SAN MARTIN
– It was more than just inventory.
A South County couple is still working feverishly to save the
few dozen snakes, lizards and other reptiles that remain after a
fire gutted their San Jose reptile store Monday and killed most of
the creatures inside it.
SAN MARTIN – It was more than just inventory.
A South County couple is still working feverishly to save the few dozen snakes, lizards and other reptiles that remain after a fire gutted their San Jose reptile store Monday and killed most of the creatures inside it.
Owners Chuck and Laura Gray estimate that only about 15 percent of the roughly 400 reptiles that were living in the Reptile Ranch store at Union and Bascom avenues survived the two-alarm blaze. The cause is still under investigation.
And the prognosis is not exactly spectacular for the survivors. Many suffer from the effects of burns or smoke inhalation and are still fighting to stay alive.
Thursday afternoon, the Grays and several loyal customers and friends gathered in the driveway of their home to support each other and tend to the remaining animals as best they could.
Meanwhile, the Grays were trying to keep it together themselves after fate dealt them a second figurative kick to the solar plexus in less than a year’s time.
“We’re keeping moving, keeping forward … not thinking about how things happened and moving forward,” said Laura Gray as she surveyed the scene in her driveway.
Monday’s fire was the latest in a string of bad luck the Grays have experienced since they purchased the store – where both were already employees – from their former boss.
Last summer, fire also hit an archery store next to the Reptile Ranch. Although the flames didn’t do much physical damage to the Grays’ store, the smoke wiped out 60 percent of their stock and they were out of business for two months.
They had just nursed many of the reptile survivors of that catastrophe back to health when this week’s fire happened, said Chuck Gray. Most of those animals perished.
“We suffered and gave up a lot to restock our store, and now it’s gone again,” he said.
Chuck Gray said the store had a loyal clientele, and that was evident Thursday as several customers and friends helped care for the reptiles. They cleaned out the rubber tubs that hold the surviving snakes and lizards and added antimicrobial substances to help fight off bacteria and soothe burns and blisters on their scaly skins. Many of the snakes were pregnant at the time of the fire, and the Grays fear they will miscarry.
Thick, powerful Boa constrictors several feet in length coughed up long strings of mucus as they tried to expel the toxins from their systems.
“It’s good they’re getting it out of their bodies – that’s an improvement,” said Laura Gray. “If they hold it in, it will kill them.”
Los Gatos resident Marianne Golda was one of the helpers. She said she used to hate snakes, but ended up spending a lot of time volunteering in the store after a friend brought her in and she held a snake for the first time.
“They’re kind of like cats in a way, how a cat is comforting,” she said.
Unfortunately, Golda’s favorite reptile – a 6-foot black rat snake named Solomon – perished in the blaze.
“No matter how long I was gone for, I could leave and come back and he still knew who I was,” she said.
Chuck Gray said the couple hopes to rebuild and reopen the store, although they will still have to figure out exactly how. While the couple have insurance, it won’t cover the full cost of rebuilding, he said. Gray estimates the two fires have caused $400,000 in damage.
But it’s not just a business, he said: “It’s our lives as well as our customers’ lives.”
Both expressed thanks for the outpouring of support they’ve received. Chuck Gray said the couple have enough volunteers to properly care for the remaining creatures, and the biggest help now could come in the form of financial assistance for medication and materials to create temporary shelter for the reptiles.
A former store employee has established an account for financial contributions to help the animals at the Bridge Bank of Silicon Valley, 2120 El Camino Real, Santa Clara 95050. For information, call 423-8500. The account number is 0111003265.
The store’s Web site is www.coolreptiles.com.
