HALLSVILLE – Snakes, turtles, lizards and spiders all fill cages at SMS Exotic Pets & Supplies – and they’re ready to find homes with reptile-loving customers.
Since November, Shaun Scofield has sold exotic animals at his store at 6725 E U.S. 80, Suite 3, near Hallsville. But his experience raising reptiles began long before then.
His mother and store employee, Debbie Scofield, remembers when Shaun’s obsession with reptiles began. He was 12 years old and wanted a snake, a Brazilian Rainbow Boa.
“His dad and I had always had reptiles, and his brother was interested in it a little bit,” Debbie said.
For some reason, though, Shaun’s snake wouldn’t eat, and it died. His next snake was a ball python, but it also died.
“He says, ‘I don’t want anybody to go through what I have had to go through,’” Debbie said. “He says, ‘I want to breed them.’”
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After researching snakes for eight months, Shaun decided he wanted to produce a unique ball python. That was when SMS Morphs, a snake breeding operation, was started.
“You start looking at all the different patterns and different colors to them, and it was like, ‘OK, maybe I can do this,’ try to make something cool,” Shaun said.
Thirteen years later, Shaun opened SMS Exotics in November. The store is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Scofield opened the store because he wanted “something different.”
“I was tired of traveling,” he said, and he wanted to work in a hometown atmosphere.
The storefront is filled with illuminated habitats for numerous exotic critters: amphibians of various kinds, spiders, snakes, other invertebrates, scorpions, millipedes, lizards – “a little bit of everything,” Shaun said.
Shaun’s breeding operation produces most of the animals he sells, but he purchases amphibians and invertebrates from breeders or licensed importers.
While other stores in East Texas sell some types of exotic animals, few – if any – offer all the breeds and species SMS does, he said.
Breeding reptiles involves learning the seasons in which females are ready to mate with males, and learning what types of males and females can be combined to create unique offspring. He still remembers his first snake, which had a camouflage pattern to its skin.
“It was pretty simple to do, and then you get into more genetics, and it’s like, ‘OK, there’s more out there to figure out,’” Shaun said.
Ever since then, he’s continued learning about other types of animals to breed and sell. He’s worked with so many that picking a favorite is challenging.
“I guess king snakes,” he said. “They keep you more on edge. They tend to think everything’s food, so you have to watch where you put your hand.”
Not to worry, though. None of his snakes or reptiles are venomous. Just curious and hungry.
Reptiles make for interesting pets, but anybody who is considering buying one should research the animal and all of its needs first, Shaun said.
“People want to buy the cheapest thing possible,” he said. “Find something you actually like. Don’t waste your money on something cheap just because you wanted it. Get something you like. You take care of it a lot better.”
On the less scaly and slithery side of things, the store also sells food, habitats and other supplies for reptile owners. And not on any carnivorous menu – but certainly for sale to loving homes – are guinea pigs.
“I have a little bit of everything,” Shaun said. “A lot of the basics reptile-wise, but I can get my hands on pretty much anything.”
Shaun said he’s glad to see how his business has progressed from a small breeding operation to a storefront. But the growth he’s most excited about is, of course, that of his animals.
Walking around his shop recently, he picked up a red-footed tortoise. He’s watched it grow from a small green dot the size of quarter to a hand-sized creature.
“It’s impressive to see, but you don’t realize it doing this every day,” he said.
