Meet the Staff

Stephen Rowlands: Director / Presenter

Stephen trained as a Herpetologist, following 3 years of Animal care National diplomas throughout college, from which he obtained:

OCR Level 2 – Foundation in Herpetology (general care & husbandry of all reptiles) – Distinction.

OCR Level 3 – Advanced certificate in Herpetology- Distinction.

As a young boy, Stephen kept snakes and Tarantulas but also grew up with more domestic pets such as dogs, who were all called Ike. Leaving his home in Wales, Stephen started his career as a volunteer at a Birmingham Reptile Sanctuary and worked predominantly with reptiles from Snakes to Alligators. Stephen was in charge of Education and started doing talks for schools on behalf of the Sanctuary. As he got more involved with these talks, his interest in other exotic animals outside the reptile world grew. He was asked to take in an Orange winged Amazon Parrot and from that point, his collection and love of exotics has grown.

Mandie Turner: Presenter

I have always loved animals and spent many hours as a child dragging my family around dartmoor & Cannock chase searching for bugs, Deer & Adders!.

Whenever I had the chance I would always ask for bug books for presents as I always wanted to learn as much as possible.

I had many pets through m childhood the first being an Indian Stick insect bought for me by my grandparents at a boat show, I was soon the proud owner of hundreds!.

I left school having passed all my GCSE's and went to work at Highcroft Psychiatric hospital where I found that I focused on Geriatric Mental Illness and passed my NVQ's in direct care (level 1, 2 & 3). I stayed there for a few years but with the closure of Highcroft looming, I decided on a career change and started work in a bookmakers as a cashier, 4 years later and now a manager, I remembered my desire to work with animals, so decided to attend Pershore College to take my Diploma's in Animal management, Pet store management and First Aid at work Course where I successfully passed them all.

During my time at Pershore I decided I would like to specalise in exotic animals so I started working for Poteus reptile rescue, whilst working at Poteus I met Stephen and having passed my Herpetology courses then went on to help Stephen establish Tropical Inc.

Glenn Arscott: Presenter

From a young age Glenn was interested in wildlife and had his first pet at the age of 10 years.

That was the key stone for where he is today.Glenn started his path working with exotic mammals with a reptile rescue centre where he volunteered full time to look after sick and unwanted reptiles, He later became a supervisor and head keeper of the reptiles for the centre where he also worked with many animals like Large snakes, lizards, crocodiles, Emus and monkeys .

He moved to Denmark, Western Australia for a short time, where he worked as a keeper for Reptiles and Amphibians in a Fauna ParK.

Glenn would teach young Australian children the importance of snake bite first aid which he would do public demonstrations at the zoo. Whilst at the zoo he would get regular phone calls to rescue venomous snakes from peoples home's and release them back in to the bush. For two months Glenn lived in one of the world’s oldest jungles the Daintree rainforest where he photographed and studied the local wildlife which includes snakes, parrots, fruit bats and the mighty saltwater crocodile. During his free time in Australia he enjoyed white water rafting, Scuba diving and he photographed and swam with great white sharks in south Australia. Glenn returned to the U.K and joined Tropical inc. He now works full time with us and has had great success working with schools, colleges, universities and adults with learning difficulties.

Kelly Shambly : Office

I have always been interested in animals from a young age and was lucky enough to have a variety of Pets including Dogs, Rabbits, Hamsters and Tropical Fish, but my favourite animals have to be my Marmoset Monkeys.

While at school, I was not sure what I would like to do when I left but not thinking or expecting to work with animals. I left School having passed 10 GCSE's and went onto work part time at a Body shop, until I found a full time job working as a Trainee Recruitment Consultant/Receptionist.

After 2 years of gaining office experience I was offered a position to work as Secretary / Receptionist here at Tropical Inc which means I can use my skills I was trained for, plus I am now also working and helping with the Animals. My Job at Tropical Inc includes managing all office duties, answering the phone and dealing with the many Email enquiries we have, but also look after some of the animals, cleaning and feeding them. When required I also attend displays and large events. I find my job challenging but highly rewarding and have had experiences that I know I would never have had from any other Job.