Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jonel Lopez, and like many of you, I am a reptile hobbyist. I grew up in Manila, Philippines and moved to the U.S. in 1993. I am currently living in warm and sunny San Jose California," the heart of the Silicon Valley."

           At a very early age, I have always been fascinated with animals in general, and my father had a huge influence from the very beginning as he was born and raised in a farm in my native Island of the Philippines. Eventhough he had moved to the city to work an engineer and to raise his family, my father would take me back to his hometown every week. He managed his family’s small aquaculture (captive propagation of fish) business, which consisted of mainly milkfish, tilapias, and fresh water prawns. He started taking me with him as soon as I could walk. During these weekly trips, my cousin and I often went to a small patch of untouched wilderness teaming with native fauna, gathered wild fruits, and climbed small trees to observe wildlife. We frequently found water monitors, mabuya lizards, reticulated pythons, and various animals during these excursions. I still smile when I remember those days when I used to be chased by wild pigs and get attacked by treee ants. As a child, I also used to have various types of pets such as turtles, fish, wild fowl, native birds, and goats. Ever since then my interest in animals never faded and is still growing stronger.

           I have been involved with herpetoculture since 1994 and I had my first breeding success with Cornsnakes and Variable Kingsnakes in 1996. Even though I am relatively new with the herpetoculture (captive propagation of reptiles and amphibians), I am not new to captive breeding because I used to propagate fancy and racing pigeons when I was younger. I want to learn every facet of herpetoculture as I did in my early propagations. Eventhough I've been working with snakes for over a decade now, I still find find myself learning more about my animals, new husbandry methods and techniques, as well as animals I don't keep or the ones encounter in the wild. Aside from hard work and dedication, I thank and owe it to those experienced field herpers, and herpetoculturists/reptile hobbyist for making it possible for me to be where I am right now. Thus, I would like to share all what I learned to those who have the same interests or have the thirst for knowledge, and to reach out to others about the positive aspects of my unique hobby.

           Since I consider keeping and breeding snakes as only a hobby not a full fledged business, I intend keep a few high quality and select specimens of the animals that I work with in order to keep the collection small and manageable. Having a small snake collection allows me to provide adequate care and attention to every animal, which I consider as a beloved pet.

           I hope you enjoyed my website and thank you for visiting Selective Propagations. Don't hesitate to email me to ask questions or just to chat. I'd be happy to help in any way I can.