It started with a rescued bearded dragon and absolutely no idea what we were doing.
Our reptile story began in 2021 with a bearded dragon named Bonnie.
Bonnie had originally been thought to be a girl and was housed with “her brother,” Clyde. Unfortunately, Clyde bit off one of Bonnie’s hands when they were young. After their owner passed away, her parents cared for Bonnie for a while in a small glass tank before deciding that he needed a new home.
That is where we came in.
At the time, we knew absolutely nothing about reptiles. Not a little. Nothing. We simply
wanted to help, so we brought Bonnie home along with the enclosure, supplies, and care
instructions we had been given.
Then came the late night YouTube education.
The more videos we watched, the more we realized two very important things. First, Bonnie was actually a boy. Second, almost everything we had been told about his care was wrong.
We began upgrading his enclosure, correcting his husbandry, and learning everything we could. Somewhere along the way, we also decided that Bonnie needed a new name. For no particular reason whatsoever, we started calling him Don Reynaldo. It made no sense, but it stuck.
Don Reynaldo quickly became part of the family. He especially loved our golden retriever, Indy. He would chase her around the house, follow her wherever she went, and try to curl up beside her whenever she would let him. Watching a bearded dragon decide that a golden retriever was his best friend was not something we ever expected, but it became one of our favorite things about him.
All of that late night reptile research also introduced us to Brian Barczyk’s channel and an entire world of reptiles we had never really known existed. Once Don Reynaldo was thriving, we drifted away from reptile videos for a while. Things were going well, and we were lucky enough to have several wonderful years with him.
Sadly, Don Reynaldo eventually passed away from cancer. Losing him was incredibly hard, but by then he had already changed the direction of our lives. What began with taking in one bearded dragon we knew absolutely nothing about became the first chapter in the story of EctothermInc.
Late in 2023, after a couple of years away from reptile content, the YouTube algorithm suddenly started putting Brian Barczyk’s videos back in front of us.
This time, the videos were about Brian’s battle with cancer. We watched as he spoke openly about his health while continuing to share the same love, excitement, and passion for animals that had first drawn us to his channel. Even while facing something unimaginably difficult, he was still introducing people to reptiles and encouraging them to appreciate animals they might otherwise overlook.
We started watching regularly again, and YouTube did what YouTube does. One reptile video became ten. Brian’s channel led us to Wickens Wicked Reptiles, Dāv Kaufman’s Reptile Adventures, Elle’s Reptiles, Reptilian Garden, and many more.
Somewhere in that rabbit hole, we learned two things that would change everything: reptile expos were a thing, and panther chameleons existed.
Reptilian Garden was our first real introduction to panther chameleons. We were fascinated by their colors, personalities, and the amount of care that went into keeping them properly. At the time, we had no idea just how important they would eventually become to our story.
Brian passed away in January 2024. Not long afterward, Facebook showed us an advertisement for a reptile expo in Berryville, the next town over from us. We decided to go, mostly because we were curious and it was close to home.
We were completely hooked before we finished the first aisle.
We came home that day with two crested geckos and two leopard geckos. After that, we started attending nearly every reptile show within a couple of hours of home. Before long, we had added two ball pythons and rescued two more bearded dragons.
Don Reynaldo was still very much part of the family through all of this. He would remain with us until November 2025, watching our small reptile collection grow into something much larger than we ever intended.
By any reasonable measure, we were already in far too deep.
We just did not know yet that panther chameleons were about to pull us in even further.
In the summer of 2024, we went to the Mid Atlantic Reptile Expo in Winchester. That is where we met Barbara from Charm City Glam Chams and saw our first panther chameleon in person.
That was pretty much the end of any resistance we may have had.
We fell in love immediately, brought him home, and then spent an amount of money on his enclosure that we are still not entirely comfortable discussing.
Barbara was a huge part of what drew us in. She answered every question we had, talked us through proper chameleon care, and was genuinely excited to share what she knew. It was obvious that she was not simply there to sell animals. She cared deeply about their health, their wellbeing, and where they were going after they left her care.
Barbara is a wonderful person with a heart of gold, and her passion made an immediate impression on us.
Once we got home, we did what had quickly become our normal routine whenever a new animal entered our lives. We read everything. We watched everything. We questioned everything we thought we knew.
That is when we discovered Chameleon Academy, which became the single biggest influence on how we care for our chameleons. It still is today.
The following winter, we returned to Charm City Glam Chams and brought home two more panther chameleons, Chardonnay and Schnapps. We kept the names Barbara had given them, just as we have with every chameleon we have received from her. It is our small way of honoring the person who helped start us down this path.
Then, in the spring, we added another three.
Six panther chameleons in less than a year.
That is roughly the point where a hobby stops being a hobby and starts quietly becoming a business plan.
In March 2025, we ran into Barbara from Charm City Glam Chams at another reptile expo. During one of our conversations, we started asking questions about breeding and what it would actually involve.
By the time we left the show, our curiosity had gotten the better of us.
We came home that same day and paired Schnapps with Chardonnay.
It was not an accident, and it was not a decision we made lightly. We certainly were not looking at them and seeing dollar signs. We had done our research, talked it through with someone we trusted, and understood that the decision could come with some very real financial consequences.
The best way to describe it is probably educated curiosity.
Twenty-three days later, Chardonnay laid her first clutch of eggs.
Five weeks after that, she laid another.
Suddenly, we had 58 eggs and a very clear understanding that curiosity had officially created a situation.
That was when the conversation began to change. We still had no grand business plan, but we knew that if those eggs hatched, we were going to do this properly. Every baby would need its own enclosure, along with the correct lighting, humidity, plants, substrate, and care. Nobody would have to compete with a sibling for food, water, or a basking spot.
We started thinking that vending at reptile shows might be fun. Then we went down the rabbit hole of preparing for more than 50 hatchlings, followed by more than 50 growing juveniles, and quickly realized that a few extra cages in the corner were not going to be enough.
So, we began transforming our basement into a proper chameleon breeding facility, complete with enclosure racks, controlled lighting, automated misting, and more live plants than we ever imagined owning.
That was the point when EctothermInc truly began taking shape.
We are proud to raise every hatchling individually in its own planted enclosure. It requires more space, more work, and considerably more expense, but we believe it gives each animal the best possible start. We know who they are, how they are developing, what they are eating, and whether they are thriving without having to fight for their share.
We also plan to remain intentionally small. We are not starry-eyed dreamers who believe breeding chameleons is a shortcut to getting rich. We are doing this because we genuinely love these animals, enjoy caring for them, and want to share that experience with other people who will love them too.
That is also why we insist on talking with prospective owners before placing one of our chameleons. We are not trying to find the fastest sale.
We are trying to find the right home.
Who we are
We are a married couple in Winchester, Virginia, running EctothermInc from a basement we rebuilt specifically for our chameleons.
There is no warehouse, no staff, and no customer service department hiding behind the website. When you send us a message, one of us is actually reading it and answering you. The same people caring for the animals, cleaning enclosures, feeding insects, watering plants, and occasionally wondering how the basement became a rainforest are the people you will talk to.
We brought home our first panther chameleon in 2024 knowing just enough to realize how much we still had to learn. We remember what it felt like to sort through conflicting advice, question every purchase, and wonder whether we were doing everything correctly.
We have not forgotten that feeling, and we do not intend to.
That is why our care information is free. It is why we answer husbandry questions from people who have never purchased an animal from us. It is also why we would rather talk someone out of buying a chameleon today than sell them one they are not ready to care for properly.
A sale is not successful if the animal ends up in the wrong home.
As EctothermInc grows, we also plan to create more educational video content. We learned much of what we know because other people were willing to share their experience online, usually while we were watching YouTube far later at night than we should have been.
It only feels right to return the favor.
What we believe
From hatch. It caps how many we can produce, and we accept that.
Every time. If you are not ready, we will say so and we will still help.
No paywall, no email capture. A better-informed hobby is better for the animals.
Nothing goes home before then, however keen anyone is.
The facility
We will happily give you a live tour of all of this on your consultation call.
Come and say hello
The reptile expo circuit is how we got into this, and it is still our favorite part.
We aim to set up at every reptile expo and convention within about two hours of Winchester, Virginia. If there is a show in the region, there is a good chance we will be there with animals, feeder systems and far too much enthusiasm.
Meeting in person is genuinely the best way to do this. You get to see the animals properly, ask everything you want to ask, and take your chameleon home without it ever going near a shipping box.
On a call, or across a table at an expo. Either way, we would love to talk chameleons with you.
