the history of dragonborn exotics
My name is Ryan, and the birth of Dragonborn Exotics is a tale which stems from an ancient love and fascination for animals, the beautiful creatures which inhabit this earth. The story began when I was around the age of 4. As a child who was raised in the Minnesota countryside, I had just started to explore the external world around me on my own. I began herping in the yard around my childhood home. Searching for tree frogs who would be plastered to the side of our house. Delving into the depths of our window wells which were sanctuaries for Yellow Spotted Salamanders and American Toads. I quickly developed an ever growing fascination with amphibians and reptiles. This was mainly due to my previous obsession with dinosaurs. These new creatures I was finding were the closest thing to real life dinosaurs I had ever seen. I had many books and toys relating to these creatures. I could not get enough. It was and still is such an exciting feeling to come face to face with those creatures and observe them.
My family had many pets. This included a dog, cat, and always some sort of fish. We also had a plethora of fowl, such as chickens, ducks, geese, quail, and two turkeys. Many hours I spent chasing those birds around, hoping I would catch one. I did not prevail. It was a riot though. It felt as though we had our own mini zoo.
After moving from the country to a small town neighborhood and losing everything but the cat, life was a bit lonely. I longed for that feeling of having a small collection of animals to watch over and interact with. So throughout the rest of my childhood I had many fish, a few different types of birds and 2 cats. Then one day as a teenager, I got my first gecko... Little did I know that getting my first reptile from the local pet store would lead me down the wild, unexpected path I am on today.
Dragonborn Exotics did not just happen over night. There was actually about 4 years where I didn't have any reptiles. Then one magical day, I went to that same local pet shop on a whim, and to my surprise they had three baby gargoyle geckos. I had seen and read about these wicked looking geckos when I was in high school and had my crested gecko. Never did I think that I would be able to find one though. They instantly captivated me and I knew this was an opportunity I could not pass up.
Now, some years later, I keep and breed three different species of New Caledonian geckos on a small scale. My gecko collection consists of gargoyles (Rhacodactylus auriculatus), PI chahoua (Mniarogekko chahoua), leachies (Rhacodactylus leachianus). My collection revolves around healthy, high end geckos with superb genetics for reproducing high color saturation and pattern. I invite you to follow my reptilian journey of turning fantasy into reality. I love and take pride in all of my geckos and hope to provide the world with some mind blowing pieces of scaly, living art.
