- I spent $1.5 million to open up my reptile zoo.
Let's go ahead and take a look.
And part of it was animals.
And part of it,
of course, is setup.
This animal alone,
Tyson, the albino box turtle.
It's one of only a few in the entire world.
These guys go for about $25,000.
Like, the fact is,
'cause even if you had 25 grand,
you can't buy one,
'cause there's only a few of them in the entire world.
Tyson actually lives in this bank of enclosures right here.
And there's a whole bunch of stuff.
We've got Helen,
we've got Flaming Hot,
We've got Skinks down here.
We've got Cherry Pop.
We've got a bull snake down here.
And of course,
the enclosures themselves.
So this spot right here alone costs about $40,000.
Now, the one thing I wanna tell you guys,
is that money really doesn't matter to me,
that's why I spend all my money on reptiles.
So I just wanted to let you guys know,
'cause so many people asked me
how much it costs to actually open up The Reptarium?
For instance, Baby Kush.
Now, Baby Kush, is about three years old.
When it came in as a baby,
it was a captive-hatched animal out of Indonesia,
and a captive-hatched croc monitor is about $7,500.
Now, that he's about four years old captive-hatched,
I don't know what it would actually go for,
but it's a baby about 7,500 bucks.
And this enclosure alone costs about $15,000.
Now, sloths like Drogo,
that are captive born,
can go for up to 20 to $25,000
depending on how young they're
and how docile they are.
I love Drogo to death.
And I wanna continue to reiterate,
the fact is, I never really put a dollar bill on any animal.
To be honest with you,
when I'm buying animals,
I, oftentimes, don't even ask the price.
I'm like, "I want it,
whatever cost is fine with me."
And I tell you what,
this room was very expensive.
This tree alone is $2,500.
That ceiling up there costs me $5,000.
And the rest of this place costs another $7,000.
So this room alone costs about $15,000.
And again, these animals are way more than money than me.
I wouldn't take a million dollars
for an animal like Perdida,
because she is my baby.
Cow Retics now go for,
I think, about $2,500.
But when I bought her as a baby,
they were $7,500.
Remember her, she was a pure white,
beautiful little baby reticulated by that.
And now, she's developed into an amazing animal in home.
My gosh, is she getting big?
You know, there's so many costs when opening up
a place like this that I didn't even imagine
when I first (chuckles) started.
Take for instance,
a water bowl like this.
This is just a water bowl,
and it costs about $150.
And you figure,
every enclosure has to have a really nice water bowl.
These are amazing.
These are coarse green tree monitor lizards.
Absolutely wonderful animals.
Ask captive bred babies like these ones worth?
They're about $2,500 a piece
and we got a pair of them
and they are really spectacular.
Razor-sharp nails,
there's no doubt about that.
By the way, if you're liking this video,
go ahead and smash that like button.
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The Fish SPA.
You know, fish are not cheap.
And you guys know,
I am about to do an aquarium,
which is gonna be super expensive.
It's not the fact that the tanks
and the fish cost a lot,
it's the filtration.
Especially with something like the Fish SPA.
There's actually four steps of filtration,
because when you put your feet in here,
we don't want somebody that maybe has foot fungus
to transfer to another person, right?
So those four levels of filtration are super expensive,
including a UV sterilizer in the end.
So this entire setup costs about $10,000.
You know, I'm realizing that every animal
I bring out is getting so big.
Of course, Al Machino is a Machino reticulated python.
I'm not really sure what they go for now,
but when we got out,
it was about five grand.
One of the things that really took me by surprise,
to be honest with you,
is all of the foliage that is all around The Reptarium.
You know, all of it is super expensive.
We have about $40,000
just an artificial plants in this place.
Of course, Salt and Pepper,
I bought these guys when they were babies.
So they only get more expensive as they get older.
But baby albino alligators right now
go for between 20 and $25,000.
And of course, Pepper, was a little bit cheaper
but now he's actually way more expensive.
I paid $15,000 at the time.
Now, you would have to pay probably $48,000 to $50,000
for a black alligator.
These guys are amazing,
but they certainly weren't cheap.
And like I mentioned,
there's a bunch of things that aren't even animal-related.
Party Room is such a big part of what happens here
at The Reptarium.
And this mural alone
that Jay actually painted himself.
- [Jay] That's me.
- Now, he didn't actually paint it.
But he did take all the pictures
and put it into this cool collage.
This alone costs $5,000.
And then, the whole room with the rocks
and the trees and everything else,
that was another $4,000.
So you figure this room alone,
it's almost 10 grand.
Brillo, my baby!
Oh my God, I love him!
My six-banded armadillo.
This is one of my favorite animals for sure.
I never thought I would own an armadillo.
And I certainly never thought
I was gonna fall in love with him.
When I bought Brillo,
it was $7,000.
But I hear that because of Brillo,
and the fact that people love him so much.
the people that are breeding these guys are telling me that,
"Now, they're gonna go for like $10,000."
So anyone that wanted to buy
a six-banded armadillo like Brillo here,
I'm sorry that we actually jacked the price up for you guys.
I didn't mean it,
but after people saw how amazing he is,
everybody wants these guys now.
Heinz here is a crimson albino.
- [Jay] What?
- Heinz (chuckles) is a crimson albino iguana.
And these guys know,
now are a little bit wonky.
'Cause iguana laws and stuff like that
are crazy down in Florida.
So the prices have kind of prominent
because people are trying to get away
from the end of the flip side.
I think that they're gonna actually go way up in price
because all the people in Florida that were breeding
which was the majority of 'em,
aren't gonna be bringing 'em in the future
and they'll be even more sought after.
But when I bought Heinz and Frenches,
they were $5,000 a piece.
Here you go, Heinz,
go ahead, go up there, buddy.
Everyone of these vines
and branches and everything that you see in here
are all pretty expensive.
I mean, sometimes,
a vine alone can be up to a $100,
and every enclosure has multiple vines
and multiple branches.
Oh, my goodness!
Just take a look.
Come over here guys.
Take a look at Ivy right now,
and look at how big she looks back here.
I mean, that is swelling a baby.
Anacondas, you know,
as babies, go for about 1,500 to $2,500
usually females about two to $2,500,
something like that.
When I bought Ivy,
she was actually a little bit bigger.
I think we paid $5,000 for her.
But I'll be honest with you,
this animal is priceless to me.
Again, all of my animals are priceless.
I've been offered a lot of money
for certain animals in this place like Elvis.
One day, a guy came in and literally wanted Elvis so bad
that he offered me a $100,000 for Elvis
and I turned him down.
And that was no joke.
I mean, I said,
"No way, there's just no amount of money
that could possibly get these animals away from me
'cause I love them so much."
But this enclosure alone was about $40,000.
I think it was actually $37,000 if I'm not mistaken.
So the enclosure's enough,
and that's before we started adding plants.
The other thing we haven't talked about is lighting.
Every single enclosure,
it has heat map,
they have lighting,
UV lighting, basking lights,
sun bulbs that can cost up to $80 a piece.
I probably have $30,000 just into lighting
into The Reptarium.
What are you doing?
Oh, oh, she smells blood in the water.
I tell you what,
Lori loves her gift shop.
And this is just a small gift shop.
That's gonna be about four times
the size when we do our expansion.
So there's gonna be so much more in here,
but these plushies and shirts are all expensive
and Lori goes nuts with them.
Take a look at this.
These are all shirts,
all hoodies, hoodie shirts,
all backlog right here.
Then we have all of our things here.
We've got our animal toys here.
We've got DVDs.
We got more animal toys here.
Plushies, plushies, plushies, plushies, plushies,
plushies, plushies, plushies, plushies, plushies.
Alligator, very cute.
I love this little dart frog right here.
We've got snake.
We've got sequined snake.
We've got plushies, plushies,
snake, snake, snake, snake.
At any given time,
we have about a $100,000
just an inventory for the gift shop.
I love this turtle pond behind me, obviously.
And these Albino Red Eared Sliders,
go for $250 a piece.
We have 15 Albino Red Eared Sliders.
And then the enclosure itself costs over $10,000.
Diddy and Dixie,
absolutely love these guys.
Of course, this is Diddy here.
Dixie is up over here.
They're both just chilling out.
And this enclosure is 12-foot long.
It's not very wide,
but it's 12-foot long,
which is a gigantic enclosure.
The glass alone on this is what really costs a lot of money.
The rhino iguana,
is now aren't that expensive.
They're only maybe $400 a piece,
but they're so worth it.
And Diddy and Dixie are again,
priceless to me.
But this enclosure was an expensive one
to build at almost $20,000.
Ben and Jerry,
the two-headed snake.
What more can be said about these?
Again, another animal that is really priceless to me.
Now, I paid $40,000 for this animal,
but I've heard of two-headed snakes selling
for as much as 75 or a $100,000.
I tell you what,
I love Ben and Jerry.
They are such amazing animals
and there is no dollar amount
that would ever be enough to sell this animal.
There's not enough money to sell any of my animals.
Hoo, hoo, doggie,
I tell you what,
Night Fury, the motley golden child reticulated python.
This is one that is absolutely beautiful.
Now, some motley golden child
is actually aren't jet black.
That's what makes this animal so rare.
He costs me $5,000 as a baby
and wow, is he worth every bit?
Look at the iridescence on this monkey.
He is a show stopper.
Marshmallow, the Ivory Burmese Python.
I'll be honest with you,
I have no idea what these guys cost now.
When I got it,
it was a $1,000 for a baby.
I think that they're a little bit cheaper now,
but it's just a cool animal.
And again, it's not pure white,
but it certainly is a whitish animal.
And that's why we call it Marshmallow,
it's kinda like a toasted marshmallow.
And it's a really juxtaposition between this and Night Fury.
Snow-Blind Albino Water Monitor.
This guy is a rare animal.
It's the only snow buying T negative Albino
in the country.
These guys will go for 15 to $20,000 for T negative.
But the fact that he's the only one is really unique.
I absolutely love him.
As a matter of fact,
he's much like,
of course, my Albino Nile Monitor,
which is Chicken Strip.
The difference is,
is that Chicken Strip,
is the only Albino Nile Monitor in the entire world.
But they look pretty similar.
Chicken Strip, when he was a baby,
I paid $25,000 for it.
But I've already been offered 75,000 in the past
and I've turned it down again.
I love each and every one.
Even my least expensive animal in here,
I wouldn't take any amount of money for them,
'cause I love them all so much.
But this guy is absolutely gonna turn out
to be an amazing animal when it's larger,
like the size of Elvis.
Bugatti, the boelen's python sniper.
Now, Bolen's pythons sniper,
obviously a extremely rare.
One of the more rare pythons on the entire planet.
When babies like these come in,
and this is a captive-hatched animal
that was from a female that laid eggs over in the wild,
but they were captive-hatched on a farm.
And these guys cost $7,500 as babies.
(upbeat music)
Hi Bella!
Of course, Bella, is my baby.
I tell you what,
there would be no chance,
that even a $100 million would buy her from me.
Because I tell you what,
she is my baby.
I love her to death.
I think we paid $1,200 for her
and it was my first rhino iguana that I had ever got.
And she was life-changing.
I mean, she's brought me so much happiness
and joy you can't even imagine.
I love you. (smacks)
I tell you, she's definitely amazing
and certainly priceless.
Neo is definitely a new animal ambassador here
but an absolute ripper.
I bought it when it was only like seven or eight days old
and she's getting so big now.
It's absolutely amazing!
She actually costs me $7,500 as a baby.
But look at that animal right there,
that is an absolute ripper!
Beetlejuice, the bells phase lace monitor,
an absolute dream animal of mine!
One that I thought I'd never get.
Now, they're becoming a little bit more common.
But when I bought Beetlejuice,
they were so really rare.
He was $7,500 as a tiny little baby.
I mean, he was literally this big
and it cost me that much.
Now, they become a little bit more affordable.
But I tell you what,
that is gonna be an amazing animal.
And then one day,
we're getting like, five to six foot.
I got Elvis when he was several months old.
So he was already slightly habituated.
But over the last three or so years,
he's become such an amazing tamed animal,
and I paid $2,500 for him at that age.
Like I said earlier in the video,
someone actually offered me a $100,000 for me to sell 'em.
And they were no joke,
they were like,
"I seriously will give you $100,000 for it."
And I was like,
"Nope, ain't going to happen."
There's no way I could get rid of Elvis.
I mean, look at this little monkey right here.
This animal is the best!
Potato, the Centralian blue-tongued skink.
This guy is one of the rare animals we have as well.
There's hardly any of them here in the states.
Maybe six or eight,
10 at the most for sure.
And if any ever do come available,
they're probably gonna be about $10,000 per animal.
Two-headed turtles like Chopsticks
aren't as rare as Ben and Jerry,
the two-headed snake.
But they're still very rare
and very expensive going for up to $5,000 a piece.
Or should I sau,
for both of them.
Gemma is a pretty special animal.
She's actually what they call a Ghost reticulated python
which is an actually rare morphine itself.
And the fact that she was really big when I got her
and super, super docile,
it wasn't cheap, you know?
But it was worth it,
because I really wanted a really giant snake
that was really good to handle.
Because Lucy's obviously isn't that weight
and Daisy really doesn't like to be handled that much.
That's why I ended up paying $7,500 for this snake.
There you go, Toothless!
There (chuckles) you go.
Now, Toothless, of course,
is a black dragon.
And these guys have become more and more popular
and (chuckles) he's just an absolutely wonderful animal.
Again, he'll take food from me really quick,
but also I can pet him and touch him
and everything like this.
When I got him,
they were actually a lot more rare than they are now.
Several people have been breeding them.
When I bought him,
he was just a little, little guy
and they were $7,500 for a baby.
Of course, Matilda,
is sitting here baking under the lights right now.
She is an Aldabra tortoise.
And an animal this size,
an Aldabra tortoises,
can sell for up to $25,000 per animal.
Very hard to get them when they're big like this,
and she's only 17 years old.
And hopefully, she'll be around another 200 years.
(water splashing)
Of course, Bouncer is an alligator snapping turtle.
And he's a pretty expensive animal
'cause you can't really get them big like this very much,
usually 2,500 to $5,000 if you find one this size.
But this enclosure,
it's filled with very expensive,
about $25,000 as well.
And again, guys,
I don't really care that much about the money side of it
but everyone always asks me how much did it cost
to open up The Reptarium?
The enclosures like Lucy's enclosures,
you're looking at 15 to $20,000.
You start adding up all the stuff
that I've already showed you,
and the stuff that I haven't showed you.
We're looking at probably somewhere about $1.5 million.
Hope you guys enjoyed today's video.
If you did,
there's a playlist that you can watch all kinds of videos.
You can also hit that subscription button.
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Have a wonderful day, Reptile Army.
Remember, be kind to someone
and I promise I'll see you in the next one.