except the set up… and the take down. It took us about 2 hours before and after the shows. Of course, we didn’t help the matter by taking all kinds of other things but, the set up of just the animals themselves was too long. So, this is where the wheels started turning. 

The seed that was already planted was growing and about to blossom. Just needed a little more time, nurturing and feeding before it was in full bloom! It was the conception of THE ALL-IN-ONE NEXT-LEVEL DISPLAY! It had lights, it had a collapsible carry case, it had the acrylics, but most importantly, it had HEAT!! No more setting up the boxes to create the tiered level layout. No more laying out the heat to a thermostat to keep the animals warm in the cold A/C venue. No more clamping down the ”office” lights to the table. Now we just needed to transfer the info from the brain to a design on the computer.

That’s when we called in a favor from some of our engineering friends to help take this design and make it come alive! In 2018 the first prototype was presented to the reptile world at the March NARBC in Tinley Park, IL. That winter we got our first order for 4 and could not believe it. It was around mid-night. We were out with some friends when the request came through our messages. We didn’t think we were going to sell any. Maybe one or two here and there but who would want to actually buy 4!?!? To our surprise, about 1am our first transaction for 4 display units was completed and we had our very first order!!! AMAZING! IS THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENING?! We couldn’t even find words to say we were so shocked! We designed them to sell them but for it to actually happen took us completely by surprise. 

Then it got real. Orders started to come in. Thankfully it was slow because we were building the units out of our small basement in our house and didn’t have much room. Plus, we were both working full-time jobs still so orders coming in slowly were helpful. We did get one rush order of 10 units we had to get out to CA before the Pomona show, I believe that’s what it was for. We finished them at 2am in the morning to get them shipped out that day so the customer could have them in time for the show. It was nuts but we truly enjoyed it and still do today. Not so much the late nights, anymore but everything else. Haha

It still amazes us, though it also doesn’t seem real, when someone places an order for OUR product. For our Next-Level Displays! We are truly honored and blessed to have been received so well by the reptile industry. As we grew the opportunity arose for us to purchase our first CNC machine. Talk about a scary moment. A large purchase like that? We are just babies. We just started this business. Yes, we are doing well but what if??? Yeah. It was definitely a scary decision, but it was a necessary one to keep our business growing. So yes, we did purchase the CNC machine with a promissory note right before we took our yearly church trip to England. But when we returned, we had to find a place to put the machine. We kind of did things a little backwards. 

Remember those good engineering friends of ours? Well, it just so happened that they had just purchased a few business suites for their own business and had some available space we could rent out. Perfect!! And Perfect timing. Not only will we have space for our growing business, its only about 10 mins from our house! Wow! Its amazing to see how things work out.

As we got things sorted out and running more efficiently with our new CNC machine and unforeseen pandemic hit. We are totally done for now. Everything is shut down. No one is going to buy anything, especially reptile related. Let’s just close the doors now before it gets too bad. 

Or so we thought, as I am sure a lot of places did. Well, again, its amazing how things work out. We were having our material cut by a local plastic manufacturer and when he found out we had a CNC machine he asked if we would like to do some work for him, cutting sneeze guards. What!! Of course! We could definitely use the extra work. Well, it just so happened to be the saving grace we needed, at that time, because with that job and being essential we were able to stay afloat and come out ahead of the game when things normalized some. What a true blessing. We have learned that if you don’t step out and at least try, you never know what will happen or what could have been. Starting a new business when we did, of course

not knowing what was to come, it was difficult. Starting a new business at any time is challenging. But if its what you truly want to do you will need to sacrifice and take risks.

“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway”-John Wayne

Well, since we were building these all-in-one display case, we had the material, so why not expand into enclosures and rack systems? So that’s what we did. The same quality and work that we put into our cases we carry into our racks and enclosures. From the quality of the build to the clean and professional look you can expect. Products that will hold up to the abuse and wear and tear of all sorts of reptiles to the transporting and rearranging we humans will do with them. We put our all into what we do and build, with a goal that our products showcases that. The design of the All-In-One Display case is to offer peace of mind to the customer. When packing up for a show, to the transportation of the animals, to the security and comfort of the animals while on display. The cases are made for durability, longevity, and to be professionally aesthetic. Our hope is to continue to offer our products to the growing reptile community to aid in their overall reptile keeping experience. From offering high quality husbandry options to professional quality display units that hold up to the test of time.