About the Founder 

 

Hello everybody! My name is Jason Barham.

 

I have been interested in reptiles since I was in pre-school. That was a long time ago and since then my interest has turned into a passion and a dream, a dream starting to come true. My interest in nature roughly started when I was in high school, there was a number of clubs to choose from and I chose Wildlife. I ended up becoming the representive for the head of the club from Grade 8 through to 11 and Matric brought me even more happiness as I was voted to be the Chairperson of the club. I was also awarded with the Ryan Dearlove Shield for Environmental Awareness which was a honour and a privilege to receive. Five years of hard work finally payed off for something I always wanted to achieve.

 

It was only in 2011 that I started to become more involved with reptiles. I started working with Burmese Pythons which definitely was not a beginner snake. The time, effort and knowledge required to look after Burmese Pythons was a huge step for me. I got hold of every piece of document, care sheet and exotic pet store to find out more information about them, needless to say I did a shockingly good job at looking after them with no hiccups, those 2 and half years were something awesome.

 

Late 2013 I visited Apex Predators Snake Park in East London and met the very well known Deon Nell. I can't begin to explain the kind of person he is. He truly opened my mind to a bigger picture. And just listening to all his stories, going for a awesome tour through his park and admiring everything he had accomplished just made me want to do the same. I wanted to follow his passion of reptiles and that's what I'm working on now, so I guess I have him to thank for all the inspiration.

 

2014 Brought me back home to the Western Cape and I had to decide on what I wanted to do for the rest of my life because hospitality just wasn't cutting it. And my goal was simple, to become more involved with Herpetology. I decided then that it would be a great idea to start up a reptile rescue service for the community I stay in and of course it was the perfect choice. I applied for a Venomous Snake Handling, Identification, Awareness and Snakebite Course at the Cape Reptile Institute and completed it succesfully. I also got hold of Johan Marais who is the founder of African Snakebite Institute and a world renowned Herpetologist from whom I ordered all the equiment I required for the handling of snakes. I then applied for my Capture and Release Permit through Cape Nature Conservation.

 

I still have really big ideas for the future, I don't want to ruin the surprise but basically let's just say that Western Cape, possibly the Helderberg Basin is going to be aquiring a Reptile Breeding Facility/Reptile Park/Exotic Pet Store. My idea behind this is the conservation and protection of South Africa's Herpetofauna......OKAY before I get carried away with all the excitement and ruin the surprise, let me stop.

 

Thank you to everyone who has supported and believed in me this far, it has only helped me accomplish this dream, with so much more satisfaction.

 

Many thanks go out to my mom and friends for dealing with my non stop crazy talk about snakes. Deon Nell from Apex Predators for inspiring me. Johan Marais for all his awesome books and professional A+ quailty equipment. Thank you to Leigh Ann De Gouveia from the Print Affair for all the support and the amazing business cards. A huge, huge, huge thank you to Luke Kemp, Kenny Babilon, Deon Nell and Marcel Witberg for allowing me to use their photos for this site, you guys are the best, Thank you!!!. The facilitators at Cape Reptile Institute, Dr Tony Phelps, Marcel Witberg and Kobus Smit for all the training, teaching and awesome talks. Thank you to Helene van der Westhuyzen at Cape Nature for assisting me with my Capture and Release Permit, many thanks go out to Clifford Dorse who is the Biodiversity Co-ordinator for the City of Cape Town for assisting me with my Letter of Approval and lastly thank you to the God of Reptiles for creating these amazing and beautiful creatures for me to work with. - Jason