A dream became true: part of my breeding facilities for boids

Raised on a farm in Westphalia (Germany), animals naturally have been a part of my life since my earliest childhood. My parents had therefore not only trouble with my love for cats, chickens and tropical fish, but also beetles and native newts, salamanders and lizards occasionally stayed with me in my room and always caused controversy. At 16 I received, after four years of annoying them and reading, my first snakes: two Boa constrictor babies moved into my room, soon followed by Tree frogs, Green lizards and Sand lizards, Degus and Lesser hedgehog tenrecs.

Terrariums for colubrids and geckos

At 18 I went to study biology in Muenster and had one of the most well-known shared appartmentrooms of the city; Stories have been told about my "shack" to me, that even I haven´t known. In addition to a Mediterranean-aquarium and the first Boa offsprings, Wall lizards, Blood pythons and about 30 different species of exotic small mammals lived with me at that time; for some of them I participated in conservation breeding programs and built up many contacts with German and European zoos, to whom I keep up a friendship till today. Even now I still care for Lesser hedgehog tenrecs and Eurasian dwarf mice.

After graduation I moved back "to the country" for seven years. Roughly 50 terrariums, partially embedded into the walls and occupied mostly by exotic hedgehogs and tenrecs, as well as boids shaped the image of the rented appartment on a farm from the 16th Century. Outdoor facilities for Mongooses and Tejus rounded off the picture.

Because of a career change I now live in Cologne since 2008; the city has quickly become a true home to me. I used the move to slim my stock and concentrate on certain groups of animals, which I can still maintain with a stressful job without any problems. I rented a breeding room just outside of Cologne, which is now fully reserved for my snakes.

The love for animals, the fascination for the behaviour especially of reptiles and the incredible beauty and skill of my animals inspire me to this day. It is one of the most beautiful experiences to participate in the process of birth or hatching, of collecting new experiences and insights. And it is good to know, that this ensures, that healthy offsprings are offered, so that wild caughts become more and more expendable. In the more than 15 years that I run the hobby now, the keeping of reptiles changed a lot, often for the better, sometimes for the worse. Nevertheless, I never became "unfaithful" and love it as much as ever to exchange about these fascinating creatures with other enthusiasts!