The origin story of Iowa Family Exotics is probably very similar to that of most pet shops and animal exhibitors: I grew up caring for a variety of animals and just made a name for myself over the years as someone people could come to for all things animal! 

In 2013, when my daughter was 3, we got a male and female hedgehog from the pet shop, but didn’t realize the female was pregnant, so that started a domino effect that led me to quit my day job and focus on raising and rescuing animals full time. 

Today, we do exhibits and educational shows around Iowa, we raise boa constrictors, various pythons and American bullies. We own several monitor species and tarantulas that we will attempt to breed in 2026/2027 as well. We are a licensed pet shop, but operate mostly as a zoo & rescue, and sell animals online. 2026 will be our first year attempting hybrid pythons so stay tuned for that!