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A P L A C E F O R C L O S E E N C O U N T E R S O F T H E C O L D - B L O O D E D K I N D
CREATING A PET DESTINATION
After selling the successful computer business he had helmed for 25 years, Smith began turning his lifelong love of reptiles, amphibians and
invertebrates into a second career. He published the well-respected Fauna magazine, ran the living museum Fauna Serpentarium and lead
eco-travel tours around the world.
All of this would inform how Smith transformed a rundown reptile store in Centereach, NY, into the Jungle Bob’s of today, a 3,000-square-foot
pet destination recently moved to nearby Selden.
“I wanted to make the store more family-oriented,” he says. “To get new people involved in the hobby, I knew we had to cater to kids.”
Smith has achieved that goal in a variety of ways. He and his fellow reptile gurus at the store give more than 150 presentations a year at
schools, libraries and other places where young people gather, sparking their curiosity about his favorite creatures and about Jungle Bob’s.
Those who visit the store will find more than 100 animals — including some from Smith’s personal collection and not for sale — on display in
their natural habitats. Families can even sign up for a $35 Animal Encounter, a program he created to monetize the time employees spend
with those who will not be taking home a new pet at that time.
“We give our visitors an experience they never forget by letting them hold snakes, lizards and taran-tulas in a fun, safe and educational
environment,” Smith says.
Driving everything he does is a desire to educate people of all ages about these often-misunderstood creatures. For those ready to commit,
Jungle Bob gurus ask a series of questions to match the customer with the right animal. They then share best care practices.
When Smith was a kid, “There were no books on keeping reptiles. I learned what I could from pet store managers and product booklets, and
by making mistakes.”
PHOTOS BY BRUCE GILBERT
STORE NAME: JUNGLE BOB’S REPTILE WORLD, SELDEN, NY
URL: JUNGLEBOBSREPTILE WORLD.COM
OWNER: ROBERT H. SMITH
CREDITS TO:
Robert H. Smith — aka Jungle Bob — saw a snake for the first time at the age of 6. His family had just moved from Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan
to suburban Long Island. One day, he was out exploring the new neighborhood when the sound of shrieking kids drew him to a row of hedges.
Out slithered a garter snake.
“I had never seen a tree before,” Smith jokes, some five decades later, “much less a snake. I was fascinated.”
When the kids came running out from behind the hedges, they found their new neighbor holding the snake. Smith made instant friends that
day and found his passion, one that would lead him to opening Jungle Bob’s Reptile World in 2008.
COOL FACTS
Among the many personal pets Smith keeps at the store are Snappy the alligator snapping tur-tle, Casper the rat snake, Willie the Burmese
python, Castro the Cuban iguana, Rosie the tarantula, Azul the blue-tongued skink, Jabba the African bullfrog, Wally the alligator and Tony the
Argentinian Tegu lizard. “It’s like a free reptile zoo,” he says.
INSIDE THE SELDEN STORE, A NATURAL HISTORY GIFT SHOP SELLS EDUCATIONAL TOYS AND TREATS —
TRY THE SUPERWORM LOLLIPOPS AND CHOCOLATE-COVERED CRICKETS!
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