Eight legs, no legs, and everything in between: CB&K Exotics has it all

At CB&K Exotics pet store, the only furry friend you might take home has eight eyes, eight legs, and a healthy diet of crickets and other insects.

Tarantulas are far from the store’s only creatures, though. The walls are lined with tanks and enclosures containing round-faced ball pythons, spiny bearded dragons, squat Pacman frogs, and a variety of isopods to name a few.

Owner John Marshall also has several of his and his wife’s pets on display, including two IMG Pastel Central American dwarf boas, an Angolan python, and two prairie dogs.

CB&K Exotics, at 3066 N.C. 18 S in Morganton, has everything an exotic pet owner would need, from tanks and hides to water bowls and food. The store sells both live and frozen feeder mice and rats, and bigger animals such as guinea pigs, chicks, and quails. It also carries larvae, worms, crickets, and other creatures for feeding.

Marshall opened the store nearly two years ago after a 16-year career with Rent-A-Center. He and his family moved from Pittsburgh to Morganton in 2023 for a job as a Rent-A-Center district manager in Asheville.

Marshall said he has had pet reptiles all his life, and when he moved to Burke County, there were no reptile shops he liked because many did not give customers enough information on how to care for their new pet.

“I came home one day and I told my wife, I said, ‘I’m quitting my job and opening up a reptile shop to give people somewhere good to go,’” Marshall said.

Marshall said at first he thought business would be “kind of steady” because “there can’t be too many reptile people around.” But now, some people drive for several hours to shop at his store.

There are no special requirements in North Carolina to run an exotic pet store, Marshall said, but the insurance is steep.

One of the biggest misconceptions about owning reptiles, Marshall said, is that they can live in 10 gallon tanks all their lives. While that is fine as a temporary enclosure, reptiles need more space to thrive than many people realize.

Some people also think that all snakes are cared for in the same way.

Although some species are cared for in similar ways, each type of snake requires a different setup and different levels of humidity, Marshall said.

Setting the pet and the owner up for success is important to Marshall.

“I’m a firm believer in … making sure that whoever is buying the animal has the proper care advice (and) care sheets,” Marshall said. “Because reptiles are very delicate animals. They make great pets, but their environments have to be perfect.”

Posted across the store are reminders of customer etiquette, which includes not tapping on glass, cages, and enclosures, not sticking one’s fingers inside a cage, and not touching any animal unless authorized by staff.

Enclosures also have stickers on the bottom that show what temperature and humidity the creature living in the tank needs.

Some people get into exotic pets because they are allergic to cats or dogs, Marshall said, but for others, it may point back to how low-maintenance some species are.

“In my opinion, owning a dog is like … having another toddler in your house,” Marshall said. “It requires daily care, (like) taking it out, walking it. Most reptiles don’t require daily care.”

Many reptiles also do not have to be boarded like dogs or cats if the owner goes on vacation.

“And, overall, they’re cooler (pets).”