David Sexton, owner of Wildlife Safari Animal Emporium, said his love of keeping animals began as a boy, when he ordered an American Chameleon kit he found advertised in “Boys Life” magazine.

“You could buy them with a little plastic container, and a bag of mealworms and a little muslin bag for $10 or $8,” Sexton said.

So he ordered a lizard using money he earned on a paper route with his brother.

“I threw cash and change in an envelope, and I mailed it off for these lizards, ” he said. “So I've been taking care of some animal in some way, shape or form, since I was nine."

Growing up in Menominee, on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Sexton became a very frequent, though unwelcome visitor at the local pet store.

“I was a little kid who and I was always in the store, just to look at stuff, b

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