Our mission
Keep them. Teach. Give back.
We want people keeping these animals, learning about them, and understanding that their wild cousins need looking after. That is how the conservation message spreads.
Why we keep them
Owning an animal is how people learn to care about it.
Keeping these animals as pets isn't unethical. It's education. Someone who keeps a snake learns what it eats, how it sheds, how it behaves, and where in the world it comes from.
That person stops seeing a boogeyman and starts seeing an animal that lives somewhere real. And they start to care what happens to that place.
These animals do amazing things in people's lives. Our part is making sure they're cared for in return. Kept well, they live long lives in captivity. A properly kept ball python can live 40 years or more.
Responsible keeping
Start right, keep it right.
Captive-bred
NERD, our parent company, breeds most of the snakes we sell, in the same building. Captive-bred, well-established animals settle in and do better than wild-caught ones.
Care guides
Our care library has setup and care sheets for the animals we carry, so you know the commitment before you take one home.
People who know
Our pet resource specialists care for these animals every day. Ask before you buy, and keep asking after. Continued support is part of the deal.
The wild needs us
Habitat is disappearing. People have to care first.
Wild places are being cleared and broken up, and species are being lost before anyone has the chance to discover them. Conservation doesn't keep pace.
Nobody protects an animal they've never thought about. An up-close encounter, or one living at home, changes how people see the natural world. That's why we keep them, and why we give back.
Giving back
What Kevin and NERD do
Youth education outreach
Lectures and up-close animal encounters for schools, scout groups, churches and universities, and educational shows run by a trained crew.
New England's native species
Support for threatened and struggling native animals: timber rattlesnakes, black racers, wood turtles and spotted turtles.
American alligator research
Research and support for the American alligator.
Pollinator protection
Programs that teach why pollinators matter and how to protect them.
Species from around the world
Since 2024, conservation work reaching past New England to reptile species around the world.
Tours of the breeding facility
Private tours of NERD, including Kevin's own with a venomous demonstration, so people can see how the animals are bred and kept.
A place for surrendered reptiles
When someone can no longer keep a reptile, we can take it in. Every surrender is arranged ahead with a manager and comes in through quarantine like any new arrival.
Bring NERD to your school, scout group or class. Call to book.