Bob Foos
Back when Jared Gray was stationed as a Marine at Twentynine Palms, Calif., he made a fateful visit to a reptile store.
“I thought I was going to buy an anaconda,” he recalls, admitting it wasn’t the best idea since he was living in the barracks. “I came back with a tattoo (of an anaconda on his arm) instead.
Visiting that store was a life-changer, though, because that’s where he met his wife, DenniLynn, the shop owner.
They moved back to the Joplin area, where Jared is from, and Jared worked at a local factory.
Jared and Denni had both kept reptiles their whole lives and realized there weren’t any acceptable options for cages. Those that were available were “not something you would display in your living room,” says Jared. “They were not furniture pieces.”
Their idea was to build cages of beautiful furniture quality while allowing reptiles to thrive in them.
In August 2020, they built their first cages in their garage with a job-site table saw. They quickly moved up to a cabinet saw and bought their first CNC machine to improve their design and accuracy.
By that point, they had built a 2,300 square-foot shop by their house south of Joplin. But it became crowded as orders increased.
They thought about building a larger structure but instead are glad they found the former Foodland/Ramey’s grocery store 905 W. Broadway in Webb City. The building had been converted to be a machine shop that went out of business and was vacant for a few years.
In October 2025, the Grays had an easy time getting the building rezoned from commercial 1 to commercial 2.
Other than the need to powerwash it, Jared says the vacant building “was just perfect for us. We walked in here and knew it was the one.”
They have plans to improve the exterior appearance of the building and have a showroom in the front, but for now, they’re busy building reptile cages.
“Using high quality materials – that’s what sets us apart” from others, says Jared.
The cages, more like cabinets, are built from PVC board. Customers can choose from a variety of colors and textures. The fronts are 1/4-inch tempered glass. There are cutouts for venting and optional fans in the back and other climate control features, such as misters.
There are no cages in stock. They’re all built to order with options chosen by customers.
They build 25-30 cages per week. And right now, DenniLynn says they are scheduling builds for the second week in May.
Most of their customers hear about Toad Ranch Cages by word-of-mouth. Or they may have noticed the Toad Ranch badge on reptile cages at a zoo or national park. Their customers are located througout the United States.
The most popular size is 4 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet. But they can go up to 16 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet.
The cages are assembled in the factory and then broken down for shipping. Large ones are sometimes assembled on site.
“The reptile hobby has changed a lot in the last few years,” says Jared, as owners want a more naturalistic setting.
Destination backgrounds satisfy that desire by showing where the reptiles come from.
The new home for Toad Ranch Cages has plenty of room to store materials and room to grow.
Once the second CNC machine arrives and is installed, the Grays say they will be hiring another build team.
Contrary to his factory experience of split shifts, shifting schedules and not knowing if you’re going to get a holiday off, Jared says he’s “made it a priority to see these guys have schedules that I like – four 10-hour days with holidays off.”
He cites his former factory job as “the main reason I started something of our own – to have more family time.”
