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Christopher S. Bondurant
786 Verner Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30318
(404) 352-8355
christheherpetologist@yahoo.com
Hello,
My name is Chris. I’ve always had a passion for reptiles. As a child, my parents were very tolerant of my hobby. By age 11, my mother knew almost all of the indigenous snakes of Georgia. When I brought one home, she’d inspect my catch and say, “Oh, that’s one of those, you may keep him.” My young friends were quite jealous – “My mom won’t let me have one, and you have so many,” they’d say. At age 15, I produced a slide show for the Atlanta Zoo on snakes in Georgia. I documented their differences and similarities, their diets, habits and habitat.
I began by breeding red-tailed boas because I love them most. They don’t grow to an overwhelming size; they generally have a good temperament, don’t tend to become anorexic and they gestate eggs within themselves, unlike Burmese pythons that get too large, reticulated pythons that tend to be quite aggressive or ball pythons that lay and guard eggs and often refuse to eat. I’ve worked with as many different snakes as I can get my hands on, but red-tails remain my ideal for the perfect species for the amateur collector.
I worked 5 years in an exotic pet shop so I could spend time with critters. There, I acquired a pretty vast knowledge of exotic birds, but herps remain my passion. I made quite a name for myself locally and word spread from my customers to other amateur collectors as I educated them on the various ways of ridding their critters of mites, treating and preventing stomatitis, remedying shedding problems, dealing with anorexia, techniques to avoid unwanted feeding response and hyperdefensive response syndrome, training snakes to be “dead fed,” the art of breeding, and any other common or uncommon problems the collector may experience.
During this time, I began my own rehab and release program out of my home. This was born more of necessity than of choice because I had so many people bringing me sick, injured or neglected snakes and wild or venomous snakes they didn’t want to kill, but didn’t want on their property. Suddenly, I found myself surrounded by snakes by day and night. This makes me happy. I board snakes, heal snakes, breed snakes, and release snakes. Then as my operation grew, I’ve encountered difficulties finding landlords and roommates willing to rent to me due not only to the shear size of my operation, but its content. Some people simply don’t appreciate the thought of giant pythons, tanks of pit vipers, or cages full of feeder mammals on their property.
Now I’m 37. As I approach 40, I feel the need to “kick it up a notch.” I never got my bachelor’s degree because it didn’t seem necessary. I wasn’t getting rich, but I have been able to support myself and my “herp habit” and have been happy doing so. Now, I’m looking to take my knowledge and skills wherever they may take me. I’m willing to relocate and what I’d really like is to find an internship somewhere and become certified to work with venomous snakes legally, apprentice as a vet tech and/or work for a respected breeder. I realize my lack of formal education may be a stumbling block, but I’m more than willing to do whatever it takes to get my foot in the door. This means I’m willing to relocate wherever I must and start working simply doing maintenance or retail work or whatever is required of me to get certified and elevate myself from immature status. I pride myself on my motivation skills, sincerity, honesty, punctuality, and dependability.
Is there anyone out there willing to start me at ground level and help me to reach my full potential, broaden my horizons, and continue to nurture my passion for these beautiful and fascinating creatures? If so, please contact me at the above e-mail address or phone number.
Sincerely,
Chris Bondurant
Christopher Scott Bondurant
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