About

In the summer of 2006 West Coast Reptile Productions officially opened for business in Tampa, Florida. However, the concept was in the making for well over two decades.

The story…

In the reptile industry, the "About Us” blurb typically starts with a story discussing a childhood love for reptiles and ends with a pitch for a newly launched business or web page. For us, the story is a little different. Sure, our founder, John Meese, spent his childhood as a herper in search of anything that jumped, slithered, or crawled, but the real concept was created with education in mind. After graduating from California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) with a degree in Ecology, John went to work for an environmental program that was geared towards outdoor education for middle school students throughout Southern California. It was there that he made the transition from hobbyist to curator as he took on the responsibility for the care and maintenance of the program's reptile collection. When he made the move from outdoor educator to a full-time classroom teacher in 1996, the reptile collection made the move as well. Since 1997, John has resided on the West Coast of Florida where he teaches middle school science in what is often referred to as the "Jungle” by his colleagues.