Reptiliacs Reptile Rescue and Shelter is an affiliation of Reptiliacs LLC, which is owned by Sherry and Donnie Howell.  Our mission statement is three-fold:

• Take in injured, abused and/or unwanted reptiles and provide them with proper veterinarian care (if needed) and love and respect as we help them overcome any harsh treatment by previous owner(s).
• When possible, place the reptile in a loving home and insure that all needs and requirements are in place in the new home environment.
• Provide education to the public via presentations to various schools, civic organizations, etc., on the proper care of reptiles and their habitat.

As owners, breeders and caretakers of reptiles, we feel strongly that the public benefits greatly from having access to the education of reptiles.  Without this education, ignorance and myths will continue to reign regarding reptiles.  As their habitat is increasingly destroyed by mankind through construction, more and more of these animals are being destroyed due to human fear of harm from them.

Further, with the mindset held by many individuals that reptiles are disposable pets, snakes and lizards often suffer from neglect, cruel torture and even abandonment.  It is our mission to take these animals in, provide them with medical treatment as needed and give them the unconditional love and respect they deserve so that they may overcome the abuse they have suffered.  When we feel the animals are well and free of physical as well as mental/emotional problems, we try to adopt them out to people who are educated on, and have shown the ability, to care for the reptile(s).

Financial Aspects

The shelter is funded only by our personal income and supplemented by any donations we're given.  If you would like to offer financial assistance, please do so.  You can send your donations through Paypal. 

There are people who contact us wanting to adopt a reptile.  However, once they find out there is an adoption fee involved, those very people who claim to only want to offer a good home to a reptile get all huffy and accuse us of "selling" the animals.  It takes a lot of money to run a rescue shelter.  The money mostly comes from me; sometimes we get a small donation but that is rare.  The nominal fee we charge for adoptions does not even begin to cover the expenses put out for that particular animal, especially if it is ill when it comes to the shelter and requires veterinary care in addition to food, water, caging, etc.  There was a time when we adopted out reptiles with no adoption fee involved.  That stopped when we discovered people were adopting animals from us and then selling the animals to pet stores for profit.  The animals in our shelter deserve better than that and it is our goal to make sure they get better treatment than that.

Anyone who contacts a shelter of any kind (reptile, cat, dog, etc.) will find that there are fees involved.  Reptiliacs Reptile Rescue is no different.  The adoption fee charged is not even close to the market value of the reptile.  If you're lookng for a free animal, you are looking in the wrong place.  If, however, you are looking for an animal that has been turned over to a shelter because it was abused, neglected, tortured and/or unwanted, and you're willing to pay a nominal fee to help offset the costs incurred by the shelter for its residency, then we would love to talk to you.

We are located in Clarksville, TN, approximately 46 miles northwest of Nashville.  We began taking in unwanted and abandoned reptiles in 2000, beginning with Miss Iggy, our lovable green iguana.  As word got out that we would take in reptiles, we began getting more and more calls from owners who longer wanted or were unable to keep their pets.  While many of the reptiles we've received were in good condition, we have received many that have advanced respiratory infections, burns, broken bones, metabolic bone disease, etc.  We try to place into homes the animals that are in good physical health; however, that is not always possible.  Unadoptable animals remain with us where they receive the love anad care they need and deserve.

If you have a reptile that you can no longer keep, please contact us for assistance.  While we obviously cannot purchase the animal from you, we will be willing to accept it into the shelter if at all possible.  If we are unable to take the animal, we will try to assist you in finding a home for the animal.

If you are interested in adopting a reptile, please understand that some animals we have for adoption will only go to an experienced reptile keeper.  Others can be adopted out to first-time reptile parents if the parents-to-be demonstrate knowledge of the needs of reptiles.  We do screen potential parents and reserve the right to refuse someone if we feel they are not qualified or do not have the reptile(s) best interest in mind.

This is Lucky, taken about 2 hours after she came out of her egg.  Her mom Blackie is a 30 year old ball python.

If you would like to make a donation to Reptiliacs Reptile Rescue and Shelter, please click here: