Ron Greenberg, formerly of Ron’s Reptiles, enjoying catch-and-release in new Arizona home - Chico Enterprise-Record

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Ron Greenberg, formerly of Ron’s Reptiles, enjoying catch-and-release in new Arizona home - Chico Enterprise-Record Posted: 07 Sep 2020 04:11 AM PDT CHICO — For 18 years Ron Greenberg operated Ron's Reptiles in Chico, where he sold reptile supplies, feeders and cages as well as helped take in and relocate reptiles that concerned citizens would call in. In addition, Greenberg did birthday parties, events and reptile shows at schools all over Chico. His wife, Donna, passed away on Oct. 5 unexpectedly in her sleep, leading him to question the future of his business. In December, Greenberg left Chico and officially retired from the reptile show business. He said he couldn't do the shows without his wife who was his show partner. His daughter, who helped when she could as well, was working full time and could not replace Donna. "I still feel like at the end of the day I need to talk to my wife, I have questions that I need her to help me answer," Greenberg said. "Being in the house, especially those couple of months right afterwards she was still there for all intents and purposes. Her spirit was there. It's kind of like a wound that won't heal." Greenberg, 72, has relocated to Kingman, Arizona with his daughter.  Greenberg remembered Kingman as a spot he'd visit fresh out of high school. "Arizona was always like a beacon that drew me," Greenberg said. "Kingman, Arizona was unique back in the '60's. I can't remember if there were no laws or the people just didn't care but we could go out and collect lizards and snakes and then stop for dinner at a roadside cafe and at 18 or 19 years of old they would serve us beer. Just a cool place. "You could kind of get away and do things that you wanted to do and no one would really hassle you." Greenberg and his wife were married for 41 years, and he has been catching reptiles since he was eight years old. He and his wife were breeding and selling baby snakes and Greenberg produced some of the first offspring of new species, locality specific boas, which are now spread across several different states in the US. His initial interest came in tropical fish, simply because reptiles didn't pay the bills at the time and he felt catching and reptiles would have to be a side business. For 31 years Greenberg worked at the Johns Manville fiberglass manufacturing company in Willows where he started as an hourly employee before making his way up to department manager and second-in-command. Greenberg initially started pre-veterinary school but in 1988 he graduated from Chico State with a degree in public health. In 2008, Greenberg decided that with reptiles becoming more mainstream, he could retire from Johns Manville and take on the reptile business full time. However, it took some convincing of his wife, despite the couples' house already being filled with reptiles. "My wife was never initially a reptile person. She thought the only good snake was a dead snake," Greenberg said with a laugh. "It took almost 12 years, the first 12 years of our marriage, to get her to see the light to the point that she really started to enjoy them and participated." The two laughed together as she asked him, "why didn't you tell me how much fun this would be and we would have done this sooner," he recalled. His reply was simply, "I tried but it was like rowing upstream." The two lived in a house on Rock Creek Road in Chico when their daughter was growing up. Greenberg said that his daughter grew up in a house where she had to shake her shoes before putting them on to be sure baby snakes wouldn't be inside of them. "She was an admirable assistant but she is not a lover of reptiles," Greenberg said. "She doesn't like those kinds of surprises." His daughter, Jamie, who now lives in a duplex setup on her dad's new property in Arizona, said that her one condition in place while living with her dad was no reptiles in the house where she slept. Greenberg still interacts with reptiles but only for catch and release. His neighbors and friends will call Greenberg whenever a reptile needs to be relocated. While Greenberg said the only animals he now has are photos of his favorites like his Cuban Rock Iguana named Princess who he said he spent the most time with. Since Greenberg left for Arizona after his final show at Citrus Elementary in December, the Chico community was left with a void. Greenberg, however, has passed his business to Kenni and David Huff, the owners of NorCal Reptile Adventures located at 5050 Cohasset Rd, No. 50. Greenberg was formerly the largest supplier of mice and rats for peoples' pets. Now, NorCal Reptile Adventures has the largest supply. The company also plans to continue reptile shows once coronavirus restrictions lift and schools are back to in-person instruction. "When (the public) found out Ron left they thought these shows wouldn't be available anymore," Kenni Huff said. "So we said we'll be doing those events and birthday parties." At Greenberg's new home in Arizona he has had time to reflect on his past in Chico and what he misses most — having a house full of reptiles to play with and and seeing the look on a kid's face when they hold a large snake or reptile for the first time. "The people were very kind to us and the people were very eager to learn and I still see the expression on children's faces and that expression is worth millions," Greenberg said. "There's just no way that you can duplicate the first time they get to hold a big lizard or hold a big snake and their eyes are ready to pop out of their head." During his final show at Citrus Elementary in December the staff surprised him with a video featuring excerpts of kids saying "thank you." "That was the tough part," Greenberg said while holding back tears.

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