Joey Mugleston is a biology professor at Utah Valley University, a nationally known reptile breeder and a caretaker for endangered desert tortoises and other animals.
LINDON — Joey Mugleston has baby photos of him being bathed in the kitchen sink while a 5-foot iguana watches casually from the kitchen counter. His parents raised iguanas in their southern California home and Mugleston's father gifted him a small lizard for his seventh birthday — it was his first pet of his own.Following a move to southern Utah, Mugleston's mother encouraged his new hobby and inspired him to consider breeding, rather than simply keeping, his wild discoveries.
With an absence of crocodiles in southern Utah, frogs and lizards would have to do. After showing a frog to his mother, she suggested it would further his scientific endeavors if he collected several and tried to breed them. "Between my undergrad and graduate work, I moved back to California and then back to the University of Utah," said Mugleston. "A bedroom full of animals grew to a couple of rooms and then a basement full. I moved with them all, each time."
He hopes to soon be able to expand and offer the public a look at many of the animals in a zoo-like setting. His collection includes both rare and venomous species that are highly regulated and cared for separately from his business of breeding and selling animals.. The desert tortoise is a state and federally protected species that lives in southern Utah's Washington, Iron and Kane counties.
A few animals housed at the facility are private surrenders, though. The Serpentarium can accommodate very large species or those with specialized care that may fall outside what a rescue group can easily handle. Though many species continue to be both legally and illegally imported into the United States, Mugleston is pleased that the reptile hobby in America has continued to expand — from one made up mostly of wildly originated animals, into one now supplied predominantly by captively bred ones.
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