Who We Are: Captive-Bred Exotic Animal Breeders

It all started when two six-year-olds fell in love with nature. Today, we are one of the most trusted captive-bred exotic animal breeders in the hobby, specializing in tarantulas, exotic reptiles, and rare invertebrates, all bred in the United States with education and proper care as our foundation.

From a very early age, Trenton and I were obsessed with animals of all kinds. We spent nearly all of our time outside looking for bugs, snakes, and anything else we could find, or watching Animal Planet together whenever we were inside. We are cousins and part of a large, close family, so we grew up spending a lot of time together. Anytime there was a sleepover or we were anywhere near nature, we were exploring creeks, flipping rocks, or wandering the woods looking for animals.

We are only a year apart, but we both started keeping animals around the same time, when we were about five or six years old. I started with a leopard gecko and soon after added a tarantula. Trenton started with snakes. His parents were definitely more lenient than mine and allowed him to keep all the really cool animals like sugar gliders, flying geckos, and red-eyed tree frogs, so naturally we spent a lot of time at his house.

As time went on, I slowly convinced my parents to let me keep more animals too. House geckos, anoles, and just about anything else I could talk them into. Whenever we were together, animals were all we talked about. We were weird kids and total nerds. We were made fun of at school, but we did not care. We accepted that we were different and leaned into it.

We spent countless hours at zoos, reading books, and learning everything we could from television. Because there was very little accurate information available about exotic animal care in the early 2000s, we learned by observing, experimenting, and comparing notes, constantly sharing what we were seeing with the animals in our care.

Keeping animals as kids was not easy. Our parents could not really guide us, and we did not yet know how to research properly. We did the best we could, and we learned quickly. That early experience shaped how we approach animals today. Proper care goes far beyond a water bowl and a temperature range. Understanding behavior, nutrition, enclosure design, and long-term care matters just as much as keeping the animal itself.

Today, education is just as important to us as breeding and keeping animals. We work to be a reliable source for others in the hobby by sharing accurate, experience-based information about every species we work with, not just the basics. Helping people truly understand their animals is something we take seriously, because good education leads to better care and better outcomes for the animals.

By the time we were 11 and 12 years old, we were already talking about opening a zoo, charging admission, and starting breeding projects for endangered animals. As teenagers, we discovered reptile expos, and they instantly became our theme parks. We dreamed of the massive shows where animals stretched as far as you could see.

Eventually, we made it to them. When we attended the Daytona Beach NRBE for the first time, we were in shock. It was overwhelming and unforgettable. We talked nonstop about how incredible it would be to one day sell animals there. At the time, though, that dream felt unrealistic. We assumed working with animals would always just be a hobby. Breeding rare and fascinating species and sharing them with others was always the goal, whether we were successful or not.

Right before college, we downsized our collections and tried to be realistic. Our parents encouraged us to focus on traditional careers and move on. That phase lasted about three years. Something was missing. One year into college, we started keeping animals again, and funny enough, we found ourselves right back where we started. Trenton returned to keeping snakes, and I returned to tarantulas.

That is when Exotics Unlimited began.

Not as a business idea, but as a way to live out the dream we had carried with us since we were kids. Nearly a decade later, we now vend at the very expos we once walked through in awe, and we work with many of the animals we used to only dream about keeping, along with countless others we never imagined we would have the opportunity to care for.

What has not changed is the foundation. Hands-on experience, constant learning, and respect for the animals always come first. I am truly grateful and feel incredibly blessed by how far we have come, and I look forward to a lifetime of joy working with these animals.

More than a business. A lifelong passion.

To learn more about our guarantee, shipping process, and why keepers trust us, see our full FAQ.

William

Whether you're shopping for a rare species, your first beginner tarantula, or a quality exotic reptile, here's what sets our captive-bred selection apart.

We Make It Right. Every Time. No Exceptions. Every animal is inspected before it leaves our facility. If something doesn't look healthy enough to ship, we reach out to reschedule, offer alternatives, or provide a refund. Report any issues within 24 hours of arrival and we'll make it right: replacement, store credit, or full refund, your choice. See our full shipping guarantee policy for complete details on coverage and options.

Our Team Members Are Hobbyists, Not Corporate. Customer service, the breeders, the inspectors: everyone actually keeps these animals. You get real guidance from real keepers, not scripts. We help you build your dream collection with detailed, honest guidance on what each species actually needs. We tell you about temperament, care requirements, and whether it fits what you're looking for.

We Breed for Quality and Captive-Breeding. We keep and breed many of the animals we sell. We breed for health and stable temperament, not volume. We intentionally avoid wild-caught because we don't support taking animals from the wild. Every animal is captive-bred.

You're Supporting a Lifelong Mission. When you buy from us, you're supporting a team founded on a lifelong passion for these animals. We're committed to educating keepers and advancing this hobby responsibly for many decades to come. That's not corporate talk. That's who we are.

See our full live animal shipping guarantee and learn more about our rare species availability.

$39 flat rate FedEx overnight to facility pickup on all live pet invertebrates and exotic reptiles across the entire United States.

Prefer delivery straight to your door? Direct-to-address shipping is also available, priced per state.

Free shipping once your pet invertebrate order total (after discounts) hits $300. The $39 drops to zero.

Feeders and dry goods ship separately starting at just $7. We find the nearest live-animal-accepting FedEx facility for you, no hunting required.

Pet invertebrates and reptiles: Ship Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Overnight arrival the next day. Feeders and dry goods: Ship Monday through Friday.

What's Included in Every Exotics Unlimited Box. We've refined our shipping process down to a science. Every shipment includes approved live-animal shipping boxes insulated with graphite foam for superior strength and temperature control. Every box contains ice packs or heat packs as needed, at no extra charge, depending on the season. We pack every animal in sealed containers with custom packing paper we've tested and improved over nearly ten years of perfecting our methods, so every animal arrives in the best condition possible. This is how we care for every detail of your animals, all the way from our facility to yours.

Explore our tarantula collection and view more about exotic reptiles for sale.

Sourcing isn't the same across every animal we carry, so instead of one blanket claim, here's the real, category-by-category picture.

Tarantulas: always captive bred, no exceptions. There's already a large, healthy captive-bred population in the hobby for nearly every species we carry, including ones like the Arizona Blonde and the Goliath Bird Eater. There's no reason to bring in a wild-caught tarantula, and we don't.

Most spiders (true spiders and curtain web spiders) are captive bred, and we're working toward full captive-bred sourcing across the board here too, some genera just have less mature captive-breeding infrastructure in the hobby right now.

Other invertebrates like scorpions and centipedes are harder to source captive bred industry-wide at the moment, but the goal is the same: grow the captive gene pool so the hobby depends less on wild collection over time.

Most of our own breeding stock is raised in-house, from spiderling all the way to adulthood, not bought in as adults. Some of the rarest species in our catalog only exist as juveniles in the trade in the first place, so there's no adult-sourcing shortcut even if we wanted one.

Want to spot a wild-caught tarantula elsewhere in the hobby? A very cheap adult, roughly $50 to under $100, is a strong sign it was collected rather than bred, since raising an adult from a spiderling takes years. Several adults of the same species and sex on one table is another sign of wild-collected stock sold off in bulk rather than a breeder's actual output.

See more on our FAQ page, or browse the rare species we've worked years to establish in captivity.

Every tarantula we sell falls into one of these growth stages, and each one fits a different kind of buyer.

Spiderlings (slings) run from hatch size up to roughly 20% of a species' adult leg span. This is the most economical way into a species, and the appeal is watching the entire growth journey unfold, color change included, from the very start.

Juveniles pick up from there and run until we're able to attempt sexing, typically somewhere around 60-75% of adult size depending on the species. This tier is the broadest market we sell to, beginners through intermediates alike, because it's past the most delicate early stage, color is already showing, and pricing is still well under adult rates.

Confirmed females are sexed, mature or near-mature animals for keepers who want certainty. You know exactly what you're getting: a long-lived display animal already in full adult coloration.

Confirmed males are typically bought by breeders, or by keepers pairing with an existing female, since males mature faster and live shorter lives than females.

Not sure which stage fits what you're going for? check our FAQ, or browse by stage in our tarantula collection.