Tanks that once housed snakes and lizards are soaked.
“A lot of our baby bearded dragons died. The pythons were all just swimming,” said Hannah Walker, manager of Taylor Reptiles.
A fire started some time after ten Sunday night.
That's when employees left the store.
They didn't know anything was wrong until they were alerted by a neighboring business.
“And then we get a call from Orchard at
Sprinklers put out the fire. But they never shut off... Flooding the store and tanks and cages where exotic snakes, lizards and dragons were housed.
‘A lot of things that we have though are suffering through everything and we're not going to know for at least the next week or two if they're going to make it or not because of all the smoke in their lungs,” Walker said.
Many animals died.
Those who survived have been moved to a vacant space next door.
And the animals are stressed.
“This one isn't exactly a ball python and he's curling up just like one,”
Insurance should pay for damage to the building. But it likely won't reimburse the owner for the animals that were lost.
The store has a PayPal account for those who would like a monetary donation to help them replace the animals that were lost in the flooding. It is: PayPal sales@taylorreptiles.com